2023 photo comic starring Ype Driessen and his mother. Translation: "Don't you know who I am? I'm gay, mum! Gay! I have to dance shirtless at techno parties! I have to compete with twenty-year-olds who go to sports school every day!" - "So, no slice of cake?" - "No slice of cake!"
Ype Driessen is a Dutch comic creator, who quickly abandoned drawing himself in favor of making photo comics. While these types of comics are generally held in low esteem, Driessen uplifted the genre by creating a wide-range of well-crafted gag comics, as well as the world's first autobiographical photo comic. In production since 2007, 'Ype + Willem' and its successor 'Ype' have given a comical and openhearted look in the everyday life of a gay couple, characterized by recognizable situations, mild self-mockery and honest sensibility. After several gags and book collections, Driessen's series of autobiographical comics culminated in the 2020 graphic novel 'Het Nadeel van de Twijfel' and his 2026 prose debut 'Vanilla'. In addition, Driessen has collaborated with friends and colleagues on photo gag strips on a variety of topics, including student life ('3Hoog'), young entrepreneurs ('De VrijMiBoys'), mathematics ('Ype en Ionica') and cinephilia ('De Laatste Videotheek').
Early life
Ype Driessen was born in 1976 in Rotterdam, and raised in the nearby gardening village of Berkel en Rodenrijs. His father was an urban planner, his mother worked in education. He has an older and a twin sister. In a 7 February 2026 interview with newspaper Het Parool, Driessen described his upbringing as happy and sheltered. However, he was also an anxious boy, hesitant in taking initiative and afraid of the unknown. In many ways, Driessen said, he was a late-bloomer, either in exploring his sexuality and going to gay parties, or in debuting as a comic creator and subsequently as a novelist.
However, Driessen grew up an avid comics fan, and picked up drawing at an early age. Through some holiday friends, he had his comic strip 'Keizer Tsjee Mi Nee', published in Staatskrant, the local newspaper of the Amsterdam neighborhood Staatsliedenbuurt. Driessen was ten at the time, and it was the first time he went to the "big city" of Amsterdam, an exciting undertaking for him. In 1991, Driessen and his friend Carolien van Zoest won third prize with their high school comic 'Davy Kroket' during the Delft Comics Festival, and he continued to draw throughout his student years. Between 1994 and 2002, Ype Driessen studied Cognitive Artificial Intelligence at Utrecht University, a choice of study that he didn't understand in hindsight.
Cover drawing by Ype Driessen with his 'Ruben' character for De Inktpot #3.
Switch to photo comics
As a student in Utrecht, Driessen contributed the comic strip 'Ruben' (1998-2003) to the local university magazine, U-Blad. Made in collaboration with Stefan van Doorn, the strip had a philosophical tone, and was drawn by Driessen in a crude and clumsy style. In interviews, the artist has often joked that the comic was a complete mismatch with its target audience, and often ended at the very bottom of the reader surveys, "even below the job advertisements and the colophon". However, in 2003-2005 some episodes appeared in early issues of the Utrecht comic magazine De Inktpot. The experience made Driessen decide that there was no future for him in drawing. As he was always interested in photo comics, and surprised that this craft was only used for melodramatic romance stories, he found his calling in this genre. In later years, Driessen and Van Doorn remade several of their earlier 'Ruben' strips as photo comics.
'Ruben' (U-blad, 10 June 1999). Translation: "What do you usually do on Sundays, Ruben?" - "I have a good sleep, make a tasty breakfast, read a Saturday supplement... and usually discover that I got the day wrong and rush to my job."
With photo comics, Driessen truly made his mark. Traditionally, these comics were mostly made in Italy and Latin America for pulpy romance "photo novellas". In the Netherlands, these stories appeared in translation in titles like Kiss and Darling, which Driessen found fascinating. From the 1970s on, photo stories have also been popular in German and Dutch girls' magazines, where melodrama and cute animals remained the main focus. On occasion, the genre was explored by mainstream comic magazines, but often as a parody or as a mix between photographs and drawn backgrounds - the prime example being the 1990s gag comic 'Mannetje en Mannetje' by Hanco Kolk and Peter de Wit.
