Bitterkomix #16, published in 2013

The striking cover art is by co-founder Conrad Botes ("CB 13" in the lower left), and it highlights a major shift in the historical and artistic trajectory of the publication.

The Subversion of Sacred National Monuments

Look closely at the tattoos scrawled across the chest of the whip-wielding figure on the cover. Right in the center is a crude depiction of the Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria, flanked by skulls, a bleeding heart, a cross, and the traditional Dutch/Afrikaner heraldic lion.

Historically, the Voortrekker Monument was the ultimate architectural symbol of Afrikaner nationalism and apartheid-era state ideology.

By placing it on a heavily tattooed, aggressive, skinhead-adjacent figure holding Death on a leash, Botes continues Bitterkomix’s long-standing, brutal deconstruction of Afrikaner myth-making, tying historical symbols of pride directly to violence, trauma, and moral decay.

A Paradigm Shift: From Banned to High Art

When Bitterkomix started in the early 1990s, it was an underground, cheap zine sold in alternative record shops, frequently targeted by the Directorate of Publications (the state censorship board) for obscenity.

By the time Issue #16 came out in 2013, a profound historical shift had occurred. Both Conrad Botes and Anton Kannemeyer had successfully crossed over from underground comic artists to internationally celebrated fine artists.

Botes’ cover art for this issue utilizes his signature reverse-glass painting and woodcut-influenced aesthetic—styles that were being exhibited in major contemporary art galleries globally (like the Michael Stevenson Gallery in Cape Town). Issue #16 stands as a testament to how Bitterkomix successfully elevated raw, offensive political cartooning into highly collectible, institutionalized contemporary South African art.

The Global "Bitterkomix" Era

Historically, the early 2010s marked a period where the creators began looking outward, contextualizing South Africa’s internal pathologies within a larger global framework. Notice that the cloaked skeletal figure of Death on the cover is holding a small map of the globe. This era of Bitterkomix moved beyond merely critiquing old Calvinist Afrikaner culture, expanding its razor-sharp focus to broader themes of post-colonial corruption, global capitalism, and universal human cruelty.

210mm x 297mm

Very slight edge wear.

R1,250