'Sjef van Oekel'.
The Dutch comic creator Theo van den Boogaard is often regarded as The Netherlands' first underground comix artist. Of all the comics he drew in this genre, 'Ans en Hans Krijgen De Kans' (1969) stood out for its uncompromising sexuality, and even attracted international attention. Later, Van den Boogaard kept a provocative approach to his comics, but switched to a more traditional graphic style, influenced by Hergé's "Clear Line". His trademark graphic style blossomed in his signature comic series 'Sjef van Oekel' (1976-1994, 'Mr. Ponsford' in English). Created with writer Wim T. Schippers, the character was adapted from Schippers' TV series 'Van Oekel's Discohoek'. Just like its TV counterpart, the 'Sjef van Oekel' comic strip was highly controversial, tackling numerous taboo topics, all realistically portrayed by Van den Boogaard's elegant pencil. Remarkable enough for a celebrity comic, 'Sjef van Oekel' managed to keep running (and selling) for almost 20 years, and was also popular in translation, despite being based on a TV show unknown outside the Low Countries. After the cancellation of his comic series, Theo Van den Boogaard has remained in the public eye by illustrating many advertisements, books and magazines.
'Een Avontuur van Mark - Boter Bij De Vis'.
Early life and career
Theo van den Boogaard was born in 1948 in the coastal village of Castricum. His father was head of an advertising distribution company. As a child, Theo drew his first comic stories on pieces of quatro paper from his father's office. Among Van den Boogaard's main graphic influences are Hergé, André Franquin, Willy Vandersteen, Hans G. Kresse, Carl Barks, Mad Magazine (particularly Wallace Wood, Will Elder, Jack Davis and Mort Drucker) and Robert Crumb. As a youngster, he also devoured books about art, while also developing interests in blues music, movies and the theater. At age fifteen, he had his first comic book, 'Mark, Boter bij de Vis' (1964), published by the local Velsen-Noord publisher De Kennemer. Drawn in a Franco-Belgian style, the story dealt with butter smuggling in Belgium. The landscape-format comic book earned him 1,000 guilders (450 euros).
'Striptease'. The trampled woman is singer Nancy Sinatra who had a hit with 'These Boots Are Made For Walking'. The man in black suit is TV comedian Dick van Dyke, while in the lower right corner we recognize Elvis Presley.
Hitweek
When Van den Boogaard was still a 17-year old high school student, his work was published in the Dutch underground and pop music magazine Hitweek. Immediately after graduation, the artist left his hometown and settled in the more free-spirited city of Amsterdam. One of his columns in Hitweek was the 'Striptease' series, in which he visualized song lyrics and provided them with social commentary. His posters of rock legends like Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan became equally popular. Together with editor Jan Donkers, Van den Boogaard created Hitweek's comic feature 'Witje' (also known as 'Witje en Gert', 1968-1969). It stars an attractive white-haired woman who always walks around in the nude. However, no one around her seems to notice this, not even her (dressed and more straightforward) boyfriend Gert. When Hitweek changed its name into Aloha in 1969, 'Witje en Gert' continued in its pages for a while. In 1973, when Tango released a first landscape-format book collection of 'Witje', Van den Boogaard drew some extra episodes. The 'Witje en Gert' strip is historically important as the first Dutch underground comic.
'Witje'.
Ans en Hans
Theo van den Boogaard's most remarkable comic in Hitweek (and later Aloha) was however 'Ans en Hans Krijgen De Kans' (1969). In this provocative series, a young student called Hans engaged in horny, sometimes absurd sexual experiments with his girlfriend Ans. Printed in Hitweek/Aloha and the sex magazine Chick, 'Ans en Hans' perfectly captured the sexual liberation of the 1960s and quickly gained a cult following. As an artist capable of drawing anatomically correct bodies, Van den Boogaard's explicit artwork is swift and dynamic, making even Ans and Hans' weirdest sex positions look convincing. Interestingly enough, Van den Boogaard was gay, but as he put it rather bluntly: "I might be queer, but I'm quite good in making horny heterosexual drawings." He also recalled he had to turn in his explicit artwork as quickly before deadline as possible, so the printer had no time to intervene.
'Ans & Hans Krijgen De Kans'.
