Cover illustration for 'De Opstand der Bataven' (1982).
Rob van Eijck (occasionally misspelled as Rob van Eyk) was a Dutch historian, translator and comic artist, as well as one of the foremost comic scholars of the Netherlands. His own comics output was limited to a couple of short stories and the 1982 historical comic book 'De Opstand der Bataven', but his contributions to chronicling the history of Dutch comics have been unsurpassed. A longtime editor of Stripschrift magazine, Van Eijck interviewed many national and international comic legends. He also gave lectures, curated expositions and contributed to dozens of specialized books, background dossiers and articles.
Early life
Rob van Eijck was born in 1948 in The Hague, and later in life lived in Leiden and eventually Haarlem. As he recalled in Eppo magazine #19 of 2014: "I grew up with the classic comics and comic magazines of the 1940s and 1950s. My passion for comics started when I got hold of Kuifje issue #7 from 1957, in which one wonderful world after another unfolded before my eyes." Among his personal favorites were the Donald Duck stories of Carl Barks, the classic 'Suske en Wiske' adventures by Willy Vandersteen, Hergé's 'Tintin' and Hans G. Kresse's 'Eric de Noorman'. Kresse in particular had his attention, and Van Eijck eventually became the go-to expert of the life and work of this legendary Dutch creator. Educated as an historian at Leiden University, Rob van Eijck spent most of his working life as a secondary school history teacher at the Triniteitslyceum in Haarlem, and later also at the KSH Hoofddorp. He retired from his day job in 2012.
'De Opstand der Bataven' (1982).
Comic creator
During the 1970s, Van Eijck tried his hand at creating comics himself, mostly on historical subjects. Together with Cor de Boer, he created the short story 'Jean-Claude Satisfait' in Mach magazine (1972). With Frits de Winter as co-writer, he created the full-length comic 'De Opstand der Bataven', visualizing the historic rebellion of the Celtic tribe the Batavi in 69-70 AD against the Romans. The artist modelled the main character Julius Civilis after himself, including the historically correct blind left eye. Even though the story was created in the 1970s, it didn't receive a proper book publication until 1982, when Arboris released it in its 'Arboris Stripselektie' collection. Remarkably enough, Van Eijck wasn't the first Dutchman to create a picture story about the Batavan Uprising: between 1600 and 1613, painter Otto van Veen also made a series of 12 sequential paintings about this event.
In 1977, Van Eijck's two-page comic story 'De Romeinen Komen', created in collaboration with Hans van den Boom, appeared in the eleventh issue of the alternative comic magazine De Vrije Balloen.
'De Romeinen Komen' (De Vrije Balloen #11, November-December 1977).
Comic production
During the 1980s and 1990s, Rob van Eijck was active as a translator of American comic books for Juniorpress and Baldakijn, most notably of 'Conan the Barbarian', 'Batman' and 'Watchmen'. As a letterer, he worked on translations of Paul Cuvelier and Jean Van Hamme's 'Epoxy', Jacques Tardi's 'Isabelle Blanc-Sec' and André Chéret's 'Rahan'.
Stripschrift
For over five decades, Rob van Eijck was one of the most prominent writers about comics in the Netherlands. He had a longtime association with the comic news magazine Stripschrift, at the time published by the Dutch comic appreciation society Het Stripschap. Between 1971 and 1986, he was part of their editorial board, interviewing industry giants like Willy Vandersteen, Hergé, Edgar Pierre Jacobs, André Franquin and virtually every Dutch comic creator of the time. Together with an ever-changing team of fellow editors - among the most prominent were Hans van den Boom, Kees de Bree, Har Brok, Jac Drewes, Wim van Helden, Mat Schifferstein and Martin Wassington - Van Eijck laid the foundations for Dutch comic scholarship. During this period, he was also actively involved as co-writer and editor of several Stripschrift Specials about the work of Willy Vandersteen ('Suske en Wiske', 1981), André Franquin ('De F van Flater', 1982), Jean Giraud ('De Kleurrijke helden van Giraud/Moebius', 1982) and Carl Barks ('Carl Barks en de mythe van Walt Disney's Donald Duck', 1985).
