'Zon' (2017).
Wilbert van der Steen is a Dutch illustrator, cartoonist and graphic novelist, whose venture into comics didn't start until later in life. During the first twenty years of his career, he focused on cartoons for titles like Gay Krant and Food Magazine, as well as making picture book illustrations for many of the major publishers in the Netherlands. After seeing his own creations come to life in a series of picture books in collaboration with writer Tiny Fisscher, he made his solo debut with the picture book 'Pension Kat' (2008). From that, he switched to comics, starting with a webcomic about drag performer Dolly Bellefleur, and the modern fairy tales of 'Ayak + Por' (2014-2016) with writer Marc Legendre. His tragic graphic novel diptych 'Zon' (2017) and 'Licht (2020) earned him much critical acclaim, especially for his expressive artwork, effective coloring and emotional, human narrative style. Subsequently, he began working on his self-published four-volume 'Salto & Ubba' series (2021-2026), one of the first Dutch mainstream comics starring characters from the LGBTQ community.
Early life and career
Wilbert van der Steen was born in 1966 in Gemonde, a small town in the province of North Brabant. Between 1969 and 1992, he lived in the nearby town of Boxtel, where he spent his childhood playing in the nearby forests and making drawings for his school newspaper. Early artwork by him also appeared in the local weekly newspaper Brabant Centrum. During his studies in Visual Communication at the Royal Academy of Art and Design in Den Bosch (1985-1988) and Visual Storytelling at the Academy of Visual Arts in Tilburg (1989-1991), he became convinced that making comics wasn't a lucrative career plan. This was partially based on the opinion of one of his teachers, but also because of the declining comic book market at the time. Instead, he chose for a career in illustration and cartoons, until the urge for storytelling eventually pulled him back towards the comics medium. Graphically, he has named Willy Vandersteen, Albert Uderzo, Fred Julsing and Martin Lodewijk as important influences.
Cartoonist
After his education, Van der Steen first moved to Amsterdam, where he worked for a while at Oibibio, the spiritual center of Ronald Jan Heijn. In Amsterdam, he also began his professional life as a self-employed artist. An earlier course in set design landed him one of his first recurring jobs, contributing to EMMA TV, the children's hospital television of the AMC in Amsterdam (1992-2002). Between 1993 and 2000, first bi-weekly and then monthly, he also made cartoons for Gay Krant, the newspaper of the Dutch LGBTQ community. In 2017 and 2018, he returned to the paper as the illustrator of the 'Stijn' serial, written by Christian Curre. In addition, he made drawings for small articles and editorials in Food Magazine (1994-2011), a monthly trade magazine for managers in the supermarket industry.
Cover illustrations by Wilbert van der Steen.
Book illustrations
Starting in 1995, Van der Steen also became a productive illustrator of children's picture books, both fictional and educational, for publishers like Holkema & Warendorf, Pimento, Zwijsen, Kosmos, Moon and Kluitman. He notably worked on many picture books and story collections for the publishing house Van Holkema & Warendorf, for instance by Tiny Fisscher and the writing duo Marianne Busser and Ron Schröder. For publisher Scholastic, Van der Steen provided the atmospheric black-and-white illustrations for Penny Dolan's 'The Tale of Rickety Hall' (2000) and its follow-ups 'The Tale of Highover Hill' (2002) and 'The Tale of White Winter Hollow' (2004). For publisher Clavis, he provided cover illustrations for the book series about the young explorer scientist 'Emma Dewit' (2016-2017) by Dixie Dansercoer and Reine Ollivier (an earlier installment in the series had artwork by Robbert Damen). For Luitingh-Sijthoff, he has illustrated books about 'Stuntvlogger Sam' by Jelmer Jepsen. Among the other writers with whom he has collaborated have been Daphne Deckers (three 'Marijn' books, 2004-2008), Jacques Vriens ('Vaders, moeders? Hardgekookte Eieren!', 2008) and Geert Mak ('In de Ban van de Krekel, in de Ban van de Mier', 2015).
'Ruby en de Leeuw'.
Personal creations
Between 1999 and 2006, Van der Steen used his spare time to make a series of illustrative paintings, for which he also wrote short texts. It gave him joy of giving his fantasy free reign and crafting all sorts of worlds. With writer Tiny Fisscher, he made two picture book series based on characters from these paintings. First, they started with two stories with the sweet and dreamy Liv (Het Spectrum, 2003-2004), then came two magical adventures of Ruby, who lives in an old forest (Pimento, 2005-2006). Additional projects about a boarding house for cats and one about an evil baroness were initially shelved.