'Ans en Hans' gained international notoriety when the U.S. pornographic magazine Screw wrote an article about it. German comic critic Andreas Knigger praised Van den Boogaard as "the greatest European underground comix artist" and felt his work should be "mandatory reading at every school." Perhaps the most telling sign that Van den Boogaard had made the grade was the fact that 'Ans and Hans' was bootlegged. A German publisher translated all episodes and released them illegally. Not all Germans at the time were fond of 'Ans and Hans', though. In the province of Bayern the series was considered "dangerous for the youth" and banned. In The Netherlands, P.J. Muller was the first to collect the sexual exploits of Ans and Hans in a 1970 comic book. Two years later, this comic album was reprinted by the literary publisher De Bezige Bij. In 1980, Ger van Wulften's publishing house Espee released a new book publication of 'Ans en Hans'.
Alternative comics from the 1960s and 1970s
In 1967, Theo van den Boogaard also appeared in the sole issue of the Jan Cremerkrant, a publication of the subversive Dutch novelist Jan Cremer. His contribution was the 'Jan Cremer Strip', drawn in a pop art style and written by the novelist himself. The paper sold exceptionally well, but local police forces confiscated all copies within an hour after release. In 1968, Van den Boogaard drew the comic strip 'Pinokkio' for the official KRO network magazine Studio. What started as a simple adventure story took a controversial turn when Van den Boogaard's hero had a different kind of adventure under the shower. Angry letters resulted in the comic's cancellation. During the same period, Van den Boogaard drew the gangster comic 'Al Kapsones' (1968) for the Bruna pocket book series Pulp, and he worked with scriptwriter Martin Lodewijk on a promotional comic book for the fashion brand Sturka, called 'Het Sturka-Mysterie' (1969).
'Gert'.
Between 1970 and 1971, Van den Boogaard drew the comic feature 'Jan Alleman' for the Amsterdam-based countercultural magazine Gandalf. The comic strip stars an average Joe, literally named that way, in stories with social-political commentary. The hopeless and lonely protagonist struggles through life, and constantly represses his fantasies. Darker in tone than Van den Boogaard's previous comics, this painful document of social isolation was collected in the book 'Jan Alleman Kan D'er Wat Van' (De Bezige Bij, 1972). Between 1973 and 1974, Theo van den Boogaard worked on several one-shot comics within the realm of underground comix. In expressive realism, 'Arme Jimmy' (1973) tells the dull life of a young, depressed gay man in his sadly modern apartment. Equally expressive, but with influences from Mad Magazine, was 'De Ideograaf' (1974), about a bored comic artist who invents a machine that instantly executes each idea. While the story was created in 1974, it wasn't published in book format by Espee until 1980.
Abe, Een Hotshot van een Voetballerina
Another recurring feature by Theo van den Boogaard was printed in Voetbal International magazine, 'Abe, Een Hotshot Van Een Voetballerina' (1972). Written by sport journalist Nico Scheepmaker, the comic revolves around Abigail, a Frisian girl from the village of Pingjum. She turns out to be a goal wonder and signs a contract with association football club Ajax. Because of her short-cut hair, everyone mistakes her for a man. Satirizing the taboo of homosexuality in the world of sports, the authors have several players feel attracted to Abigail and assume they are gay. 'Abe, Een Hotshot Van Een Voetballerina' is loaded with references to sports events and celebrities, making it both a time capsule of 1970s sports culture and a somewhat incomprehensible reading experience for modern-day audiences. In 1973, De Bezige Bij collected the comic in a book.
'Abe, Een Hotshot Van Een Voetballerina'.
Team-up with Wim T. Schippers
After his early publications, Theo van den Boogaard's career in comics really took off when he teamed up with the subversive artist and writer Wim T. Schippers. During the 1960s, Schippers had already shocked the art world with strange concept art like a peanut butter floor and the emptying of water bottles into the sea. In his 1967 experimental TV show 'Hoepla!', Schippers was the first to show a naked woman on Dutch television, causing national uproar. During the 1970s, he remained involved with the progressive broadcasting network VPRO, creating new series of outrageous variety shows: 'De Fred Haché Show' (1971-1972), 'De Barend Servet Show' (1972-1973) and 'Van Oekel's Discohoek' (1974-1975). All three programs shocked and amazed viewers with unexpected incidents, things going disastrously wrong and hosts confronted with eccentric guests. Generally, the hosts gradually lose control and start to curse, panic or go mad. Nudity, blasphemy and lèse-majesté caused frequent scandals. Unbeknownst to many casual viewers tuning in, everything was staged. Schippers had attracted a steady team of actors to portray the hosts of his shows: Fred Haché was performed by Harry Touw, Barend Servet by IJf Blokker and Sjef van Oekel by Dolf Brouwers.
