Tom Poes was a talking animal comic, published in text comics format. The main protagonists are Tom Poes, a white anthropomorphiccat, and his best friend, the bear lord Oliver B. Bumble (Olivier B. Bommel in Dutch). The series is sometimes referred to as the Bommelsaga as well. Toonder received many awards and honorary distinctions for both his illustrations and literary output. In the NetherlandsTom Poes became regarded as a work of literature.[1]
Origins
Marten Toonder with Oliver B. Bumble
In 1931 Marten Toonder was in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he met Jim Davis, a former assistant of Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer, creators of Felix the Cat, who taught him some lessons in drawing comics.[2]
On March 16, 1941, the first Tom Poes comic, Het Geheim der Blauwe Aarde ("The Secret of the Blue Earth") was published in the newspaper De Telegraaf, written and drawn by Toonder, replacing the Mickey Mouse comic in 1941. Tom Poes himself was already created in July 1939.[3]
The name of the character is a pun on the Dutch pastry "tompouce" and was thought up by Toonder's wife, Phiny Dick. On December 18 of that same year the series was published in the two-weekly Czech magazine Punta.[4] After the war the stories were published in NRC Handelsblad, De Volkskrant, Ons Vrij Nederland, Revue and Donald Duck. In daily newspapers Tom Poes was published as a text comic, like most Dutch comics at the time. In the weekly magazines it was published in balloon format.
Tom Poes features many anthropomorphic characters who are satirical representations of animal stereotypes, though some human characters like gnomes and wizards exist too. The series is set in a fantasy world of an undetermined age. Some elements are modern, like cars and television sets, others are more reminiscent of older centuries.[1]
Tom Poes was originally a children's comic, but as the stories progressed they aimed at a more adult audience by introducing satirical elements and eccentric use of language.[1] Several of Toonder's words and expressions became neologisms in the Dutch language. In 1954 Toonder became member of the Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde ("Society of Dutch literature") [1] and by the time the story De Bovenbazen (The Upper Bosses) was published he was regarded as a creator of genuine quality literature.[5]Tom Poes is still the only comic strip in the Netherlands to have gained such a reputation among the intelligentsia.[citation needed]
The success of the series spread to many merchandising products, including theatrical plays [1] and a comics magazine.[1] Toonder founded his own studio and collected several talented artists to assist him with the drawing of Tom Poes, while he still wrote the stories. Among these were Lo Hartog van Banda, Piet Wijn and Dick Matena.[6] From the time Toonder settled down in Ireland in 1965 to the end of Tom Poes in 1986, Toonder reportedly drew Tom Poes almost singlehandedly, having grown weary of running a large studio.[7]
Tom Puss: A young white cat. He is clever, brave and remains calm in all circumstances. He frequently throws in a critical "Hm!" during conversations with his noble friend.
Oliver B. Bumble: A brown bear who is a lord who lives in a castle. Olivier often brags about himself, but in reality he is not very bright and panics whenever actual work has to be done or danger is about. Several of his catch phrases have entered the Dutch language, such as "Als je begrijpt wat ik bedoel" ("If you gather my meaning"), "Een eenvoudige, doch voedzame maaltijd" ("A simple, yet nourishing meal") and "Verzin toch een list!" ("Think up a ploy!")
Supporting characters
Dutch names.
Joost: A white Labrador who serves as Bommel's loyal butler. His catchphrases are: "Met uw welnemen" ("If you allow me") and: "Het is allemaal zeer betreurenswaardig" ("It's all very regrettable"). In several adventures, he quits, but at the end of every adventure he is back at his post, serving dinner.
Annemarie Doddeltje: A small cat who is Bommel's girlfriend and in full awe and concern about him. They marry in the final story.
Querulijn Xaverius Marquis de Canteclaer van Barneveldt: A rooster who is Bommel's neighbour. He is a marquis who often uses French and Latin expressions and writes poems. De Canteclaer is very vain and looks down on all his fellow men, especially on Bommel whom he regards as below his league, and not belonging to the nobility like him. His name is a reference to Chanticleer and to Barneveld, a Dutch town famous for its poultry.
