Marcel Honoree Nestor (ridder) Neels (30 December 1922 – 6 November 2016), known as Marc Sleen, was a Belgian comics artist. He was mostly known for his humorous adventure comic The Adventures of Nero and Co., but also created gag comics like Piet Fluwijn en Bolleke, De Lustige Kapoentjes, Doris Dobbel, Oktaaf Keunink and De Ronde van Frankrijk.

Sleen was one of the most celebrated comics artists in his home country. His work is admired for its absurd and sometimes satirical comedy, as well for the fact that he worked completely singlehandedly without any assistance for 45 years on end, a feat that landed him a spot in The Guinness Book of Records in 1992. (This feat has been surpassed since by Jim Russell's The Potts, which ran for 62 years.) He was one of the few comics artists in Belgium who had a museum dedicated to his work.

Biography

Marc Sleen was born as Marcel Neels in Gentbrugge, near Ghent. He studied drawing in Ghent. During the Second World War he was imprisoned by Nazi soldiers in Fort Breendonk because his brother worked for the resistance. He was tortured and put in the death cell, but saved by the fact that after D-Day the officers moved all the prisoners to a different prison, where he could escape. He was also a courtroom sketch artist for a while. Burm was a former school mate of his.

TV documentary work

Marc Sleen was also known as a traveller and animal friend. He made 35 safaris to Africa between 1961 and 1991, making more than 20 documentaries for the Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep, mostly for the TV show "Allemaal Beestjes".

Sleen died at the age of 93 on the evening of 6 November 2016. He was buried in the Campo Santo in Ghent.

On 1 January 2030, all comic characters by Marc Sleen will officially enter public domain.

Awards

thumb|Statue of [[Nero (comic book character)|Nero in Hoeilaart. It was specifically placed in front of the old train station (nowadays a bar), because this is Nero's home in the series since the album De Verschrikkelijke Tweeling (The Horrible Twin (1990)). Sleen also lived in Hoeilaart.]]

  • 1974: Prix Saint-Michel for best comical story, Brussels, Belgium. The award went to Het Lachvirus (The Laughing Virus).

Statues of his creations have been erected in Turnhout (1991), Hoeilaart (1994) and Middelkerke (1997). An exclusive museum opposite the Belgian Centre for Comic Strip Art is devoted to his work.

Major comics series

His comics were drawn rapidly in a "flexible and loose" style. They can be divided in one-page or one-strip gag series like Piet Fluwijn en Bolleke and De Lustige Kapoentjes, and humorous adventure comics of book length (generally between 32 and 64 pages) like Stropke en Flopke and Nero.

  • Piet Fluwijn (1944–1945)
  • Piet Fluwijn en Bolleke (1945–1965) (also known as The adventures of a father and his son)
  • Pollopof (1946–1952)
  • Stropke en Flopke (1946–1950)
  • Nero (1947–2002)
  • De Ronde van Frankrijk ("the annual Tour de France". (Each year Marc Sleen drew a daily strip about the cycling event) (1947–1964)
  • De Lustige Kapoentjes (1950–1965) (continued by other artists including Hurey and Kabou)
  • Doris Dobbel (1950–1967)
  • Fonske (1951–1960)
  • Oktaaf Keunink (1952–1965)

References

  • Marc Sleen at Lambiek Comiclopedia