Dick Vlottes - 1 Original page - Senmoet - (jaren 1960)

Dick Vlottes was a Dutch comic artist, cartoonist, and commercial illustrator. He began by illustrating pulp comics, the so-called graphic novels, and started his professional career at Toonder Studios. He contributed to various productions of the company, with the most notable example being his own newspaper comic 'Hinter and Minter' (1959-1961). From that moment Vlottes contributed to a large number of other magazines and newspapers, where he worked on his own creations or did production work as a letterer, graphic editor, or colorist. In the sixties and seventies he published notable solo strips by Dick Vlottes in Olidin ('Senmoet the Egyptian', 1963-1966), Tina ('Ineke van Rijswijk' [1973-1977], 'Leonie, the Horoscope Girl' [1976-1981)) and Televizier ('The Crackers', 1975), while also tackling licensed properties such as The Flintstones, De Fabeltjeskrant, and the Disney characters. In the eighties he was the regular sports cartoonist and illustrator for the daily De Telegraaf and produced instructional strips such as 'Johan Cruyff Gives Football Lessons' (1984) and the satirical gag strip 'De Krek' (1987-1990).

Dick Vlottes was born in 1932 in Uitgeest, North Holland. His true fascination with comic art began with the adventures of detective Rikki Visser, drawn by Jan Dirk van Exter for the Kennemer Dagblad and Jean Dulieu's strip 'Paulus the Gnome'. At age 14 Vlottes began drawing his own strips, and his first jobs were in advertising illustrations and window displays. After his military service, he fully devoted himself to a career in the world of comics. Always fond of drawing 'Tarzan', Vlottes tried to sell a homemade strip featuring the famous jungle hero to ATH, a Rotterdam publisher of so-called 'graphic novels'. These were pulp-like graphic novels, full of action and adventure. In addition to ATH, Vlottes also drew graphic-novel stories for the Bell Studio in Lunteren, run by Ben Abas and his father.

The increasingly experienced Vlottes then went to work at Toonder Studios. At the studio, Marten Toonder and his team produced strips for Dutch newspapers and magazines, some of which were also sold to foreign publications. With their clever social-critical texts, provocative morals, and excellent use of the Dutch language, the family-friendly Toonder strips managed to escape the fury of moralists. One of Vlottes' first studio assignments was the science-fiction strip 'Martin Evans', written by Lo Hartog van Banda. For Toonder Studios Vlottes also created his first original strip series, 'MINTER and HINTER' (1959-1961), about two adventurous twin brothers. Between September 7, 1959 and July 29, 1961 ten serialized stories appeared in the newspapers Het Vrije Volk, Trouw, and De Stem, in which the globe-trotting children encountered crazy scientists, pirates, and other villains during their adventures in Egypt, at sea, and in the forests around their birthplace Pebble.

During his freelance period at the studio, Vlottes also worked on comic series created by Marten Toonder himself. Between mid-1961 and 1962 he contributed to about eight stories of the newspaper strip 'Kappie', together with fellow artist Piet Wijn and inker Richard Klokkers. He also contributed to the production of the weekly balloon-strip 'Tom Poes' in Donald Duck and contributed to a few 'Tom Poes' stories.

In the early sixties Vlottes left Toonder Studios and offered his services to Olidin, the magazine of the Shell Junior Club, published by the advertising agency Van Maanen. His first contribution consisted of two stories for the children's strip DUMMETJE ('Botje Boons Balloon' 1962-1963), about a boy and a living balloon named Dummetje, written by Harry van den Eerenbeemt. In addition, Olidin editors asked Vlottes to create a new strip. This became 'Senmoet the Egyptian' (1963-1966), a historical balloon-strip set toward the end of the 18th Dynasty of ancient Egypt, with the poor sailor Achat and his son Senmoet in the lead. 'Senmoet' was completely realistic, well documented, and very detailed. Vlottes had been interested in Egypt since his early youth, and the country and its history were recurring themes in Vlottes' strips and paintings throughout his life. He wrote and drew the series entirely by himself. Vlottes paid much attention to historical accuracy. Via the Swan Features Syndicate – owned by Marten Toonder’s former business partner Ton de Zwaan – Vlottes continued his series as a newspaper strip. In the Nieuwe Haagse Courant, for example, 'Senmoet' appeared from November 16, 1964 to November 15, 1966. Because his strip appeared in newspapers with a Christian background, Vlottes noted that the editors had omitted all curses referring to the Egyptian gods, resulting in strange blank spaces in the speech balloons. Readers also complained about the many female characters, modeled after Brigitte Bardot and Sophia Loren. Because he felt the edits did not do justice to his strip, he decided to stop the 'Senmoet' series after nine stories.

Between 1982 and 1983 Nico Noordermeers published four book collections of 'Senmoet' stories with De Lijn. A complete reissue followed in 2013, when Amor Vincit Omnia publisher reprinted all nine stories. In 2006 Ron Streppel of Boumaar publisher gathered a number of Vlottes' early strips, 'Dummetje' and 'The Crackers', in a limited edition. Vlottes also provided cover illustrations for Boumaar's reissues, including Henk Sprengers' 'Pilot Storm' (2008) and Loek van Delden's 'Smidje Verholen' (2008). 'Minter and Hinter' appeared in turn in books by Bonte (2006) and De Keij-Positie (2013). As most original material had been lost, Vlottes redrew a few drawings for reissues.

Later in his life Vlottes was mainly active as a painter, often drawing inspiration from Egypt. A planned new comic project about the secrets of ancient Egypt never came to fruition. Up to an advanced age Vlottes remained a regular guest at Dutch comic fairs. On October 22, 2005, during the Stripdagen in Houten, Dick Vlottes received the Bulletje & Boonestaakschaal for his contributions to the Dutch comics industry. He received the award together with fellow comic artists Dik Bruynesteyn and Jan van der Voo. On the morning of June 5, 2022 Dick Vlottes passed away at the age of 89. In the penultimate photo you see Dick Vlottes at work on Senmoet.

This lot includes a beautiful original page from Senmoet. Original material by Dick Vlottes is rarely offered. Top quality; see how finely drawn and delicately inked. A stunning page.

Also see the photos that are part of the description and give a good impression of what is offered.

This fine item will be well packed and shipped by registered parcel post.