Suske (English: Willy, Luke, Bob, Spike) is one of the main characters in the popular Belgian comic strip ''

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 ...

'' by

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 ...

. He is the boy of the duo.

History

When

created his first adventure story with the characters

Wiske Wiske (English: Wanda, Suzy, Bobette, Lucy) is one of the main characters in the popular Belgian comic strip ''Suske en Wiske'' by Willy Vandersteen. She is the girl of the duo. Together with Lambik she is one of the most popular characters in t ...

Tante Sidonia Tante Sidonia is a Flemish comics character from the Belgian comics series ''Suske en Wiske''. In the franchise she is the aunt of Wiske and the adoptive aunt of Suske, of whom she both takes care. In the original Flemish publications her name wa ...

and

Professor Barabas Professor Barabas (English: Professor Barnabas) is a Flemish comic book character from the ''Suske en Wiske'' series by Willy Vandersteen. He is the absent-minded professor/scientist archetype in the franchise. History In the first unofficial '' ...

, "Rikki en Wiske in Chocowakije" ("Rikki and Wiske in Chocowakije") (1945) he already gave the little girl Wiske a boy companion called ''Suske''. However, in this early incarnation the boy was her older and stronger brother. Also, Vandersteen's publisher had changed the character's name into "Rikki" without his knowledge, let alone with his approval. This turned out to be for the better, since Vandersteen felt that the character was way too old to be a good companion to the much younger Wiske. He also resembled

Tintin Tintin or Tin Tin may refer to: ''The Adventures of Tintin'' * ''The Adventures of Tintin'', a comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé ** Tintin (character), a fictional character in the series ** ''The Adventures of Tintin'' (film), 2011, ...

too much. Thus, at the start of the next story, "Op Het Eiland Amoras" ("On The Isle of Amoras") (1945) Vandersteen sent Rikki off to get a

ration stamp A ration stamp, ration coupon or ration card is a stamp or card issued by a government to allow the holder to obtain food or other commodities that are in short supply during wartime or in other emergency situations when rationing is in for ...

for shoes and effectively wrote him out of the series. In the course of the story Wiske, Sidonia and Barabas travel to the isle of Amoras where Wiske meets a local

orphan An orphan (from the el, ορφανός, orphanós) is a child whose parents have died. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usuall ...

named Suske. He explains to her that he is the last living relative of Sus Antigoon, his great-great-great-grandfather. Wiske joins him in the Amorasians' battle against their oppressors. At the end of the story Suske is adopted by aunt Sidonia and travels back to Belgium.Vandersteen, Willy, "Het Eiland Amoras", Standaard Uitgeverij, 1947. Suske was named after Vandersteen's father, Sus Vandersteen.Van Hooydonck, Peter, "50 Jaar Suske en Wiske", Standaard Uitgeverij, 1995. The

diminutive A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A (abbreviated ) is a word-formati ...

"-ke" in Flemish dialect means "little", thus "Suske" would translate back to "Little Sus". In some stories his full name, François, is mentioned, but not often.

Character

Suske is somewhat of a

flat character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, in ...

. He is brave, honest, helpful, smart, polite, heroic, strong and has no real flaws in the way that

Lambik Lambik is a Flemish comic book character from the Belgian comic strip series ''Spike and Suzy'' by Willy Vandersteen. In the English translations he is known as ''Orville'' or ''Ambrose''. Lambik is the breakout character of the franchise and one ...

have. This also explains why he is the least popular character in the franchise. In "Het Eiland Amoras" he often went berserk whenever someone said the

battle cry A battle cry or war cry is a yell or chant taken up in battle, usually by members of the same combatant group. Battle cries are not necessarily articulate (e.g. "Eulaliaaaa!", "Alala"..), although they often aim to invoke patriotic or religious ...

"Seefhoek vooruit!" (the "Seefhoek" was the neighborhood in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

where Vandersteen grew up. In reprints this was changed to "Antigoon vooruit!"). This element was dropped in later stories. Despite being one of the main protagonists of the series Suske is rarely the focus of the stories. In "De Stalen Bloempot" ("The Steel Flowerpot") (1950) Suske is brought back to his native Amoras to become king. At the end of the story he abdicates because he doesn't want to leave his friends behind. In "Het Ros Bazhaar" ("The Horse Bazhaar") (1974) Suske runs away from home, because he feels the others don't understand him. He does this again in "De Curieuze Neuzen" ("The Curious Noses") (2007), but this time because he feels unwanted seeing he is an orphan. In "De Goalgetter" (1990) Suske becomes an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

champion and his success goes to his head. In "Het Gebroken Dorp" (2014) Suske becomes count of Marchimont, after saving the city from a local curse.

Relation with Wiske

Suske and Wiske are best friends, despite quarreling once in a while. One of the recurring storylines is Wiske's

jealousy Jealousy generally refers to the thoughts or feelings of insecurity, fear, and concern over a relative lack of possessions or safety. Jealousy can consist of one or more emotions such as anger, resentment, inadequacy, helplessness or disgust. ...

whenever Suske receives attention from other young, attractive females.

In spin-offs

Suske plays the central role in the spin-off series ''Amoras''. The first volume is named after him. He is also the central character in the junior version ''Klein Suske en Wiske'' ("Little Suske and Wiske").

In popular culture

Both he and Wiske have their own statue in 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. ...

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

. It was sculpted by René Rosseel in 1978. They also have a statue in

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 ...

, sculpted by Monique Mol in 2002. On June 15, 1995 an illustrated wall was dedicated to Suske and Wiske in the Laekenstraat 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 ...

, Belgium. Suske and Wiske are also part of an illustrated wall in the Korte Ridderstraat 8 in Antwerp, which was revealed on May 13, 2006. On April 24, 2009 a similar wall was revealed in

Kalmthout Kalmthout () is a municipality in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the villages of Kalmthout, Achterbroek, Heide, and Nieuwmoer. In 2021, Kalmthout had a population of 19,020. The total area is . In addition to Kalmth ...

. In the 1975-1976 Dutch TV puppet series ''Suske en Wiske'' Suske's voice was done by Paula Majoor. In the 1994 musical "De Stralende Sterren" David Verbeeck played the part of Suske. In the 2002 musical "De Spokenjagers" Suske was played by Sébastien De Smet. Niels Destadsbader played Suske in the 2008 musical "De Circusbaron". In the 2004 live-action film ' Joeri Busschots played Suske. In the 2009 3-D animated feature film '' Luke and Lucy: The Texas Rangers'' Marijn Klaver played Luke (Suske).

Sources

{{Spike and Suzy Spike and Suzy Comics characters introduced in 1946 Fictional adoptees Male characters in comics Orphan characters in comics