After leaving as editor, Rob van Eijck continued to contribute articles to Stripschrift on a regular basis. In 2010, he was the sole creator of Stripschrift issue #406, which was fully dedicated to comic magazines from the 1950s.
'De 'F' van Flater', about André Franquin, and a thematic issue of Stripschrift about comics magazines in the 1950s.
Comic scholar
Articles and interviews by Rob van Eijck have additionally appeared in Brabant Strip Magazine and the 'Stripjaarboek' annuals of publisher Arboris. In 1978, a selection of his interviews with comic creators was collected in the book 'Beeldspraak' by Brabantia Nostra. Van Eijck has been involved in many reference guides of comic history, including Evelien and Kees Kousemaker's 'Wordt Vervolgd - Stripleksikon der Lage Landen' (Het Spectrum, 1979) and 'Strips! 200 Jaar Nederlands Beeldverhaal' (Lecturis, 2013), for which he covered the period 1945-1975. Van Eijck contributed to the catalog of a notable exhibition about European comics, 'Kunst en Grafische Vernieuwing in het Europees Beeldverhaal', held in Jan Hoet's Museum of Contemporary Art in Ghent. Van Eijck has additionally participated, either as writer or editor, with the extensive backgrounds dossiers in collected volumes of Martin Lodewijk's 'Agent 327', Peter de Smet's 'De Generaal' and several Hans G. Kresse collections. He also contributed a chapter to the book 'Kuifje In De Echte Wereld' (Meulenhoff, 2004), a book paying homage to Hergé's 'Tintin'.
Until his death in early 2025, Rob van Eijck continued to lend his expertise to a great many comic-related events. Rob van Eijck has been (co-)curator of many expositions about comic creators, for instance for the Stripmuseum Groningen, Museum Meermanno in The Hague, Strips! in Rotterdam, MoCA in Noordwijk and the Kresse Museum in Gouda. He was a core member of the Dutch Hans G. Kresse society, and a regular speaker at their gatherings. His expertise on Hans G. Kresse and his work was also reflected in the books 'Eric de Noorman Opnieuw Bekeken' (Stichting Hans G. Kresse, 2007) and the massive biography book 'De Kunst van Kresse' (Kresse Museum, 2024), the latter created in collaboration with Rutger Zwart. For Arboris, he also wrote a biography book about Jan van Haasteren ('Jan Van Haasteren - Van Striptekenaar tot Puzzelfenomeen', 2017).
'Jan van Haasteren - Van Striptekenaar tot Puzzelfenomeen' and 'De Kunst van Kresse'.
Recognition
In January 2014, a comic prize was named after Rob van Eijck, announced to be awarded biennially to a person who has been of service for the promotion of comics in The Netherlands. So far, the prize has only been awarded once. During the 2014 Stripgala, Rob van Eijck himself was the first to receive it. Together with fellow comic journalists Wim van Helden and Joost Pollmann, he received the 2018 P. Hans Frankfurther Prize for special merits by comic appreciation society Het Stripschap. In 2020, compilers Rob van Eijck and Rob van der Nol received the "Stripschappenning" for Informative and Compilation books for the dossier in the fifth 'Agent 327' collection.
Death
After a fall in his Haarlem home in January 2025, Rob van Eijck died on the night of 7 and 8 February 2025. He was 76 years old.
As a pioneer in Dutch comic scholarship, Rob van Eijck's work remains of the greatest value to next generations of historians. Much of the information in this Comiclopedia, for instance, could be retrieved thanks to his books, articles and interviews. His 1978 book 'Beeldspraak' in particular has become iconic, as it is often mentioned as an important starting point for collectors and illustrators/writers.
Rob van Eijck. Photo © Robin Schouten.