Announced six months ago and now in stores: Uranium-235 the first Kiekeboes comic by artist Charel Cambré and screenwriter Nix. Erwin De Wachter (58), who has an impressive attic full of Kiekeboes comics and derivative products, has actually read the edition “I wouldn’t want to compare, the new version is too different from the previous one,” said he says about the first story about nuclear energy. Charles Cambré is a great talent, but that man draws in a different way. He is far from the original design, but the pictures fit the t -more recent situation.”
Erwin apparently has a copy of the new ‘Kiekeboes’ comic in his possession. – © Joris Herregods
Another difference: each comic has forty pages, eight less than before. “I can live with that if it’s a good situation,” says De Wachter, who noted that the narrative style and humor are also completely different. The many puns in names, typical of De Kiekeboes, are no longer there. “It was normal for Merho to create all these names with double meaning, someone else couldn’t sustain that. If you choose a different design, it’s better to screw something like that.”
An image from the latest comic strip ‘Uranium-235’. – © Standaard Uitgeverij strips
The color is darker than before. “Although I realized something went wrong there,” says Erwin. “Some items are printed in a different color than the intended color. A blue surfboard turned gray, that sort of thing.”
“Reason for criticism? The focus is now on Fanny and her friends. Maybe they should have changed the name of the comic too.”
Erwin De Wachter
Superfan of Kiekeboes
Point of criticism? “The focus is now on Fanny and her friends. Maybe they should have changed the name of the comic too.”
Personal phone call
Erwin saw it coming without stopping in the old Kiekeboes style. “For the simple reason that Merho called me in advance to let me know,” he says. “There were no signs that the end was near. Everything went smoothly. But Merho turned 75, the age to stop. For me as a super fan it was not a good time. All those fun years with Merho and De Kiekeboes flashed through my mind. It was like the end of an era. How I lost my bottom.”
Over the years, Erwin became the ‘court photographer’ of the strip. The back cover of the comic features pictures of Merho taken by Erwin. “I met him at comic fairs. I took pictures of Merho and sent them to him. He thought I was a professional photographer, but I am a professional soldier (laughter).”
Pictures of Erwin graced the back cover of the series for years. – © tom vets
Needless to say, his favorite character is the petulant Leon Van der Neffe, who works in the army. “And it doesn’t appear in the new version anymore,” he sighs.
It is his favorite album Geeeef eight! “A complete record of the army. Together with Van der Neffe, who is harassing Kikeboe because he has to join the army. I have been a professional soldier for 39 years. Of course, I’m retired, but they can’t find young people in Defense. That’s why I live.”
Breaking a taboo
Erwin got his first Kiekeboes comic in 1978. “But it was only in the eighties, thanks to my brother Werner, who is a comic collector, that the passion for De Kiekeboes was awakened.”
What drew Erwin to the series? “The design style and the humor. By re-reading the comics later, you often discover double meanings. Merho also moved with the times. Taboos were broken (gay or transgender couples appeared in the comic strip as early as the 1980s and 1990s, ed.). Even if I see something from De Kiekeboes now, that’s just a short walk. An amazing feeling.”
Erwin’s loft is a ‘Kiekeboes’ mecca for a fan. – © Joris Herregods
De Wachter even built a database with all the names that have ever appeared in the comic strip. Also animal names, place names… “If Merho wasn’t sure if he had already used a name, I looked it up.”
Erwin also appears in the Kiekeboes comic. “In the last picture of Bistro Dodo. As a photographer. ”
As a fan, Erwin has more than 164 records. “You’ll be surprised at what’s here at home. All newspaper articles, thousands of photos, DVDs, textiles, beer mats, figurines….”
New comic series have struggled for years and often fail after a handful of issues. How does Erwin see the new Kiekeboes’ chances of success? “If you can believe social media, a lot of people are leaving. But I think that is a premature answer. Give Charel and Nix the opportunity to develop this. You can’t look back on what was there. That’s over. You have to evolve with time. “
Merho and his successors Nix (Marnix Verduyn, left) and Charel Cambré. – © BERT DE DEKEN
2024-04-17 16:22:24
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