'Zombie Tales' #4.
Minck Oosterveer pursued an education to become a master of the arts. Although he grew up in The Netherlands, reading European comics, he was soon more interested in American comics, especially the newspaper comics of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. It was the pulpish, direct style and the usage of black and white in the realistic artwork that attracted him the most. Oosterveer's work is strongly influenced by Milton Caniff, Alex Raymond, and Will Eisner.
'Zodiak'.
His first comic was 'Kronieken van de Platte Aarde: Xorque de Vrijgeborene', published by Jumbo-Offset in 1983. He then contributed to Yèch magazine, where he began his first collaboration with Willem Ritstier, 'June May'. This was followed by 'Philip J. Bogaard' for the newspapers of Sijthoff Pers. After a short stint with the humorous comic 'Kor Selet en Dirk Twaar' with Jan Schrijver for Eppo Wordt Vervolgd, he went to work for Studio Peter de Raaf. There he did artwork for licensed properties like Hanna-Barbera's 'Tom & Jerry', Jim Henson's 'Sesame Street', Michael Bond's 'Paddington', Godi's 'Ovide' and Marvel's 'Spider-Man'. For Inside-out magazine, Minck Oosterveer made the comic 'Bizzy B', a commission through Peter de Raaf, which ran from November 1993 through January 1995.
Oosterveer continued to work with Willem Ritstier on the series 'Claudia Brücken' for the Franco-Belgian publishing-house Lombard and its magazine, Tintin. The collaboration with Ritstier also resulted in a daily newspaper comic in an American style, 'Jack Pott', in the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad.
'Claudia Brücken'.
Since 1996 Oosterveer and Ritstier also worked on the newspaper comic 'Zodiak' for De Telegraaf, the series 'Speedball Nation' and 'Rick Rolluik' for Suske en Wiske Weekblad, and 'Arachna' for ComicWatch magazine. Oosterveer did the art and story for the comic 'Excalibur', published by Enigma, and the artwork for a successful animated movie, 'Mario A' in 2002. Smaller projects include a couple of gags in the 'Rooie Oortjes' series ('Blagues Coquines', initially launched by Dany) and stories with the Feyenoord mascot 'Coentje' with writer Jan Booister for Algemeen Dagblad and De Kameraadjes.
'Jack Pott' (AD, 1990).
In 2002, Oosterveer and Ritstier started a new daily comic strip in De Telegraaf, called 'Nicky Saxx', their most successful comic series. The series was cancelled in January 2008 when the paper stopped publishing comic serials. Following their contribution to the horror anthology 'Bloeddorst', they started the comic series 'Trunk' in MYX in 2006.
'Nicky Saxx'.
Next to working on 'Trunk' they formed a new team for 'Storm', the successful European comic series created by Englishman Don Lawrence, which they made in alternation with the team of Romano Molenaar, Jorg de Vos and Martin Lodewijk. For the relaunch of Eppo magazine in 2009, Oosterveer and Ritstier started the western-comic 'Ronson Inc.'
'Storm' (Eppo #14, 2011).
Minck Oosterveer was one of the few Dutch artists to break through in US comic books. He debuted on the US market in August 2008 with 'Zombie Tales #4 written by Cris Morgan and published by BOOM!-studios. Also for BOOM!, he then on the mini-series 'Zombie Tales' and 'Zombie Tales: The Devil made Flesh', as well as 'Ruse', 'The Unknown' and 'Hat Trick'. Further US credits include 'Maps of Earth Conspiracies' with Charles Webb and the 'Spider-Man' spin-off 'Deadly Foes'.
On Saturday 17 September 2011, Minck Oosterveer was tragically killed in a motor accident. Only a few months earlier, on 12-13 March 2011, during the Stripdagen in Gorinchem, he had been awarded the Stripschapprijs.
'Rick Rolluik'.
Oosterveer's portfolio at ComicHouse
www.MinckOosterveer.com