Marcel Honoree Nestor ( ridder) Neels (30 December 1922 – 6 November 2016), known as Marc Sleen, was a Belgian

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

. He was mostly known for his comic '' The Adventures of Nero and Co.'', but also created gag comics like '' Piet Fluwijn en Bolleke'', ''

De Lustige Kapoentjes ''De Lustige Kapoentjes'' (literally: ''"The Joyful Rascals"'') was a long-running Flemish comic book series, which existed under different titles and was drawn by different artists, among whom Marc Sleen (''"The Lustige Kapoentjes"'') and Willy V ...

'', '' Doris Dobbel'', '' Oktaaf Keunink'' and ''

De Ronde van Frankrijk ''De Ronde van Frankrijk'' (''The Tour de France'') was a Belgian gag cartoon comic strip series by Marc Sleen, in which he made a comedic report of every daily tournament of the annual cycling contest the Tour de France. Sleen drew the strip eac ...

''. Sleen was one of the most celebrated comics artists in his home country. His work is admired for its absurd and sometimes satirical comedy, as well for the fact that he worked completely singlehandedly without any assistance for 45 years on end, a feat that landed him a spot in ''

The Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

'' in 1992. (This feat has been surpassed since by Jim Russell's ''

The Potts ''The Potts'' was an Australian comic strip. The strip was created in August 1920 by Stan Cross under the name ''You & Me''. In 1939, it was taken over by Jim Russell (cartoonist), Jim Russell, who changed it to its current title. The strip w ...

'', which ran for 62 years.) He was one of the few comics artists in Belgium who had a museum dedicated to his work.

Biography

Marc Sleen was born as Marcel Neels in

Gentbrugge Gentbrugge is one of 25 districts ("wijken") of the city of Ghent, Belgium in the Flemish Region of Belgium. Gentbrugge together with Oud Gentbrugge had been a separate municipality before 1 January 1977, when it fused with Ghent. Neighborhoods ...

, near

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

.De Weyer, Geert (2005). "Marc Sleen". In België gestript, pp. 160–161. Tielt: Lannoo. He studied drawing in Ghent. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he was imprisoned by Nazi soldiers in

Fort Breendonk Fort Breendonk ( nl, Fort van Breendonk, french: Fort de Breendonk) is a former military installation at Breendonk, near Mechelen, in Belgium which served as a Nazi prison camp (''Auffanglager'') during the German occupation of Belgium during Wo ...

because his brother worked for the resistance. He was tortured and put in the death cell, but saved by the fact that after

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

the officers moved all the prisoners to a different prison, where he could escape. In 1944 he started to work as a political caricaturist in the Flemish newspaper ''

De Standaard ''De Standaard'' (meaning ''The Standard'' in English) is a Flemish daily newspaper published in Belgium by Mediahuis (formerly Corelio and VUM). It was traditionally a Christian-Democratic paper, associated with the Christian-Democratic and F ...

''. He also contributed illustrations and short comics for the newspaper and the youth supplement, and made illustrations and his first comics for the magazine ''Ons Volk''. He was also a courtroom sketch artist for a while. In October 1947, Marc Sleen started a new series, ''The adventures of detective Van Zwam'' in the newspaper ''De Nieuwe Gids''. In the first adventure

Detective Van Zwam Detective Van Zwam is a Flemish comics character in the Belgian comics series ''The Adventures of Nero'' by Marc Sleen. He is a brilliant detective and able to find clues from even the tiniest of evidence. Van Zwam was originally the main protag ...

encounters a fool who thinks he is emperor

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...

. After he regains his senses, they continue calling him Nero and slowly he became the star of the series. The name changes accordingly to ''The adventures of detective Van Zwam and Nero'' and after nine stories to ''The adventures of Nero and co''. The series appeared for 55 years with a rhythm of two strips every day. This was typical for the Flemish comic tradition, as with ''

Suske en Wiske Suske (English: Willy, Luke, Bob, Spike) is one of the main characters in the popular Belgian comic strip ''Suske en Wiske'' by Willy Vandersteen. He is the boy of the duo. History When Willy Vandersteen created his first adventure story with t ...

'' (''Spike and Suzy''). ''Nero'' became well known for its

ironic Irony (), in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what on the surface appears to be the case and what is actually the case or to be expected; it is an important rhetorical device and literary technique. Irony can be categorized into ...

humour Humour (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humorism, humoral medicine of the ancient Gre ...

and references to current affairs. For instance, in the album, ''Het Vredesoffensief Van Nero'' ("Nero's Peace Offensive") (1951), Nero visits

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...

to make him drink an elixir that will make him a

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

. Besides ''Nero'' Sleen drew many other comic strip series, many of them

gag-a-day A gag-a-day comic strip is the style of writing comic cartoons such that every installment of a strip delivers a complete joke or some other kind of artistic statement. It is opposed to story or continuity strips, which rely on the development of ...

comics, for magazines like ''

't Kapoentje ''t Kapoentje'' (literally: "The Little Rascal") was a youth supplement published by the Flemish newspaper ''Het Volk (newspaper), Het Volk'' from April 3, 1947 until 1989. It was notable for its comics and, together with ''Ons Volkske'', the most ...

