Kiekeboe - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

De Kiekeboes is a comic strip

Comic strip

A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....

series created by Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

artist Merho

Merho

Merho , the pseudonym of Robert Merhottein, is a Belgian comic-book writer and artist, best known for creating the comic strip Kiekeboe.-Early life:...

in 1977. The series appears in Dutch

Dutch language

Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...

. It is first published in the newspapers Gazet van Antwerpen
Gazet van Antwerpen
The Gazet van Antwerpen is a Belgian newspaper in Antwerp and Flanders, published by Concentra.-History:...

and Het Belang van Limburg
Het Belang van Limburg
Het Belang van Limburg is a Belgian regional newspaper. The newspaper was founded in 1933 as a merger of a few weekly magazines.- External links :* *...

and then published as comic books by Standaard Uitgeverij

Standaard Uitgeverij

Standaard Uitgeverij is a Belgian publisher, and the leading publisher in the Dutch language market of Flanders.-History:In 1919, the Standaard group was created, mainly consisting of a chain of bookshops , a newspaper and a publishing house, the Standaard Uitgeverij...

. The series is the best-selling comic in Flanders, but is unsuccessful abroad, with only a few publications in French and English.

History

De Kiekeboes first started in 1977. Merho had previously worked with Willy Vandersteen

Willy Vandersteen

Willy Vandersteen 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 copies worldwide....

but wanted to create his own series. The first story, De Wollebollen, started in Het Laatste Nieuws
Het Laatste Nieuws
Het Laatste Nieuws is a Dutch language newspaper based in Brussels, Belgium. It was founded by Julius Hoste Sr. on 7 June 1888. It is now part of De Persgroep, and has a circulation of 292,410 copies, making it the most popular newspaper in Flanders and Belgium.- Comics :During World War II, The...

. on 15 February 1977.

New albums in the series appear every three months, and sell over 100,000 copies each,. Like most Flemish comic strips, De Kiekeboes comics are steady sellers, with most of the series available for sale at any one time. New titles are the best selling comics in Flanders, with some 80,000 copies sold in the first year of publication. In 2007, only the Dutch translation of the final Harry Potter
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...

book sold more copies.

After being assisted for a while by Steve Van Bael and then by Dirk Stallaert, Merho announced that from 1 January 2006 on, the comics would be drawn by Steve Van Bael and Thomas Du Caju, who would each produce two comics a year. Merho continues to write the stories and to make early scetches.

To celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the comic strip in 2007, an exposition was held in the Belgian Centre for Comic Strip Art

Belgian Centre for Comic Strip Art

The Belgian Comic Strip Center chronicles the history of Belgian comics...

and a wall painting was unveiled in Antwerp. Statues of Kiekeboe and of his daughter Fanny are placed in Middelkerke

Middelkerke

Middelkerke is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders, on the North Sea, west of Ostend. The municipality comprises the towns of Leffinge, Lombardsijde, Mannekensvere, Middelkerke proper, Schore, Sint-Pieters-Kapelle, Slijpe, Westende and Wilskerke. On January 1, 2006...

. Another statue of Kiekeboe can be found in Halle-Zoersel

Zoersel

Zoersel is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the towns of Halle, St. Antonius and Zoersel proper. On January 1, 2010 Zoersel had a total population of 21,308...

Characters

Ordered by approximate number of appearances.

Marcel Kiekeboe: protagonist of the comic book series, sort of an 'average Joe' with an average job, attracts adventure and goes along with it.
Charlotte Kiekeboe: Marcel's wife, housewife, often (mostly unwillingly) joining the adventures.
Fanny Kiekeboe: their daughter, around 20 years old. Socially engaged (feminism, animal rights,...), self conscious, sexy and adventurous, she often gets in trouble. She has a new boyfriend in every story.
Konstantinopel Kiekeboe: their son, in his early teens. Sometimes a troublemaker and never cautious.

Leon Van Der Neffe: neighbour of the Kiekeboe family, war veteran, ill-tempered and paranoid - but never the 'bad guy'.
Carmella Van Der Neffe: Leon Van Der Neffe's (ex-)wife.
Joeksel and Froefroe: Leon and Carmella Van Der Neffe's children, friends with Konstantinopel, much to the chagrin of their parents.