Wammes Waggel: A naïve goose who can't take a thing seriously and just enjoys life as he goes along. He never understands what is going on around him, despite how serious the matter often is. His catchphrase is "Hihi, wat enigjes" ("Teehee, how nicely")
Officer Bulle Bas: A bull dog who is head of the police. He is prone to aggression and very suspicious. Usually he tries to arrest Bommel and others even though he hardly has any evidence. "Altijd dezelfde" ("Always the same person") and "Wat is je naam, Bommel?" ("What is your name, Bommel?") are some of his standard phrases.
Brigadier Snuf: A dog who is the right hand of Officer Bulle Bas.
Bul Super and Hiep Hieper: Two dogs who are crooks. Bul is a bull dog who acts as the boss of the duo. Hieper is a smaller white dog who admires his boss, but is often too panicky to actually take initiative himself.
Mayor Dirk Dickerdack: A hippopotamus who is mayor of Rommeldam, the characters' home town. He is more concerned about his town than individuals and considers himself above the law.
Dorknoper: A hamster who works as a civil servant for Mayor Dickerdack. He is very punctual and always wants to do everything according to local law.
Professor Zbygniew Prlwytzkofsky: One of the few recurring human characters. He is a professor with a long beard who often mixes Dutch and German words in his speech. "Praw! Der hemeldonderweder!" are words that come from his mouth.
Doctorandus Alexander Pieps: A mouse who serves as Prlwytzkofsky's assistant. He often sighs that he'd rather have studied for a different job.
Captain Wal Rus: A walrus who is a sea captain. He looks down upon everyone who isn't a sailor like him and calls them "overgehaalde landrotten" ("distorted land lubbers"). He always mispronounces Bommel's name.
Professor Dr. Joachim Sickbock: A goat who is one of the major antagonists. He is a mad scientist.
Terpen Tijn: One of the few recurring human characters. He is an egotistical painter who uses esoteric language to describe the magic of his art as "subtle vibrations" (Dutch: fijne trillingen), criticizing the rude materialist views of mr. Bumble, which does not prevent him from accepting his money and meals.
Amos W. Steinhacker: A frog who is a money obsessed businessman who prefers to be addressed using his initials AWS ("Don’t call me Steinhacker! I’m not a poor schmuck!")
Steenbreek: A dog who serves as Steinhacker's secretary.
Garmt Grootgrut: A sheep who serves as the local grocer. Whenever something happens to his shop he complains how "hardworking shopkeepers are always the victim." His name became an eponym in the Dutch language: "grootgrutter", used for big store owners.
Drs. Okke Zielknijper: A llama who works as a psychiatrist, patronizing his patients using social worker gibberish ("I often saw this in my practice") or having them locked up in a padded cell by his gorilla assistant.
O. Fanth Mzn: An elephant who serves as publisher and chief editor of the local newspaper.
Argus: A sensation seeking rat who works as a journalist for O. Fanth Mzn. He is a cousin of Alexander Pieps.
Kwetal: A gnome. His Dutch name can be read als "'k Weet al" (= "I know everything") - but he is a very modest person. In the adventures, it becomes clear that he really knows a lot, but he uses terms and expressions that are not used in the scientific world, and part of his knowledge is about ancient forces and mysteries. He admires modern inventions, but sometimes does not clearly understand why they are useful.
Pee Pastinakel: Another gnome. He is the gardener of the woods. He is equipped with some form of synaesthesia, as in observing: "This smells red!" in a dangerous situation.
Hocus P. Pas: An evil wizard who is one of the few human characters in the series. He is accompanied by (and can transform himself into) a crow-like bird. He curses his opponents using names of ancient demons: "By Zazel and Iod! Serpents on your path!" He is always on the search for extension of his life by extracting life energy from his victims, using black magic.
Pastuiven Verkwil: A rat who works as a button salesman. He often tries to start a fight for matters he presumes to be injustice, including his own small height.
Joris Goedbloed: A sly fox who is a con-artist. He is also a recurring character in Toonder's other series Panda.
Zedekia Zwederkoorn: A rat who is a lawyer or rather a bibacious pettifogger.
Zwarte Zwadderneel: a preacher obsessed with sin and atonement.
