''Kapitein Rob'' ("Captain Rob") was a Dutch adventure comic strip, created and drawn by Pieter Kuhn and written by journalist
Evert Werkman
Evert is a Dutch and Swedish short form of the Germanic masculine name "Everhard" (alternative Eberhard).Evert at the . The series ran from December 11, 1945 until January 21, 1966. Together with
Marten Toonder
Marten Toonder (2 May 1912 – 27 July 2005) was a Dutch comic strip creator, born in Rotterdam. He was probably the most successful comic artist in the Netherlands and had a great influence on the Dutch language by introducing new words and expr ...
's ''
Tom Poes
''Tom Puss'' (''Tom Poes'' in Dutch) is a Dutch comic strip, created by Marten Toonder. Together with Hans G. Kresse's '' Eric de Noorman'' and Pieter Kuhn's ''Kapitein Rob'' it is regarded as the Big Three of Dutch comics.
''Tom Poes'' was a ta ...
'' and
Hans G. Kresse
Hans G. Kresse (Amsterdam, 3 December 1921–Doorwerth, 12 March 1992) was a Dutch cartoonist. He was the winner of the 1976 Stripschapprijs.
Biography
Hans G. Kresse, born in the Netherlands in 1921, started his career as a comics artist in 1938 ...
's '' Eric de Noorman'' it is considered to be the among the ''Big Three'' in the history of
Dutch comics
Dutch comics are comics made in the Netherlands. In Dutch the most common designation for the whole art form is "strip" (short for "stripverhaal" – "strip story" – , though the old-fashioned expression "beeldverhaal" – "picture ...
.
Concept
Kapitein Rob is a
sea captain
A sea captain, ship's captain, captain, master, or shipmaster, is a high-grade licensed mariner who holds ultimate command and responsibility of a merchant vessel.Aragon and Messner, 2001, p.3. The captain is responsible for the safe and efficie ...
. He owns a
sailing ship
A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing square-rigged or fore-and-aft sails. Some ships c ...
nicknamed ''De Vrijheid'' (''The Freedom'') and an invention called "Historisch Oog" ("Historical Eye"), which allows him to travel back in time and have adventures in previous centuries involving
pirate
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
s and
explorer
Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians.
Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...
s. Among the historical characters he encountered are
Olivier van Noort
Olivier van Noort (1558 – 22 February 1627) was a Dutch merchant captain and pirate and the first Dutchman to circumnavigate the world.Quanchi, ''Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Pacific Islands'', page 246
Olivier ...
and
Jan van Riebeeck
Johan Anthoniszoon "Jan" van Riebeeck (21 April 1619 – 18 January 1677) was a Dutch navigator and colonial administrator of the Dutch East India Company.
Life
Early life
Jan van Riebeeck was born in Culemborg, as the son of a surgeon. He ...
. Fantasy elements were also prominent in the series. In one story Rob was confronted with the legendary phantom ship ''
The Flying Dutchman
The ''Flying Dutchman'' ( nl, De Vliegende Hollander) is a legendary ghost ship, allegedly never able to make port, but doomed to sail the seven seas forever. The myth is likely to have originated from the 17th-century Golden Age of the Dut ...
''. In some stories Rob's ship even leaves the sea and travels into outer space.
In ''Het Geheim van de Bosplaat'' Rob discovers a secret bunker on the isle of
Terschelling
Terschelling (; fry, Skylge; Terschelling dialect: ''Schylge'') is a municipality and an island in the northern Netherlands, one of the West Frisian Islands. It is situated between the islands of Vlieland and Ameland.
Wadden Islanders are k ...
, where
nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
's plan their evil schemes.
Characters
* Kapitein Rob: A young, brave and smart pipe smoking sea captain. Rob started sailing in May 1940, when he was 21 years old. His father died that same year in a shipwreck, on May 13, 1940.
* Skip: Rob's Samoyed dog, whom he rescued from a sinking German ship near
.