When in 2006 Van der Steen was exhibiting his paintings in the GO Gallery in Amsterdam, his work caught the attention of the editors of the publishing house Moon. With their support, he began working on a solo picture book about the young Lot, who lives with three cats in a boarding house, where she has to solve a mystery involving the distinguished Baroness Ce Triest de Temperdu. Released in 2008, 'Pension Kat' was the first book both written and drawn by Van der Steen, and it inspired him to further explore telling his own stories.
'Made in Dolland'.
Early comics
A planned follow-up to 'Pension Kat' was never completed, but instead Van der Steen tried his hand at comics. In the early 2010s, he created several short stories, which he submitted to the Benelux Comics Prize contest, organized by the newspaper NRC.Next. Following the contribution of a one-page comic to a 2009 exhibition celebrating the 20th anniversary of Ruud Douma's drag act Dolly Bellefleur, Van der Steen became the artist of the celebrity webcomic 'Made in Dolland' (2010-2012). Published on the website of Dolly Bellefleur, the bi-weekly episodes were written by Bellefleur herself, tying in with her stage act, but also offering social commentary.
'Peter en de Wolf' (2013).
Ayak + Por
When in 2013 Van der Steen began working on a comical short comic adaptation of the musical fairy tale 'Peter and the Wolf', he posted work-in-progress pictures on his Facebook, which brought him in touch with other comic creators. One of them was the Belgian scriptwriter Marc Legendre, who knew a publisher who would possibly want to print the story in book format. Since one 14-page story wasn't enough, Van der Steen asked Legendre if he had any additional scripts to fill the book. These became 'Een Mottige Theepot' and 'Van De Oude Schilder', whose short comics first published in Strike, the digital magazine of the Flemish Independent Comics Guild (V.O.S.). The first one starred the Inuit girl Ayak and the "nearly mythical" creature Por, and these characters proved interesting enough for further stories. After these first three short stories were collected in the 2014 comic book 'Ayak + Por' by Strip2000, two more albums appeared with full-length adventures of Ayak, Por and their friend, the "Professor of Cryptozoology".
Ayak + Por #2 - 'De Eenzame Sultan'.
Receiving raving reviews upon their release, the bizarre modern fairy tales of 'Ayak + Por' (2014-2016) were praised for their subtle philosophical approach, overall originality and dynamic artwork, while firmly cementing Wilbert van der Steen as a new star in the Dutch-Belgian comics scene. The series was also published in French by Kramiek ('Ayak & Boris') and in English by Europe Comics.
Zon/Licht
When the 'Ayak + Por' series came to an end, Van der Steen began working on his own graphic novel project, which became the two-volume family tragedy 'Zon' (Blloan, 2017) and 'Licht' (Blloan, 2020). Set somewhere in the late 1950s/early 1960s, the main character is the young Lucien, the epitome of a difficult childhood. His coldhearted mother can't stand him. Not only is he the lasting memory of a single encounter - a great shame in those days - but she must also forget her ambitious plans for the family business. Fortunately, Lucien has a strong bond with his grandfather, who sees him as the ideal successor for the coffee roasting company. When his grandparents die in quick succession, Lucien's life takes a dramatic turn.
'Licht' (2020).
The boy is accused of murder and ends up in prison. While he can't count on his mother for help, an unexpected person from his past helps him escape. When he is taken in by a traveling circus, Lucien again is harshly confronted with real life, full of betrayal, jealousy, and injustice. With his expressive drawings and moody colors, Van der Steen effectively captured how harsh the world can be, while also maintaining a glimmer of hope. No matter how much Lucien is battered and bruised by misery and sorrow, he never loses his innocence. The album 'Sun' was also released in English under the European Comics imprint.
'Salto & Ubba'.
Salto & Ubba
Noticing that there were hardly any comic characters with an LGBTQ background, Van der Steen decided to step in that void and created the characters of Salto and Ubba. However, it was important for him not to make a niche strip, but instead create a four-volume comic series for a general audience in which the LGBTQ community is represented. Tackling themes like romance, friendship, aspirations, self-doubt and body positivity, the slice-of-life stories feature the plus-size "Bearlesque" dancer Salto and his partner Ubba, who runs a cleaning service. When the theater season in their coastal town comes to an end, Salto seeks a new purpose, while Ubba struggles to keep his company afloat. Setting up their own Bearlesque Talent Show, the couple is confronted with the strain of stress on a relationship, unexpected difficulties and an energetic competitor called Ponky.