Of all three, Brouwers' portrayal of Sjef van Oekel left the most lasting impression. Brouwers played him as an elderly gentleman, out-of-touch with the modern world and using archaic language. Whenever something unexpected happened, the overly sensitive man in smoking started to bellow melodramatically. In his expressive performances, Brouwers' background as an opera singer came in handy. Like all of Schippers' characters, Van Oekel had his own catchphrases, including "als het ware" ("as it were"). He used the word "rrreeds" ("already") in odd grammatical sentences and frequently announced: "Ik word niet goed!" ("I'm getting sick!"). In a 1974 Christmas episode, Van Oekel's unstable health eventually got the worst of him, and he threw up in a bicycle bag. The vomit wasn't real - it was in fact a mix of bread, soup and protein - but it sure looked disgusting. Many viewers felt such a scene was inappropriate on such a joyous and pacifist holiday occasion. But it elevated Sjef van Oekel to cult status.
Van den Boogaard's first drawn version of Sjef van Oekel (and Barend Servet), announcing a comics event in 1973, published in Stripschrift.
Sjef van Oekel: early version (1976-1977)
Like many people of his generation, Van den Boogaard loved these taboo-breaking shows. When VPRO television hired the artist to design some promotional stickers, he also asked the corporation if he could create a celebrity comic based on Sjef van Oekel. After all, the TV character was very expressive, with a distinctive appearance, making him suitable for a humorous comic. To give them an example, he depicted Sjef van Oekel and Barend Servet in a promotional gag page printed in a 1973 issue of comic news magazine Stripschrift. On this page, the characters informed the readers about an upcoming comics-related event. Van den Boogaard also used the Van Oekel character to promote the album release of his comic series 'Abe, Een Hotshot van een Voetballerina'. Eventually, the VPRO gave Van den Boogaard permission, with TV series creator Wim T. Schippers coming on board to script the gags. In terms of graphics, Van den Boogaard was given complete creative freedom, but Schippers stipulated that all dialogue had to be kept as written.
'Van Oekel In De Bocht'.
Between 1976 and 1977, the 'Sjef van Oekel in de Bocht' comic was serialized in the magazine Nieuwe Revu. In this early incarnation, Van den Boogaard still used a cartoony graphic style. Just like his TV counterpart, the cartoon version of Sjef van Oekel was a clueless and otherworldly simpleton. His formal attire and stuffy attitude were inspired by Van den Boogaard's own father. After 25 episodes, the artist already discontinued the feature, since he had underestimated how labor-intensive the production of a weekly comic can be.
For the next five years, Van den Boogaard focused on illustration and commercial art assignments. His ironic cartoons about relational problems livened up articles in magazines like Mensen van Nu, Ouders van Nu, Sextant and Avenue, while his erotic drawings appeared in the American gay magazine The Advocate. In the meantime, Van den Boogaard also became a sought-after artist for advertising and communication campaigns. Still, a comic book publication of 'Sjef van Oekel' came about. In 1980, Paul Rijperman released 'Sjef van Oekel in De Bocht', simultaneously arranging translations in French (Léon van Oukel S'En Tire Toujours', released by Magic Strip in Brussels, Belgium) and German ('Julius Patzenhofer haut auf die Pauke', by Volksverlag).
'Sjef van Oekel Raakt op Drift' (1985).
Sjef van Oekel: definitive version (1980-1996)
As the 1980 'Sjef van Oekel' comic book release proved an unexpected bestseller, creators Wim T. Schippers and Theo van den Boogaard were requested to make more stories. Starting in the 1980s, the feature continued in Nieuwe Revu. Between 1985 and 1988, less controversial episodes were printed in the comics weekly Eppo Wordt Vervolgd and its successor Sjors en Sjimmie Stripblad. Comic books were released by Oberon from 1982 onward. In Flanders, 'Sjef van Oekel' ran in the weekly Panorama/ De Post. In the 1983 'Kiekeboes' story 'De Anonieme Smulpapen' by the Belgian comic creator Merho, the character even has a cameo as a cook with the pun-based name Chef van Ouquelle.
