Woep en Wap
Nico van Dam began his career with the advertising and animation studios Tachy, that he started together with Gerard Cobelens and Harry Roos. He became a staff artist at the publishing house De Spaarnestad in 1947, and he began drawing for its various publications. He did numerous illustrations and covers for the Dutch Panorama, as well as its supplement Rebellenclub. For Rebellenclub, he also illustrated episodes of the originally British comics 'Vonkje de Vrolijke Vrijbuiter' (1950-1951) and 'De Droom van Daro, de Durfal' (1951-1952). For many years, he worked at the famous Spaarnestad Studio at the Nassauplein in Haarlem, alongside Bert Bus and Harry Balm.
Vonkje de vrolijke vrijbuiter
He created his first own comic, 'Woep en Wap', for Rosita. The series appeared from September 1958 to March 1966 with scripts by Bert Bus. When De Spaarnestad merged with De Geïllustreerde Pers to VNU, Van Dam started working for the scientific monthly Kijk, and the girl's magazine Tina. In 1974, he began the strip 'Vera van de Risico' for Tina, written by Patty Klein.
Vera van de Risico (Tina, 1975)
Three years later, he started his comic 'Sandra', based on the Gudrun saga. He illustrated several covers of the albums of 'Opkomst en Ondergang van het Keizerrijk Trigië' and retired in the 1980s. Together with his former studio colleagues Bert Bus and Harry Balm, he was awarded the Bulletje & Boonestaakschaal for his contributions to the Dutch comics field in 2004. He passed away in October 2010 at the age of 87.
Sandra