'Joske en de Joskes'.
Karlos Callens was a Flemish cartoonist and comic artist. Mostly active in the 1970s and 1980s, he made several left-wing and anarchic comics, often for the Flemish cabaret group Vuile Mong en Zijn Vieze Gasten. He was the author of 'Gaspard en Mr. Deblauwe', which ran in the Communist magazine De Rode Vaan. He should not be confused with Belgian politician Karlos Callens (1947-2023), who was mayor of Ardooie.
Early life and career
Not much is known about Karlos Callens. During the 1970s and 1980s, he created drawings for the magazines Jongerenkrant, Aktiekrant and the Communist weekly De Rode Vaan. The latter publication ran his weekly comic strip 'Gaspard en Mr. Deblauwe'. Callens also drew for Jong Davidsfonds, the juvenile section of the Flemish Catholic organization Davidsfonds. He designed posters for various rallies, among them against Minister of Defense Paul Vanden Boeynants's controversial decision in 1975 to spent 30 billion Belgian francs for military planes during a time of economic crisis. Callens also drew posters to promote boycotts of Mobutu's regime in Zaire and the apartheid system in South Africa.
In 1981, he drew a poster for Wereldscholen which uses a comic strip format. The poster depicts a man who wonders why so many people are without a job, while product prices are so expensive. He notices the factory smell and wants to protest, but the police prevent him from doing so. Eventually, he looks for an explanation and finds it at a debate held by Wereldscholen about business tactics.
Poster for Wereldscholen, 1981.
Vuile Mong en Zijn Vieze Gasten
Callens was house cartoonist of the Flemish cabaret group Vuile Mong en Zijn Vieze Gasten ("Filthy Mong and his Dirty Gang"). The group was founded in 1971 by some socially conscious students. They organized satirical and politically motivated performances, also recorded on concept albums. Vuile Mong en Zijn Vieze Gasten were a cult band throughout most of the 1970s. In 1974, they scored a number one-hit with 'Het Apekot', a nihilistic song about someone who wants to enjoy life, but never finds a chance, because he is forced to work for school, the army and his office until he is locked up in a retirement home and passes away. The song is still occasionally played on Flemish radio. Besides 'Het Apekot', the group basically faded away from the mainstream in the early 1980s. Contrary to what people might assume, they are still active today, though not in the same guise, nor under the same name. In 2001, they changed their name to 'Bij De Vieze Gasten'. No longer touring, they have their own theater in the Brugse Poort in Ghent.
Callens created several flyers, posters, show programs and album covers for the band, signing them with his first name, 'Karlos'. The cover of the album 'Bommerskonten' (1978) spoofed the introduction page of every 'Astérix' story by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. The same cover also referred to Morris' 'Lucky Luke' by depicting politicians Hugo Schiltz, Willy Claes, Wilfried Martens and Leo Tindemans as the Daltons. Callens also created an animated short for the accompanying 'Bommerskonten' theatrical show. Callens' comic books 'Joske en de Joskes' (1974) and 'Joske aan den Dop' (1975) were created in collaboration with Vuile Mong en Zijn Vieze Gasten and the Centrum voor Info en Aktie ("The Centre of Info and Action").
Cover art for Vuile Mong's 1974 single 'Het Apekot'.