Jommeke #262- 'De Brulharp' (2012).
Philippe Delzenne is a Belgian comic artist and writer with a long career in drawing other artists' creations. After starting as an assistant for Frank Sels on 'Zilverpijl', in 1979 began his long tenure working on Jef Nys' 'Jommeke' comic, first as an assistant, from 2002 on as an allround writer and artist. With the exception of a ten-year interlude (1988-1998) drawing Peyo's 'Smurfs', Delzenne has been the most productive 'Jommeke' artist, producing up to three albums a year. Since the death of Jef Nys in 2009, Delzenne and Gerd Van Loock have been the lead artists of this classic Flemish children's comic franchise.
Early life and career
Philippe Delzenne was born in 1956 in Leuven. His father had a doctorate in chemistry and worked as a researcher at the photographic company Agfa-Gevaert. As a child, young Philippe enjoyed reading Tintin magazine and the 'Astérix' comics by Albert Uderzo and René Goscinny, but as an artist he was self-taught. While his family had no artistic background, he credited his father with giving him his knack for invention, in his case creative solutions. Later in life, Delzenne mostly collected comics as a source of inspiration, singling out favorite creators like André Franquin, Hergé, Marten Toonder, Willy Vandersteen, Frank le Gall, Bill Watterson, Jacques Tardi, Manu Larcenet and Régis Loisel.
In 1977, at the age of 21, Delzenne began his career as an assistant of the comic artist Frank Sels. Along with fellow co-worker Claus Scholz, he was responsible for drawing the backgrounds of 'Silberpfeil' ('Zilverpijl'), a western series about a heroic Native American, produced by Sels for the German publisher Bastei Verlag.
Backgrounds by Philippe Delzenne for Jommeke #123, 'De Schat van Angkor' (1984).
Jommeke: first period
In 1979, Delzenne noticed an advertisement in the newspaper Gazet van Antwerpen looking for talented artists. Without mentioning the reason, the ad featured some doodles and said: "If you can draw better than this, send your best work to this address..." Delzenne applied and then found out that the ad was for an assistant job with Jef Nys, the creator of the popular 'Jommeke' series. Out of 360 reactions, Delzenne was one of seven artists who were picked out. The newcomers were set to work in Nys' new studio space in Antwerp's Linkeroever neighborhood. After some training and try-outs, Delzenne was the only artist who remained. During his early tenure in the studio, he was mostly tasked with drawing backgrounds for Nys' assistant Hugo De Sterk. The first book with his participation was volume #95, 'Melanie'. In the following years, he continued to work with De Sterk and inker Eric De Rop on new installments in the 'Jommeke' series. After a while, he was also handed inking duties and he additionally suggested plot ideas for the stories 'De Viool van Varazdina' (#110, 1982) and 'In de Greep van Mac Rum' (#113, 1982).
Leaving Nys
By 1984, Delzenne was still a young artist, with the ambition of exploring more career opportunities. He decided to leave Nys' studio, but not without bringing in his own replacement: a childhood friend of his sister, Gerd Van Loock. The final album with Delzenne's and the first with Van Loock's participation was 'De Schat van Angkor' (volume #123, 1984). After leaving Nys, did several jobs while building on his portfolio. In 1986, he moved to Bruges, while continuing to expand his contacts and job applications. At one point, he was considered as the new artist for the 'Arkel' series, created by Marc Hardy and Stephen Desberg, and he had a short stint working with 'Nero' artist Marc Sleen. In 1988, he applied with the Toonder Studio's in the Netherlands, and made designs for some wishing cards with Marten Toonder's signature creations Tom Poes and Ollie B. Bommel. However, the 'Bommel' series had by then come to an end, and the studio had no work for him.
Story art for Die Schlümpfe magazine (mid-1990s).
The Smurfs
By 1987, Delzenne had found regular work at Cartoon Creation, the 'Smurfs' production studio and publishing imprint, headed by Thierry Culliford, the son of 'Smurfs' creator Peyo. One of his first tasks was assisting on the artwork of the 1988 'Smurfs' episode 'Les P'tits Schtroumpfs'. At Cartoon Creation, Delzenne was trained in drawing the blue dwarfs by Daniël Desorgher, while also having the opportunity to work with Peyo himself. Especially when in 1989 the studio launched its own monthly Schtroumpf magazine, production increased. During the magazine's relatively short run (1989-1992), Delzenne drew short comic stories with many of Peyo's creations. From scripts by editor-in-chief Jean-Claude de la Royère or Yvan Delporte, he drew many 'Smurfs' stories of either 4 or 8 pages. In addition, again with De la Royère, Delzenne made new stories with an older, long-forgotten Peyo creation, 'Pierrot et la Lampe', about a boy and his magic lamp. He also created new gags with the little black cat 'Poussy'. The other artist for these features was Éric Closter.
