Merho (born ''Robert Merhottein''; 24 October 1948), is a Belgian comic-book writer and artist, best known for creating the comic strip ''

De Kiekeboes ''De Kiekeboes'' is a comics, comic series created by Belgium, Belgian artist Merho in 1977. The series appears in Dutch language, Dutch. It is first published in the newspapers and ''Het Belang van Limburg'' and then published as comic books by ...

''.

Early life

Robert Merhottein was born in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, Belgium in 1948.De Weyer, Geert (2005). "Merho". In België gestript, pp. 140–141. Tielt: Lannoo. As a child, he already loved the comics by Marc Sleen and

Willy Vandersteen Willebrord Jan Frans Maria "Willy" Vandersteen (15 February 1913 – 28 August 1990) 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, sel ...

, and wanted to become a comics artist when he grew up. He studied at the Sint-Lukas Art School 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 ...

in the 1960s.

Career

Merho's first two comics, ''Comi en Dakske'' and ''Zoz and Zef'', were made when he is only a teenager. Afterwards, he worked for five years as an assistant on ''

Jerom Jerom is a Flemish comic book character and one of the main cast members in the Belgian comic strip, ''Spike and Suzy, Suske en Wiske'' by Willy Vandersteen. He is the series' strongman (strength athlete), strongman and well known for his physical ...

'' and ''Pats'' with Studio Vandersteen, but then started his own series, ''Kiekeboe'', in the newspaper ''

Het Laatste Nieuws (''HLN''; ; in English ''The Latest News'') is a Dutch-language newspaper based in Antwerp, Belgium. It was founded by Julius Hoste Sr. on 7 June 1888. It is now part of DPG Media, and is the most popular newspaper in Flanders and Belgium. H ...

''. Contrary to the other major Flemish newspapers like ''

De Standaard (, ) is a Flemish daily newspaper published in Belgium by Mediahuis (formerly Corelio and VUM). It was traditionally a Christian-Democratic paper, associated with the Christian-Democratic and Flemish Party, and in opposition to the Sociali ...

''/''

Het Nieuwsblad (; ) is a Flemish newspaper that mainly focusses on "a broad view" regarding politics, culture, economics, lifestyle, society and sports. History and profile In 1929, was published by for the first time. In 1939, the sports paper ''Spo ...

'' (with '' Spike and Suzy'') and '' Het Volk'' (with ''

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...

''), ''Het Laatste Nieuws'' had no local, Flemish comic strip but only published Dutch comics by

Marten Toonder Marten Toonder (2 May 1912 – 27 July 2005) was a Dutch comic strip creator. 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 ...

or Hans G. Kresse, which left an opportunity for Merho. ''Kiekeboe'' is a typical Flemish comic, about a normal family which unwillingly gets into all kinds of adventures. Filled with humour (mostly puns and misunderstandings), adventure, movie references, and some slight eroticism with the promiscuous teenage daughter Fanny, the comic became an instant success. The first story was serialized in the newspaper starting on 15 February 1977 and continues almost uninterrupted, although the comic has switched from ''Het Laatste Nieuws'' to ''Gazet van Antwerpen''. With more than 100 albums, the Kiekeboe series is one of the three most successful Flemish comics and sells over 100,000 copies with each new album and 1 million albums per year in total. The series does not have any success abroad, with only a short-lived French, German and English translation, and an unsuccessful rebranding for the Dutch market.

Bibliography

Awards and honours

*1983: Bronzen Adhemar,

Turnhout Turnhout () is a Belgium, Belgian Municipalities in Belgium, municipality and city located in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of Antwerp (province), Antwerp. The municipality comprises only the city of Turnhout proper. ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

*1991: Award for Best Flemish Comic of the Flemish chamber of Comics Experts *2000: Stamp with ''Kiekeboe'' issued by the Belgian Post *2002: Honorary citizen of

Zoersel Zoersel () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the towns of , , and Zoersel proper. In 2021, Zoersel had a total population of 22,142. The total area is 38.65 km2. Sports The women's A s ...

, Belgium

Notes

Sources

* Matla, Hans: "Stripkatalogus 9: De negende dimensie". Panda, Den Haag, 1998.

External links

Merho biography
on Lambiek Comiclopedia
Official site (in Dutch)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Merho 1948 births Living people Belgian comics artists Belgian comics writers Belgian comic strip cartoonists Belgian humorists People from Zoersel