Fernand Goegebuer: other neighbour of the Kiekeboe family, all-around good guy, but spits while he speaks.
Jozefien "Moemoe" Kiekeboe: Marcel's mother, always complaining about/to him and talking about the 'adventures' of her best friend Mrs. Stokvis.
Inspecteur Sapperdeboere: Inspector in local police, is more interested in food then in his cases, which is why the main family has to solve them themselves.
Firmin Van De Kasseien: Marcel's boss, constantly has extramarital affairs with young beautiful women and often needs Marcel to keep them hidden.
Balthazar: 'self-employed' thief, 'the only burglar in the golden pages', tries to do small crimes but constantly fails.
Mevrouw Stokvis: unseen
Unseen character
In fiction, an unseen character is a character that is never directly observed by the audience but is only described by other characters. They are a common device in drama and have been called "triumphs of theatrical invention". They are continuing characters — characters who are currently in...

best friend of Moemoe, even when the story revolves around her (#56), it's because she 'disappears' and she is not seen.
Dédé La Canaille: French criminal, is caught because of Marcel and subsequently wants to kill him whenever he regains his freedom (similar to Sideshow Bob
Sideshow Bob
Robert Underdunk Terwilliger, better known as Sideshow Bob, is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Kelsey Grammer and first appeared briefly in the episode "The Telltale Head". Bob is a self-proclaimed genius who is a graduate of Yale, a member of...

).
Mona: sexy vampirewoman, tries to seduce Marcel every time she shows up.
Timothea Triangl: short, transsexual 'master'-criminal.
Nonkel Vital: Marcel's uncle, brother of Marcel's father
Leo Van Der Neffe: Leon Van Der Neffe's twin brother, works as a prison guard.

The fat lady: recurring extra, appears in at least one image every album, but never has any role of significance in the story (although she does sometimes have an influence).

Titles

De Wollebollen
De duivelse driehoek
De dorpstiran van Boeloe Boeloe
De onthoofde sfinx
Tegen de sterren op
Kiekeboe in Carré
De schat van Mata Hari
De Haar-Tisten
De zwarte Zonnekoning
De doedelzak van Mac Reel
Spoken in huis
De Trawanten van Spih
Kies Kiekeboe
Een zakje chips
Mysterie op Spell-Deprik
Meesterwerken bij de vleet
Fanny Girl
Bing Bong
Geeeeef acht!
De Ka-Fhaar
De pili-pili pillen
De omgekeerde piramide
De snor van Kiekeboe
De anonieme smulpapen
Het plan SStoeffer
Album 26
De getatoeëerde mossel
Over koetjes en kalfjes
De zoete regen
Het lot van Charlotte
Klavertje vier
Het edelweissmotief
De een zijn dood
De zaak Luc Raak
Kiekeboeket
Het witte bloed
Jeanne Darm
Prettige feestdagen
De fez van Fes
Villa Delfia
De bende van Moemoe
De spray-historie
De spookfirma
Hotel O
Een koud kunstje
Konstantinopel in Istanboel
De taart
Black-out
De Medusa-stichting
Afgelast wegens ziekte
Met de Franse slag
De wraak van Dédé
De roze Rolls
Gedonder om de bliksem
Schiet niet op de pianist
Het Stokvis-incident
Zeg het met bloemen
Haaiman
De kus van Mona
Het gat in de kaas
De zes sterren
Doorgestoken kaart
Moet er nog sneeuw zijn
De onweerstaanbare man
De comeback van Dédé
De hoofdzaak
Het geslacht Kinkel
Thantomthant
Zand erover
Witter dan wit
King Sacha
Het Zipan-project
Hoe meer kijkers
De wereld volgens Kiekeboe
Het idee van Dédé
Kiekebanus (this album also belongs to the series of Urbanus
Urbanus
Urbain Servranckx , also known as Urbain and Urbanus van Anus, is a Belgian stand-up comedian, actor, singer and comic book writer.-Career:...

)
Drempelvrees
Havana Gilla
Kunst en vliegwerk
De babyvampier
Blond en blauw
De aqua-rel
Lang zullen ze leven
Het lijk had gelijk
In het spoor van Dédé
Misstoestanden
De Simstones
De hoed van Robin
De S van Pion
Black e-mail
De affaire Chichi
De Heeren van Scheurbuyck
In tweevoud
Taxi Comitée
Alles kitsch
De Incabouter
Kielekiele Boe
Verkeerd verbonden
Mona, de musical
99 Plus
In vuur en vlam
De potloodmummie
Heil Bod
De Himbagodin
Het Boerka Complot
Vrolijke vrolijke vrienden
Tiznoland
De DT fout
Een echte Vitalko
Baas boven baas
Dédé bij nacht
En in kwade dagen
De wokchinees
Bij verdiensten
Het boemerangeffect
Boek.Bv
Drie bollen met slagroom
Kort en bondig
Geld terug
Joyo De Eerste
De Kangoeroeclub
Doodeenvoudig / Eenvoudig dood
Vluchtmisdrijf
Stinkend rijk
Vrouwen komen van Mars (originally: En seks natuurlijk)

In preparation:

126. Tienduizend dagen

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