'Luk'. Translation: "Well, I'll be." - "Hi, brother, we've come to bring you the true light!" - "The true what? Oh, I understand! One moment! Stefan! Come here! There are two people here from the electricity company!'.
Jos Vanspauwen is a Flemish comic artist and portrait artist, mainly known as an inker for Studio Max, Dirk Stallaert, Marc Verhaegen, Merho and Charel Cambré. Additionally working as a cartoonist and comic artist for local papers from the Genk and Hasselt region, he had his own gag comic 'Luk' in De Vinstermik. Vanspauwen has also been active as a caricaturist for commercial clients, and he has given workshops in comic art and cartooning.
Early life and career
Jos Vanspauwen was born in 1954 in Genk and attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Hasselt. He ranks Marc Sleen, Willy Vandersteen, Jef Nys, Hergé, Franz and Yves Swolfs among his artistic influences. His first professional work was drawing the comic 'Het Web van Hij', scripted by Noël Slangen, the well-known communication advisor and spin doctor for various Flemish politicians. The project was however never finished. In 1984, he made the illustrations of 'De Terugkeer van Jezus Christus', a religious comic written by Paul Ramaekers for the evangelical publisher Het Goede Boek.
Studio work
Between 1981 and 1985, Jos Vanspauwen found employment at Studio Vandersteen as one of the pencilers and inkers of the western comic 'Bessy'. He was part of the subdivision that produced 'Bessy' stories exclusively for the German publisher Bastei Verlag, supervised by Jeff Broeckx. In a Facebook post, the artist estimated the drew about 20 volumes. According to original artwork on Lastdodo.com, at least the 894th volume was drawn by Vanspauwen. Although the title 'Het Zwarte Goud' is mentioned, the original German title was 'Im Tal der brennenden Türme'. In the early 1990s, Vanspauwen also worked on properties like 'The Smurfs' for Studio Peyo.
Regional work
When the 'Bessy' series was canceled, Jos Vanspauwen contributed to several local weekend papers.In the 1990s, Vanspauwen made cartoons for Jet Magazine, and launched his bi-weekly gag strip 'Luk' in De Vinstermik, a local paper from Hasselt. Luk is a corpulent, bearded man who makes witty blunders. With Ivan Claeys, Vanspauwen worked on a comic story about "Het Borrelmanneke" from Hasselt. This so-called "drink lad" is a statue personifying the connection between Hasselt's rich connection with the jenever industry. Vanspauwen drew the 16-page comic album under the pen name "Joseph Vance" in 1996.
Inking career
In 2004, Vanspauwen returned to the mainstream comic industry, when Studio Max (De Marck & De Wulf) was looking for an inker for their 'Stam & Pilou' series, which he remained until 2008. He has since then worked as an inker for a great many Flemish comic creators, for instance Dirk Stallaert on his 'Mieleke Melleke Mol' (since 2007) and Marc Verhaegen's solo productions since 2006 ('Senne en Sanne', the educational comic albums for Eureducation) and Steve Van Bael's 'Figaro' series (2010-2011). Between 2007 and 2016, Vanspauwen was a regular inker for the Charel Cambré, including 'Albert & Co', 'Jump' and his productions for Studio 100. From June 2011 until 2023, Vanspauwen was an inker for the popular comic series 'De Kiekeboes' for Merho. The final album he inked was also the last one created by Merho, 'Seizoensfinale' (#164). Since 2006, Vanspauwen has been doing his inking work digitally.
Graphic contributions
Jos Vanspauwen paid homage to Pom in the collective tribute album 'Op Het Spoor van Pom' ('t Mannekesblad, 2011). He also contributed to the collective comic book 'De Pierkes' (Stripbeurs Gent, 2013), starring the Ghent folkloric character Pierke Pierlala. Since 2012, Jos Vanspauwen has been mainly active as a portrait artist.
