'Bingo'. Translation: "Hello, I sell..." (talks silently)...- "What do you sell? I don't understand you! I have the feeling that this hearing aid has been sold to me in a seedy way."
Marc de Boer is a Dutch comic artist and cartoonist for newspapers, mostly active in the Zaan region. During the 1980s he was a member of the Comic Collectief in Amsterdam, a comics collective whose gag comics mostly ran in the Communist newspaper De Waarheid. De Boer wrote gags for other cartoonists, but also had his own short-lived comic, 'Ranonkel Verbogge' (1985). After the Comic Collectief was dissolved he would be the only member to remain active as a cartoonist afterwards. In the mainstream press De Boer is best known for the gag-a-day comics 'Jans Dans' (1985-1988), 'Bingo' (1985) and 'Willem en Max'. He is the house cartoonist of Dagblad Zaanstreek. His gags rely heavily on corny humor, visual jokes and wordplay.
Cover illustrations for Baal and TNT.
Early life and comics career
Born in 1965, De Boer was still a kid when he published the first seven issues of his stencilled amateur comic magazine Baal with his friend Albert-Jan Bulterman in 1979. Nine more followed between 1981 and 1984, and during this period Kerst Brouwer, Wim Burggraaf, Danny De Haes (Tosti), Frits Keizer, Remco de Korte, Edward Koster, Chooferd Mesman, Ben van de Outenaar, Rinus Peters, Frans Smits (Snarf), Klaas Visscher and Herwin Walravens also contributed. Additionally the Flemish cartoonist Pirana and established names from the alternative Dutch comic scene also made appearances in Baal, such as Paul Bodoni, Peter Pontiac, Mark Smeets and Hendrik J. Vos. Most of his early cartoons appeared under the pseudonym Maraboe (in reference to the African marabou stork) and were very reminiscent of the shocking comics published in the French magazine Charlie-Hebdo.
De Boer also contributed to other small press publications, such as Henry van Hooff's Coyote, Remco de Korte's Rats and Ernst van Veenendaal's TNT. Other early work by De Boer appeared in the local newspaper De Zaanlander, the student magazine Propria Cures and the first eight issues of Rhaa Lovely, the Dutch edition of Fluide Glacial (1982). His 'Zotverdorie' cartoons were published in Panorama. Much of Maraboe's adult-oriented comics and cartoons were collected by Amice and Drukwerk in books like 'Ik Ben Het Zot', 'Hoezo Dwaas', 'Cucurico', 'Prettig Gestoord' and 'Zotverdorie!' between 1982 and 1985.
Cartoon by Marc De Boer. Translation: "No, Fikkie... not in front of the guests."
De Waarheid
By 1984 De Boer teamed up with Herwin Walravens and Ernst van Veenendaal to form the Comic Collectief in Amsterdam. The team plotted together, and was largely responsible for the comics section of the Communist newspaper De Waarheid from late 1984 through mid 1985. 'Supernutz' was a joint effort of Van Veenendaal and De Boer about a clumsy superhero, and appeared sporadically in the paper in October and November 1984. From November 1984 onwards, the Collectief team gradually replaced De Waarheid's more experienced comic artists Hein de Kort ('Korte Grappen'), Wim Stevenhagen ('Han & Hanneke') and Eric Schreurs ('Retep'). De Boer provided his own strip about 'Ranonkel Verbogge' (3 January through 1 April 1985), alternately a bankrobber, barfly, husband or an average man in the street. He also wrote gags for Alfred Bryan's 'Krent' (3 January through 1 April 1985) and 'Tater de Kater' (4 through 28 June 1985) for Ernst van Veenendaal. Van Veenendaal also provided 'Thijs Anijs' (6 November through 31 December 1984) and 'Loenies' (2 April through 3 June 1985), while Walravens drew 'Red Cat' (2 April through 18 May 1985) under the pen name Herrie.
Friends of the trio, mostly former contributors to TNT, Rats and Baal, also made comic strips for De Waarheid, such as Remco de Korte ('Rats', 3 January through 1 April 1985), Gerrit Geitenoog ('Ondermaten', 4 April through 23 May 1985), Kerst Brouwer ('Het Lot(h) van Jonas', 31 May through 29 June 1985) and a certain René ('Los Cocos', 30 May through 26 June 1985). De Waarheid dropped its comics section in mid 1985. A farewell strip by Ernst van Veenendaal and Marc de Boer appeared on 1 July 1985. With Van Veenendaal and Alfred Bryan, De Boer also attempted to make animated films of 'Tater de Kater', and the Collectief team additionally released a parody of Donald Duck weekly called 'Bad Duck' in 1985.
'Ranonkel Verbogge', De Waarheid, 26 February 1985. Translation: "What?! You fell in love with a different man?? I wait just as long until I drown..."
Jans Dans
Later in 1985, De Boer moved from De Waarheid to the socialist newspaper Het Vrije Volk. His comic strip about pub crawler 'Jans Dans' (1985-1988) made its debut on the youth's page Onwijs on 27 September 1985. For this comic, De Boer abandoned his rough sketchy approach and settled in a style which suggests influences from the Atomic Style, developed by Jijé. 'Jans Dans' appeared irregularly on the Onwijs page for three years, with the final gag appearing on 4 June 1988. In the meantime, Onwijs also ran Ernst van Veenendaal's 'Onwystrip' (13 November 1986 - 30 April 1988).
'Jans Dans' (Het Vrije Volk, 20 December 1985). Translation: "I'll bet you'll offer me a drink." - "Of course, my dear." - "Waiter, refill this lady's glass again..." - "Thanks." - "That's 95 guilders then..." - "Gulp.".
Bingo
In 1985, De Boer created the comic strip about the zany dog 'Bingo'. The gag-a-day comic was a remarkable departure for De Boer, because the tone was far more family friendly. The strip appeared in newspaper Courant Nieuws van de Dag from 1991 on, and was also published in newspapers in Aruba (Dagblad voor Aruba) and Belgium (Het Laatste Nieuws, De Nieuwe Gazet) from 1993 on. Two book collections of 'Bingo' were published by Drukwerk in 1997.
'Mensenkinderen' (Dagblad Zaanstreek, 4 October 2008). Translation: "BRRR. It's cold in here. Is it O.K. if I keep my bonnet on inside?"
Dagblad Zaanstreek
Since the early 1990s, De Boer is the house cartoonist for the Dagblad Zaanstreek supplement of the regional newspaper Noordhollands Dagblad (previously called De Typhoon), distributed in the towns of the Zaan district of North Holland. He makes a daily topical cartoon based on the regional news, and for a long time he also made a cartoon or comic for the weekly children's page 'Mensenkinderen' (from 1994 on). A selection of his work for 'Mensenkinderen' was published in book format under the title 'Vroemkool & Snelderij' in 2008. In 2002-03 De Boer illustrated a series of local Zaan rhymes by Klaas Woudt for the paper, collected in the book 'Op een Hebbel en een Drebbel'.
Willem & Max
De Boer also makes the gag-a-day comic 'Willem en Max', a spoof of the Dutch royal couple Willem-Alexander and Maxima, for the free quarterly royalty magazine Oranje Boven. Other gag comics about the Dutch royal couple have been Ruud Straatman's 'Royaal Modaal' (2003-2006) and Herman Roozen and Pieter Hogenbirk's 'Van Oranje' (2016-2018).
'Willem & Max'. The Dutch king and queen are preparing for a visit by the Belgian royal couple and have ordered clothing by "a Belgian designer". Their gnome outfit is a reference to the Flemish children's TV series 'Kabouter Plop'.