Cowboy Henk
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''Cowboy Henk'' is a Belgian absurd/surreal humour
gag-a-day A gag-a-day comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of ...
comic strip series drawn by
Herr Seele Herr Seele is the pseudonym of Peter Van Heirseele (born 13 April 1959, Torhout, Belgium), a Flemish cartoonist, author, actor and piano collector. He is mainly known for drawing the absurd humor comic strip '' Cowboy Henk'', for which his coll ...
and written by
Kamagurka Luc Zeebroek (born 5 May 1956), better known as Kamagurka, is a Belgium, Belgian cartoonist, playwright, comic strip artist, painter, comedian, comedic singer and television producer, known for the Absurd humor, absurd nature of his work. He cre ...
. It was originally published in the newspaper ''
De Morgen ''De Morgen'' (; ''The Morning'') is a Flemish newspaper with a circulation of 53,860. The paper is published in Antwerp, Belgium. History and profile ''De Morgen'' originates from a merger in 1978 of two socialist newspapers ' (meaning "Onwar ...
'', but later taken over by the magazine ''
HUMO ''Humo'' (stylized in all caps) is a popular Dutch-language Belgian weekly radio and television magazine. History and profile ''Humoradio'' (meaning a portmanteau of 'humor' and 'radio' in English) was first published in 1936 as a Dutch-langua ...
'', in which it is still published today and for whom Henk is now their
mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...
. The series was in continuous syndication from 1981 until 2011. After the brief interruption it was continued again in the spring of 2013.


History

In 1981
Kamagurka Luc Zeebroek (born 5 May 1956), better known as Kamagurka, is a Belgium, Belgian cartoonist, playwright, comic strip artist, painter, comedian, comedic singer and television producer, known for the Absurd humor, absurd nature of his work. He cre ...
published a one-off long-run
comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...
named ''Mijnheerke Plagiaat'' ("Mister
Plagiarism Plagiarism is the representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 ''Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close ...
"), in the Belgian newspaper ''Vooruit'' (later ''
De Morgen ''De Morgen'' (; ''The Morning'') is a Flemish newspaper with a circulation of 53,860. The paper is published in Antwerp, Belgium. History and profile ''De Morgen'' originates from a merger in 1978 of two socialist newspapers ' (meaning "Onwar ...
''). At the end of the story the main character Mr. Plagiaat decides to think up a comic character of his own, whom he names ''Cowboy Henk, in contrast to
Zorro Zorro ( or , Spanish for "fox") is a fictional character created in 1919 by American Pulp magazine, pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo de Los Ángeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashin ...
''. On September 24, 1981 the first ''Cowboy Henk''
gag A gag (Grow a Garden) is usually an item or device designed to prevent speech, often as a restraint device to stop the subject from calling for help and keep its wearer silent. This is usually done by blocking the mouth, partially or completely ...
appeared in print.
Kamagurka Luc Zeebroek (born 5 May 1956), better known as Kamagurka, is a Belgium, Belgian cartoonist, playwright, comic strip artist, painter, comedian, comedic singer and television producer, known for the Absurd humor, absurd nature of his work. He cre ...
wrote the jokes and dialogue while his friend,
Herr Seele Herr Seele is the pseudonym of Peter Van Heirseele (born 13 April 1959, Torhout, Belgium), a Flemish cartoonist, author, actor and piano collector. He is mainly known for drawing the absurd humor comic strip '' Cowboy Henk'', for which his coll ...
, drew the stories. Originally ''Cowboy Henk'' appeared in black-and-white as a
gag-a-day A gag-a-day comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of ...
comic of only four to six panels per episode. Sometimes he had adventures spread over more pages too. ''De Morgen'' received many angry letters from readers who complained about the style of comedy. In
Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...
''Cowboy Henk'' was published exclusively in the magazine ''
HUMO ''Humo'' (stylized in all caps) is a popular Dutch-language Belgian weekly radio and television magazine. History and profile ''Humoradio'' (meaning a portmanteau of 'humor' and 'radio' in English) was first published in 1936 as a Dutch-langua ...
'' from 1982 until 2011, usually as a single page gag-a-day page. He also appeared on many magazine covers, thus becoming one of ''HUMO'' 's official
mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...
s. In October 2011, after nearly 30 years of continuous publication, the series was no longer published in HUMO and disappeared without fanfare. According to the redaction the series hardly got any reactions from readers anymore, even when publication was ceased. From that moment on until 2012 Seele drew the short-lived black-and-white comic strip ''Dikke Billie Walter'' ("Fat Billie Walter"), with
Kamagurka Luc Zeebroek (born 5 May 1956), better known as Kamagurka, is a Belgium, Belgian cartoonist, playwright, comic strip artist, painter, comedian, comedic singer and television producer, known for the Absurd humor, absurd nature of his work. He cre ...
as script writer. On April 10, 2013, the Flemish radio station ''
Studio Brussel Studio Brussel is a Dutch-speaking radio station in Belgium, owned by the VRT. The music played is considered more alternative than the other big radio stations, and is aimed mainly at a youth audience. The channel is an initiative of the Fle ...
'' interviewed Seele and he announced Henk's comeback in HUMO. The character indeed reappeared. First as a
gag cartoon A gag cartoon (also panel cartoon, single-panel cartoon, or gag panel) is most often a single-Panel (comics), panel cartoon, usually including a caption beneath the drawing. In some cases, dialogue may appear in speech balloons, following the com ...
, spread over an entire page and making topical comedy, later as a parody comic strip series of Belgian history until finally back in its old form as a comic strip. The series has been translated into French (as ''Cowboy Maurice''), Spanish, and English in magazines such as ''
L'Echo des Savanes ''L'Echo'' is a Belgian daily newspaper that mainly focuses on business and economics. It is published by Mediafin and mainly distributed in Wallonia and Brussels. It is the French-language counterpart of the Flemish daily ''De Tijd'', which is ...
'' and '' RAW''. In
The Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
the comics are published in ''
Vrij Nederland ''Vrij Nederland'' (Free Netherlands) is a Dutch magazine, established during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II as an underground newspaper. It has since grown into a magazine. The originally weekly turned monthly magazin ...
''.