'Poussy' gag by Philippe Delzenne (Schtroumpf #33, June 1992).
In 1992, the 34th and final issue of Schtroumpf magazine appeared, and Cartoon Creation was dissolved. While the regular 'Smurfs' book series was continued at the publisher Le Lombard, a steady production of short comic stories was maintained for the German Smurfs magazine Die Schlümpfe, published between 1991 and 2002 by Bastei Verlag. Again, Delzenne was one of the main artists for new 'Smurfs' stories, this time in collaboration with scriptwriter Marc Wasterlain. In the regular 'Schtroumpfs' book series, Philippe Delzenne provided the script for the 21st album, 'On Ne Schtroumpfe Pas Le Progrès' (2002). This volume was however drawn by Pascal Garray and Ludo Borecki, as by then Delzenne had returned to Jef Nys.
Jommeke #272 - 'De Boemerang van Kirimbir' (2014).
Jommeke: second period
In 1998, Philippe Delzenne was contacted by Jef Nys again, who asked his old co-worker if he would return and redraw and modernize several older 'Jommeke'. While at first combining this new task with his work for Studio Peyo, Delzenne reworked several older 'Jommeke' stories, most notably 'Neuzen Bij De Vleet' and 'De Fwietmachine', which were originally drawn during the late 1960s and early 1970s by less experienced assistants. In addition, he redrew several of the early 'Jommeke' stories by Jef Nys himself, although he didn't feel he could improve much on his taskmaster's original artwork.
Jommeke #280 - 'Vogelvriend' (2016).
By 2002, longtime Jef Nys assistant Hugo De Sterk retired and the German Smurfs magazine had come to an end, allowing Delzenne to return to Nys on a permanent base. During the 21st century, both Delzenne and Gerd Van Loock became the lead artists of the 'Jommeke' series, each writing and drawing their own albums. The first story fully scripted by Delzenne was 'Holeman' (2001), which still had artwork by Van Loock, but the first story both written and drawn by Delzenne was 'De Komkommerprinses' (#223, 2003). Since Nys' death in 2009, Delzenne and Van Loock have continued as head creators of the 'Jommeke' series, while staying true to the wishes of its original author. This includes stories with no violence, no weapons, no sex and no drugs, and respecting the "Jef Nys Bible" document with character designs and set designs. Since 2009, the creators of the new stories were also, for the first time, credited in each new album.
Creating about three albums a year (and Van Loock two), Delzenne crafts his stories with fantasy elements, a realistic depiction of animals, and more crowded, atmospheric panels. Delzenne has named Filiberke his favorite character, since he has such a strong imagination. Over the years, the team has been enhanced with the new artists Dieter Steenhaut, Kristof Fagard and Steve Van Bael, with Delzenne training the first two. Additional scriptwriters have been Marc Legendre and Kristof Berte.
'Bottleneck Brothers'.
Recognition
On 24 July 2012, Delzenne and Van Loock were both awarded the “Gouden Potlood” (“Golden Pencil”) award for their work on 'Jommeke' during the Comics Festival of Middelkerke, Belgium.
Personal projects
In his spare time, Delzenne, also signing with PhiDel, has been working on more personal projects, which have largely remained unpublished. In 2014, he began creating small pieces of abstract art under the banner AMIANart (A Minute Is A Notion). Personal comic projects have included the philosophical discussions between the 'Bottleneck Brothers', Mr. Hum and Mr. Bug, and a planned graphic novel, 'Trace-Noël'. In December 2018, Delzenne was guest editor for volume #11 of the Dutch Stripglossy magazine, in which parts of these personal comics were printed.
Work-in-progress graphic novel 'Tracé-Noël', sample published in Stripglossy #11.
Secondary literature
For those interested in Delzenne's life and art, the art book/biography 'Een Boek Over PhiDel' (Bonte, 2024) is highly recommended.
Philippe Delzenne.