''Piet Fluwijn en Bolleke'' was a Belgian

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 ...

comic strip series drawn by

Marc Sleen Marcel Honoree Nestor ( ridder) Neels (30 December 1922 – 6 November 2016), known as Marc Sleen, was a Belgian cartoonist. He was mostly known for his comic '' The Adventures of Nero and Co.'', but also created gag comics like '' Piet Fluwijn ...

from 1944 until 1965. It was continued by artists Hurey and Jean-Pol until 1974.

Concept

''Piet Fluwijn en Bolleke'' was a classic family comic strip, drawn by Sleen. All gags center around a father, Piet Fluwijn, and his naughty, but innocent little son, Bolleke. The mother of the family is sometimes seen, but seldom plays a large role. The series was inspired by the German

comic '' Vater und Sohn'' by Erich Ohser.

History

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

1944 the first gag was published in the Flemish magazine ''Ons Volk Ontwaakt'', but for about a year Piet Fluwijn was the only character. On December 27, 1945 the comic strip was moved to the weekly youth supplement of the magazine ''

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 ...

''. Sleen then introduced Fluwijn's son, Bolleke, who was still called "Bommeke" in those days. From April 3, 1947 on the series was also published in ''

'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 ...

'', the weekly youth supplement of the newspaper '' Het Volk'', where the character was named ''"Bolletje"''. They were also translated into French and published in ''Le Petit Luron'', the weekly youth supplement of the magazine ''Samedi'', under the name ''Miche et Celestin Radis''. In 1965 Sleen decided to terminate all his other comic strips in favor of ''

The Adventures of Nero ''The Adventures of Nero'' or ''Nero'' was a Belgian comic strip drawn by Marc Sleen and the name of its main character. The original title ranged from ''De Avonturen van Detectief Van Zwam'' in 1947 to ''De Avonturen van Nero en zijn Hoed'' ...

''. "Piet Fluwijn en Bolleke" too was cancelled on April 14, 1965. Cartoonists Hurey and Jean-Pol drew a new version of the series for the comics magazine ''Pats'', but in 1974 the series came to a permanent halt.

Albums

Between 1956 and 1965 ten albums were published. These albums did not contain all the gags and the gags were not published in chronological order. Between 2010 and 2018, 26 albums were published containing the complete series of 850 gags drawn by Marc Sleen between 1945 and 1965 in chronological order and additional information written by Yves Kerremans, with new covers drawn 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 ...

Crossover with Sleen's other series

enjoyed giving his characters cameos in ''

''. In the story ''De Blauwe Toekan'' ''("The Blue Toucan")'' (1948) Bolleke can be seen on a local fair and later in the story next to Jan Spier's French fries store. In ''"Beo de Verschrikkelijke" ("Beo the Horrible") (1952)'' Fluwijn and Bolleke are seen in the crowd at the harbour and in ''"De Brollebril" ("The Bogus Glasses") (1960)'' they are among the many characters who come to donate Nero money. In ''"De Muurloper" ("The Wall Walker") (1995)'' they make another cameo.

In popular culture

In 1971 Herman De Coninck and Piet Piryns interviewed Marc Sleen for the magazine

Humo ''HUMO'' is a popular Dutch-language Belgian weekly radio and television supermarket tabloid. History and profile ''Humoradio'' (meaning a portmanteau of 'humor' and 'radio' in English) was first published in 1936 as a Dutch-language counterpar ...

. As a tribute they signed their article with the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

s ''"Herman de Keunink"'' (a nod to Sleen's series '' Oktaaf Keunink'') and ''Piet Fluwijns''. Flemish comedian

Urbanus Urbain Servranckx (born 7 June 1949), better known as Urbanus, is a Belgian comedian, actor, singer and comic book writer. Although he is most famous as comedian, some of his songs became hits, such as ''Bakske vol met stro'' (1979), ''Madammen ...

is a huge fan of Bolleke and a personal friend of Sleen. When Sleen retired in 2002 Urbanus came to sing a homage to him, ''"Ode aan Marc Sleen"'', dressed up as Bolleke. The song also mentions his love for the comic. Urbanus' own comics, such as ''

'', are also inspired by ''"Piet Fluwijn en Bolleke"''. Piet Fluwijn en Bolleke also had a cameo in the ''

Agent 327 ''Agent 327'' is a Dutch action/comedy comic series by cartoonist Martin Lodewijk. It was a regular feature from 1966 until 1983, and again from 2000 to the present. The eponymous Agent 327 is a James Bond/Maxwell Smart-like Dutch secret agent who ...

'' album ''"De Golem van Antwerpen" ("The Golem of Antwerp") (2002)'', where they visit the

Antwerp Zoo Antwerp Zoo ( nl, ZOO Antwerpen) is a zoo in the centre of Antwerp, Belgium, located next to the Antwerpen-Centraal railway station. It is the oldest animal park in the country, and one of the oldest in the world, established on 21 July 1843. ...

. The characters can also be seen on a wall dedicated to characters from Sleen's other series, ''

'', at the Sint-Goriksplein/Place Saint-Géry in

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 ...

, where it is part of the

Brussels' Comic Book Route Brussels' Comic Book Route (or ''The comic strip route in Brussels'') is a path composed by several comic strip murals, which cover the walls of several buildings throughout the inner City of Brussels, as well as the neighborhoods of Laeken and Au ...

.http://www.brussel.be/dwnld/68642088/P1010935.JPG

References

{{Reflist Belgian comic strips Belgian comics titles Belgian comics characters Gag-a-day comics Children's comics 1944 comics debuts Comics characters introduced in 1944 1974 comics endings Fictional characters from Flanders Fictional families Comic strip duos Child characters in comics Male characters in comics Comics by Marc Sleen Comics set in Belgium Works set in Flanders