'Nico en Nina'.
Endry - pen name of Henry De Dryver - was a Belgian comic artist. A longtime assistant of François Craenhals, he collaborated on the children's book series 'Hopi et Cati', the comic series 'Fantômette' and the Craenhals productions for Zonneland. This magazine also ran Endry's own gag comic, 'Nico en Nina'. Endry additionally made many comics for promotional and educational purposes.
Early life and career
Not much is known about Endry's personal background. According to his assistant Patrick Cadot, Henry De Dryver was presumably born in Brussels. At a young age, his lungs were badly damaged following an accident. This left him dealing with lung problems throughout his life. While he used the pen name Endry for his future comic work, his nickname for close friends was Ritche. In the late 1950s, Henry De Dryver made illustrations for the book collection Marabout Junior, for instance for 'Les Princes du Ciel' by Georges Blond, 'Loin des Sentiers Battus' by Stany and 'Les Mangeurs D'Hommes' by Michel Droit.
Studio Craenhals
In the 1960s, Endry began working for the comic artist François Craenhals, doing backgrounds art of the 'Luc Tremplin' comic (1962-1965) in Tremplin, a magazine of the devout Catholic publishing house Bonne Presse/De Goede Pers in Averbode. He also worked with Craenhals on the illustrations of five children's booklets with the young Native Americans 'Hopi et Cati' (Casterman 1968-1970) and the three volumes of the educational series 'L'Aventure de la Science' (Casterman, 1973-1977) by Jean-Claude Pasquiez. Endry most likely also assisted on the ongoing Craenhals comic series 'Les 4 As' at publisher Casterman and 'Le Chevalier Ardent' in Tintin magazine. Endry and Craenhals also provided the artwork for the 1962 Baden-Powell calendar for the Belgian boy scouts.
Averbode magazines
During the 1970s and 1980s, Endry continued to work for both Tremplin and its Dutch-language edition Zonneland, and also for other Averbode publications. Besides participating in Studio Craenhals productions, he also drew his own features, such as 'Nico en Nina', a gag comic about a boy and a girl. In 1960, Endry created the serial 'De Nieuwe', in which a boy with a golden heart symbolizes the true Christian attitude to life. In 1983 he and scriptwriter Yves Duval made 'Les 1001 Aventures de Pinocchio', an adaptation of 'Pinocchio', serialized in Zonneland, though directly based on Carlo Collodi's original novel instead of the famous Disney version. Illustrations by Endry appeared in Zonnekind and its French-language edition Bonjour - magazines for first and second graders of primary education - and Averbode's preschool magazine Doremi. Endry's own graphic style showed influences from Berck, Mittéï and the "School of Marcinelle", the playful drawing style associated with Spirou magazine.
'Orphylon' from Tintin/Kuifje #8, 1978.
Tintin magazine
Between 1965 and 1969, and again between 1978 and 1980, Endry was present in Tintin magazine. After making a couple of short comic stories with the character 'Carbone Crampon' (1965-1966) in collaboration with writer Jacques Acar, he was the illustrator for the educational animal section 'De Âne à Zèbre' (1968-1969). In the late 1970s, he returned in Tintin's pages with the humorous feature about an ambitious entrepreneur, 'Orphylon' (1978-1980), made in collaboration with the scriptwriters Lucien Meys and Jean-Claude Lowenthal. In 1981, Endry and Lowenthal additionally provided a 'Tubifex' gag page to Spirou Festival, a special of Spirou magazine.
Fantômette
In 1985, Endry drew the fourth and final comic book based on the youth novel series about the masked vigilante 'Fantômette' by Georges Chaulet, 'Fantômette Fendles Flots' (Hachette, 1985). Three earlier installments were made in 1982 and 1983 by Chaulet and François Craenhals, who also collaborated on the popular comic version of Chaulet's 'Les 4 As' novels.
'Roken Is Vergif Voor Je Leven!'
Promotional comics
Much of Endry's 1970s and 1980s comic output was for promotional or educational purposes. In the late 1960s, he made several sponsored comic pages for the Osram lamp factory, published in Zonnestraal (Flanders) and Tremplin (Wallonia). For Osram, Endry also made two 1969 comic books about the history of lighting that appeared both in Dutch ('Alle Schijnwerpers op Lumen') and French ('Pleins Feux sur Lumen'). With Craenhals, Endry made promotional strips for the explanatory dictionary 'Grevisse, le Français Correct'.
The serialization of Endry's Osram comics also made it to the cover of Tremplin magazine (31 March and 21 April 1967).
In 1976, Endry drew 'De Enkele Plusjes en de Vele Minnetjes', a promotional comic about egg cultivation. Written by M.A. Gruloos, it was first serialized in Zonnekind and then released in book format by the National Service for Sale of Agriculture and Gardening Products (N.D.A.L.T.P.). Endry and Gruloos also collaborated on a comic story about sports for the 1976 children's paper Kangoeroe (1976), published by the National Sports Association of Catholic Education (N.S.V.O.). In 1991, Endry illustrated 'Roken Is Vergif Voor Je Leven!' ('Fumer, Ça Empoisonne La Vie!'), an anti-smoking comic aimed at children, distributed by the Foundation for Heart Surgery. The comic was reissued in 1997. Endry also designed the mascot and logo of Meli, a now defunct theme park in Adinkerke, West Flanders. Among his other advertising work are stickers for Samo Chips and beer coasters for Stella Artois.
Final years and death
Around 1980, Henry De Dryver acted as mentor for the young comic artist Patrick Cadot, whom he also introduced to the editors of the Bonne Presse magazines. By that time, Endry's health was in steady decline. His lifelong lung problems had resulted in him walking around with an oxygen tank. One evening, at an unknown date, he was found dead in his bathroom in his hometown Tubize. By the time of his death, Henry De Dryver was in his mid-60s.
Comic strip for the Meli park.