Willy Linthout (born 1 May 1953) is a Belgian comics author, best known for the Urbanus comics and his graphic novel Years of the Elephant .
Willy Linthout (born 1 May 1953) is a Belgian comics author, best known for the Urbanus comics and his graphic novel Years of the Elephant .
Willy Linthout was born in Eksaarde near Lokeren, Belgium in 1953. He was a mechanic [1] and a comics collector when he made his first comic book. Linthout had the idea of creating a comic strip whose main character would be based on the comedian Urbanus. [2] Through publisher Jef Meert, a meeting at Urbanus' house was arranged. The comedian liked Linthout's idea, as well as the drawings. [1] Linthout made the first two albums of Urbanus alone. [1] The first album, which appeared in 1983, sold 50,000 copies right away, [1] and Urbanus became one of the most popular Flemish comic strips. So far, 135 albums have appeared. The series is noted for its black comedy and satire. [3]
Linthout also collaborates on the popular Kiekeboe comic strip of Merho, and has created together with Luc Cromheecke the series Roboboy .
In 2007, after the suicide of his son, [4] he wrote and drew the graphic novel Jaren van de Olifant ( Years of the Elephant ), which was nominated for a number of international awards and won the Bronzen Adhemar, the most important Flemish comics award.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
The Adventures of Nero or Nero was a Belgian comic strip drawn by Marc Sleen and the name of its main character. The original title ranged from De Avonturen van Detectief Van Zwam in 1947 to De Avonturen van Nero en zijn Hoed in 1950, and finally De Avonturen van Nero & Co from 1951. It ran in continuous syndication until 2002. From 1947 until 1993 it was all drawn by Sleen himself. From 1992 until 2002 Dirk Stallaert took over the drawing while Sleen kept inventing the stories.
Marcel Honoree Nestor (ridder) Neels, known as Marc Sleen, was a Belgian cartoonist. He was mostly known for his comic The Adventures of Nero and Co., but also created gag comics like Piet Fluwijn en Bolleke, De Lustige Kapoentjes, Doris Dobbel, Oktaaf Keunink and De Ronde van Frankrijk.
Willy Vandersteen was a Belgian creator of comic books. In a career spanning 50 years, he created a large studio and published more than 1,000 comic albums in over 25 series, selling more than 200 million copies worldwide.
Urbain Servranckx, better known as Urbanus, is a Belgian comedian, actor, singer and comic book writer. Although he is most famous as comedian, some of his songs became hits, such as Bakske vol met stro (1979), Madammen met een bontjas (1980) and Hittentit (1982). In Flanders and the Netherlands Urbanus is one of the most popular and famous entertainers of all time.
The Bronzen Adhemar is the official Flemish Community Cultural Prize for Comics, given to a Flemish comics author for his body of work. It is awarded by the Flemish Ministry of Culture during Strip Turnhout, the major Flemish comics festival, once every two years.
Arthur Berckmans, better known as Berck, was a Belgian comics author, best known for Sammy.
Luc Cromheecke, is a Belgian comics artist best known for the comic series Tom Carbon, Taco Zip, Roboboy and Plunk.
Merho, is a Belgian comic-book writer and artist, best known for creating the comic strip De Kiekeboes.
Jozef Van Hove, better known as Pom, was a Belgian comics writer and artist, mainly known for the humorous-satirical adventure comic strip Piet Pienter en Bert Bibber published in Gazet van Antwerpen. Pom was one of the best known Flemish comics authors of the 1950s. Between 1955 and 1995, 45 comic books were published of his newspaper comic strip. In 2010, a new album of Piet Pienter en Bert Bibber was created by Tom Bouden, with the collaboration of Luc Cromheecke, Dirk Stallaert, Steven Dupré, Martin Lodewijk, Marc Verhaegen, Willy Linthout, Jean-Pol, Steve Van Bael, Kim, Michael Vincent, Wim Swerts, Marc Legendre, Charel Cambré and Hec Leemans.
Notable events of 1945 in comics. See also List of years in comics.
Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker, though since 2007, his son Boris Kousemaker is the current owner. From 1968 to 2015, it was located in the Kerkstraat, but in November 2015, the store moved to the Koningsstraat 27. As of 2018, Lambiek is the oldest comics store in Europe, and the oldest worldwide still in existence.
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.
Adhemar is a Flemish comic book character. He is the son of Nero in the eponymous Belgian comic strip series The Adventures of Nero by Marc Sleen and one of the main protagonists. He is a child prodigy who is both a professor as well as an inventor. His full title is doctor professor Adhemar. He is easily recognizable due to his mortarboard and tuxedo.
Piet Fluwijn en Bolleke was a Belgian gag-a-day comic strip series drawn by Marc Sleen from 1944 until 1965. It was continued by artists Hurey and Jean-Pol until 1974.
De Lustige Kapoentjes was a long-running Flemish comic book series, which existed under different titles and was drawn by different artists, among whom Marc Sleen and Willy Vandersteen are the most well known. The series was published in 't Kapoentje, the youth supplement of Het Volk, and in Ons Volkske, the youth supplement of De Standaard. They were the mascots of 't Kapoentje from 1947 until the magazine's demise in 1985.
Suske en Wiske Weekblad was a Belgian comics magazine which debuted in September 15, 1993 and ran in weekly syndication until December 24, 2003. It was based on the popularity of Suske en Wiske and notable for being the last attempt in Flanders to release a new comic book magazine.
Urbanus was a Flemish celebrity comic strip created by Willy Linthout and loosely based on Flemish comedian and singer Urbanus. The stories were written by Willy Linthout, Urbanus and Ann Smets, and drawn by Linthout. The first story was published in 1982 and was such a success that Urbanus ran for more than 40 years, becoming the longest-running and most successful Flemish comic strip based on a celebrity. It is also the longest-running celebrity comic in the world made by the same writer/artist team. The series sells well in the Netherlands too, due to Urbanus' popularity there.
Celebrity comics are comics based on the fame and popularity of a celebrity. They are a byproduct of merchandising around a certain media star or franchise and have existed since the mass media and comics came into existence in the 19th century. Celebrity comics are usually not held in high esteem by critics, because of their purely commercial nature. They are solely created to capitalize on media trends and therefore published so quickly and cheaply that drawings and narratives tend to be of very low quality.
Notable events of 2022 in comics. See also List of years in comics.
Years of the Elephant is a Flemish graphic novel by Willy Linthout. Linthout was awarded the 2009 Bronzen Adhemar for this work.
