'Yoeko' (Suske En Wiske Weekblad #30, 2000).
Dani Dacquin was a Belgian comic artist, best known for his TV-related gag comics, such as 'Tele-Dani-Visie' (1969) and 'Televiviesektie' (1974). He additionally drew the adult gag comic 'Adam en Eva' (1973) and the children's series 'Sprookjesavonturen van Lotje' (1974-1980) and 'Yoeko' (1979-1980s, 1998-2000). Dacquin was additionally one of the founding members of the Belgian comics association De Vlaamse Onafhankelijke Stripgilde.
Early life
Dani Dacquin was born in 1935 in Sint-Andries in the coastal province of West Flanders. Already at age 15, Dacquin began his own art studio in his parental house, which also "employed" his brothers Hedwig and Fernand. Fernand Dacquin (born in 1939) later worked as a scriptwriter for television and radio broadcasts, and also gained popularity with his humorous poems. The youngest brother, Hedwig Dacquin (born in 1943) became a journalist and was chief editor of the newspaper Brugsch Handelsblad between 1985 and 1998.
'Televiviesektie'.
Early comics
Dani Dacquin made his first cartoons for Flemish student magazines, mostly signing them with his first name "Dani". He made his professional debut with the stop comic 'De Avonturen van Peerke Paraplu' (1958) in the right-wing conservative satirical magazine 't Pallieterke. By 1960, he was active as a political cartoonist in Brugsch Handelsblad, replacing the recently deceased Guido De Cloedt (cousin of future cartoonist Marec). For the newspaper, Dacquin would draw over 5,000 strips about local politics in Bruges.
TV gag comics
With 'Tele-Dani-Visie' (1969), published in the Flemish newspaper De Gazet van Antwerpen, Dacquin found his niche: a comic strip poking fun at recent TV broadcasts and media celebrities. Some were direct spoofs of TV shows. A decade later, he created a similar TV parody series, 'Televiviesektie' (1974), which ran in the weekly opinion magazine Knack.
'Adam en Eva'. Translation: "Tell me honestly, Eve. What do you expect from a man?" - Eve: "Well, kindness, understanding, bravery, love, comfort, strength, character, loyalty, compassion, gratitude, feeling for poetry, acknowledgement, help, imagination,..." - Adam: "And else?".
Adam en Eva
For the newspaper De Bond, Dacquin and scriptwriter Jaak Dreessen created a gag comic about the biblical couple Adam and Eve, 'Adam en Eva' (1973. Interestingly enough, this makes Dacquin the first known Belgian comic artist to make a comic strip about the "first man and woman", two decades before Gerrit de Jager and Philippe Bercovici made 'Et Dieu Créa Eve' ('Adam en Eva') for the French magazine L'Écho des Savanes and the Belgian weekly Panorama. In 1974, Dacquin's Adam and Eve comic was published in book format as 'Liefde Is Een Geurig Kruid: Kroniek van Leven en Liefde' (Lannoo, 1974).
'Lotje'.
Patskrant/Stipkrant
From 1974 on, Dacquin was a mainstay in Patskrant, the children's supplement of the newspaper De Standaard, which changed its name to the Stipkrant in 1977. In its pages, he drew his longest-running comic features, 'De Lotgevallen van Lotje' (sometimes titled 'Sprookjesavonturen van Lotje', 1974-1980), a humorous adventure comic about a young girl. About 11 stories were published, often co-scripted by Dani's brother Fernand or his wife Lieve Zeghers. In 1975, Dacquin co-illustrated the book 'Lach Maar Liever Met Pietje Pennewip' (Lannoo, 1975), a compilation of episodes of 'Pietje Pennewip', a Patskrant column written by Cyriel Verleyen with illustrations by GoT. That same year, he also livened up the pages of Eugeen Decamps' 'Koken in het Klein' (Lannoo, 1975), a compilation of the similarly titled culinary column in Patskrant.
