'Dzjengis Khan - De Strijd om het Bestaan: In het Onon-dal' (Pep #1, 1975).
Jos Looman was a Dutch illustrator, who notably worked for magazines like Pep and Kijk. For Pep, he also drew a historical comic series about Genghis Khan (1973-1975), written by Anton Quintana.
Early life and career
Born in 1941 in Haarlem, Jos Looman showed an early talent for drawing. After his military service, he found employment as an interior decorator, a job he held for six years. Looman subsequently spent a year working in the USA as an advertising illustrator. By the time he came back to the Netherlands, he began presenting his portfolio to publishers, editors and other possible clients. As a self-employed artist, he worked for the publishing house A.W. Bruna & Zoon, making book covers for science fiction pockets and Dutch editions of Ian Fleming's 'James Bond' novels. In 1971, he found a steady home with the magazines of De Geïllustreerde Pers, part of the VNU publishing group, appearing regularly with llustrations in the pages of the magazines Nieuwe Revu, Pep, Eva and Margriet.
Illustration for the Anton Quintana text story 'Malambo' in Pep #46 (11-17 November 1972).
Pep magazine
In Pep, Looman was regularly paired with the writer Anton Quintana (Anton Kuyten), of which he illustrated 36 text stories between 1971 and 1974. After a while, Pep's chief editor Hetty Hagebeuk asked Looman and Quintana to make the leap to comics, and create a historical serial about Mongolian leader Genghis Khan. According to an interview in Striprofiel #5 in 1974, Looman first spent two years doing try-outs, recreating the same two pages (79 and 80) over and over before finding the right style.
'Dzjengis Khan - De Strijd om het Bestaan: Nieuwe Vrienden' (Pep #35, 31 August 1973).
In Pep issue #21 of 1973, the serial 'Dzjengis Khan: De Strijd om het Bestaan' (1973-1975) took off, and continued to run in chapters, with a one-year interruption in 1974. While there was little historical reference available, writer Quintana collected all the documentation he could to fill at least three albums. However, the series ended twelve issues into 1975, when Pep merged with competitor Sjors to form Eppo magazine. In 1983 and 1984, two book volumes of Quintana and Looman's 'Dzjenghis Khan' were published by Nico Noordermeer of the publishing imprint De Lijn.
'Jacht Naar Geluk' (Baberiba #1, 1974).
Later career
In 1974, Looman also drew a short horror/sci-fi comic story for the sole issue of Baberiba magazine, 'Jacht Naar Het Geluk', written by editor Jan van Erp. Artwork for a third volume of 'Dzjengis Khan' and a planned story for the canceled second issue of Baberiba remained unpublished. After 1975, Jos Looman made no further comics. Instead, he became a prominent illustrator for the popular science magazine Kijk, roughly until 1982. In the 1980s, Jos Looman left illustration and moved to New York to become a successful interior designer.
Death
Jos Looman died in 2024 at the age of 82. He was not related to VNU staff artist Ruud Looman, who also made many illustrations for Kijk magazine.
Illustration for Kijk, June 1979.