'Jan Zonder Vrees'.
Jan Waterschoot was one of the best Flemish realistic illustrators. His graphic style was inspired by French pre-World War I illustrators, and he made illustration work for many magazines, such as Zonneland and Haardvriend. He was born in Antwerp and made his comic debut with 'De Reis Van Twee Antwerpse Kleuters', that appeared in Zonneland in 1937. This was followed by 'De Man die Nooit Meer Moe Werd', 'De Gezusters Willekens en de Zwarte Kat' and '4 Jongens Doen de Ronde van België' and 'Johnny, De Weesjongen', stories that appeared in the late 1930s.
Comic art by Jan van Waterschoot.
After the War, Waterschoot's work appeared in the French magazine Franc-Jeu, where he did among others 'Un Drame Chez les Indiens'. He returned to the Flemish comic scene when he began a collaboration with Kleine Zondagsvriend in 1948. There, he created among others 'Het Brigandje' (under the pseudonym Jif), 'Robrecht de Fries' and 'Een Vlaamse Reus in 't Rotsgebergte'. In the 1950s, he is present in Tam-Tam with 'De Grote Zwartrok' with text by J. van Overstraeten. At the publishing house L. Opdebeek in Antwerpen, he drew 5 albums in the series 'Meesterwerken in Beeld', In this collection, he did comic adaptations of 'Jan Zonder Vrees', 'Gullivers Reizen', 'Don Quichotte', 'De 3 Musketiers' and 'De Negerhut van Oom Tom'. He passed away in Berchem in 1968.
'Don Quichotte'.
Waterschoot took on various religious comics for Ons Kerkklokje (Kerkelijk Leven (nowadays Kerk en Leven)), such as 'Willem van Saeftinge, de Strijdende Monnik' (1953), 'Pius XII, Apostel van de Vrede' (1958). He also did 'Rubens, Kunstenaar en Diplomaat' and 'De Pimpelteentjes op Apenjacht' in the magazine. In MK-Het Weekblad, Waterschoot illustrated comics biographies of among others 'Quinten Metsijs, de Smid van Antwerpen' (1962-63, using the pseudonym Jan Wouters) and 'Pieter Pauwel Rubens, Prins der Vlaamse Schilders'. Apart from comics, Waterschoot also did a lot of illustration work, for instance on the children's book 'Oost-West Thuis Best' by Flora Engels, which featured a female mouse with the familiar-sounding name Mieke Muis...
Mieke Mous from 'Oost-West Thuis Best' by Flora Engels and Jan van Waterschoot.