'Ruben' strip published in U-blad of 18 December 2003, marking Driessen's shift from drawn to photo comics. The comic character says goodbye to the readers and introduces Ype Driessen and Stefan van Doorn who feel they should have switched to photo comics five years earlier...
From the moment he made the switch to photo comics in 2004, Driessen proved that the genre was also perfectly suitable for gag comics and, most notably, autobiographical comics. Still, he continued to use the same methods as with drawn comics: first create a script with storyboard sketches, complete with staging and camera angles. As a comic creator, Driessen is fully self-taught. Both photography and editing in Photoshop were skills he had to train himself in. In the field of comics, important inspirations for him have been the 'Douwe Dabbert' series by Piet Wijn and Thom Roep, the sitcom comic strip 'Jan, Jans en de Kinderen' by Jan Kruis and the autobiographical gag strips of Floor de Goede.
Early episode of '3Hoog'. The students complain about three months' worth of uncleaned dishes. Since Olivier studies law, he points out that "after 50 days, washing dishes is legally expired." The bespectacled student wonders whether "they as roommates have rights too?"
3Hoog
In early 2004, Driessen replaced his 'Ruben' strip in U-Blad with his first photo comic, '3Hoog'. This soap opera about the residents of a student apartment building has appeared in Ublad until its cancellation and since 2010 on the DUB website of Utrecht University. Shortly afterwards, the feature was picked up by student papers from other university cities, such as Rotterdam (Erasmus Magazine, 2005- ), Maastricht (De Observant, 2008- ), Leeuwarden (NHL Magazine, 2005-2008) and Enschede (UT Nieuws, 2007-2008). A gag strip of four panels, the first set of characters consisted of the men-devouring Karlijn (played by Ype's sister Madeleen), the feminist Pien and the stuck-up twerp Olivier. In 2007, the first book collection was published by the local Utrecht imprint Begijnkade 18 under the title '1 Bal, 2 Bitches, 3 Hoog', and two more appeared in 2013 at Strip2000.
'3Hoog' strip of 17 April 2018. To demonstrate how much money Peet throws away by skipping her weekly sport school attendances, Reinier burns a money note and hints that if she gives him 1,000 euros, he will show her how much she throws away by never going to college.
As Driessen's longest-running series, '3Hoog' provides a comical look on Dutch student life and its ever-changing hypes and trends. Every few years, Driessen has to advertise for new actors, preferably first- or second-year students from the Utrecht area. The "second generation" of '3Hoog' featured another twerp, Willem, a blonde (Steef) and the cute and young Ben. As an additional character, the exchange student Marjane was introduced, named after the Iranian comic artist Marjane Satrapi. However, after half a season, the actress portraying Marjane actually went abroad, reducing the cast to three again. By 2010, the cast consisted of the hyperactive René, the rough but good-hearted squatter Jurre and the "no-nonsense babe" Froukje.
For SchoolMagazine of the cultural youth organization CJP, Driessen made '4B' (2008-2011), a photo comic with a similar set-up, this time featuring high school students Bas, Sophie, Jermain and DeeDee and their shenanigans with each other, their parents and their German teacher, Herr Schweinmeister.
'Ype + Willem' strips from StripNieuws. In the first vertical gag, Willem is going to bed, but Ype first wants to finish what he's working on. When his friend nags again, Ype gets irritated, but it turns out it's already morning and Willem is getting ready for work. In the second vertical gag, the duo reads an article about people who enjoy the film 'Avatar' so much that they can't accept this dreamworld isn't real. Ype and Willem are glad that readers don't know about the behind-the-screen troubles of their photo comic.
