Suske en Wiske - 'Angst op de Amsterdam'.
Paul Geerts is a Belgian comic artist, best-known as Willy Vandersteen's first successor on the popular comic series 'Suske en Wiske' (1971-2001). Geerts' stories were often inspired by his own exotic travels abroad and notable for their sentimental themes and melodrama. After Willy Vandersteen's death, Geerts was additionally in charge of Studio Vandersteen, training new artists and acting as spokesperson to the press. During his 30 year-run on 'Suske en Wiske', the series reached its commercial peak, and became particularly popular in the Netherlands. As the series lost its folksy Flemish elements and gained mainstream appeal, the more modern Geerts albums have often been criticized when compared to the classic Vandersteen era stories. However, in time, several of his installments have become classics in their own right, most notably 'De Raap van Rubens' (1976), 'Angst op de Amsterdam' (1984-1985) and 'De Parel in de Lotusbloem' (1987). Since his retirement, Geerts has been drawing the comic series 'Mo, Jade & Plakapong' (2005-2024), of which the profits go to charity.
Early life
Paulus Josephus Coleta Geerts was born in 1937 in the provincial town of Turnhout, but largely raised in the city of Antwerp. There, his father Charles had a job as metal worker and industrial designer with Atea, a firm that produced poles for traffic lights and telephone booths, among other things. His mother Julia was a devout Catholic, whose religion played an important part in her son's upbringing. Father Geerts encouraged Paul's love for drawing by letting him copy pieces of metal as technically accurately as possible. Geerts grew up reading comic magazines like Bravo! and Kleine Zondagsvriend. Growing particularly fond of the comics by Hergé, Willy Vandersteen and André Franquin, he ranked these three artists as his prime graphic influences. At age 14, he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, where the painters Dis van Raemdonck, Antoon Marsboom and Maurice Felbier were among his teachers. He made such progress that his teachers felt he was ready for their prestigious painting course. However, Geerts' parents couldn't afford the oil paint and other materials, so he left the Academy after three-and-a-half years. The dropout tried to find a job with the local newspaper and a couple of advertising agencies, but all required that he had to fulfill his military service first. In February 1955, aged sixteen, Geerts joined the army in the Mechelen barracks. After two months, he was relocated to Aachen in Germany, where he was recruited in the telephone exchange. Within no time, Geerts' talent for drawing was noticed, and fellow recruits hired him to make portraits based on pictures from their girlfriends back home. The company adjutant arranged for him to get a desk job in his office, where Geerts spent the rest of his service making drawings for the barrack's monthly newspaper, Het Ezeltje.
'De Verdwenen Smirrel' (Ohee #394, 31 October 1970).
Early career
Back in civilian life in June 1956, Geerts tried his hand at various jobs, including window dresser at the Innovation department store, and door-to-door salesman in vacuum cleaners. Eventually, he found more artistic work as commercial illustrator for the General Motors brochures produced by Vergouts and as painter of film posters with Savior Publicité. While this work appealed to him the most, he found a more stable vocation in the Wils printing firm. This day job enabled him to continue doing illustration work in his spare time, for instance making the drawings for a junior high school math book, 'Levend Rekenen' (1959). Based on a script by Jo Van Leinen, he also created his first comic strip, 'De Chirowietjes' (1966), for Trouw and Lente, the magazines of respectively the boy and the girl scouts of the Chiro youth movement. This first comic was followed by the sci-fi story 'De Melkweglopers' (1966-1967) in the same magazines. However, the first full-length comic story written and drawn by Geerts was 'De Verdwenen Smirrel' (1967), about a fisherman gone missing. After its first publication in the Chiro magazines Trouw and Lente in 1967, the story also appeared in the daily Gazet van Antwerpen, and was again reprinted in 1970 in 't Kapoentje and Ohee, both weekly comic publications of the newspaper Het Volk. Decades later, these early Geerts stories were released in special edition book releases for comic events or archival collections.