'' and ''

Ons Volkske ''Ons Volkske'' (literally: "Our little people") was the youth supplement of the Flemish newspaper ''Ons Volk Ontwaakt''. It was published without interruption from 1932 until 1988, except for the years during World War II. The magazine was notabl ...

''. Among the most well known were '' Piet Fluwijn en Bolleke'' (1947–1965), '' Doris Dobbel'' (1950–1965), '' Oktaaf Keunink'' (1952–1965) and ''

''. Sleen also drew a daily cartoon during the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

from 1947 until 1965, called ''

''.

Between 1950 and 1965 Sleen published ''Nero'' in '' Het Volk'', after which he moved to ''

''. This caused a huge copyright controversy, as several newspapers fought over the rights over his syndicated comics. Thousands of readers switched from ''Het Volk'' to ''De Standaard'', just to follow his adventures in the newspaper. After that switch, he dropped all other series and devoted himself solely to ''Nero''. From 1992 to 2002, he was aided by

Dirk Stallaert A dirk is a long bladed thrusting dagger.Chisholm, Hugh (ed.), ''Dagger'', The Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th ed., Vol. VII, New York, NY: Cambridge University Press (1910), p. 729 Historically, it gained its name from the Highland Dirk (Scot ...

, a young Flemish comic artist, and at first the intention was to let Stallaert continue the series after Marc Sleen retired. But in the end, Stallaert didn't feel ready to continue it alone, and at the end of 2002, at the age of 80, Marc Sleen ended his career as a comics artist. Sleen designed album covers for records by Flemish actor, comedian and singer Jef Burm. Burm was a former school mate of his.

TV documentary work

Marc Sleen was also known as a traveller and animal friend. He made 35

safari A safari (; ) is an overland journey to observe wild animals, especially in eastern or southern Africa. The so-called "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and Cape buffalo – particularly form an importa ...

s to Africa between 1961 and 1991, making more than 20 documentaries for the

Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep The VRT (), is the national public-service broadcaster for the Flemish Community of Belgium. History VRT is the successor to a succession of organisations. The Belgian National Institute of Radio Broadcasting was known as the Nationaal Insti ...

, mostly for the TV show ''"Allemaal Beestjes"''. A few books and records about his safaris appeared as well. Many of his comics featured animals and countries he has visited.

Legacy

Marc Sleen is commonly considered one of the big names of the Flemish comics, together with

Willy Vandersteen Willy Vandersteen (15 February 1913 – 28 August 1990) was a Belgian creator of comic books. In a career spanning 50 years, he created a large studio and published more than 1,000 comic albums in over 25 series, selling more than 200 million co ...

and

Jef Nys Jozef "Jef" Nys (30 January 1927 – 20 October 2009) was a Belgian comic book creator. He was best known for his comic strip '' Jommeke''. Biography Early years Jozef Nys was born in Berchem, Belgium in 1927.De Weyer, Geert (2005). "Jef Nys ...

. In 2005 he was selected as one of the 111 nominees for the title "The Greatest Belgian" (

De Grootste Belg ''De Grootste Belg'' (The Greatest Belgian) was a 2005 vote conducted by Belgian public TV broadcaster Canvas, public radio broadcaster Radio 1, and newspaper ''De Standaard'', to determine who is the Greatest Belgian of all time. It could be ...

) in the Flemish edition. He ended in 48th place. On 19 June 2009, a museum dedicated to his life and career was opened in Brussels: the Marc Sleen Museum. Both Marc Sleen as well as King

Albert II of Belgium , house = Belgium , father = Leopold III of Belgium , mother = Astrid of Sweden , birth_date = , birth_place = Stuyvenberg Castle, Laeken, Brussels, Belgium , death_date = , death_place = , signature = Albert II of Belgium Signat ...

were present. The king was a fan of ''Nero'' since his youth and both he and

Baudouin of Belgium Baudouin (;, ; nl, Boudewijn Albert Karel Leopold Axel Maria Gustaaf, ; german: Balduin Albrecht Karl Leopold Axel Maria Gustav. 7 September 1930 – 31 July 1993), Dutch name Boudewijn, was King of the Belgians from 17 July 1951 until his de ...

learned Dutch by reading "Nero". Sleen died at the age of 93 on the evening of 6 November 2016. He was buried in the Campo Santo in Ghent.