Ype + Willem
His experience with '3Hoog' made Driessen realize that there were more possibilities with the photo comics genre. However, production always involved getting his cast together. To further explore the medium, he decided to pick himself as his next subject, since he "was always available". In October 2007, he set up the website Fotostrips.nl, where four times a week he began publishing an autobiographical photo gag strip starring himself and his boyfriend at the time, Willem Stam. A co-production between the two partners, the 'Ype + Willem' strip offered a candid insight in the couple's everyday life, capturing funny moments and discussions, characterized by a healthy dose of self-mockery. Their initiative caught on, and after a while, their autobiographical photo comics appeared in Passionate Magazine (2008-2013), sQueeze (2008), Gay & Night, StripNieuws (2009- ) and as a click-through comic on nrcnext.nl (2009).
Between 2009 and 2012, four book collections appeared, the first three at Jean-Marc van Tol's Catullus imprint, the fourth at Strip2000. In 2013, two installments of the series were even translated in French, and published by FLBLB under the title 'Yves + Guillaume'.
'There is a light that never goes out..', photo comic for De Inkpot #9 by Ype Driessen and Willem Stam.
Besides 'Ype + Willem', Driessen and Stam also collaborated on other creative projects. For the NPS TV show 'Triana', they made the semi-animated satirical segment De 'Schelmenjaren van Wouter & J-P' (2009), in which they portrayed younger versions of Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende and Deputy Prime Minister Wouter Bos. In addition, they made photo comics for a children's magazine featuring homemade jellyfish and dolphins, crafted by Stam. Along with Floor de Goede, they provided the graphical parts of the educational 'Sofie' book series by Edward van de Vendel (Querido, 2010-2018). While De Goede made the illustrations and drawn comics, Ype and Willem contributed the photo comic segments with 'Papa Pinguïn' and his family, again handcrafted by Willem Stam.
'Ype in Amsterdam' (Het Parool, 14 February 2014). Ype misinterprets some locks hanging on the bridge as romantic symbolism from couples who "click themselves together and then throw the key in the river." It turns out it was merely a stolen bike.
Ype solo
When in 2011 his relationship with Willem Stam unexpectedly came to an end after six years, Ype Driessen had to reinvent himself, both personally and creatively. In 2012, he moved from Utrecht to Amsterdam, where he has continued making his autobiographical photo comics, albeit now under the solo title 'Ype'. While keeping the gag strip format, the experience instigated Driessen to add a more personal and emotional layer to the strip. In his early solo comics, he showed how he dealt with the break-up and pick up his life again. These more melancholic and touching episodes were collected in the fifth book collection, 'Uit!' (Strip2000, 2013). Subsequent volumes also became more thematic. In 'XXX' (2013) and 'Zonde' (2014), he open-heartedly chronicled his daily life and romantic escapades after moving to Amsterdam, and in 'De Tand des Tijds' (2015) he portrayed his issues with getting older (and loosing one of his front teeth). From 2014 until August 2026, Ype's Amsterdam adventures also appeared weekly in the Saturday edition of the newspaper Het Parool under the title 'Ype in Amsterdam'.
Cross-over strip with Floor de Goede, published in Gay & Night magazine. Floor and Ype agree that their homosexuality isn't a major subject in their work, which helps normalizing and emancipating it. For the same reason, they don't include sex scenes. But in the final panel both think that the other simply can't get laid.
In addition to Ype himself, the 'Ype' strips have featured many of the artist's friends and relatives, for instance his roommates Aaron and Berrie, his new boyfriend Nico and also his parents. On several occasions, befriended comic creators made guest appearances, notably Abe Borst, Floor de Goede, Ruben Steeman and Maaike Hartjes. In cross-over episodes with either Borst or De Goede, these artists often drew themselves in the panels, having their drawn versions interact with the photographed Ype. In 2014, a book collection of the 'Abe & Ype' strips was self-published. In addition, the 'Ype' series has spawned several spin-offs. For the popular science magazines New Scientist and Skepter, Driessen has made the feature 'Ype en Ionica' (2013- ), in which the artist uses his own scientific background for photo comics about science, mathematics and philosophy in collaboration with Dutch mathematician and science journalist Ionica Smeets. Between 2014 and 2018, Ype made a monthly comic about language trends, neologisms and youth language for magazine Onze Taal, a popular magazine on Dutch language.
