''Cori, de Scheepsjongen'' ("Cori, the

cabin boy A cabin boy or ship's boy is a boy or young man who waits on the officers and passengers of a ship, especially running errands for the captain. The modern merchant navy successor to the cabin boy is the steward's assistant. Duties Cabin boys ...

"/ "Cori Le Moussaillon" in French) was a Belgian comics series (1951–1993) by

Bob de Moor Robert Frans Marie De Moor (20 December 1925 – 26 August 1992), better known under his pen name Bob de Moor, was a Belgian comics creator. Chiefly noted as an artist, he is considered an early master of the Ligne claire style. He wrote and ...

. It is a historical adventure strip set in the 16th century, drawn in a realistic style with much attention to detail. It is often regarded as De Moor's

magnum opus A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, skill, profundity, or workmanship. Historically, ...

Concept

Ever since his youth

was fascinated by

ship transport Maritime transport (or ocean transport) or more generally waterborne transport, is the transport of people (passengers or goods (cargo) via waterways. Freight transport by watercraft has been widely used throughout recorded history, as it provi ...

, which echoed back in his later comic strips. An early predecessor of the series was "Bart de Scheepsjongen" (1945) ("Bart the Cabin Boy"), which he drew for "De Kleine Zondagsvriend". In 1950 Lombard Editions approached him to draw a comic series that would appeal to the Flemish and Dutch readers. De Moor created a series set in the 16th century during the background of the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt (; 1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish Empire, Spanish government. The Origins of the Eighty Years' War, causes of the w ...

between the Netherlands and Spain. The

orphan An orphan is a child whose parents have died, are unknown, or have permanently abandoned them. It can also refer to a child who has lost only one parent, as the Hebrew language, Hebrew translation, for example, is "fatherless". In some languages ...

child Cori is kidnapped by pirates, but later saved by the

Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States General of the Neth ...

. He is adopted by commander Harm Janszoon and joins them as a

and travels along during their exploration of South-East Asia, Africa, America and the Arctic. He gets involved in sea battles against pirates and the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (often known as Invincible Armada, or the Enterprise of England, ) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by Alonso de Guzmán, Duke of Medina Sidonia, an aristocrat without previous naval ...

, among other endeavours. He also meets real-life historical characters

Piet Heyn Piet Pieterszoon Hein (25 November 1577 – 18 June 1629) was a Dutch admiral and privateer for the Dutch Republic during the Eighty Years' War. Hein was the first and the last to capture a large part of a Spanish treasure fleet which tra ...

, Pieter van der Does,

Joris van Spilbergen Joris van Spilbergen (1 November 1568 in Antwerp – 13 January 1620 in Bergen op Zoom) was a Dutch naval officer. His first major expedition was in 1596, when he sailed to Africa. He then left for Asia on 5 May 1601, from Veere, a seapor ...

Willem Janszoon Willem Janszoon (; ) was a Dutch navigator and colonial governor. He served in the Dutch East Indies in the periods 1603–1611 and 1612–1616, including as governor of Fort Henricus on the island of Solor. During his voyage of 1605–1606 ...

and

Willem Barents Willem Barentsz (; – 20 June 1597), anglicized as William Barents or Barentz, was a Dutch navigator, cartographer, and Arctic explorer. Barentsz went on three expeditions to the far north in search for a Northeast passage. He reached as far ...

. Later stories are set at the start of the 17th century, despite Cori not aging much. The first story was serialized in the magazine

Tintin Tintin usually refers to: * ''The Adventures of Tintin'', the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé ** Tintin (character), the protagonist and titular character of the series Tintin or Tin Tin may also refer to: Material related to ''The A ...

between 1951 and 1952. Since most of De Moor's time was taken up by his work for

Hergé Georges Prosper Remi (; 22 May 1907 – 3 March 1983), known by the pen name Hergé ( ; ), from the French pronunciation of his reversed initials ''RG'', was a Belgian comic strip artist. He is best known for creating ''The Adventures of T ...

's studio he was largely unable to find time to draw his own stories until Hergé's death in 1983. De Moor was aided by his assistant Geert de Sutter. When he died four albums were available. His son Johan de Moor finished the fifth and final story that his father had been working on.

Albums

The entire series counts five albums. Six, if you count "Koers naar het Goud", which was a redrawn and colorized update of the first black-and-white story "Onder De Vlag van de Compagnie" ("Underneath The ast IndiesCompany's Flag"). In 1974 this rare and original black-and-white story was made published in limited availability by the comics magazine ''CISO'' . * 1) "De onoverwinnelijke Armada deel 1: de Spionnen van de Koningin" ("The uninvicible Armada part 1: the queen's spies") * 2) "De onoverwinnelijke Armada deel 2: de Zeedraak" ("The uninvicible Armada part 2: the Sea Dragon") * 3) "Koers naar het Goud" ("Setting sail to the gold") * 4) "De Gedoemde Reis" ("The Doomed Voyage") * 5) "Dali Capitain" ("Dali Capitain")

Awards

The fourth "Cori" story "De Gedoemde Reis" won the Youth Prize at the Comics Festival of Angoulême, France, in 1988.

In popular culture

In the Belgian Comic Strip Center in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

the permanent exhibition brings homage to the pioneers of

Belgian comics Belgian comics are a distinct subgroup in the comics history, and played a major role in the development of European comics, alongside France with whom they share a long common history. While the comics in the two major language groups and r ...

, among them Bob de Moor. In the room dedicated to his work the backgrounds are based on a 16th-century ship, much like in "Cori". In September 1998, as part of the Brussels' Comic Book Route, a special wall was dedicated to "Cori, de Scheepsjongen" in the Rue des Fabriques / Fabriekstraat in

.http://visitbrussels.be/bitc/BE_nl/monument/6654/cori-de-scheepsjongen-stripmuur.do

Sources

{{Reflist, 30em Belgian comic strips Belgian comics titles 1951 comics debuts 1993 comics endings Adventure comics Nautical comics Drama comics Comics set in the 16th century Comics set in the 17th century Belgian comics characters Comics about children Comics about orphans Child characters in comics Male characters in comics Fictional sailors Fictional characters from Flanders Fictional orphans Pirate comics Lombard Editions titles Comics by Bob de Moor Works set in Flanders Comics set in Belgium Comics set in the Netherlands Comics characters introduced in 1951