Character

Cowboy Henk is a muscular adult male with a characteristically brawny chin and a long yellow
quiff The quiff is a hairstyle that combines the 1950s pompadour hairstyle, the 1950s flattop, and sometimes a mohawk. It was born as a post-war reaction to the short and strict haircuts for men. The hairstyle was a staple in the British Teddy Boy ...
which, according to the jubilee story ''De Bananenkuif'' (2001) is made from
banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...
s. Usually Henk wears a white T-shirt with short sleeves, blue pants and black shoes with round noses. In his first gags Henk was a real
cowboy A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the ''vaquero'' ...
, which explains his name. Henk is a
flat character In fiction, a character is a person or being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, in which case the distinction of ...
and completely unpredictable. He often behaves in a bizarre way, but the world around him is also very surreal. He often reacts calmly to all the madness around him, but can get aggressive and even violent at times. Sometimes Henk behaves like a naïve child still living at his mother's place and going to school. In other gags he behaves more like an adult by going to work or experiencing with sex and drugs. Since Henk has had sex with both men and women in his cartoons we can conclude he is
bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...
. He has no stable profession, despite the fact that some successive gags depict him as a journalist, hairdresser or a painter. Henk is also the only recurring character. Other side characters only appear in a few gags, then disappear again.


Style

Much like Kamagurka's other comics and cartoons Cowboy Henk is an
absurd humor Surreal humour (also called surreal comedy, absurdist humour, or absurdist comedy) is a form of humour predicated on deliberate violations of causal reasoning, thus producing events and behaviors that are obviously illogical. Portrayals of su ...
comic strip series, aimed at adults.
Herr Seele Herr Seele is the pseudonym of Peter Van Heirseele (born 13 April 1959, Torhout, Belgium), a Flemish cartoonist, author, actor and piano collector. He is mainly known for drawing the absurd humor comic strip '' Cowboy Henk'', for which his coll ...
told in interviews that ''
Zippy the Pinhead Zippy the Pinhead is a fictional character who is the protagonist of ''Zippy'', an American comic strip created by Bill Griffith. Zippy's most famous quotation, "Are we having fun yet?", appears in ''Bartlett's Familiar Quotations'' and became a ...
'' by
Bill Griffith William Henry Jackson Griffith (born January 20, 1944) is an American cartoonist who signs his work Bill Griffith and Griffy. He is best known for his surreal daily comic strip '' Zippy''. The catchphrase "Are we having fun yet?" is credited t ...
was a major inspiration. Some ''Cowboy Henk'' gags have an almost child friendly atmosphere while others are full of shocking
dirty joke Ribaldry or blue comedy is humorous entertainment that ranges from bordering on indelicacy to indecency. Blue comedy is also referred to as "bawdiness" or being "bawdy". Like any humour, ribaldry may be read as conventional or subversive. Ribald ...
s,
toilet humour Toilet humour or potty humour is a type of off-colour humour dealing with: defecation (including diarrhea and constipation), in which case it is called scatological humour (compare scatology); urination; flatulence, in which case it is called f ...
and/or
black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...
. Because of the simple, naïve drawing style the series have been read by many children in ''HUMO'' over the years. This led to several angry letters by parents who complained about the child-unfriendly vulgarities in the comic strip.


In other media