Studio Vandersteen
On 1 May 1967, Paul Geerts applied for a job with 'Suske en Wiske' creator Willy Vandersteen, who at that point ran the most lucrative comic production studio in Flanders. Instead of making an appointment, the youngster just rang the doorbell of Vandersteen's Kalmthout studio, having his self-made comic story 'De Verdwenen Smirrel' with him. Vandersteen was kind enough to take a look at his pages and complimented him with his work, but also told him to practice some more and contact him again later. After a while, Geerts contacted Vandersteen again and was finally invited for a trial period. Vandersteen gave him a couple of test assignments to get familiar with the studio's house style. Five months later, he was handed the script of a comic story to draw. Vandersteen was pleased with the end results and so, on 2 January 1968, Geerts was officially hired as staff artist. During his first two years, Geerts started off as pencil artist and inker of 'Jerom', a spin-off about the strongman from the 'Suske en Wiske' series, whose adventures were a surprise hit in Germany. For the German publisher Bastei Verlag, the Vandersteen studio churned out a full story of 28 pages every week. With this heavy workload - he made full days at the studio and then continued to work at home in the evenings - Geerts quickly became one of Willy Vandersteen's most loyal co-workers, and was eventually handed writing duties on the 'Jerom' comics as well. Sometimes, Geerts filled in as an inker on some of Vandersteen's series intended for the Dutch-language market such as 'De Rode Ridder' and 'Biggles'.
Meanwhile, Vandersteen and Geerts grew closer. Vandersteen taught his pupil a lot about scriptwriting and narrating in images. Geerts was in such awe that he worked hard to mimic Vandersteen's style. After a while, he saw him less as a boss and more as a friend and mentor. He won Vandersteen's trust by frequently showing initiative in solving unforeseen problems. At one point, he even became his unofficial private chauffeur, driving his boss to public meetings and his favorite bars. Even though Geerts eventually became one of Willy Vandersteen's closest friends and confidential advisors, he always kept referring to his mentor as "Mister Vandersteen".
Suske en Wiske - 'De Gekke Gokker'.
Suske en Wiske
In late 1969, Geerts succeeded Eduard De Rop as main inker of Vandersteen's signature series 'Suske en Wiske'. The first full story he was allowed to ink was 'De Charmante Koffiepot' (1969-1970). However, in the following year, Geerts bought an issue of the West-German magazine Stern and noticed that its children's supplement Sternchen only had one comic strip, 'Jimmy das Gummipferd' by Roland Kohlsaat. Realizing the financial possibilities and the opportunity to have a comic of his own, Geerts developed a comic about a pixie and a dog and offered it to Stern's editors, who showed interest. However, Vandersteen heard of the plan and feared he might lose his best and most trusted employee. In an attempt to keep Geerts in his studio, he quickly asked him if he wanted to become his successor on the 'Suske en Wiske' series altogether. At that point, Vandersteen had written and drawn the series for more than 25 years. While he was assisted by others, he still wrote all the stories himself and did most of the penciling on his own. But he felt it was time to pass on the series and focus on other projects. His choice for Geerts surprised many at the studio, most notably Eduard De Rop, who had been the main inker of 'Suske en Wiske' long before Geerts was even hired at the studio. Geerts was quite stunned as well. and asked for a couple of days to think about the offer. But it didn't take long before he accepted. His deal with Stern fell through as a result, but Geerts never regretted his choice.
The first 'Suske en Wiske' story written and drawn by Geerts was 'De Gekke Gokker' (1971-1972), in which the character of Lambik is seduced by a demon and becomes a gambling addict. Serialization started in De Standaard and Het Nieuwsblad on 28 December 1971. Originally, Geerts wanted to make a story about the dominance of supermarkets over small local stores as criticism of commercialism. Vandersteen felt this went against his own business interests, since many supermarkets sold his 'Suske en Wiske' albums. Nevertheless, his trust in Geerts was immense, as he had only read a short story outline of 'De Gekke Gokker' and insisted on following the finished story in the papers, rather than proofreading everything beforehand. The story was also translated in German as 'Der Verrückte Spieler'.
