"Secret 1948"

This deluxe edition of the popular series includes the 48-page color album and an additional 48 pages of Henk's background and development material with lots of studies, prelims, photos, and extra art.

Text in Dutch.

One of 2000 numbered copies signed by the artist

The Rotterdam Maritime Museum, Amsterdam Centraal Train Station, Koopgoot, Casa de Colón, and experimental Nazi submarines and VTOL planes, all make appearances in this volume.

From the publisher:

Franka reluctantly undertakes to shadow a woman in love in order to obtain proof that she will hand over artifacts from the Maritime Museum in Rotterdam to her lover. Easy work for a skilled private detective, and Franka is soon able to alert the police that they can catch the woman red-handed at the romantic Hotel New York in the city.

But Franka is sloppy and loses focus, because she sees herself reflected in the young woman's love-craze and is depressed over her own failed love affairs. That's why she doesn't notice a black Audi with a blazingly angry woman who arrives at the hotel - and she has to realize that nothing is as it seems.

Soon the red-haired detective finds herself on a plane to Gran Canaria on the trail of a Dutch gunpowder maker in 1599 and a glamorous American woman in 1948 – and gets wind of a Nazi secret from World War II...

A review from destripfabriek.blogspot.com

In Geheim 1948 we see Franka as we have known her for years. She gets more or less accidentally entangled in an adventure that she finds too beautiful to pass up. It is not easy to explain how someone can have so much bad luck (or luck, it depends on how you look at it), but as readers we just have to be happy with it!

If you consider how many years the Franka comic has been around, it is actually difficult to comprehend that only 23 parts have been published. A glance inside the books of this popular series, however, and you know why. Henk Kuijpers is a true professional who pays a lot of attention to the research for his stories, and who incorporates dizzying detail into his drawings. Every time you open a new Franka book you know that you can expect it again. Sometimes, however, these details get a little in the way of the story. This is especially the case when Kuijpers makes a new book that is linked to the past. And so in this story there are again several pages where you almost have the idea of reading the Encyclopedia Britannica.

But oh well, what am I complaining about? Franka has been one of my favorite comics for years and Kuijpers' craftsmanship is indisputable.

Geheim 1948 is another beautiful volume that shows why Kuijpers has been at the top for so long. It is the first part of a diptych that certainly has you looking forward to the final part.