'Ype en Ionica' (November 2023).
While his comics have been widely praised and embraced, on occasion Driessen has been confronted with conservatism and prejudice. For the release of his 2014 story collection 'Zonde', he had secured a book presentation with performances in the Sint-Willibrordus Church in Utrecht. However, shortly before the event there had been commotion surrounding a performance of the play 'De Uitvaart' in the church, so the Roman Catholic church community deemed the book presentation inappropriate. While all the preparations had been made, the church board cancelled the event only a few hours before the start. While this was understandably a setback, the entire situation did result in some additional media attention for Driessen and his book.
'Het Nadeel van de Twijfel'. While talking to the repair man, Driessen tries to be honest about his love life and job, despite suppressing the urge to lie about it.
(Graphic) novels
After years of making gag strips, Driessen created a longer narrative in the photo comic format. In 2020, his “photographic novel” 'Het Nadeel van de Twijfel' was published by Luitingh-Sijthoff. Working on his book for three years, Driessen delved even deeper into his persona, as he has to confront his many fears. When his boyfriend Nico asks him join him to a conference in the USA, Ype hesitates because he doesn't dare to fly. As Nico gives him time to think, Ype has to deal with what has been holding him back all his life, his fear of failing and being exposed. The book has also been translated into French (‘Un Petit Doute en Septembre’ at Éditions FLBLB, 2022) and English (‘The Last Gay Man on Earth’ at Street Noise, 2023).
After the release of 'Het Nadeel van de Twijfel', his publisher asked him if he wouldn't want to try and write a prose novel. Open for a challenge, Driessen accepted and wrote 'Vanilla' (Luitingh-Sijthoff, 2026), a semi-autobiographical story of Jip, a gay man who just moved to Amsterdam after a painful break-up. As he cannot boast of a rich sex life, Jip makes a pact with the mysterious Mefi: to overcome his heartbreak and discover who he is, he goes on twelve Grindr dates. As he didn't have to deal with photo imagery, the author had the freedom to more openly tackle topics like sex and drug use.
'De VrijMiBoys' (Eppo #12, 2013). The characters try to activate a powerpoint presentation in preparation for a lecture... about use of audiovisual media during company presentations.
Photo comic features
Often credited for "the rebirth of photo comics" in The Netherlands, Driessen's productions quickly expanded as his services were requested by all sorts of media. In addition to his own features, he has made photo comics by commission, often for an educational purpose. Besides for several Utrecht events and institutions, he notably made stories for the Dutch LGBTQ+ rights group COC Netherlands. In their magazine Expreszo, Driessen made a serial with the gay boy Tim and the lesbian girl Pleun (2007-2009), who live in the countryside and struggle with their coming out.
Between 2006 and 2013, he made the photo comic 'Goede Raad' for MR Magazine, a trade journal on education and participation. It featured the struggling members of the Participation Council of the Prinses Maxima School. Another commercial photo comic by Ype Driessen was 'Kantooreiland' (2008), following the ups and downs of four employees of consultancy firm Inter*com, published in Carp*, a free magazine for young professionals. More satirical was 'De VrijMiBoys' (2010-2012), starring GJ the man of ideas, Varun the IT nerd, and Justin the playboy. On their way to the top, they are confronted with problems that every entrepreneur will recognize. Between 2010 and 2012, their gags appeared on the website FD-Young Entrepreneur, hosted by the newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad. In 2013, the feature made a short-lived comeback in Eppo magazine. Further commercial clients have been Ad Valvas, SURFnet, TNO, Management Support and Trajectum.
'De Uitgeverij'. Peter the publisher laughs at the idea of a "plint gnome" as a comic character. When it turns out publishing company Le Lombard is interested, Peter suddenly offers 'Peer De Plintkabouter' creator Marq van Broekhoven a contract.