During his thirty-year tenure on 'Suske en Wiske', Geerts continued the successful formula established by Vandersteen. He didn't expand the series much, nor introduced new recurring characters. The only exception was Jerom's mother Moe Mie, who debuted in 'De Malle Mergpijp' (1972-1973). In 'De Hellegathonden' (1986), readers were introduced to Professor Barabas' great-grandfather, although this character didn't return in later stories. While Geerts wrote and drew the majority of the stories until 1990, he received assistance from co-workers like Eugeen Goossens and Eduard De Rop on the inking. Starting with the episode 'Angst op de Amsterdam' (1985), Eric De Rop became Geerts' permanent inker. Vandersteen himself also remained available for creative advice, as he always knew a great plot development or good gag to keep stories entertaining. Since his retirement from the series, Vandersteen wrote and drew a handful of new stories by himself, for instance 'De Ruige Regen' (1985) and 'De Wervelende Waterzak' (1988). He also provided the scripts for 'De Vinnige Viking' (1976), 'Het Verborgen Volk' (1976), 'Het Bretoense Broertje' (1982), 'De Ruige Regen' (1985), 'De Eenzame Eenhoorn' (1986-1987) and 'De Wervelende Waterzak' (1988), with Geerts doing the art. Otherwise, all other regular 'Suske and Wiske' stories from late 1971 until 1989 were mainly written and drawn by Paul Geerts. Starting with the 1989 episode 'De Speelgoedspiegel', the new studio artist Marc Verhaegen helped Geerts with the artwork until he was allowed, from 'De Goalgetter' (1990) on, to write and draw his own stories. He officially succeeded Geerts in 2001.
Suske en Wiske - 'De Nare Varaan'.
Travel stories and foreign translations
An avid traveler, Geerts based several 'Suske en Wiske' stories on the exotic locations he visited, for instance the United States ('Het Kregelige Ketje', 1979-1980), Peru ('De Tamme Tumi', 1983-1984), Nepal ('De Parel in de Lotusbloem', 1987), India ('Lambik Baba', 1991), Iceland ('De Edele Elfen', 1987), Austria ('Het Wondere Wolfje', 1991), Aruba ('Het Aruba-Dossier', 1996) and Papua New Guinea ('De Mompelende Mummie' [1997], De Vogels der Goden' [1997]). Interviewed in 2016 by Martin Hofman for De Stripspeciaalzaak, Geerts said that for his story 'De Kleine Postruiter' (1989-1990), in which the characters travel from Mechelen, Belgium, to Innsbruck, Germany, he actually drove the same route by car to collect documentation. It took him four days.
Some of these travel albums were created in an attempt to appeal to foreign markets. During the Vandersteen years, 'Suske en Wiske' had already seen translations into French, German, Spanish, Brazilian, Afrikaans and Italian, with only the French ones doing well. When Geerts was in charge, some stories were translated into English, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Icelandic, Greek, Chinese, Japanese, Swahili, Persian, Indonesian, Tibetan and Tamil. Yet none really got the series launched abroad. In some cases, cultural differences were a factor. The 'Suske en Wiske' story 'Het Dreigende Dinges' (1984), for instance, is based on the 1872 Ouida novel 'A Dog of Flanders', which is set in Hoboken and Antwerp. While obscure in Europe, 'A Dog of Flanders' is considered a classic in Japan and Korea, and much tourism from these countries to Belgium is motivated by it. The album was therefore translated in Japanese, but local readers took offense to the fact that all Eastern characters were drawn with bright yellow skin and eyes reduced to stripes, despite Geerts' good intentions.
Suske en Wiske - 'De Woeste Wespen'.
Breakthrough in the Netherlands
Since the 1950s, 'Suske en Wiske' had decent sales in the Netherlands, but the series achieved its major commercial breakthrough thanks to the puppet TV series 'Suske en Wiske' (1976), broadcast by the TROS. In Flanders, episodes were repeated on the public channel BRT (nowadays VRT). Using Punch-and-Judy-style puppet performances and aided by a catchy theme song by Piet Souer, the show drew high ratings. Six stories were exclusively written for the program, which Geerts then adapted and expanded into comic books for the regular 'Suske en Wiske' series: 'De Minilotten van Kokonera' (1975), 'De Zingende Kaars' (1975), 'De Gouden Locomotief' (1975-1976), 'De Windbrekers' (1976), 'De Regenboogprinses' (1976) and 'Het Laatste Dwaallicht' (1976). Over time, the Dutch market became so important that many new stories were set in the Netherlands: 'De Efteling-Elfjes' (1977), 'De Woelige Wadden' (1981-1982), 'De Belhamel-Bende' (1982), 'Het Delta Duel' (1983), 'Angst op de Amsterdam' (1984-1985), 'De Woeste Wespen' (1987), 'De Goalgetter' (1990), 'Het Witte Wief' (1990-1991) and 'Volle Maan' (1996-1997). In 1987, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands approached Paul Geerts to make a story to bring attention to the endangered black rhinoceros. The prince was a member of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and wanted to promote the organization. In the story 'De Rinoramp' (1989), the characters travel to Tanzania, where they fight poachers. His Majesty wrote a special letter to be printed within the comic book.
