't Landje
Fred de Heij studied at the Rietveld Art Academy in the period 1978-83. After his graduation, he began working as an illustrator. He has made illustrations for children's books like 'Bolke de Beer', and for text stories in magazines varying from Donald Duck to Penthouse. His comics have appeared in magazines like Incognito, Taptoe ('Marloes' with Patty Klein) and Penthouse Comix (using the pseudonym Emiel Jansens).
Marloes (Taptoe Winterboek 1991)
For the girl's magazine Tina, he has created the V.O.C. comic 'De Zeemeeuw' and the gag strip 'Fanny'. He self-published 'Filo' in 1997-99, a bizarre small press comic centered around a violent clown, full of malice and eroticism, which was strongly influenced by erotic artist Milo Manara. Although he is mainly active as a painter since 2000, he has been regularly active at the comics front since 2005.
Filo
Amsterdam-based publisher Xtra has released his erotic thriller 'Afgezaagd' in 2005, as well as some of his older Tina work. De Heij and Xtra also launched his De Heij's own magazine Pulpman, a remarkable mix of horror, pornography, social satire and violence. The title mainly runs De Heij's own comics, including 'Pulpman', 'De Schuilplaats', ''t Landje' and 'Biechten', and editorials, but also the work of artists like Bandirah, Argibald, Aimée de Jongh and Hallie Lama, as well as foreign material. Xtra has published most of these stories in book format, including the English edition of ''t Landje' ('The Little Land') and the crime noir 'Phinny - Rendez-vous' (2012). In 2014, Xtra released 'Claire Dewitt - Tot in de dood', the first installment of the horror western series he created with Willem Ritstier.
Pulpman - Drijfzand (Pulpman #2)
De Heij has also published several erotic books with Divina, such as 'Feestelijke Hoogtepunten' and ''n Net Meisje'. He is additionally present in Eppo with the World War II comic 'Haas', written by the magazine's editor and publisher Rob van Bavel, and contributes as a columnist to Stripnieuws. On 8-9 March 2014, during the Stripdagen in Gorinchem, he was awarded the Stripschapprijs.
In 2020 he joined 75 Dutch & Flemish comic artists to make a graphic contribution to the free collective comic book ‘Striphelden versus Corona’ (Oogachtend, Uitgeverij L, 2020). The book is intended to support comics stores who had to close their doors for two months during the lockdown at the height of the COVID-19 virus pandemic.
On 13 December 2020, Frank von Hebel and Fred de Heij created a homage to Pieter Kuhn's 'Kapitein Rob'. The new story, 'De Laatste Reis van de Vrijheid’, was serialized in Het Parool, 75 years after the character's debut. Therefore it was presented in the text comics format. The one-shot story coincided with a complete reprint of all 73 original 'Kapitein Rob’ stories by publishing company Personalia.
Haas