Among Driessen's other photo comics are several features related to pop culture. For Hitkrant, he made a series of hilarious photo comics about the rockband 'Only Seven Left' (2011-2012). In 2014 and 2015, his comic 'De Uitgeverij' appeared on the website of his publisher Strip2000, the company run by the late Peter van der Heijden, an enigmatic entrepreneur with a keen sense for promotion and self-mockery. In the strip, Van der Heijden is portrayed as an energetic manager with a Napoleon complex and an constant stream of ideas. With his co-workers, including Carolien van der Heijden and Kurt Morissens, he is confronted with diva behavior of their authors, the whims of the consumer and other ordeals. In 2015, Strip2000 released one book collection.
Since 2016, Driessen has appeared in Schokkend Nieuws, the bi-monthly magazine on horror, science fiction and fantasy films, with the comic 'De Laatste Videotheek'. Central feature in this strip is the final video rental store in the Netherlands, where the owners stubbornly cling to VHS and bravely stand their ground in the battle against digitalization. For another movie magazine, Preview, Driessen made the feature 'De Blockbusters' (2018-2020), starring movie fans Lae Schäfer and Hjalmar Kemperman.
In addition, since June 2014, Ype Driessen has been writing the more traditional weekly gag strip 'Zoo & Zo', about the staff and inhabitants of a zoo, which has been drawn by Abe Borst for the Kidsweek children's newspaper.
Photo comic by Ype Driessen promoting Margreet de Heer as Comic Creator Laureate of the Netherlands (2018). Set at Lambiek, the strip also features longtime Lambiek salesman Klaas Knol and a customer who use the term "Comic... of the Netherlands" for everybody and everything, making Driessen realize "the title appears to devaluate a little" and De Heer thinking she'll switch over to "Comic Creator Laureate of the Universe".
Contributions
On several occasions, photo comics by Driessen have appeared as illustrations in books. Besides the previously mentioned 'Papa Pinguïn' comics in the 'Sofie' books by Edward van de Vendel, he co-created a book about bullying with Floortje Zwigtman, 'Kijk naar Jezelf!' (2010), which appeared in the 'Kokkel' series for primary school children. Together with Willem Stam, he additionally appeared in photo comics segments in the book 'Iedereen Is Gek!' (De Fontein, 2015) by Jan Paul Schutten. In later years, Driessen has contributed photo comics to 'Het ABC van JP' (Luitingh-Sijthoff, 2023- ), a book series by Jan Peter Pellemans about language.
Over the years, he has additionally contributed to collective projects of the Utrecht artists' collective De Inkpot, including the publications 'Utrecht Centraal' (2009), 'De Dans van de Gezanten' (2013), 'De Halsdoek van Cunera' (2015) and 'Eerlijk Zullen We Alles Delen!' (2018). In 2020, Driessen joined 75 Dutch & Flemish comic artists to make a contribution to 'Striphelden versus Corona' (Oogachtend/Uitgeverij L, 2020), a free collective comic book intended to support comic stores that had to close their doors during the lockdown at the height of the COVID-19 virus pandemic.
Other activities
A big fan of British synth pop of the 1980s and 1990s, Driessen has been songwriter, co-composer and producer of the synth group Popdorian, which also consists of Botte Jellema and Kenne Peters. In 2014, the group released the album 'Benefits', followed in 2025 by 'Instrumental'. On the occasion of the release of Driessen's 2026 novel 'Vanilla', the group released a single of the same name. Since 2015, Driessen has been co-host of the podcast 'De Eeuw van de Amateur', together with journalist Botte Jellema and, on occasion, writer Paulien Cornelisse. In the show, the hosts discuss life questions with a variety of guests. Produced by Dag en Nacht Media, the show won the 2018 Dutch Podcast Award in the category " Journalism and Media".
Ype (right) with Abe (left). Translation: "What happens with your civilian service number after you die? Do they take it, or give it to somebody else?" - "There's only one way to find out!"