'De Lustige Kapoentjes'.
Tom Bouden started drawing at an early age. He began in the early 1980s, by winning a comic contest for children at the Flemish public TV channel BRT. During his school years, he cooperated on several school papers. He also won a comic contest of the weekly De Volksmacht. Bouden studied animation in Ghent from 1989 on. He developed the comic character 'Boudewijn de Grom', of which some pages are published in albums later on. While drawing for an advertisement campaign, Bouden created the characters 'Max en Sven'. These characters are featured in the gay papers ZiZo in Belgium and Expreszo in the Netherlands since the early 1990s. The first book collections appeared in 1994.
From 1997, he draws the series 'Max en Karel' in the Gay Krant. From 2000, his gay work is featured in the German magazines Queer and Freshmen, as well as the British DNA Magazine and the Dutch Gay & Night. His gay comics are collected in the album series 'Flikkerzicht'.
'Flikkerzicht'.
In addition to his adult work, Bouden has worked in mainstream comics. He started writing Disney stories for Donald Duck weekly in 1997. He has also written for theater plays and television shows. He has worked as the assistant of Hec Leemans on 'FC De Kampioenen' since 1998. Bouden has also written for 'Les Schtroumpfs' ('The Smurfs') and 12 books in the series 'En Daarmee Basta!' for Swerts and Vanas.
'Boelie en Kroepie Boemboem'.
In 2002, Bouden created a comic about Eurovision Songfestival contestant Sergio Quisquater, and he wrote and drew the first 'Kid City' album, based on the website www.kidcity.be. In 2003, his comic 'De Lichtrode Ridder' appeared, created in cooperation with Kim Duchateau.
In 2008, Bouden made the one-shot comic book 'Paniek in Stripland', for which he created two comic characters, Kroepie and Boelie Boemboem. The plot revolves around an annual congress of famous comic book heroes, who become victim of a gas that makes them invisible. This gives famous comic book antagonists the chance to take power and become heroes themselves. Since Kroepie and Boelie aren't famous, they weren't invited to the congress and weren't contaminated by the gas. As a result, they are the only characters who can now save the day. 'Paniek in Stripland' is a fun and original story, filled with cameos of dozens of famous and more obscure Belgian and Dutch comic characters. The plot spoofs typical comic book tropes and clichés, while making satirical references and inside jokes to specific series. For instance, Belgian comic book character Spirou is described as a "difficult, self-important comic book hero, who had so many arguments with his creators that new artists have to be brought in constantly", a reference to the countless artists who've drawn 'Spirou and Fantasio' since 1938.
In 2010, Bouden released a new 'Boelie and Kroepie Boemboem' story, 'Boelie en Kroepie Boemboem: Avontuur In De 21e Eeuw', a comic featuring a revival of Pom's classic characters 'Piet Pienter en Bert Bibber'. The same story featured graphic tributes to Pom by several other cartoonists. A year later Bouden made another collective homage album to Pom: 'Op Het Spoor van Pom' ('t Mannekesblad, 2011). He also contributed to the collective comic book 'De Pierkes' (Stripbeurs Gent, 2013), starring the Ghent folkloric character Pierke Pierlala
In 2011, he revived yet another classic from Flemish comic history, when he bought the rights to the title of 'De Lustige Kapoentjes'. Bouden created a cast of new characters for this children's gang, and gave them a supporting role in his 'Kroepie en Boelie' albums, while hiding small tributes to the previous creators and albums in his panels.
In 2019, Bouden published 'Suster en Wiebke. Het Dertigersdipje' (2019), in which he imagined what the main cast of Willy Vandersteen's 'Suske en Wiske' would be like if all characters had aged twenty years and were like real-life people? The basic idea originated from a shorter story he once drew for Rooie Oortjes Magazine, 25 years earlier. Suske (here named Suster) is an adulterer. Wiske (Wiebke) is a mother of three children whose husband just passed away. Both suffer from a midlife crisis. Lambik (Lambert) falls in love with a refugee, while Jerom (Jeroen) takes steroids. Tante Sidonia (Sibilla) is basically an old spinster at this point. The comic book sold so good that it already had to be reprinted within a week. Yet the heirs of Vandersteen weren't amused by this parody and felt their copyright was violated, since there had been no discussion with their publishing company. Leen Vandersteen, daughter of Willy Vandersteen stated in the September 2019 podcast of Robin Vinck's Stripjournaal that she felt this comic book wasn't appropriate for a children's comic and cashed in on the success of 'Suske en Wiske'. Bouden would be discouraged to make a sequel, yet he defended himself that he was very aware of what is allowed in a parody.
