Bakelandt #89 - 'Als Het Mes Valt'.
The Flemish comic artist Hec Leemans is best known as the creator of the historical series 'Bakelandt', and as the author of the 'FC De Kampioenen' comics. Hector Leemans was born in 1950 in Temse, and received his artistic education at the Academy of Fine Arts in Dendermonde. After his studies, he entered the comics field as the co-worker of Sylvain Polfliet in 1969. Together, they made the espionage strip 'Brian Howell' in the daily newspaper Het Volk, for which Leemans did the backgrounds and some of the scripts. During his military service in 1972, Leemans took over Merho's creation 'Jager Jansens' in the military magazine Shako.
Bakelandt #5 - 'De Meester Der Broeders'.
On 20 October 1975, Leemans achieved his breakthrough when his strip 'Bakelandt' was published in the Belgian newspapers Het Laatste Nieuws and De Nieuwe Gazet. Leemans created the comic in cooperation with scriptwriter Daniel Jansens, with whom he also produced some short stories for Kuifje. When Jansens died in 1979, Leemans continued the popular 'Bakelandt' series on his own, and 96 albums have been published by Standaard Uitgeverij until 2006.
'Circus Maximus'.
In 1977, Leemans was the first artist to receive the Bronzen Adhemar, the official Flemish Community Cultural Prize for Comics. In that same year, he came up with his own gag series, 'Circus Maximus'. The series was initially published in the Dutch magazine Eppo, and was later continued in Robbedoes (1984) and Suske en Wiske Weekblad (1994). Later on, several stories were written by Raoul Cauvin. In 1989, Leemans took on the scriptwriting of the series 'Nino', drawn by Dirk Stallaert. In that same year, he created 'Kowalsky', for which he did the artwork himself.
In 1990, Leemans paid graphic tribute to François Walthéry in the collective homage book 'Natacha. Special 20 Ans' (Marsu Productions, 1990), which celebrated the 20th anniversary of Walthéry's series 'Natacha'. In 1993, he was one of several Bronzen Adhemar winners to pay a graphic tribute to Marc Sleen in the book 'Marc Sleen. Een Uitgave Van de Bronzen Adhemar Stichting' (Standaard Uitgeverij, 1993). He paid homage to Sleen again in 'Marc Sleen 80. De Enige Echte' (Standaard Uitgeverij, 2002) and 'Marc Sleen 90. Liber Amicorum' (Standaard Uitgeverij, 2012). Leemans additionally drew a tribute to Willy Vandersteen's 'Suske en Wiske' in 'Suske en Wiske 60 Jaar!' (Standaard Uitgeverij, 2005), which celebrated the franchise's 60th anniversary. He also paid tribute to Pom in the collective tribute album 'Kroepie en Boelie Boemboem. Avontuur In De 21ste Eeuw' (Nouga, 2010).
Bakelandt #30 - 'De Gezant'.
Since 1997, Leemans is also the author of the celebrity comic based on the popular TV series 'F.C De Kampioenen'. He also wrote the scripts for the comics version of the Flemish TV show 'W817', the comic series based on real-life tennis champion Kim Clijsters and the 'Kampioenen' spin-off 'Vertongen & Co' (2011), all drawn by Wim Swerts en Luc Van Asten (Vanas). He was also part of the writing team of the first 'F.C. De Kampioenen' film (2013), with Bart Cooreman, Johan Gevers and An Swartenbroekx.
During the Middelkerke Comics Festival of 2002, Hec Leemans was awarded the Golden Pencil for his work on 'Bakelandt'. On 17 May 2011, 'F.C. De Kampioenen' received its own comic book mural in the Rue du Canal / Vaartstraat 27 in Brussels, as part of the Brussels' Comic Book Route. Unfortunately, the wall was removed in 2017, because a new building was built next to it, which obscured its sight.
FC De Kampioenen - 'De Zeep-Serie'.