On July 12, 2002, a six-meter public monument was built in Rotterdam, honoring several characters from the franchise.[6] It was designed by D.J. Chantelle, Pepijn van den Nieuwendijk, Hans van Bentem and Luuk Bode.[9]
Seduction of the Innocent is a book by German-born American psychiatrist Fredric Wertham, published in 1954, that warned that comic books were a negative form of popular literature and a serious cause of juvenile delinquency. The book was taken seriously at the time in the United States, and was a minor bestseller that created alarm in American parents and galvanized them to campaign for censorship. At the same time, a U.S. Congressional inquiry was launched into the comic book industry. Subsequent to the publication of Seduction of the Innocent, the Comics Code Authority was voluntarily established by publishers to self-censor their titles. In the decades since the book's publication, Wertham's research has been disputed by scholars.
Marten Toonder was a Dutch comic strip creator, born in Rotterdam. He was probably the most successful comic artist in the Netherlands and had a great influence on the Dutch language by introducing new words and expressions. He is most famous for his series Tom Puss and Panda.
Joost Swarte is a Dutch cartoonist and graphic designer. He is best known for his ligne claire or clear line style of drawing, a term he coined.
Oliver B. Bumble is a fictional anthropomorphic bear, one of the two main characters in a Dutch comic book series written by Marten Toonder. The other is Tom Puss, and the comic book bears the name of either of these characters.
Rogues of Clwyd-Rhan is a webcomic by Reinder Dijkhuis. It was started in 1991 as a small-press comic in Dutch, entitled De Rovers van Clwyd-Rhan. It had an online incarnation in Dutch from November 1994 to August 1996, making it one of the first webcomics, and one of the oldest still updating. However, no further storylines were published on the web until July 2000, when the language switched to English, and new material began running. In September 2021 Dijkhuis began a Danish language translation of selected storylines under the title Det bedste fra røverne fra Clwyd-Rhan.
Pieter Cornelis Wijn was a prolific Dutch comics creator.
Notable events of 1944 in comics.
Lodewijk Hartog van Banda was a Dutch comics writer.
Dutch comics are comics made in the Netherlands. In Dutch the most common designation for the whole art form is "strip", whereas the word "comic" is used for the (usually) soft cover American style comic book format and its derivatives, typically containing translated US superhero material. This use in colloquial Dutch of the adopted English word for that format can cause confusion in English language texts.
Notable events of 1941 in comics.
Notable events of 1947 in comics.
The Dragon That Wasn't is a 1983 Dutch film written and directed by Harrie Geelen, Bjørn Frank Jensen and Bert Kroon. Based on the comic strip Tom Poes, created by Marten Toonder, this was the first animated feature produced in the Netherlands.
Frans Jozef Theo Rutten was a Dutch politician and minister for the Catholic People's Party.
Dick Matena is a Dutch comics writer and cartoonist. He has also published under the pseudonyms A. den Dooier, John Kelly and Dick Richards. He has made several kinds of comics, from humor comics to erotic comics, but is best known for his comic book adaptations of famous literary novels.
Kapitein Rob was a Dutch adventure comic strip, created and drawn by Pieter Kuhn and written by journalist Evert Werkman. The series ran from December 11, 1945 until January 21, 1966. Together with Marten Toonder's Tom Poes and Hans G. Kresse's Eric de Noorman it is considered to be among the Big Three in the history of Dutch comics.
Panda was a Dutch comic strip series, created by Marten Toonder. After Tom Poes it was his second most successful and well known comic strip and very popular in foreign translations. It debuted in 1946 and ran until 1991.
Text comics or a text comic is a form of comics where the stories are told in captions below the images and without the use of speech balloons. It is the oldest form of comics and was especially dominant in European comics from the 19th century until the 1950s, after which it gradually lost popularity in favor of comics with speech balloons.
Carol Willem Voges was a Dutch illustrator and cartoonist.
Henrieke Goorhuis is a Dutch cartoonist and illustrator. She is known for illustrating Het lastpak, a story featuring the characters Oliver B. Bumble and Tom Puss.
Afine Kornélie Dik, better known as Phiny Dick was a Dutch illustrator and writer of children's books and comics. She was the wife of Marten Toonder from 1935 until her death.
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