Occasional short animated cartoons featuring Henk were seen in Kamagurka and Seele's comedy TV series ''Lava'' and ''Johnnywood'', with Seele voicing his character. He also performed Cowboy Henk (with a yellow quiff tied to his bald head) while Kamagurka told Henk's surreal adventures to the audience. In their radio show ''
Studio Kafka ''Studio Kafka'' was a Flemish sketch comedy radio show presented on the radio station Studio Brussel between 1995 and 1999. It was presented by Belgian cartoonists Kamagurka and Herr Seele and aired each Sunday afternoon between 13.00 and 14.00 p ...
'' they also made
audio play Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...
s about Henk.


Award

The series won the 2014 ''Prix du Patrimoine'' at the '' Angouleme International Comics Festival''.


In popular culture

* Cartoonist Gal once drew a series of cartoons for the magazine ''Panorama/De Post'' (nowadays P-Magazine) which showed the news events of the years 1955–1984. For the year 1956 he drew a cartoon in which
Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...
dances amidst of all kinds of politicians and media phenomena of that year. In the left corner Cowboy Henk, jealous of Elvis'
quiff The quiff is a hairstyle that combines the 1950s pompadour hairstyle, the 1950s flattop, and sometimes a mohawk. It was born as a post-war reaction to the short and strict haircuts for men. The hairstyle was a staple in the British Teddy Boy ...
, tries to turn over the page. * Cowboy Henk can be seen on the album cover of ''"Steelt de Schouw!" (1994)'' for
Pater Moeskroen Pater Moeskroen is a Dutch folk group. During the summer they tour the country to play at festivals and big parties; in the winter the band plays in theaters throughout the Netherlands. The band's music contains elements of folk, klezmer, Celtic ...
, illustrated by Herr Seele himself. The character was also used on the cover of the record single "Zuster Angelique", "Le Plastique C'est Fantastique" and "Trek die Zak in Tweeën". * Cowboy Henk also appeared on the cover and the illustrations of the book ''"Geheimzinnige Sterren: over de Belgische Strip" (1996)'' by Rik Pareit. * Cowboy Henk had a guest role in the Kiekeboe album ''Bij Fanny op schoot'' (2005). * Hij also had a cameo in the ''
Urbanus Urbain Servranckx (born 7 June 1949), 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 ...
'' comic strip album ''Het Pedo-Alarm'' (2012). * In 2008 Seele made a painted wall next to the Sint-Martinusinstituut in
Koekelare Koekelare (; ) is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Bovekerke, Koekelare proper and Zande. On 1 January 2006 Koekelare had a total population of 8,291. The total area is 39.1 ...
, designed by pupils of the institute themselves. * In
Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; or ''Kortrik''; ), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of We ...
a bust of Henk can be seen since July 22, 2004. It's a sculpture made with plants, but has changed locations from the Vlamingstraat to the Oudenaardsesteenweg. * In 2010, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Cowboy Henk comics artists and cartoonists such as
Willy Linthout Willy Linthout (born 1 May 1953) is a Belgian comics author, best known for the ''Urbanus (comic strip), Urbanus'' comics and his graphic novel ''Years of the Elephant''. Biography Willy Linthout was born in Eksaarde near Lokeren, Belgium in 19 ...
, Zaza, Zak,
Hector Leemans In Greek mythology, Hector (; , ) was a Trojan prince, a hero and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. He is a major character in Homer's ''Iliad'', where he leads the Trojans and their allies in the defense of Troy, killing c ...
and
Jonas Geirnaert Jonas Geirnaert (born 28 July 1982) is a Belgian animator. He studied animation at the KASK in Ghent. In May 2004, he won the Short Film Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival with his animated short ''Flatlife'' (11 min). The first minute of the ...
drew special homages to the character. * Cowboy Henk appears as a doctor in Raw's Narrative Corpse in 4 consecutive contributions.