Suske & Wiske - 'De Parel in de Lotusbloem' (Tibetan version).
Tribute to and death of Willy Vandersteen
Geerts always maintained the highest respect for Willy Vandersteen. He gave his mentor guest appearances in the albums 'De Nare Varaan' (1974) and 'De Belhamel Bende' (1982). On 23 January 1987, he arranged a surprise event for his boss by having him appear on the TV show 'In De Hoofdrol', the Dutch version of the format 'This Is Your Life'. Up to that point, only Dutch celebrities had appeared on the show, which was hosted by Mies Bouwman. Like all other guests, Vandersteen was treated with surprise appearances by relatives, friends and colleagues, some of whom he hadn't seen in ages. Even his new-born great-grandchild was brought in from Brazil. On top of it all, Paul Geerts presented Vandersteen with the first copy of a completely new 'Suske en Wiske' album, which he had made in secret as a homage to his mentor, 'De Parel in de Lotusbloem'. After the show, when Geerts drove Vandersteen home, the veteran artist called it "the most beautiful day of his life."
The plot of 'De Parel in de Lotusbloem' revolves around Aunt Sidonia, who falls terminally ill. To save her, the characters travel to Nepal and return with a magical scarf which grants her eternal life. In the final panel, an extra scarf is found and worn by Vandersteen in a touching cameo. Unlike other 'Suske en Wiske' stories, 'De Parel in de Lotusbloem' had no prior newspaper serialization and was released directly in book format, receiving a unique golden frame border instead of the traditional red one. After the emission, many viewers instantly went to stores to buy a copy, helping the book become the bestselling 'Suske en Wiske' title of all time. It was also translated in various languages. The Dutch crown prince Willem Alexander (since 2013 King of the Netherlands) gave a copy to the Prince of Nepal. But to Geerts, the greatest thrill was that some time later, during an interview Vandersteen named 'De Parel in de Lotusbloem' his favorite 'Suske en Wiske' story.
Suske en Wiske - 'De 7 Schaken'.
At the insistence of the head of Standaard Uitgeverij's comics department, Manu van Treeck, Geerts was finally mentioned in the credits of the 'Suske en Wiske' albums from the episode 'De Krachtige Krans' (1989) on. Around this time, Willy Vandersteen's health started to deteriorate. By the summer of 1990, he was in the hospital, while Geerts started reorganizing the studio and going through his taskmaster's documents to prepare for the inevitable. He discovered an unfinished drawing, depicting Geerts as Noah and his Arc, standing alongside the cast of 'Suske en Wiske'. The veteran artist had been working on the drawing as a surprise for Geerts, but it was still unsigned. Unfortunately, Vandersteen was already too weak at this point to put his signature underneath it. In August 1990, Geerts and his family were on holiday at the Costa Brava, when he suddenly received a call that Vandersteen was on the verge of dying. Geerts instantly drove back to Belgium in one night. To his luck, Vandersteen was still alive when he arrived at the hospital, although in a coma. Geerts visited his friend every day and talked to him, even though he didn't wake up anymore. The day after he promised his mentor that he would take care of the studio after his death, Vandersteen passed away. Geerts always felt this was a sign that he was given a final blessing. Indeed, Geerts has done everything to keep the memory of Vandersteen alive. He praised him in every interview, lecture and book public event. The 'Suske en Wiske' story 'De 7 Schaken' (1995), made to celebrate the series' 50th anniversary, was drawn by Geerts as a special tribute to his mentor. The story is set during Vandersteen's childhood in the 1920s. Partially thanks to Paul Geerts' efforts, in 1997 Vandersteen's old Kalmthout villa was redecorated into a museum.
Suske en Wiske - 'De Krachtige Krans'.