Following a successful crowdfunding campaign on Voordekunst.nl, Van der Steen launched his own publishing imprint Steenbook, and released the first book in 2021. Using the same crowdfunding procedure, the second, third and fourth volumes were released in 2022, 2024 and 2026, respectively.
'Salto & Ubba'.
Commissions
On occasion, Van der Steen has worked on commissioned comic projects. In 2016, he was selected as one of the Dutch artists to draw a comic book starring Willy Vandersteen's 'Suske en Wiske' for S.O.S. Children's Villages, based on a story by a Dutch celebrity. However, Van der Steen's artwork for the volume 'De Charmante Chirurg' was not to the liking of the story's writer, novelist Esther Verhoef. As she vetoed the usage of it, the publisher Standaard Uitgeverij had the story redrawn by Michiel de Jong. Instead, Van der Steen's version of the story was released by the 'Suske en Wiske' fan club De Fameuze Fanclub in the following year.
In 2018, Van der Steen and scriptwriter Willem Ritstier were commissioned to create 'Chemo-Kasper' (2018), an educational comic book about children's cancer, and a joint production between Ballon Media and the Princess Maxima Center.
'Chemo-Kasper' (2018).
Graphic contributions
Based in the Utrecht town of Zeist since 2004, Van der Steen has regularly contributed to projects of the regional comics collective De Inktpot. Along with several other associated comic creators, he has participated in comic books dealing with the history and folklore of the city of Utrecht, including 'Dans van de Gezanten' (2013), 'De Halsdoek van Cunera' (2015), 'De 'Dwaalgids van Utrecht' (2018) and '1122, een Familiekroniek' (2022).
In 2014, Van der Steen was one of the contributing artists to the first volume of 'Op Missie', an anthology series by Strip2000 in which comic artists visualize true-life stories by war veterans. For Stijn Schenk's Real Comics line, Van der Steen participated in the anthology 'WijMannen' ("WeMen", 2020), dealing with the social roles of men. In addition, the artist has appeared in 'Duplex' (Strip2000/Zone 5300, 2016), a mash-up between comic artists and poets, the celebration album 'Gefeliciflaterd!' (Dupuis 2017) for the 50th anniversary of André Franquin's 'Gaston Lagaffe', and to Leon Verhoeven's comic cookbook 'Strip Kookboek' (Personalia, 2019). In 2026, he was one of the participating artists in the sci-fi fantasy "chain comic" 'Holly Wil Naar Huis', initiated by Jan Vriends.
Work for De Inktpot for an exposition about the 1375 "Stichtse Landbrief", which is seen as the original document of the Province of Utrecht (2025).
Other activities
On the side, Van der Steen has been involved in a couple of other comic-related initiatives. Between 2014 and 2018, he was supervising graduation projects and assessments for students of Comic Design at ArtEZ in Zwolle, and of Communication and Multimedia Design at the Utrecht University of Applied Sciences. In 2021 and 2022, he was also an advisor for the new publishing house MENLU, founded by Menno Ludriks to release work of young and promising comic artists from the Netherlands and Belgium. Together with Kenny Rubenis, he initiated the Queer Artist Alley, an event where Dutch queer comic artists can showcase and sell their work during Pride festivals.
Recognition
Although he debuted in the Dutch comic scene relatively late in life, Van der Steen's certainly didn't go by unnoticed. From the start, he has been praised for his dynamic, fluid artwork, usage of color to express emotions and storytelling with a strong sense for fantasy, nature and human relationships. His debut picture book 'Pension Kat' (2009) was nominated for several prizes, but unfortunately didn't win. The first 'Ayak + Por' volume was nominated for the Silvester Strips Debut Prize 2016.
His graphic novel diptych was especially released to much critical acclaim; the first volume 'Zon' earned Wilbert van der Steen the 2017 Willy Vandersteen Prize, and the second volume 'Licht' received the 2020 Stripschappenning for "Book of the Year". Volumes of his 'Salto & Ubba' comics are included in the collection of IHLIA LGBTI Heritage, the Dutch heritage organisation in the field of LGBTQ+.
Self-portrait.