'Jommeke' #102 - 'De Vampier van Drakenburg'.
Hugo De Sterk is a Belgian comic artist. He started his career at Erik Vandemeulebroucke's studio, working for the German Fix und Foxi magazine. Between 1972 and 2002, he worked on Jef Nys' 'Jommeke', making him the artist with the largest production on this classic Belgian children's comic series.
Early life and career
Hugo De Sterk was born in 1944 in Antwerp, but grew up in a town outside of the province capital, Wijnegem. He studied Decorative Arts at the Technicum in Antwerp. While De Sterk enjoyed drawing, he had no outspoken interest in comics as a child and only read Jef Nys' 'Jommeke' and Willy Vandersteen's 'Suske en Wiske' and 'De Familie Snoek'. In the early 1970s, he began his career in the Berchem studio of Erik Vandemeulebroucke, where he replaced Guido De Vogel. For a while, he assisted on the artist's story production for the German comic magazines of Rolf Kauka, drawing features like 'Die Pichelsteiner', 'Tom und Klein Biberherz' and 'Fix und Foxi', alongside fellow studio workers Stan Sluydts and André Donders.
Jommeke - 'Peuterweelde' (1976).
Jommeke
Through a newspaper ad, De Sterk then applied for an assistant job with Jef Nys, creator of the popular Flemish children's comic 'Jommeke', serialized in the newspaper Het Volk. Beginning his employment on 1 October 1972, he stayed at this studio for 30 years, with the exception of a two-year interlude. It took a while before De Sterk got the Nys style in his fingers. Nys could be a difficult taskmaster and often instructed his assistants to start all over again when he noticed drawings were "off-model". Taking his job seriously, the left-handed De Sterk even trained himself to draw with his right hand, so that his drawings would match his taskmaster's wishes. Interviewed by Pieter Deschoolmeester for Stripspeciaalzaak (31 March 2023), De Sterk dismissed the insinuation that Nys ordered him to draw right-handed and stated that it was entirely his own initiative.
Jommeke - 'De Stad in de Vulkaan' (1978).
At one point, Nys became too demanding, while the comic's production level rose, so De Sterk sought employments elsewhere. Between 17 October 1977 and 18 May 1979, he worked as a designer for a packaging company. During De Sterk's absence, Wim Haazen took his place at Nys' studio, but his tenure was shortlived. By the time Haazen had left, De Sterk returned to Studio Nys, where he remained until 2002. Among his colleagues during the 1970s were Karel Boumans, Edwin Wouters, Eric De Rop and Philippe Delzenne, followed in the 1980s by Gerd Van Loock and in the 1990s by Luc Morjaeu. Scripts were written by Nys himself and, during the 1990s, by Jan Ruysbergh.
During his thirty-year employment with Studio Nys, De Sterk provided artwork for about 130 'Jommeke' albums. The first book with his participation was 'Broeder Anatolius' (1972), which was mostly drawn by another Nys co-worker, Edwin Wouters. His final contributions appeared in the 2003 album 'Wowofski'. Whereas he was initially doing assistant tasks like lettering and inking, he was eventually doing finished character art based on layouts by Jef Nys. In later years, De Sterk was drawing his own installments in the series, often aided by Philippe Delzenne or Luc Morjaeu for the backgrounds. While he did the core of the annual production of four to five albums, one additional book a year was written and drawn by Edwin Wouters. But unlike his colleagues, De Sterk didn't participate in writing the stories. For several years, the main part of the team was working from Nys's studio in Antwerp's Linkeroever neighborhood. When that closed down, Hugo De Sterk received a desk at the offices of the newspaper Het Volk, while the other artists went to work from home.
Jommeke - 'De Goudvis van Filiberke' (1993).
Apart from the regular 'Jommeke' stories, De Sterk also provided illustrations for associated merchandising, like game books and holiday-themed specials. In 1997, he also drew the exclusive short story 'Goud Voor Anatool', which came as a gift with a CD.
Recent years
After De Sterk retired in 2002, he hurt his right hand in a sawing accident. Since then he has rarely drawn anymore. In the 21st century, the production of 'Jommeke' has been continued with Philippe Delzenne and Gerd Van Loock as lead artists.
Hugo De Sterk working on 'Jommeke' in the 1970s. Still from a VRT news report.
Interview with Hugo De Sterk by Stripspeciaalzaak.be (in Dutch)