The studio after Vandersteen's passing
After Vandersteen's death, Geerts became head of the studio, which now turned into a subdivision of the publisher Standaard Uitgeverij. Within the decade, the publisher had discontinued most of Vandersteen's series. In the case of Vandersteen's latest creation 'De Geuzen', the discontinuation was merely stipulated in Vandersteen's will, but other series like 'Bessy', 'Jerom' and 'Robert en Bertrand' were unable to keep up decent sales and subsequently axed. Only 'Suske en Wiske' by Geerts and 'De Rode Ridder' by Karel Biddeloo kept on running. In the post-Vandersteen years, Geerts oversaw several projects, including the weekly Suske en Wiske Weekblad (1993-2003), for which he wrote the foreword in the very first issue. He was also involved with the popular 1994 theatrical musical based on 'Suske en Wiske', performed by the Royal Youth Theater in Antwerp. In the early 2000s, Geerts also made the preliminary sketches for the spin-off 'Klein Suske en Wiske' (later renamed 'Junior Suske en Wiske'), in which Suske and Wiske are five-year old toddlers. Apart from these sketches, Geerts had no role in the finished product, which has been written over the years by Urbanus, Pieter van Oudheusden, Willem Ritstier, Dirk Nielandt, Kris De Saeger, Anneke Scholtens, Peter van Gucht and Marc Legendre, and drawn by Jeff Broeckx, Dick Heins and Charel Cambré.
Three years after Vandersteen's death, Geerts was diagnosed with a tumor in his central nerve system. He needed a specialized surgeon to bring the operation off well. His doctor managed to make an appointment with one in Piacenza, Italy, but Geerts had to wait seven months. Even so, there was a chance he wouldn't make it. With this depressing perspective, Geerts found escapism in his work. He worked dutifully on several 'Suske and Wiske' stories in advance, determined to make sure that the series could continue during his recovery or, even worse, to give the publisher time to find a suitable replacement if he died under the knife. Every day he got up at three o'clock in the morning to get to the studio by half past three and work until five o'clock in the afternoon. In the end, seven months worth of material was ready. Luckily, the operation was a success. The only downside was that his vocal chords had to be cut, which meant that he had to learn to speak again with the aid of a logopedician.
Suske en Wiske - 'Robotkop'.
During his operation, Geerts slipped into a coma and afterwards claimed to have had a near-death experience. Like many survivors, it left him with a different, more positive and more philosophical outlook on life. He used the experience as a plot element in the 'Suske en Wiske' story 'Robotkop' (1996), where Lambik also has a near-death experience on the operation table in a Piacenza hospital. He travels through the proverbial white tunnel and ends up in the afterlife. There, he not only meets various ghost characters from previous 'Suske en Wiske' stories, but also his creator Willy Vandersteen, who assures him that he won't die and his friends need him. Lambik then awakes from his coma, much to everybody's delight. The scene met with some controversy from readers who felt this was far too heavy-handed for a comic series aiming at family audiences. On the other hand, Geerts' former studio colleague Merho praised the narrative as a "masterful story one couldn't make up if one hadn't experienced it firsthand."
'Suske en Wiske' - 'De Stoute Steenezel'.
Criticism
Ever since Geerts took over 'Suske en Wiske' from Willy Vandersteen in 1971, he instantly met with criticism from longtime fans. Many felt his stories never reached the same heights of Vandersteen's. Over the years, Geerts gradually reduced physically impossible cartoony gags that characterized the Vandersteen stories in favor of more realism. Sentimental melodrama became more prominent. Wiske regularly got jealous whenever her friend Suske received romantic attention from other girls. In several stories, Aunt Sidonia and Lambik went through tough personal trials. Again, the emotional scenes were spread out, much like a soap opera. Some stories, like 'De Rinoramp' (1989) and 'Robotkop' (1996) featured graphic death scenes with lots of blood. Geerts additionally made more use of frightening horror scenes in stories like 'De Krachtige Krans' (1987-1988), 'De Mysterieuze Mijn' (1990) and 'Volle Maan' (1996). Some of Geerts' religious convictions were also considered unwanted personal opinions shoehorned into a family series. In 'De Mysterieuze Mijn' (1990), Saint Barbara is used as a deus ex machina to save mine workers. The philosophies of Indian guru Sai Baba dominate the plot of 'Lambik Baba' (1991), while Lambik flies up to Heaven and back in 'Robotkop' (1996).
Sentimentality in 'De Lieve Lilleham'.