In 1979, Dacquin also created the gag comic 'Yoeko' for Stipkrant. It starred an unlucky Inuit, whose adventures were in 1998-2000 reprinted in Suske en Wiske Weekblad.
Other newspaper comics
Dacquin also drew satirical cartoons about 'Sissen BAB' for Het Brugsch Handelsblad and the stop comic 'Tom' in Het Laatste Nieuws.
'Yoeko'.
Advertising comics
In addition, Dani Dacquin worked as a teacher at the art print school in Gent, and from 1978 onwards, he ran his own advertising and creative agency with his wife Lieve Zeghers. For the banking company Kredietbank they made the advertising comic book 'De Avonturen van Kas en Bas: Cijnszele Wint Het Pleit' (1979), scripted by Julien van Remoortere. This book was later translated into French by Maddy Buysse as 'Les Aventures de Kas et Bas: Contriville Gagne Sa Cause'. During the 1980s, Dacquin regularly collaborated with Eddy Ryssack on new advertising comics.
Book illustrations
Dacquin illustrated the book 'Op Stap met Nonkel Bob door Vlaanderen' (Standaard Boekhandel, 1966) by TV host Bob Davidse, more famous as the children's presenter "Nonkel Bob". Dacquin also made the drawings for 'Capriolen' (Lannoo, 1973), a book based on Walter Capiau's radio show of the same name. Some of his illustrations in this particular book were done in a gag comic format. In 1974, Dacquin livened up the pages of a Dutch-language translation of the German book 'Wohin steuert der Vatikan?' by Reinhard Raffalt. Later that decade, Dacquin provided the illustrations for Gaston van Camp and Julien van Remoortere's 'Zomerboek' and 'Winterboek' (Lannoo, both from 1977), as well as Van Remoortere's travel guides 'Met De Auto door West-Vlaanderen. Gids voor Twaalf Toeristische Routes' (Lannoo, 1973) and 'Met de Auto door de Ardennen en Luxemburg. Gids voor Elf Toeristische Routes' (1974). He also livened up the pages of Van Remoortere's camping guide 'Het Groot Kampeerboek' (1978) and Gerd De Ley's humorous book 'Schoenmaker, Blijf Van Haar Leest' (Reinaert, 1979).
The busy artist additionally designed the cover of Maria Vlaminck's novel 'De Heer van Geuzen - Yde' (1978). Dacquin also wrote and drew 'Brugge Betrapt. De Brugse Historie in Zantjes' (Marc Van de Wiele, 1982), a book with anecdotes about the history of Bruges. In 1992, he and his brother Hedwig made an "in memoriam" book for the recently deceased Flemish musician Willy Lustenhouwer, illustrated by Dacquin.
Vlaamse Onafhankelijke Stripgilde
Dani Dacquin was founding member and an important contributor to De Vlaamse Onafhankelijke Stripgilde, a "guild" of Flemish comic artists, initiated by Danny De Laet, Berck and Eddy Ryssack on 22 November 1978. Among the founding members were John Bultinck, Hec Leemans, Merho and Marc Sleen. Jean-Pol was treasurer and Kris De Saeger secretary. In 1980, Yvan Delporte founded the Upchic (Union Professionelle des Créateurs d’Histoires en Images et de Cartoons), the first special interest organization for Belgian comic artists, which served as the Walloon counterpart to the Stripgilde. Together, these groups initiated and sponsored the establishment of the Belgian Comic Strip Center in Brussels in 1989.
Final years, death and legacy
Dani Dacquin's cartoons and comics were widespread in Flanders and also published in the Netherlands, France and Germany. In 1990, the cartoonist and his wife moved to the French Provence, spending the next 18 years in the town of Mormoiron. Dani Dacquin passed away in 2019 in Bruges, at the age of 84. He has been named an influence by the cartoonist Marec.
Cartoon by Dani Dacquin.