''Panda'' was a Dutch comic strip series, created by

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 ...

. After ''

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 ...

'' it was his second most successful and well known comic strip and very popular in foreign translations. It debuted in 1946 and ran until 1991.

Concept

''Panda'' is a

talking animal A talking animal or speaking animal is any non-human animal that can produce sounds or gestures resembling those of a human language. Several species or groups of animals have developed forms of communication which superficially resemble verbal ...

comic strip about a young

panda The giant panda (''Ailuropoda melanoleuca''), also known as the panda bear (or simply the panda), is a bear species endemic to China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is sometimes use ...

, Panda. The stories take place in a

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

environment with anthropomorphic animals. Like many Dutch comic strips in the 1940s and 1950s it was published in a text comic format, with the text below the images. Later stories have been published as a balloon comic too.

Characters

* Panda: A young, smart and intelligent

who travels into the wide world. In terms of design he looks very similar to

. He lives in Hobbeldonk. * Jollipop: A

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

who is Panda's personal servant. In terms of design he is an expy of Joost, the butler of Oliver B. Bumble in the ''

'' stories. * Joris Goedbloed: A sly

fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

who is a

con-artist A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have ...

and a trickster. He often expresses himself in macaronic Latin. He serves as the antagonist of the series, but despite his lies, tricks and frequent abuse of Panda's confidence he also ensures that the little bear is not put in actual danger.

History

created the strip on December 23, 1946. The series was a success in the Netherlands, but was also published in Australia, Belgium, Curaçao, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Finland, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Iceland and Sweden. Most of the art work was done by his personal studio, ''Toonder Studios''. Among the artists who drew the series are Jan Gerhard Toonder,

Lo Hartog van Banda Lodewijk Hartog van Banda (4 November 1916, in The Hague – 2 February 2006, in The Hague) was a Dutch comics writer.Jaap Lamberton Jaap Lamberton (1941 or 1946 - 1991) was a Dutch illustrator of comics and children's literature. Lamberton collaborated with Harrie Geelen on commercials and animated cartoons. He was one of the last remaining artists to work at the comics depa ...

, Harry Hargreaves,

Terry Willers Terry Willers (1935 – 9 November 2011) was a cartoonist and comics artist in Ireland. He was born in Barnet in North London but spent most of his life in Ireland, living initially in Carrigower then for over 40 years in Rathdrum, both in Coun ...

, Fred Julsing,

Dick Matena Dick Matena (born 24 April 1943) is a Dutch comics writer and cartoonist. He has also published under the pseudonyms A. den Dooier, John Kelly and Dick Richards. He has made several kinds of comics, from humor comics to erotic comics, but is bes ...

and Piet Wijn. About 199 stories have been drawn. On December 31, 1991 the final episode was published.

Availability

The Dutch publishing company ''Panda'', who specialize in luxury editions 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 ...

, were named after the series. In 2012, to commemorate Toonder's 100th birthday, the complete Panda stories were published in 44 luxury books.

References

External links

*{{cite web, url=http://www.uitgeverij-panda.nl/panda/info.html, title=Uitgeverij Panda, publisher=uitgeverij-panda.nl, accessdate=2015-10-29 Dutch comic strips Fictional pandas Comics characters introduced in 1946 1946 comics debuts 1991 comics endings Fantasy comics Humor comics Comics about animals Comics about bears Male characters in comics Adventure comics Text comics Dutch comics characters Comics by Marten Toonder Children's comics