''Cori, de Scheepsjongen'' ("Cori, the

cabin boy ''Cabin Boy'' is a 1994 American fantasy comedy film, directed by Adam Resnick and co-produced by Tim Burton, which starred comedian Chris Elliott. Elliott co-wrote the film with Resnick. Both Elliott and Resnick worked for ''Late Night with Davi ...

"/ "Cori Le Moussaillon" in French) was a Belgian comics series (1952–93) by Bob de Moor. It is a historical adventure strip set in the 16th century, drawn in a realistic style with much attention to detail. It is often regarded as De Moor's

magnum opus A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

Concept

Ever since his youth Bob de Moor was fascinated by

ship transport Maritime transport (or ocean transport) and hydraulic effluvial transport, or more generally waterborne transport, is the transport of people ( passengers) or goods ( cargo) via waterways. Freight transport by sea has been widely used th ...

, which echoed back in his later comic strips. An early predecessor of the series was "Bart de Scheepsjongen" (1945) ("Bart the Cabin Boy"), which he drew for "De Kleine Zondagsvriend". In 1950

Lombard Editions ''Le Lombard'', known as ''Les Éditions du Lombard'' until 1989, is a Belgian comic book publisher established in 1946 when ''Tintin'' magazine was launched. Le Lombard is now part of Média-Participations, alongside publishers Dargaud and Dupuis ...

approached him to draw a comic series that would appeal to the Flemish and Dutch readers. De Moor created a series set in the 16th century during the background of the

Eighty Years' War The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Re ...

between the Netherlands and Spain. The

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 ...

child Cori is kidnapped by pirates, but later saved by the

Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock co ...

. He is adopted by commander Harm Janszoon and joins them as a

and travels along during their exploration of South-East Asia, Africa, America and the Arctic. He gets involved in sea battles against pirates and the

Spanish Armada The Spanish Armada (a.k.a. the Enterprise of England, es, Grande y Felicísima Armada, links=no, lit=Great and Most Fortunate Navy) was a Spanish fleet that sailed from Lisbon in late May 1588, commanded by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, an a ...

, among other endeavours. He also meets real-life historical characters

Piet Heyn Piet Pieterszoon Hein (25 November 1577 – 18 June 1629) was a Dutch admiral and privateer for the Dutch Republic during the Eighty Years' War. Hein was the first and the last to capture a large part of a Spanish treasure fleet which tra ...

, Pieter van der Does,

Joris van Spilbergen Joris van Spilbergen (1568 in Antwerp – January 31, 1620 in Bergen op Zoom) was a Dutch naval officer. Joris van Spilbergen was born in Antwerp in 1568. His first major expedition was in 1596, when he sailed to Africa. He then left for A ...

Willem Janszoon Willem Janszoon (; ), sometimes abbreviated to Willem Jansz., was a Dutch navigator and colonial governor. Janszoon served in the Dutch East Indies in the periods 16031611 and 16121616, including as governor of Fort Henricus on the island of ...

and

Willem Barents Willem Barentsz (; – 20 June 1597), anglicized as William Barents or Barentz, was a Dutch navigator, cartographer, and Arctic explorer. Barentsz went on three expeditions to the far north in search for a Northeast passage. He reached as ...

. Later stories are set at the start of the 17th century, despite Cori not aging much. The first album was published in the magazine Tintin between 1951 and 1952. Since most of De Moor's time was taken up by his work for

Hergé Georges Prosper Remi (; 22 May 1907 – 3 March 1983), known by the pen name Hergé (; ), from the French pronunciation of his reversed initials ''RG'', was a Belgian cartoonist. He is best known for creating '' The Adventures of Tintin'', ...

's studio he was largely unable to find time to draw his own stories until Hergé's death in 1983. De Moor was aided by his assistant Geert de Sutter. When he died four albums were available. His son Johan de Moor finished the fifth and final story that his father had been working on.

Albums

The entire series counts five albums. Six, if you count "Koers naar het Goud", which was a redrawn and colorized update of the first black-and-white story "Onder De Vlag van de Compagnie" ("Underneath The ast IndiesCompany's Flag"). In 1974 this rare and original black-and-white story was made published in limited availability by the comics magazine ''CISO'' . * 1) "De onoverwinnelijke Armada deel 1: de Spionnen van de Koningin" ("The uninvicible Armada part 1: the queen's spies") * 2) "De onoverwinnelijke Armada deel 2: de Zeedraak" ("The uninvicible Armada part 2: the Sea Dragon") * 3) "Koers naar het Goud" ("Setting sail to the gold") * 4) "De Gedoemde Reis" ("The Doomed Voyage") * 5) "Dali Capitain" ("Dali Capitain")

Awards

The fourth "Cori" story "De Gedoemde Reis" won the Youth Prize at the Comics Festival of Angoulême, France, in 1988.

In popular culture

In the

Belgian Comic Strip Center 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, ...

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 ...

the permanent exhibition brings homage to the pioneers of

Belgian comics Belgian comics are a distinct subgroup in the comics history, and played a major role in the development of European comics, alongside France with whom they share a long common history. While the comics in the two major language groups and regio ...

, among them Bob de Moor. In the room dedicated to his work the backgrounds are based on a 16th-century ship, much like in "Cori". In September 1998, as 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 ...

, a special wall was dedicated to "Cori, de Scheepsjongen" in the Rue des Fabriques / Fabriekstraat in

.http://visitbrussels.be/bitc/BE_nl/monument/6654/cori-de-scheepsjongen-stripmuur.do

Sources

{{Reflist, 30em Belgian comic strips Belgian comics titles 1952 comics debuts 1993 comics endings Adventure comics Nautical comics Drama comics Comics set in the 16th century Comics set in the 17th century Belgian comics characters Child characters in comics Male characters in comics Fictional sailors Fictional characters from Flanders Fictional orphans Pirate comics Lombard Editions titles Comics by Bob de Moor Works set in Flanders Comics set in Belgium Comics set in the Netherlands