Bob Heinz

Bob Heinz was a German comic artist best known for creating series like 'Pif und Alf' and 'Jan Maat' in the 1950s. Born Wilhelm Hermann Heinz, he was raised in the Sudetenland. He went to school in Dresden and studied Architecture later on. He designed a series of postcards for the national-socialist Winterhilfe program under the name Willi Heinz in 1943.

After the War, he settled in Plön and went to work as a sports teacher. By 1949 he assumed the penname Bob Heinz and started making comics and illustrations for magazines like Das Neue Blatt and Hümor für Dich. He was one of the comic artists for the Danehl's children's magazine Horrido, creating 'Jerry der lustige Cowboy' and the humorous gag strip 'Basil der Kätzenkonig'. He was also present in the advertising magazine Tchibo Magazin with comics like 'Bob Evans'.

Heinz's main association during the second half of the 1950s and first part of the 1960s was with Walter Lehing Verlag. Lehning published his comic series 'Pit und Alf' and Jan Maat', while Heinz also contributed to Lehning's comic magazines Hörni, Harry and Froggy Frogg.

Heinz left Lehning in the 1960s and began an association with the Swedish publishing house Williams Verlag, that originally operated under the name Bildschriftenverlag and was later continued by Semic. The comic books starring 'Kalle & Cäsar' were published in Germany, but Heinz also worked for the publisher's Scandinavian comic books, including 'Lajban' and 'Kalle Kula'. He additionally created the comic strip 'Morris' with Bengt-Åke Cras for Lajban in 1977.

Other comic creations include 'Die lustigen Abenteuer von Jumbo und Dixi' for the publisher Billhöfer (1966-69), 'Waul und Paul', 'Jimmy und Bobby' for Kluge Haufrau (1959-1963) and'Winki und Flinki' for TV Hören und Sehen (1979-84). He wrote and drew several comics for the magazines published by Bauer Verlages in the 1970s and also drew covers for comics based on television series.