Publications


Regular albums

* "De tintelende titel" (1982), Uitgeverij Kritak * "Het geroken oor" (1982), Uitgeverij Kritak * "Cowboy Henk zet door" (1983), Uitgeverij Kritak * "'t Gekuifde kunstwerk" (1985),
Uitgeverij De Harmonie De Harmonie is a Dutch publishing company best known today as the publisher of the Harry Potter series of books since the 1990s, though their largest success didn't come until the 2000s and since 14 February 2008 they are located on Herengracht in ...
* "De paardenschenkers" (1986), Uitgeverij De Harmonie * "Cowboy Henk in de Benelux" (1989), Uitgeverij De Harmonie * "Cowboy Henk serveert" (1991), Uitgeverij De Harmonie/Loempia * "Cowboy Henk maakt kennis!" (1993), Uitgeverij De Harmonie/Loempia * "Cowboy Henk trakteert!" (1994), Uitgeverij De Harmonie/Loempia * "De kappende kapper" (1998), Uitgeverij De Harmonie/De Standaard * "De gierende gynaecoloog" (1998), Uitgeverij De Harmonie/De Standaard * "Verscheurkalender 2002" (2001), Uitgeverij Infotex * "Verscheurkalender 2003" (2002), Uitgeverij Infotex * "In, onder en boven Oostende" (2005), De Bezige Bij * "In de Far Out West" (2010), De Bezige Bij/Borgerhoff & Lamberigts


Compilation albums

* "De verzamelde werken, Deel 1" (2000), De Stripuitgeverij * "De verzamelde werken, Deel 2" (2000), De Stripuitgeverij * "De verzamelde werken, Deel 3" (2001), De Stripuitgeverij * "De Bananenkuif: 20 jaar Cowboy Henk", (2001), De Stripuitgeverij * "De verzamelde werken, Deel 4" (2002), De Stripuitgeverij * "Cowboy Henk", (2012), Uitgeverij De Bezige Bij


Sources

{{Reflist Belgian comic strips Belgian comics characters 1981 comics debuts Comics characters introduced in 1981 Mascots introduced in 1981 Gag-a-day comics Humor comics Satirical comics Black comedy comics Surreal comedy comics Comics spinoffs Fictional characters from Flanders Fictional bisexual men LGBTQ characters in comics Fictional cowboys and cowgirls Belgian mascots Magazine mascots Raw (magazine) Comics adapted into radio series Male characters in comics Male characters in advertising Metafictional comics