De Kiekeboes

*De Kiekeboes*
De Kiekeboes
	'Kiekeboes', a mural in Hasselt, 1996.
Created by	Merho
Publication information
Publisher	Standaard Uitgeverij
Schedule	quarterly
Formats	Original material for the series has been published as a set of ongoing series and graphic novels.
Original language	Dutch
Genre	Action/adventure;
Publication date	1977
Main character(s)	Marcel Kiekeboe; Charlotte Kiekeboe; Fanny Kiekeboe; Konstantinopel Kiekeboe
Creative team
Writer(s)	Merho
Artist(s)	Merho
Penciller(s)	Thomas Du Caju; Kristof Fagard
Inker(s)	Peter Koeken
Colourist(s)	Ria Smit; Ine Merhottein; Kristof Fagard
Reprints
	The series has been reprinted, at least in part, in French and English.

De Kiekeboes is a comic strip series created by Belgian artist Merho in 1977. The series appears in Dutch. It is first published in the newspapers Gazet van Antwerpen and Het Belang van Limburg and then published as comic books by Standaard Uitgeverij. The series is the best-selling comic in Flanders, but is unsuccessful abroad, with only a few publications in French and English.

History

De Kiekeboes first started in 1977. Merho had previously worked with Willy Vandersteen but wanted to create his own series. The first story, De Wollebollen, started in Het Laatste Nieuws. on 15 February 1977.^[1]

New albums in the series appear every three months, and sell over 100,000 copies each.^[2] Like most Flemish comic strips, De Kiekeboes comics are steady sellers, with most of the series available for sale at any one time. New titles are the best selling comics in Flanders, with some 80,000 copies sold in the first year of publication. In 2007, only the Dutch translation of the final Harry Potter book sold more copies.^[3]

After being assisted for a while by Steve Van Bael and then by Dirk Stallaert, Merho announced that from 1 January 2006 on, the comics would be drawn by Steve Van Bael and Thomas Du Caju, who would each produce two comics a year. Merho continues to write the stories and to make early sketches.^[4]

To celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the comic strip in 2007, an exposition was held in the Belgian Centre for Comic Strip Art and a wall painting was unveiled in Antwerp.^[2] Statues of Kiekeboe and of his daughter Fanny are placed in Middelkerke.^[5] Another statue of Kiekeboe can be found in Halle-Zoersel.^[6]

Characters

Ordered by approximate number of appearances.

Marcel Kiekeboe: protagonist of the comic book series, sort of an 'average Joe' with an average job, attracts adventure and goes along with it.
Charlotte Kiekeboe: Marcel's wife, housewife, often (mostly unwillingly) joining the adventures.
Fanny Kiekeboe: their daughter, around 20 years old. Socially engaged (feminism, animal rights,...), self conscious, sexy and adventurous, she often gets in trouble. She has a new boyfriend in every story.
Konstantinopel Kiekeboe: their son, in his early teens. Sometimes a troublemaker and never cautious.

Leon Van Der Neffe: neighbour of the Kiekeboe family, war veteran, ill-tempered and paranoid - but never the 'bad guy'.
Carmella Van Der Neffe: Leon Van Der Neffe's (ex-)wife.
Joeksel and Froefroe: Leon and Carmella Van Der Neffe's children, friends with Konstantinopel, much to the chagrin of their parents.

Fernand Goegebuer: other neighbour of the Kiekeboe family, all-around good guy, but spits while he speaks.
Jozefien "Moemoe" Kiekeboe: Marcel's mother, always complaining about/to him and talking about the 'adventures' of her best friend Mrs. Stokvis.
Inspecteur Sapperdeboere: Inspector in local police, is more interested in food then in his cases, which is why the main family has to solve them themselves.
Firmin Van De Kasseien: Marcel's boss, constantly has extramarital affairs with young beautiful women and often needs Marcel to keep them hidden.
Balthazar: 'self-employed' thief, 'the only burglar in the golden pages', tries to do small crimes but constantly fails.
Mevrouw Stokvis: unseen best friend of Moemoe, even when the story revolves around her (#56), it's because she 'disappears' and she is not seen.
Dédé La Canaille: French criminal, is caught because of Marcel and subsequently wants to kill him whenever he regains his freedom (similar to Sideshow Bob).
Mona: sexy vampirewoman, tries to seduce Marcel every time she shows up.
Timothea Triangl: short, transsexual 'master'-criminal.
Nonkel Vital: Marcel's uncle, brother of Marcel's father
Leo Van Der Neffe: Leon Van Der Neffe's twin brother, works as a prison guard.

The fat lady: recurring extra, appears in at least one image every album, but never has any role of significance in the story (although she does sometimes have an influence).

Titles

In preparation:

133. Schatjes op zolder

134. Een dagje Dédé

Special release

Kiekeboe Down Under

Notes

^ Kempeneers, Michel (2006-11-30). "Merho over 30 jaar Kiekeboe". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). Belgium. Retrieved 2008-09-23.
^ ^a ^b jns (Belga) (2006-11-29). "Kiekeboe viert dertigste verjaardag". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). Belgium. Retrieved 2008-09-23.
^ "Boekenverkoop Vlaanderen stijgt met 8%" (in Dutch). Boek.be. 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-23.
^ Geeraerts, Glenn (2005-10-05). "Kiekeboe krijgt twee nieuwe vaders". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). Belgium. Retrieved 2008-09-23.
^ "Stripfestival focust op 30 jaar Kiekeboe". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). Belgium. 2007-07-14. Retrieved 2008-09-23.
^ Simons, Marc (2007-08-27). "Merho komt handen te kort om te signeren". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). Belgium. Retrieved 2008-09-23.

External links

Official site

[1] Kempeneers, Michel (2006-11-30). "Merho over 30 jaar Kiekeboe". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). Belgium. Retrieved 2008-09-23.

[thirty-2] s (Belga) (2006-11-29). "Kiekeboe viert dertigste verjaardag". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). Belgium. Retrieved 2008-09-23.

[3] "Boekenverkoop Vlaanderen stijgt met 8%" (in Dutch). Boek.be. 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-23.

[4] Geeraerts, Glenn (2005-10-05). "Kiekeboe krijgt twee nieuwe vaders". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). Belgium. Retrieved 2008-09-23.

[5] "Stripfestival focust op 30 jaar Kiekeboe". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). Belgium. 2007-07-14. Retrieved 2008-09-23.

[6] Simons, Marc (2007-08-27). "Merho komt handen te kort om te signeren". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). Belgium. Retrieved 2008-09-23.

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