Blook - 'De Ruimtereiniger' (1969).
Johnn Bakker was a Dutch comic artist and musician from The Hague. He was a leading figure in his hometown's 1960s pop scene, but in comic circles he is best-known for his comic creations for Pep magazine, including the superhero parody 'Blook' (1969-1974) and 'Dan Teal' (1970-1971), the latter a modernized version of Dante's 'La Divina Commedia', scripted by Dutch humorous poet and comedy singer Drs. P. In additioni, Bakker is most likely the anonymous author behind 'De Keizerkraker' (1982), a political parody of the classic 'Suske en Wiske' comic book series, which became the subject of a widely publicized court case. While Bakker never became a household name like his Pep contemporaries Fred Julsing, Dick Matena, Daan Jippes, Peter de Smet and Martin Lodewijk, he is regularly regarded as one of the prominent representatives of the so-called "Pep school". Bakker was also a colorful personality, often living in the fringes of society.
Early life and career
Johan Hendrik Bakker was born in 1947 as the son of two divorced circus performers from The Hague. After a turbulent childhood, he took a course in house painting from the crafts school. He then enrolled at the Hague Academy of Fine Arts, but didn't stay long. He spent several years sailing the seas, and upon his return, became well-known in the local The Hague music scene. He played in the notorious local pop group The Kick, who often played only one song during performances ('Mystic Eyes' by Them), which they would stretch for several hours. On other occasions, the venues had to be cleared after only five minutes, because the performance had degenerated into complete on-stage chaos. The group was under contract by the shady businessman Adje Lagerwaard, who later became known as the swindler "Diamanten Adje". Bakker subsequently formed the blues duo The Subterraneans with "Down Boy" Jason (Henk Jantzen), using the artist's name "Sleepy" Johnn Bakker. Bakker played guitar and harmonica, while Jantzen played guitar and performed lead vocals. Reinforced by bass player Robby de Rijke, bongo player Brian Ura, drummer Beer Klaasse and washboard player Freddy Haayen, the group released one single and an LP record, 'Down to Earth' in 1967. One of the band's own compositions was 'Mr. Judge', an attack on the Amsterdam mayor Gijs van Hall.
'Toppie contra de Stille' (Muziek Expres #164, August 1969).
Otis Space
While members of The Kick and The Subterraneans later moved on to play in nationally known acts like Shocking Blue and Q65, Bakker eventually tried his luck with drawing. As early as the mid-1960s, he and his former bandmate Jantzen made sex comics together for pocket books, under the pen name "Otis Space". They also regularly hitchhiked to the French cities Cannes and Nice, living as beatniks and earning some cash with drawing assignments. Eventually, Jantzen opened his own book shop, and Bakker went to work on semi-autobiographical comic stories starring the character 'Mod', a project that remained unpublished, though. By 1968, he was making the psychedelic humor strip 'Toppie Tien' for music magazine Muziek Express. In the following year, he created a serial with the character, 'Toppie contra de Stille' (1969). As Otis Space, Bakker was also present in the sci-fi magazine Morgen with the stories 'Ruimtegevangene Op de Plunderplaneet' (1971), 'De Eindeloze Planeet' (1971), 'De Diamant' (1972) and 'De Mist Die Niet Mocht Optrekken' (1972).
'Blook en de Robots' (Pep #12, 1972).
Blook
Without success, Johnn Bakker presented his comic work to the Belgian publishing houses Dupuis and Lombard. He had more luck with De Geïllustreerde Pers in Amsterdam, the publisher of the Dutch comic magazine Pep. His first and best-known creation for this magazine was the soft superhero 'Blook', a parody of American superhero comics. Blook (to be pronounced as the English word "bloke") obtains his super powers by eating a "super molecule" constructed by his father. Only when his father belittles his achievements, Blook loses his powers again. Between 1969 and 1974, Bakker worked on the strip in collaboration with the scriptwriters Lo Hartog van Banda and Dick Matena. Hartog van Banda penned the first five stories, while Matena wrote the final two. In 1972, when the Olympic Games were held in Munich, Germany, one shorter Olympic-themed story of only four pages in length was made. The first 'Blook' story was also published in French as 'Supermax Contre La Supermolecule'.
The scene from 'Dan Teal' that triggered a conversation with Drs. P about troika rides (Pep #48, 1970).
Dan Teal
Another comic by Bakker for Pep was 'Dan Teal' (1970-1971), a story based on Dante Alighieri's classic poem 'La Divina Commedia'. Dan Teal is an obvious surrogate for Dante, while his guide Vergielje is a nod to the poet Vergilius, who guides Dante in 'La Divinia Commedia'. Filled with numerous cultural and political references, 'Dan Teal' was considered far too complicated for the average Pep reader to understand. As a result, only one album was made: 'Het Maanvirus'. The comic was written by Geo Staad, a pseudonym for none other than the famous Dutch poet and comedy singer Drs. P (Heinz Polzer). Drs. P enjoys cult status in the Netherlands for his rather archaic use of language and black comedy, which no doubt played an effect in why 'Dan Teal' failed to appeal to its young readers.
The looks of Vergielje were based on Drs P, while Dan Teal was a caricature of Bakker himself (Dan Teal in Pep #50, 1970).
