Merho

Merho, born Robert Merhottein on 24 October 1948, is a Belgian comic-book writer and artist, best known for creating the comic strip De Kiekeboes.

Merho
BornRobert Merhottein
(1948-10-24) 24 October 1948
Antwerp, Belgium
NationalityBelgian
Area(s)Writer, Artist
Notable works
Kiekeboe
Awardsfull list

Early life

Robert Merhottein was born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1948.[1] As a child, he already loved the comics by Marc Sleen and Willy Vandersteen, and wanted to become a comics artist when he grew up. He studied at the Sint-Lukas Art School in Brussels in the 1960s.[2]

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 and Pats with Studio Vandersteen, but then started his own series, Kiekeboe, in the newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws. Contrary to the other major Flemish newspapers like De Standaard/Het Nieuwsblad (with Spike and Suzy) and Het Volk (with Nero), Het Laatste Nieuws had no local, Flemish comic strip but only published Dutch comics by Marten Toonder or Hans G. Kresse, which left an opportunity for Merho.[1]

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.[3]

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.[4] 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.[1]


Bibliography
Series Years Volumes Editor Remarks
Zoz en Zef 1965 1 Robert Merhottein Self published, 1,000 copies only
Comi en Dacske 1966 1 Comidac Written by René Adriaenssens
Pats / Tits 1976–1977 / 1979–1985 4 / 26 De Standaard Credited to Studio Vandersteen, the studio started by Willy Vandersteen: the series changed its name in 1978
Kiekeboe 1978– 129 De Standaard First 45 albums originally published by J. Hoste
Kiekeboe Wall painting in Hasselt, 1996

Awards and honours

Notes
  1. De Weyer, Geert (2005). "Merho". In België gestript, pp. 140–141. Tielt: Lannoo.
  2. Radio Vlaanderen Internationaal (2007). "30 kaarsjes voor Kiekeboe" (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
  3. Michel Kempeneers (2006). "Merho over 30 jaar Kiekeboe" (in Dutch). Het Nieuwsblad. Retrieved 12 March 2007.
  4. De Gentenaar (November 2005). "Vader van Kiekeboe denkt lang niet aan afhaken" (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 6 October 2007. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
  5. Het Laatste Nieuws (16 February 2007). "Stad Hasselt huldigt Kiekeboe-auteur Merho" (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 12 March 2007.
  6. Marc Simons (16 November 2002). "Striptekenaar Merho is ereburger van Zoersel" (in Dutch). Het Laatste Nieuws. Retrieved 13 March 2007.

Sources
  • Matla, Hans: "Stripkatalogus 9: De negende dimensie". Panda, Den Haag, 1998. ISBN 90-6438-111-9
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