The criticism only increased once Vandersteen's health in the late 1980s no longer allowed him to provide creative advice. After his death in 1990, Geerts and the other studio workers now had to carry on 'Suske en Wiske' on their own. Interviewed in newspaper De Morgen of 30 March 1995, Geerts said that there had been times in his career that he was severely depressed, which was unknowingly reflected in his writing. It was Vandersteen himself who pulled his co-worker back and stated that values like friendship, sentiment, tolerance and helpfulness needed to be at the forefront.
Following in the footsteps of a beloved master storyteller like Willy Vandersteen was no easy task. Geerts was always the first to modestly admit that he could never reach Vandersteen's level. Over time, Geerts' stories have been vindicated by fans, especially the next generation that grew up with his run on the series. Nowadays, they are judged on their own terms, rather than being compared to Vandersteen episodes. Of all later 'Suske en Wiske' artists, Geerts was the one that stayed the closest to Willy Vandersteen's original setup. When it was announced in 2020 that Geerts had made a new 'Suske en Wiske' story, fan reactions were very enthusiastic.
'Suske en Wiske' - 'De Rinoramp'.
Commercial turn
During the Geerts era of 'Suske en Wiske', sales expanded greatly. When Geerts took over in 1972, 'Suske en Wiske' albums appeared in a print run of 100,000 copies. About ten years later, this had increased to 400,000. By the time of his retirement in 2002, the print run had settled on 300,000 copies. A large part of the sales boom was instigated by the increasing commercial exploitation of the franchise. Marketing opportunities were often put before creative independence or the comic's folksy Flemish roots. After the Dutch success of the 1976 puppet TV series, the "Hollandization" of the book series alienated many Flemish readers. In the 1990 episode 'De Goalgetter', for instance, Suske becomes the best soccer player in the world, but then joins the Dutch national team instead of the Belgian. However, much of the commercialism and mainstream transformation was already set in motion when Willy Vandersteen was still writing and drawing the series. Both Vandersteen and his publisher Standaard Uitgeverij approached 'Suske en Wiske' as a commercial product. And when one actually counts the amount of stories set in the Netherlands as opposed to the ones set in Belgium, the latter are still in the majority.
Tailor-made stories
During Geerts' run, many exclusive stories were made outside of the regular series. Some were for summer or winter holiday books to promote the other comics of Studio Vandersteen and Standaard Uitgeverij. Other 'Suske en Wiske' stories featured direct product placement. Local tourism was promoted in 'De Vliegende Klomp' (1975), a story made for the Tourist Association in the Dutch province North Brabant, and 'Een Bij voor Jou en Mij' (1982) was sponsored the Apiculture Museum in Kalmthout. Some stories were made in collaboration with humanitarian organizations, such as the Dutch Red Cross ('Beter voor Bert, 1983) and the WWF ('De Rinoramp', 1989), others were thinly veiled commercials for theme parks, such as De Efteling ('De Efteling-Elfjes' [1977], 'Fata Morgana' [1988]) and Bellewaerde ('De Kattige Kat', 1984-1985). Exclusive tailor-made albums sponsored the brands Tide ('De Gouden Bloem', 1974), Hero ('Het Verloren Zwaard', 1980), Argenta ('De Zilveren Appels', 1981), Puratos ('De Blijde Broodeters', 1982), Presto Print ('Het Onbekende Eiland', 1982), Prodent ('De Tandentikkers', 1985), Sony ('Sony-San', 1985), Albert Heijn ('Witte Zwanen, Zwarte Zwanen', 1987), Eru ('Het Gouden Kuipje', 1989), Ozo ('De Gouden Friet', 1990) and Pro-Post ('De Macabere Macralles', 1993). Even promoting two rival products was within the possibilities. 'De Lollige Lakens' (1977) advocated Ariel washing powder, while 'Het Monster van Loch Ness' (1978), 'De Witte Gems' (1978) and 'De Bevende Berken' (1984) were commissioned by Dash. Many of the tailor-made 'Suske en Wiske' stories were not created by Geerts himself, but assigned to other studio members, such as Eric de Rop and Eugeen Goossens.
Suske en Wiske - 'De Raap van Rubens'.
