'Reynaerts Wraak'.
Leo Faes, also known as L.E.O. Faes, is a teacher in Dutch language, who has also worked as a cartoonist and comic artist. His work shows a strong interest in dialect, sports, children's books and historical literature. He is perhaps most notable for adapting several classic medieval stories into comic books for young readers, including 'Reynard the Fox', 'The Four Sons of Aymon' and 'Karel en de Elegast'.
Early life and teaching career
Born in 1948 in Maastricht, Leo Faes studied Dutch language and literature in Nijmegen. He graduated in 1971, and worked as a teacher in Dutch language from 1972 until the early 2000s. He was employed by Het Stedelijk Lyceum in Enschede since 1974. Since 2016 he lives in Tilburg.
Early comics career
Faes was a cartoonist for the regional newspaper Twentsche Courant Tubantia between 1985 and 2009. Among his early books are 'Big Boek' (Leopold, 1980), a children's book in comics format, and 'Lucifer' (Bruna, 1984), a parody of Rien Poortvliet's "Gnomes" books.
Comics for Van de Berg
Faes has published several comics with the publishing house Van de Berg in Enschede (now in Almere), often in the Twente dialect. These include 'Twents in beeld' (1991), about local proverbs, 'Hennie 't Hoen Marathonkampioen?' (1992), about the Enschede marathon, 'Drentse FAESetten' (1993) and 'Bram Beer Is Oet De Tied' (1996). His book 'Finish' (1995) appeared in the Frisian language. His balloon comic 'De Schat van Enschede' (2002), made in cooperation with Jan Kamerling, was an educational comic about the city of Enschede.
'Reynaerts Wraak'.
Medieval literature comics
When Faes noticed his students had difficulties understanding medieval literature, he translated several of them into the comics format. He has made comics based on Middle Dutch miracle plays, poems and stories like 'Mariken van Nieumeghen' ('Die Duivelse Marieke!', 1992), 'Karel ende Elegast' ('Keizer Karel en Elegast', 1998) and 'Van den Vos Reynaerde' ('Reynaerts wraak', 1998). The latter was first serialized in the scientific magazine Tiecelijn between 1996 and 1998. His scientific study 'Elegast is Malegijs - Ingelheim is Tongeren' (2009, with classic illustrations by Bernard Reith) and his literary thriller 'Dood De Vier Heemskinderen!' (2010) also referred to the Middle Dutch epic poem 'Karel ende Elegast', as well as the Old French-Flemish medieval tale 'The Four Sons of Aymon'. In 2017, Faes brought out another comic book based on Reynaert the Fox: 'De Moordenaars van Malpertuus' (Peter Bonte, Brugge, 2017).
'Beertje Bombazijn'.
Sports comics
Sports, and especially marathons, are also a recurring theme in Faes' work. The marathon was the subject in his illustrated novel 'Over De Streep'. His comic 'De Ware Geschiedenis van Leonidas van Phaesia' dealt with the history of the Olympic Games in Antiquity. His comic strip 'Fabel-achtig' was made by commission of assurance company Fortis and handed out to the runners of the marathon of Rotterdam in 2000. Other comics by Faes are 'De Leeuw Is Los!', a comic book by commission of insurance company AMEV, and 'Beertje Bombazijn', a biting balloon comic about infamous Dutch author Willem Frederik Hermans and his work.
Recent comic publications
With Cor Swanenberg, he made an unofficial spin-off to Marten Toonder's 'Tom Poes en Heer Bommel' in Brabant dialect: 'Bas en Bea uit Bommel'. In 2018 he published 'Oorlogspad', a comic loosely based on an epic animal tale from Ancient Greece.
Recognition
Faes won the National Future Prize for his balloon comic 'Don Quichotte Is Terug?!' (2000), based on Miguel de Cervantes' classic book.
'De Moordenaars van Malpertuus'.