The Studio - Merho
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Name: Merho |
| First Name: Rob to his friends | |
| Date of Birth: 24th of October 1948 | |
| Residence: Zoersel, where I've been an honorary citizen since 2002. | |
| Fonction: I'm doing all the fun things: making up stories, writing dialogue, coming up with jokes, coordinating and directing comic strip plates and outlines. And last but not least: I'm the control freak around. |
Who's your favorite character? I'm a good father who loves all his children in equal measure.
Which Kiekeboe character do you resemble the most ? I would love to answer 'Fanny', but nobody would believe me. And they would be right. My friends and acquaintences tell me that I resemble Marcel more than I like.
Favorite Kiekeboe comic book? Vrolijke, vrolijke vrienden
Biography
Rob Merhottein, a.k.a. Merho, was born in Antwerp on 24 October 1948. As a boy, he was an avid reader of the classic Flemish newspaper comics which inspired him with the passion to make up his own stories. In those early days, Merho visited all comics artists he could find in the telephone book, just to find out how they were practising their art.
As a high school student in 1964 he started up a series of gags about Comi and Dacske for a trade journal, and in 1965 he started drawing the gag strip Zoz & Zef in Jong Caritas. Both early attempts were published in a comic book and they are now highly prized collector's items.
Merho studied Applied Graphic Arts at the Sint Lucas Institute in Brussels. He drew cartoons and, going against the passion for experiment of those days, he also ventured to draw classic comic strips. In 1970 he landed his first professional job at Studio Vandersteen. There he worked in the shade of the great master Willy Vandersteen himself and applied his skills to the series Pats and Jerom. Merho worked for the Studio until 1976. Undoubtedly, this period with Vandersteen proved to be an ideal training experience for the young comics artist.
In 1977 he launched his own comic book series, Kiekeboe, for the newspapers Het Laatste Nieuws/De Nieuwe Gazet. The main character is based on the character in the puppet show presented by Merho's brother Walter. In the comic strip Merho provides him with a family and neighbors, and with a first name as well: Marcel.
At the end of 1979 the first Kiekeboe adventure (De Wollebollen) is published as a book. In 1983 Merho received De Bronzen Adhemar, the highest award for comics artists in Flanders.
In 1990 Merho signed up with Standaard Uitgeverij, the publishing house that is publishing all his books with an ever growing success. So far, more than 20 million copies have been sold, with translations into French (Fanny et Cie) and English (Jo & Co). Two films, a radio show and a theater production followed.
As of 2004 Kiekeboe is prepublished in Gazet van Antwerpen/Het Belang van Limburg. Currently, Kiekeboe is the best sold comic strip in Flanders, and it is the subject of two statues - one in Middelkerke, the other in Zoersel - as well as comic strip walls in Hasselt, Antwerp, and Brussels.
In 2010 Kiekeboe underwent a thorough face-lift on the occasion of comic book no. 125. Henceforth, the series will be titled De Kiekeboes and be published on a larger format and with a completely restyled cover lay-out.
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