Event-driven stories
Starting in 1977, Studio Vandersteen and Standaard Uitgeverij regularly tried to coincide the release of the regular 'Suske en Wiske' albums with press-worthy events. The 400th anniversary of painter Peter Paul Rubens' birth, for instance, inspired 'De Raap van Rubens' (1977), while other albums were pushed by the anniversaries of the death years of novelist Hendrik Conscience ('De Gouden Ganzenveer', 1982-1983), Vincent Van Gogh ('De Kleurenkladder', 1989-1990) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ('Het Wondere Wolfje', 1990-1991). Some albums anticipated theme years, including the "Year of the Village" ('Het Drijvende Dorp', 1978), Unicef's "Year of the Child" ('De Pompenplanters', 1979), the 1000th anniversary of Brussels ('Het Kregelige Ketje', 1979-1980) and the completion of the Dutch Delta Works ('De Delta Duel', 1983). The commercial background aside, 'De Raap van Rubens' and 'Angst op de Amsterdam' can be ranked among Geerts' best stories.
One remarkable story was 'De Krimson-Crisis' (1988), an album instigated by the "Vlaanderen Leeft" ("Flanders Lives") cultural campaign in Flanders. As a result, the book had such a Flemish-nationalist tone and over-reliance on guest appearances by Flemish media celebrities, that critics felt it crossed the border to blatant propaganda. In the Netherlands, readers couldn't follow most of the references and in Wallonia it wasn't even translated, the only 'Suske en Wiske' story not to appear in the French-speaking part of Belgium. Two other albums were also criticized because of rapidly dated allusions with little interest to a majority of readers. Geerts and Marc Verhaegen's 'De Rebelse Reinaert' (1999) retold the medieval poem about the diabolical fox Reynard as a metaphor for Belgian child molester and kidnapper Marc Dutroux. Throughout the story, several other scandals that dominated Belgian media at the time were referenced, such as the 1994-1995 Agusta corruption affair, the 1995 murder of veterinarian Karel van Noppen and the 1997 closing of the Renault factory in Vilvoorde. 'Het Enge Eiland' (2000) was based on the fear of the Millennium bug, and quickly outdated.
Flemish cameo-fest in 'De Krimson-crisis'. The man in the foreground is comedian & singer Urbanus. Various dialogues refer to Flemish songs, celebrities, radio and TV catchphrases and the slogan of the annual politically motivated event De Gordel, where Flemings are motivated to cycle and hike around Brussels.
Retirement
Geerts' final years at Studio Vandersteen were less happy. Since 1989, he had trained his assistant Marc Verhaegen to eventually become his successor. Already in 1990, Verhaegen was allowed to write and draw his own 'Suske en Wiske' stories, though Geerts still had final say. However, because of Geerts' absence during his illness in the mid-1990s, Verhaegen systematically took over more tasks. Interviewed by Martin Hofman for De Stripspeciaalzaak in 2016, Geerts said he felt increasingly belittled and shoved aside by his publishing company Standaard Uitgeverij. One executive even called his stories "too old-fashioned", specifically dismissing the album 'Volle Maan' (1996). Geerts described a meeting between a notary, lawyer and accountant who told him he was no longer allowed to create new 'Suske en Wiske' stories. Nevertheless, he kept going to the studio, but spent most of his time answering fan mail and meeting with people from the Suske en Wiske Museum in Kalmthout.
As the 1990s progressed into the 2000s, Verhaegen was producing more and more albums, although they still bore Geerts' name in the credits.The final 'Suske en Wiske' story written and drawn by Geerts himself was 'Lili Natal' (2000). On 1 June 2002, Paul Geerts officially retired, two weeks after his 65th anniversary. In nearly thirty years time, he had written and drawn 115 albums of the series.
Two decades after his discharge from the series, Geerts collaborated once again with inker Eric De Rop for 'De Preutse Prinses' (2020), a stand-alone 'Suske en Wiske' story celebrating the 75th anniversary of the franchise. Unfortunately, the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic caused the March 2020 release of Geerts' first story in almost 20 years to be postponed for a couple months. The book was eventually released with less fanfare than normally would have been the case.