A major difference between the 1976 version of 'Sjef van Oekel' and the 1980 reboot was the graphic style. Van den Boogaard felt something was off about his earlier version. Interviewed by Michael Minneboo in 2010, he reflected that the gags would work better if they were portrayed in a realistic and recognizable environment. In the TV shows, a large part of the comedy arose from the fact that Sjef van Oekel's variety show looked like a regular program, making all the outrageous things that happened far loonier and surreal within their seemingly "normal" setting. For the comic, Van den Boogaard therefore switched to a more detailed, realistic graphic look, inspired by the "Clear Line" of Hergé, which at the time experienced a renaissance through artists like Joost Swarte and Ever Meulen. In 'Sjef van Oekel', the clean, crisp backgrounds provide an odd contrast with Van Oekel's off-the-wall behavior and the outrageous controversial comedy. Many episodes are set in Amsterdam, with numerous recognizable streets and buildings. Huge panorama shots contain many details and little background jokes. Since Van den Boogaard was fond of trains, Van Oekel is often seen in railway stations or near tracks. The drawings provide a beautiful time capsule of the Dutch capital in the 1980s and early 1990s, down to people's fashions. However, Van den Boogaard didn't mind that some of his artwork eventually became a bit dated. He is compared with Laurel & Hardy, whose movies are clearly set in the 1930s, but remain timeless entertainment. To render all these stunning, but time-consuming backgrounds, he hired assistants like Paul Schindeler, Hilbert Bolland and Michel Custers to help him, while former Hergé assistant France Ferrari took care of the coloring.
The 1980 reboot of 'Sjef van Oekel' continued on the same path as the earlier version of the comic. However, as the TV series was no longer in production, there was less emphasis on Van Oekel's TV catchphrases. Instead, he was recast as an eccentric who says or does abnormal stuff that surprises, shocks, embarrasses or enrages the people around him. While they understandably get upset, Van Oekel usually remains imperturbable. If he loses control over his own emotions at all, it is usually because he misinterprets situations. A running gag was Van Oekel's tendency to interpret figure-of-speech literally. For instance, when a waiter tells him: "Telephone!", Van Oekel replies: "Yes. That's a telephone. But could you put it back on the hook? I'm expecting a phone call." Schippers and a more confident Van den Boogaard now worked more as a team, portraying Van Oekel as a strange observer of our equally bewildering modern world.
Sjef van Oekel - 'Een Nieuwe Bril' (1982).
Another major difference between the TV show and the comic were the gags. In a comic, Schippers and Van den Boogaard could portray Sjef van Oekel in situations that TV budgets and censors would never allow. The comic series is a delightful, if somewhat explicit, satire of Dutch society, attacking two stereotypical images of Dutch people. The first target are the sober-minded who feel that "everybody should act normal, which is crazy enough". As he encounters high society, civil servants, police officers, churchgoers and average people doing their jobs, Van Oekel always throws them out of their comfort zone with his strange sayings and behavior.
Yet the authors are equally vicious towards the tolerant people who claim "everything should be allowed." Van Oekel repeatedly stumbles upon religious fanatics, prostitutes, exhibitionists and lewd perverts. In his naïvité, he sees nothing out-of-the-ordinary about their behavior. Many of these scenes are quite risqué and would nowadays have more trouble appearing in print than back then. In one story, for instance, Van Oekel enters a store where a creepy man tries to make a child pornography video with a kid preparing to undress in a changing room. Both the boy and Van Oekel are completely oblivious about the man's actual intentions, although Van Oekel still thwarts his plans by sending the boy home.
'Sjef van Oekel'.
Sjef van Oekel: international success
While most comics based on popular TV shows or media celebrities don't last long, 'Sjef van Oekel' ran for 18 years straight. It kept the character in the public consciousness long after Brouwers quit portraying him on the small screen. As a result, 'Sjef van Oekel' is the longest-running celebrity comic in the Netherlands, as well as the third longest-running Dutch-language celebrity comic series after Willy Linthout and Urbanus' 'Urbanus' (1982-2022) and Hec Leemans' 'F.C. De Kampioenen' (1997- ), both from Belgium.
