‘We were trying to aggravate everybody with Bitterkomix’: The Anton Kannemeyer Interview

Interviews Robert Aman | August 26, 2026 Editor's note: Anton Kannemeyer's body of work contains depictions of child abuse and satiric explicit depictions of racism not suitable for view without context. Thanks to Robert Aman for the thorough introduction to Kannemeyer's art provided below, and thank you for reading. Self-portrait by Kannemeyer Anton Kannemeyer is a South African cartoonist and artist. He is best known as one half of the alternative comics magazine Bitterkomix, which he has published with Conrad Botes since 1992, often under their respective pseudonyms Joe Dog (Kannemeyer) and Konradski (Botes). The year is symbolically significant. The first issue of Bitterkomix was published before apartheid was replaced by democratic elections in South Africa. This historical turning point also shapes the content of the comics. Kannemeyer grew up in a divided country where violence lurked in every corner. Apartheid was a wall that concealed a world of possibilities. On one side of the fence, people were subjected to oppression, persecution, and death. Hope for the future was as narrow as the slit of a mail slot. Yet the system also isolated and diminished the lives of those who ...