Mo, Jade & Plakapong
Since his retirement, Geerts has spent most of his spare time painting. His work has been exhibited to great public interest, namely in Lissewege (2001, 2002), De Panne (2003), Kampen, The Netherlands (2004) and Zwolle (2007). However, he also created a new comic book series, 'Mo en Jade', of which the first story, 'De Hemelboom', was published exclusively in the biography 'Paul Geerts: Dertig Jaar Peetvader van Suske en Wiske' (2005) by Theo Vaessen. The stories are set in North Vietnam, inspired by a trip Geerts made to this country. The main characters are the boy Mo and girl Jade, who meet a little blue Chinese dragon named Plakapong. Plakapong's design and arrogant behavior are quite similar to Mushu, the dragon from the Disney film 'Mulan' (1998). Between 2006 and 2024, 12 stories have been published through Paul Reichenbach's Pear Productions. The profits have all gone to humanitarian causes. The 2024 release of the final episode, 'Het Monsterbos', was announced as the final comic release of Paul Geerts, who was 87 at the time.
'Mo, Jade en Plakapong'. 'De Hemelboom'.
Graphic contributions
The comic artist was a good friend of Luc Florizoone, the director of the Bellewaerde theme park in Ypres (Ieper). Geerts designed the park's 'Koning Leeuw' ("King Lion") mascot, and featured both the park and the character in the 'Suske en Wiske' story 'De Kattige Kat' (1984-1985). When one of the tigers in the theme park's zoo died, its fur was made into an animal carpet and presented as a gift to Geerts, which he kept in his work room.
Geerts contributed a 'Suske en Wiske' story to Standaard Uitgeverij's all-star collective comic book 'Het Geheim van de Kousenband' (2001), which also features Marc Sleen and Dirk Stallaert's 'Nero', Merho's 'De Kiekeboes', Hec Leemans' 'F.C. De Kampioenen', Karel Biddeloo's 'De Rode Ridder', Marc Legendre's 'Biebel' and Willy Linthout and Urbanus' 'Urbanus'. In 2005, he paid homage to 'Suske en Wiske' in the book 'Suske en Wiske 60 Jaar!' (2005), which celebrated the series' 60th anniversary. Geerts was one of many artists who paid tribute to Pom in the collective albums 'Avontuur in de 21e Eeuw' (2010) and 'Op Het Spoor van Pom' (2011). In 2012, he also saluted Marc Sleen in the book 'Marc Sleen 90. Album Amicorum'.
In addition to comics, Geerts illustrated two children's books: Paul Reichenbach's 'De Luie Keizer' (PeAr Productions, 2021) and Marc Reyens' 'Loewis. Het Sprekende Paard' (Het Punt, 2021).
Cameos
Geerts sometimes gave himself cameos in his 'Suske en Wiske' stories. He can be seen in the background during Sidonia's wedding ceremony in 'De Briesende Bruid' (1968-1969). He is also the shy artist showing a sketch to the TV camera in 'De Gladde Glipper' (1973). He appears in Vandersteen's studio in 'De Belhamel Bende' (1982) and as a man whose face is covered by a scarf in 'De Zeven Schaken' (1995). Fellow studio workers also paid homage to Geerts. When Geerts retired, his Studio Vandersteen successor Marc Verhaegen made an entire tribute album for him, 'De Verdwenen Verteller' ("The Disappeared Storyteller", 2002). But Verhaegen also targeted Geerts and many other former Studio Vandersteen associates, in his semi-autobiographical tell-all graphic novel 'Het Beest Is Los' (2022). Later 'Suske en Wiske' authors Peter Van Gucht and Luc Morjaeu gave Geerts a cameo in 'De Krasse Kroko' (2007).
Recognition
In 1987, Paul Geerts was awarded the Honorary Prize of the comic festival of Middelkerke. Since 1987, Geerts has also been the house cartoonist of the festival, designing most of the flyers and advertisements. In 1990, he was awarded for the "Best Dutch-language Book" at the Festival International de la Bande Dessinée in Durbuy. On 16 December 2002, Geerts was knighted in the Order of the Dutch Lion. Four years later, on 28 October 2006, he received the Stripvos award, handed out by the Independent Flemish Comics Guild ("Vlaamse Onafhankelijke Stripgilde"). During editions of the Knokke-Heist comics festival, Paul Geerts received the 2013 Life Achievement Award and the 2015 prize for "Comics Education".
Books about Paul Geerts
For people interested in Geerts' life and career, Theo Vaessen's biography '30 Jaar Peetvader van Suske en Wiske' (Standaard Uitgeverij, 2005) is highly recommended.
Paul Geerts, signing in Erlangen (Photo courtesy of Henrik Bernd).