As it could be enjoyed without prior knowledge of the TV series, the 'Sjef van Oekel' comic is also a rare example of a local celebrity comic with international success. The comic appeared in English ('Mr. Ponsford'), French (as 'Léon Van Oukel', 'Léon le Terrible', 'Léon-La-Terreur'), German ('Leo, Der Terrorist', 'Julius Patzenhofer'), Danish ('Vakse Viggo') and Spanish ('León El Terrible'). By the late 1970s and early 1980s, 'Sjef van Oekel' and Van den Boogaard's earlier comics appeared in the French magazines Libération, Humanité Dimanche and L'Écho des Savanes. After a decade, Schippers and Van den Boogaard were so respected in their home country that they were once seriously considered by newspaper NRC Handelsblad to create a replacement comic for Marten Toonder's 'Tom Poes' strip, which disappeared after more than 40 years of continuous production. To fill in the void, the Schippers-Boogaard team was asked to create a comic feature about an archetypical reader of the paper. However, the project fell through because their suggestion resembled Van Oekel too much.
'Sjef van Oekel'.
Sjef van Oekel: court case by Dolf Brouwers
While the 'Sjef van Oekel' comics sold well, Dolf Brouwers, the actor who had portrayed the character on TV and in novelty songs, started to regret the comic. At first, he supported the project, but he had never foreseen that the series would last so long. He had already retired from performing the character and wanted to do other things. But since the comic kept running, he could never escape from its shadow. Even worse, it harmed his own public image. As he complained in an interview: "Many people now think that I, Dolf Brouwers, do all these things in real life too!" On top of that, the actor didn't receive a dime of the earnings. In 1989, he took the case to court. Two years later, the judge ruled that Brouwers' likeness was no longer allowed to be portrayed in "obscene or pornographic situations." In 1992, Brouwers, Schippers and Van den Boogaard settled a financial agreement out of court.
It is often believed that this court case led to the cancellation of the 'Sjef van Oekel' comic, but in reality the comic kept going for another two years. The creators didn't see the lack of obscenity as a drawback and actually favored more jokes about Van Oekel's odd reactions to perfectly normal questions and remarks. Unfortunately, most readers preferred the sex jokes, while Van den Boogaard's assistants were starting solo careers. This effectively ended the series in 1994, even halfway through a story. A planned animated film about Sjef van Oekel was canceled too. When Dolf Brouwers passed away in 1997, it put the series on a hiatus for decades. It took until 2011 before Schippers and Van den Boogaard released a compilation book called 'Wordt Het Toch Nog Gezellig...' (Dutch Media, 2011).
Train station Amsterdam-Lelylaan.
Graphic contributions
In addition to comics, Theo van den Boogaard illustrated covers for albums with Sjef van Oekel songs, as well as comedy and musical records based on other radio and TV shows by Schippers, such as 'De Lachende Scheerkwast', 'Ronflonflon' and 'Opzoek Naar Yolanda'. He also used his talent for other projects, like a graphic contribution to Paul De Leeuw's CD 'Stille Liedjes' (1991) and Joost Prinsen's record 'Een Kop Die Je Zelf Niet Bevalt' (2003). Van den Boogaard has been an illustrator for magazines like Vrij Nederland, HP/De Tijd, NRC Handelsblad and Playboy, and the creators of advertisements promoting Adformatie, the Amsterdam Municipal Transport Company GVB, the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport and most notably the Dutch Railways. The artist illustrated railroad timetables, and has made detailed drawings of a great many Dutch railway stations. In 2012, he made an illustrated glass-in-lead window for the Bakenesser church in Haarlem. Since 2013, portraits of Dutch jazz legends can be seen at the Oude Binnenweg in Rotterdam, drawn by Theo van den Boogaard, Jan Kruis, Wouter Tulp, Louise Lagerwij and Martin Valkhoff.
For those interested in the artist's railway-related artwork, 'IJzeren Lijnen van Theo Van den Boogaard' (NS Holding, 2005) will suit their fancy. People who enjoy his graphic depictions of Amsterdam should check out 'The Amsterdam of Theo Van den Boogaard' (Oog & Blik, 2011), which collects numerous cityscapes by the maestro. Van den Boogaard additionally illustrated Bart Drenth's 'De Kunst Van Het Volgen' (Gorcum, 2005), a book on how to deal with following commands, and the cover of Hafid Bouazza's novel 'Niets dan Zonde' (Prometheus, 2012).