* Paula: Rob's wife, with whom he married in 1954.
* Robbie and Josje: Rob and Paul's children.
* Kees: Rob's long lost brother, who supposedly died in a shipwreck. He finds him back on the isle of Tamoa, where he was treated as a king by the local tribesmen and married Suja, the chieftain's daughter.
* Professor Lupardi: An evil professor and Rob's
arch enemy
Arch Enemy is a Swedish melodic death metal band, originally a supergroup from Halmstad, formed in 1995. Its members were in bands such as Carcass, Armageddon, Carnage, Mercyful Fate, Spiritual Beggars, The Agonist, Nevermore, and Eucharist. ...
. He wants to conquer the world and often invents new scientific devices.
* Yoto: Lupardi's assistant.
Publication history
The stories were published in the Dutch newspaper ''
Het Parool
''Het Parool'' () is an Amsterdam-based daily newspaper. It was first published on 10 February 1941 as a resistance paper during the German occupation of the Netherlands (1940–1945). In English, its name means ''The Password'' or ''The Motto' ...
''. Like all Dutch comics in the 1940s and 1950s ''Kapitein Rob'' was a text comic, where the text was written below the images.
This allowed the stories to be represented as Rob's personal
captain's log
A logbook (or log book) is a record used to record states, events, or conditions applicable to complex machines or the personnel who operate them. Logbooks are commonly associated with the operation of aircraft, nuclear plants, particle accelera ...
. The comic strip was a huge success and published in ''oblong format''. Apart from "Het Parool" Rob's adventures were also published in the "Ketelbinkiekrant" (1948–1957) and his own magazine, titled "Kapitein Rob's Vrienden" ("Captain Rob's Friends") (1949–1952), later renamed as: "Rob's Vrienden" ("Rob's Friends") (1952–1957). The stories were also quite successful in
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
at the time and were translated in German and French.
The series ran from December 11, 1945 until January 21, 1966. The script of the first story was written by Wijnanda Aberson. Evert Werkman took over from the second story on. The series was only interrupted twice. From April 4, 1955 until September 1, 1956 and from November 8, 1958 until August 25, 1959. After Kuhn died of a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...
in 1966 the series were terminated. In total 73 stories were published. The final one was left unfinished.
In 2001 the entire series were republished completely by ''Rijperman Communications''. On May 15, 2014 the entire collection of Kuhn's drawings, including ''Kapitein Rob'', was donated to the archives of the city
Groningen
Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...
.
In popular culture
Musical adaptation
In 1996 ''Kapitein Rob'' was adapted into a musical. The musical was organized by Gerard Knap. Hans Mobach composed the music, Rudolf Geel wrote the song lyrics. Ruud Bos wrote the dialogues. Erik van Muiswinkel was choreographer. The play premiered in the presence of Dutch politician
Annemarie Jorritsma
Annemarie Jorritsma-Lebbink (born 1 June 1950) is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businesswoman. She is the Parliamentary leader in the Senate since 24 November 2015 and a Member of the Senate since 9 ...
, who was Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water Management at the time.
Film adaptation
In 2007
Simon de Waal
Simon de Waal (born in Amsterdam in 1961) is a Dutch writer.
He has specialized in television and film scripts, he won the ''Golden Calf'' in 2000 (grand prize for the Netherlands Film), for best screenplay for the film ''Leak''. ''Leak'' also ...
directed a live-action film adaptation, ''
Kapitein Rob en het Geheim van Professor Lupardi
Kapitein Rob en het Geheim van Professor Lupardi (''Captain Rob and the Secret of Professor Lupardi'') is a 2007 Dutch adventure film, directed by Hans Pos and based on Evert Werkman and Pieter J. Kuhn's eponymous newspaper comic ''Kapitein Rob ...
''. De Waal and Hans Pos wrote the story, while ''Screenpartners'' and ''Shooting Star Film Company'' produced the picture.