'Het Rapenplan' (1989).
Tony Van Drom is a Belgian cartoonist and comic creator, mainly active during the 1980s and early 1990s. He made several cartoons about Waasland, a region in the North East of the Belgian provinces of East Flanders and Antwerp. They ran in local magazines and were compiled in several books. Van Drom also wrote, drew and self-published the comic book 'Het Rapenplan' (1982).
Life and career
Tony Van Drom was born in 1947 in Temse, in the Belgian province of East Flanders. As a child, he loved reading and drawing comics, building up a huge collection. As an adult, until his retirement, he worked as an electro-mechanic with the company Fabricom Ltd.
Waasland cartoons
Encouraged by his friend, the professional cartoonist Pirana, Van Drom started drawing cartoons as well. In 1982, during the municipal elections in Temse, a cartoon contest was held. Van Drom participated and won in the category "Best Political Cartoon/Caricature". Soon his cartoons ran in several regional magazines and papers. Van Drom focused on current events regarding his home region, the Waasland, which encompasses the North East of the Belgian provinces East Flanders and Antwerp. Poking fun at local politics, economics, culture, festivities and sports, he sometimes caricatured local politicians and townspeople too.
Waasland cartoon collections of 1983 and 1985.
At the instigation of the cultural foundation Spirit, of which he is a member, his cartoons were compiled annually in book format. Between 1983 and 1992, ten titles came out, subsequently 'Het Waasland 1983 in Cartoons' (1983), 'Het Waasland 1984 in Cartoons' (1984), 'Het Plezante Waasland I' (1985), 'Het Plezante Waasland II' (1986), 'Plezant Relaas Uit 't Land van Waas I' (1987), 'Plezant Relaas Uit 't Land van Waas II' (1988), 'Kolder uit de Wase Polder I' (1989), 'Kolder Uit De Wase Polder II' (1990), 'Wase Cartoons I' (1991) and 'Wase Cartoons II' (1992).
Het Rapenplan
In 1987, Tony van Drom began writing and drawing his own comic book, with graphic designer Luc Verhulst providing the lettering. After serialization in the regional weekly Het Vrije Waasland, Van Drom self-published his story 'Het Rapenplan' (1989) in book format. On 15 December 1989, the book was presented to the press at the Temse town hall, in the presence of Belgian State Secretary of Environment and Social Emancipation Miet Smet. The story is set in the Waasland region and brings several well-known towns, monuments and other recognizable locations in view. The two protagonists are an anthropomorphic turnip and the folkloric character Reynard the Fox, who have to prevent a flood from happening. In real life, the Waasland is embedded between two rivers, the Schelde and the Durme, making floods an actual recurring nuisance. The main characters were no random choice either. The region is known for cultivating turnips, while the famous medieval narrative poem 'Reynard the Fox' is set in the Waasland.
'Het Rapenplan' wasn't the first, nor the last Dutch-language comic book inspired by the trickster character Reynard the Fox. Before Van Drom, Paul Claes and HugOKÉ made 'Reinaert de Vos' (1973-1974), while later L.E.O. Faes ('Van den Vos Reynaerde' [1998], 'De Moordenaars van Malpertuus' [2017]) and the 'Suske & Wiske' authors Paul Geerts and Marc Verhaegen ('De Rebelse Reynaert', 1999) also published comics about the malicious fox. Yet in Van Drom's comic book, Reynard is a far more sympathetic character.
Later work
Since his retirement, Van Drom has been making large drawings, paintings and collages, inspired by pop art, surrealism, and abstract art.
Cartoon appearing on the cover of 'Wase Cartoons 1991'. Apart from a self-portrait of the artist, we recognize Iranian ayatollah Khomeini (as a portrait on the wall), PLO leader Yasser Arafat, Russian head of state Mikhail Gorbachev, U.S. President Ronald Reagan, Pope John Paul II, Congolese dictator Mobutu, stock market guru and fraudster Jean-Pierre Van Rossem and Belgian Prime Minister Wilfried Martens.