Marc Sleen

Marc Neels, who signed his work Marc Sleen, studied art at the Institute Saint Lucas in Gent and started his career drawing caricatures in the newspaper De Standaard in 1944. In December of the same year, his first comic, 'De Avonturen van Neus', about a man with a very big nose, was published in Ons Volk, and continued in Ons Volkske from March, 1945.

In the following years, Marc Sleen made numerous illustrations, caricatures and comics for these Belgian newspapers and several others, such as De Spectator, Ons Zondagsblad, De Nieuwe Gids and De Nieuwe Standaard. Inspired by contemporary comic artists like Willy Vandersteen and Bob de Moor, Marc Sleen started his impressive production with comics such as 'De Avonturen van Tom en Tony' (1945), 'Piet Fluwijn en Bolleke' (1945), 'De Avonturen van Stropke en Flopke'(1946) and 'Pollopof' (1946), which ran in a number of newspapers. Marc Sleen took part in the Belgian Salons of Flemish Humor from 1952 until 1963.

In 1950, Sleen's most famous character appeared in print for the first time: 'De Avonturen van Nero en zijn Hoed' - although the likeness of Nero was already present in three stories dating from 1947, 'De Avonturen van Detectief Van Zwam'. From 1951 on, the series was officially called 'De Avonturen van Nero & Co'. In 1965, after a legal fight with his publisher, Marc Sleen took his increasingly popular series to publisher De Standaard, which offered color printing, a dream come true for comic artists of that time.

Marc Neels found himself in several licensing fights over his characters and their names. For instance, when he withdrew 'De Lustige Kapoentjes' from the paper 't Kapoentje, a legal fight ensued: the paper gained rights over the name, and Sleen over the characters. At the same time, Marc went on several safaris and explored the world.

Marc Sleen has single-handedly written and drawn almost 200 albums of 'Nero'. Nero and the other characters in the series, such as Madam Pheip, Abraham Tuizentfloot, Petoetje and Petatje, the genius Adhemar, Jan Spier and Kapitein Oliepul have firmly established themselves in Belgian comic history.

Marc Sleen did not limit himself to 'Nero', but created many more memorable comic characters - 'Joke-Poke', 'Oktaaf Keunink', 'Doris Dobbel' and 'Fonske' just to name a few. In 1997, when Nero turned 50, the Belgian Center of Comics dedicated an important exhibition to Sleen's most popular character, and he was finally awarded with a royal prize. Two books about Nero were printed at the same time: '50 Jaar Nero' by Y. Kerremans and Pascal Lefèvre, and 'De Politieke Memoires van Nero' by L. Demedts and Sleen himself - both at publisher De Standaard.