'Joost Mag Het Weten en Andere Verhalen'.
Later comics and cartoon work
Van den Boogaard kept drawing comics too. In 1991, he made a graphic contribution to 'Les Aventures du Latex - La Bande Dessinée Européenne s'Empare du Préservatif' (1991), a Swiss educational comic promoting condom use. The same year, he released the comic book 'Joost Mag Het Weten En Andere Verhalen' (Big Balloon, 1991), collecting various erotic short stories, though not exactly to arouse readers. Some of the topics, often told through the innocent eyes of a young kid called Joost, poke fun at bestiality and paedophilia. Another taboo topic, mortality, is tackled in 'Theo Van den Boogaard Tekent De Dood' (2003), featuring drawings about death and the Grim Reaper. During the same decade, Van den Boogaard published 'Kenschetsen' (2006) in De Volkskrant, a series illustrating people's individual characteristics through combined objects. Among his commercial comics were a series of educational comic pages about the weather starring Dutch forecaster Peter Timofeeff, published in newspapers like Metro and Spits (2003-2004).
'Kenschetsen' portrayal of a workman's mate, and a morphed portrait of TV producer Joop van den Ende and Dutch Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende as Joop van den Balkenende (From: 'Streken van een Serialtekenaar').
The 2000s brought misfortune to the artist's personal life. In 2000, his longtime partner Karel Sol passed away. Seven years later, Van den Boogaard was diagnosed with intestinal cancer and arthritis. He recovered from the cancer, but the arthritis stayed. While his grip around the pencil isn't what it used to be, he still manages to create new work. In 2010, he published 'Streken van een Serialtekenaar' (De Vliegende Hollander, 2010), collecting his older 'Kenschetsen' drawings, but also new cartoons, illustrations and comics that poke fun at current affairs, advertising campaigns and celebrity culture. The book also marked the return of 'Witje' in a couple of new jokes. Three years later, he created 'Bob Dylan Illustrated' (Oog & Blik/De Bezige Bij, 2013), a book with visualizations of six Bob Dylan songs, created under the anglicized pen name Theo Bogart. A longtime Dylan fan, the artist also released the cover album 'Theo Bogart Sings Bob Dylan' (2013), which he recorded with Jakob Klaasse.
In 2015, Van den Boogaard was asked to create his own version of Edgar P. Jacobs' signature comic strip 'Blake and Mortimer', but Dargaud eventually refused his try-outs. The honor of being the first Dutchman working with these classic Franco-Belgian characters was eventually shared by Peter van Dongen and Teun Berserik. In 2016, Van den Boogaard designed the street sign for the Leylandstraat in Haarlem and was asked by the American TV chef Anthony Bourdain to create illustrations for his book 'Appetites' (2016). In 2023, Theo van den Boogaard was guest editor of the 26th edition of Stripglossy magazine. In the following year, the glossy's publisher Personalia simultaneously released the books 'Goedsniks of kwaadsniks' and 'Hap Snap', collecting new Van den Boogaard cartoons from the period 2018-2024, that resulted from nightly telephone calls with HP/De Tijd editor Tom Kellerhuis.
'Bob Dylan Illustrated'.
Recognition, legacy and influence
Theo van den Boogaard's work has often been exhibited and awarded. On 29 October 1989, he received the Stripschap Prize from Dutch comic appreciation society Het Stripschap. That same year, a retrospective book about his career was written by Martijn Daalder, 'Theo van den Boogaard in Vogelvlucht' (Oberon, 1989). Two years later, other compilations were published: 'Taal en Teken' (Oog & Blik, 1992) and 'De Jaren 60 en 70' (1992). In 2016, the artist's life was subject of a documentary by Nathalie Crum: 'De Vier Winters van Theo van den Boogaard'. Theo van den Boogaard's work has been an inspiration to Kamagurka and Herr Seele's 'Cowboy Henk', as well as Pieter Zandvliet and André Gerrits.
Lambiek will always be grateful to Theo van den Boogaard for illustrating the letter "A" in our encyclopedia book 'Wordt Vervolgd - Stripleksikon der Lage Landen', published in 1979.
Dolf Brouwers and Theo van den Boogaard signing 'Sjef van Oekel' books in Kees Kousemaker's comics shop Lambiek (27 December 1980).