While 'Dan Teal' remains a mere footnote in comic history, the series did have an indirect effect on Dutch music history. Discussing a scene in which Dan Teal was attacked by blood thirsty frogs, Bakker and Drs. P talked about the dangers of troika rides. This inspired Drs. P to write a song about a family traveling by troika in Siberia. Halfway through their ride they are suddenly chased by hungry wolves and forced to throw each of their children out of the vehicle in order to stay ahead of the animals. The end result, 'Dodenrit' (1974) became one of Drs. P's biggest hits and his signature song.
'Jab en de Groene Bol' (Pep #24, 1974).
Career in the 1970s
In 1974, Bakker made the science fiction stories 'Jab en de Groene Bol' and 'Smock', which he scripted himself. When Pep and Sjors merged into the magazine Eppo (1975), Bakker turned to commercial design and painting for the rest of his life. Later in his career, Bakker also made some comic strips for street newspapers, but earned most of his money by painting signs and logos for bars and car dealers.
De Keizerkraker
In 1982, a notorious Dutch-language comic book, 'De Keizerkraker' (1982), was published. A parody of Willy Vandersteen's popular series 'Suske en Wiske', it was signed with the pseudonym "Willy Dondersteen". In this spoof, the famous Belgian characters go to Amsterdam, where they join the squatters' movement. Lambik becomes a drug dealer, Aunt Sidonia a prostitute and Suske and Wiske are kidnapped by real-life Dutch criminal Pistolen Paultje (named Pistolen Pietje in the story). The real artist behind this story always remained a mystery. Although the graphic style is very reminiscent of Johnn Bakker's work, he always denied being the creator. This might have something to do with the fact that the very same year, another Dutch comic book parody of 'Suske en Wiske', 'De Glunderende Gluurder' (1982) by Ben Jansen and other members of Studio Arnhem, hit the market. Both 'De Keizerkraker' and 'De Glunderende Gluurder' were promptly sued by Vandersteen's publisher Standaard Uitgeverij. In 1984, Standaard Uitgeverij lost the case, because the judge ruled that both books were clearly parodies and therefore not plagiarism. Though in an appeal, the judge eventually ruled in favor of the plaintifs, and the books were forcibly removed from stores.
Suske en Wiske parody 'De Keizerkraker', signed Willy Dondersteen, but most likely by Johnn Bakker.
Personal life and (supposed) criminal record
Bakker was a colorful character, as well as a remarkable storyteller, mainly about his own life. According to his Subterraneans partner Henk Jantzen (in an interview with NRC in 1999), Bakker claimed to have been born in a caravan as a circus child, then started sailing at age fourteen. He ended up in Singapore and spent two years returning to the Netherlands, by foot. He similarly built a myth around his pop group The Subterraneans, claiming that he wore out one harmonica a day. He was proud to be "the first beatnik in The Hague", who, according to beat newspaper Kink, had "the longest hair in the Netherlands." More stories about Bakker went around. Legend has it that he drove an old Pontiac with a self-painted bird on the hood (earning him yet another nickname: "the fastest comic artist of the Netherlands"). When a picture of it appeared in Pep magazine, the Pontiac brand bought the rights and from then on featured Bakker's bird on their Pontiac Firebirds line. When settling in the conservative town of Zierikzee with his young wife in the late 1960s, Bakker was an imposing presence. Not only because of his long hair, but also because of the thick sanitary napkins he attached to his head to absorb the sweating while drawing (and which he kept on when answering the door). Always the wanderer, he never stayed around long and could simply disappear for months when he went out to "get some cigarettes".
The artist also liked to tell stories about his alleged criminal activities, from forging old paintings in a carbon test proof way by mixing paint with dust from medieval churches, to plain robberies and conflicts with the Hague underworld. When several original comic pages by Bakker and other Pep artists were stolen from an exhibition in 1971, everyone immediately suspected the subversive Bakker. Years later, the artist admitted to Martin Lodewijk that he indeed was the culprit in an effort to rake in the insurance money. When Lodewijk asked if he could at least have his own pages back, Bakker reluctantly confessed that he had burned the pages on the same night as the burglary. In 2001, Bakker planned to forge paintings by the recently deceased Herman Brood, jokingly commenting "because you get your Bread from the Bakery!" ("Brood" means bread in Dutch, and "Bakker" means bakery).
Death
Johnn Bakker passed away on 16 September 2006 at the age of 59. His musical friends bid him farewell with a tribute in Hotel 't Centrum in The Hague, starting with a performance of Chuck Berry's 'Johnny B. Goode'. In 2019, Johnn Bakker's signature character 'Blook' was revived by comic artist Vick Debergh, with permission of the author's daughter Babiche, who also wrote the foreword. A new comic book was released late that year under the Proton Comics imprint. On 6 July 2020, Babiche Bakker was the subject of an episode of the Dutch TV show 'Het Mooiste Meisje Van De Klas' ("The Prettiest Girl In Class"). The program looks back on the eventful lives of girls who seemed to have had everything going for them in their high school years. Babiche's relationship with her estranged father played an important role in the episode.
Johnn Bakker draws himself as the character 'Mod' for Stripschrift #19 (1970).