Awards

* 1974:

Prix Saint-Michel The Prix Saint-Michel is a series of comic awards presented by the city of Brussels, with a focus on Franco-Belgian comics. They were first awarded in 1971, and although often said to be the oldest European comics awards, they are actually the sec ...

for best comical story,

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Belgium. The award went to ''Het Lachvirus'' (''The Laughing Virus''). * 1981: Honorary citizen of

Hulshout Hulshout () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the towns of , Hulshout proper and . In 2021, Hulshout had a total population of 10,553. The total area is 17.35 km2. References Extern ...

, Belgium * 1984: Honorary citizen of

Sint-Niklaas Sint-Niklaas (; french: Saint-Nicolas, ) is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of East Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Sint-Niklaas proper and the towns of Belsele, Nieuwkerken-Waas, and . Sint-Nikl ...

, Belgium * 1989: Stamp of Nero issued by the Belgian Post. * 1993: Gouden Adhemar at

Strip Turnhout Strip or Stripping may refer to: Places * Aouzou Strip, a strip of land following the northern border of Chad that had been claimed and occupied by Libya * Caprivi Strip, narrow strip of land extending from the Okavango Region of Namibia to ...

, Belgium * 1995: Best comic of 1994 by the "Belgische Kamer van stripexperten" (Belgian assembly of comic experts) * 1997: Knighted ( Ridder) by

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

* 2005: Honorary citizen of Brussels * 2008: Honorary citizen of

Turnhout Turnhout () is a Belgium, Belgian Municipalities in Belgium, municipality and city located in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of Antwerp (province), Antwerp. The municipality comprises only the city of Turnhout proper. ...

* 2011: Honorary citizen of

Hoeilaart Hoeilaart () is a municipality in the province of Flemish Brabant, Belgium. The name Hoeilaart is of Gallic-Celtic origin, coming from "Ho-Lar," meaning a high clearing in the woods. Residents are called Hoeilanders or Doenders. The municipality ...

Statues of his creations have been erected in

(1991), Hoeilaart (1994) and

Middelkerke Middelkerke () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders, on the North Sea, west of Ostend. The municipality comprises the villages of Leffinge, Lombardsijde, Mannekensvere, Middelkerke proper, Schore, Sint-Pieters-Kapell ...

(1997). An exclusive museum opposite the

Belgian Centre for Comic Strip Art The Belgian Comic Strip Center (french: Centre belge de la Bande dessinée; nl, Belgisch Stripcentrum) is a museum in Brussels, Belgium, dedicated to Belgian comics. It is located at 20, /, in an Art Nouveau building designed by Victor Horta, ...

is devoted to his wor

Major comics series

His comics were drawn rapidly in a "flexible and loose" style. They can be divided in one-page or one-strip gag series like ''Piet Fluwijn en Bolleke'' and ''De Lustige Kapoentjes'', and humorous adventure comics of book length (generally between 32 and 64 pages) like ''Stropke en Flopke'' and ''Nero''. * ''Piet Fluwijn'' (1944–1945) * '' Piet Fluwijn en Bolleke'' (1945–1965) (also known as ''The adventures of a father and his son'') * ''Pollopof'' (1946–1952) * ''Stropke en Flopke'' (1946–1950) * '' The Adventures of Nero, Nero'' (1947–2002) * ''

("the annual

". (Each year Marc Sleen drew a daily strip about the cycling event)'' (1947–1964) * ''

'' (1950–1965) (continued by other artists including Hurey and Kabou) * '' Doris Dobbel'' (1950–1967) * ''Fonske'' (1951–1960) * '' Oktaaf Keunink'' (1952–1965)

References

External links

Marc Sleen
at

Lambiek Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum, ), though since 2007, his son Boris Kousemaker is the current owner. From 1968 to 2015, it was located ...

Comiclopedia Galerie Lambiek is a Dutch comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded on November 8, 1968 by Kees Kousemaker (, – Bussum, ), though since 2007, his son Boris Kousemaker is the current owner. From 1968 to 2015, it was located ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sleen, Marc 1922 births 2016 deaths Album-cover and concert-poster artists Belgian comics artists Belgian comics writers Belgian cartoonists Belgian editorial cartoonists Belgian caricaturists Belgian documentary filmmakers Belgian environmentalists Belgian humorists Belgian illustrators Belgian knights Belgian nature writers Belgian satirists Belgian television personalities Breendonk prison camp survivors Courtroom sketch artists The Adventures of Nero