'Gleever's Dagboek', 2000. Translation: "Don't practice too much, Daan, otherwise you'll never become a popular comic artist in the new millennium."
Gerard Leever, also known under his pseudonym Gleever, is one of the Netherlands' most recognizable authors of humorous children's comics. He has worked for magazines like Eppo, Sjors & Sjimmie Stripblad, Donald Duck, Taptoe, Tina, Troskompas, Suske en Wiske Weekblad, Jetix Magazine and Dolfje Weerwolfje, creating many series. Generations of Taptoe readers grew up with his iconic children's comic 'Oktoknopie' (1985-2009), a gag strip about a young boy and his sentient toy. The series was also translated into Spanish as 'Oktavio'. Since 2001, Gleever is also responsible for the most popular feature in the girls' magazine Tina, 'Suus & Sas', about two twin sisters. He additionally made other children's humor comics, like 'Ernst Vrolijk & Dick Hout' (co-created with Hanco Kolk and René Meulenbroek, 1984), 'De Vloek van Bangebroek' (1984-1985), 'Kanaal 13' (1985-1986), 'Het Felix Flux Museum' (with Kees de Boer, 1990-1992) and 'Dik van Dieren en Zo' (1995-2003). Gleever also drew the family gag comic 'Gemengd Dubbel' (1996-2005) for the TV guide Troskompas, reaching a more mature audience. His appealing creations earned Gerard Leever the nickname "Godfather of Dutch children's comics". At the same time, Gleever holds historical significance for being - together with Peter Pontiac - one of the first Dutchmen to draw autobiographical comics, in his case through his diary comic 'Gleever's Dagboek'.
'Superhobo', 1979.
Early life and career
Born in 1960 in Naarden, a town in the Gooi region of North Holland, Gerard Leever knew he wanted to become a comic artist when he was nine years old. Together with his brother Johan, he visited many Dutch artists in the hope of obtaining some of their original artwork. At age 14, he saw his comic strip 'Daan Doffer' (1974) published in a paper for pigeon fanciers. Later that decade, he worked in the Wammes comic shop in the nearby town of Bussum, where he met the legendary cartoonist Flip Fermin, who was the brother of the owner. Fermin gave him his first lessons in drawing comics. Early Gleever artwork appeared in Har van Fulpen's comic magazine Speedo (#2, 1977), on the cover of Kees Kousemaker's Lambiek Bulletin (#7, 1978) and in the Wammes fanzine De Snavel. Fermin wrote him a script with the superhero character 'Superhobo' (1979), but this story remained unfinished. Years later, in 2000, Leever revived the character for his contribution to the "Pincet" series of mini comics by De Plaatjesmaker. He redrew and completed the original story for publication in the Funny Farm magazine Razzafrazz in 2005. Besides Flip Fermin, arists like Albert Uderzo, Daan Jippes and Wilbert Plijnaar became major influences on Leever's work, as was Preston Blair's guidebook 'Cartoon Animation'.
'Gleevers Dagboek' installment featuring Flip Fermin.
Gleever's Dagboek
After school, Gleever fulfilled his military service in Germany, during which he kept a drawn diary - the first version of his famous 'Gleever's Dagboek'. Leever continued this series of autobiographical strips in the comic news magazines Striprofiel (1981-1988), Stripschrift (1988-2006) and Stripnieuws (2006- ). For the earliest installments, Gleever often engaged in activities out of his comfort zone, purely to have something out-of-the-ordinary to report about, for instance spending the night in a Salvation Army shelter. After a while, the episodes became more personal. The diary offers an open-hearted look at the professional life of a comic artist, detailing his struggles with clients and colleagues. Gleever also covers his family life, childhood and personal insecurities, all colored with comical exaggerations or melancholic nods. In 1996, a first book collection of 'Gleever's Dagboek' was published by Maarten J. de Meulder, editor of Striprofiel. A second collection served as the 2012 "Comic Book Gift". In later years, new episodes, as well as newly colored older ones, have appeared in the magazines Razzafrazz and Eppo.
'Gleevers Dagboek' is historically important as the first "comics diary" made in The Netherlands. While in the 1970s and 1980s, Peter Pontiac also drew autobiographical comics, they mostly dealt with his life in the fringes of society and were more episodic in nature, only highlighting memorable moments. Gleever, on the other hand, made his personal anecdotes an actual chronological series, closer to a diary format. In the 1990s, the genre gained more steam when a new wave of female artists also started visualizing personal anecdotes in comic strip form, like Barbara Stok and Maaike Hartjes. In general, this 1990s generation often gets the credit for introducing this type of comics in The Netherlands. This lack of recognition has always bugged Leever, but it did give him new material for future installments of his 'Gleever's Dagboek'. One artist strongly influenced by Gleever's autobiographical comics was Wouter Winter.
'Mysteries', 'Gleevers Dagboek' installment from 1992.
Eppo
In 1981 and 1982, Gleever was assigned by comic magazine Eppo to illustrate the puzzles page. He later helped Uco Egmond with the inking of the 'Eppo' gag comic, while between 1983 and 1984, he also drew some episodes on his own. Eppo #20 of 1982 ran the short story 'Dennis de Wonderhond', for which Leever drew the dog characters and provided the inking. Drawing the human characters was Peter de Wit, who also wrote the script with Hanco Kolk, marking the debut of the writing partnership between this legendary duo. For several years, Gleever also illustrated Eppo's mail page, until in 1985 he was replaced by Hein de Kort.
Gerard Leever, Hanco Kolk and René Meulenbroek in front of the Studio Arnhem building in the Wijkstraak in Arnhem (around 1984).
Studio Arnhem
Between July 1982 and late 1985, Gleever was a member of the comic artists group Studio Arnhem. In this inspirational environment, he fully developed into a professional comic artist, while also meeting his future wife and colorist, Wilma Leenders. The other studio members were Hanco Kolk, Aloys Oosterwijk, René Meulenbroek, Ben Jansen and Evert Geradts. An early Gleever production at the studio was a 1983 comic strip for OnderwijsWijzer, a supplement about education for regional newspapers. As an inker, he participated in the collective comic strip about the photographer 'Otto Raaf' (1983), of which one story ('Concert voor Carras') was serialized in the Amsterdam newspaper Het Parool from 3 January until 26 March 1983. Leever inked the penciled characters by Oosterwijk, while the backgrounds were drawn by Ben Jansen and René Meulenbroek. The story's script was provided by non-studio member Ger Apeldoorn. In 1984, Leever also self-published a comic book with fantasy creatures called 'De Knuffels'.
'Ernst Vrolijk & Dick Hout'- 'Kookpotten en Klappen' (Robbedoes #2418, 16 August 1984).
Ernst Vrolijk & Dick Hout
With fellow studio members Hanco Kolk and René Meulenbroek, Gleever created the humorous comic 'Ernst Vrolijk en Dick Hout', starting in issue #2430 (8 November 1984) of Robbedoes, the Flemish edition of Spirou. At the time, Robbedoes offered more room for Dutch and Flemish comic authors. 'Ernst Vrolijk en Dick Hout' is set in a two-man employment agency, where the proprietors take all kinds of wacky assignments. Ernst Vrolijk is the black haired one and generally straight, timid and unsure. His name is a pun on the contrast between Dutch words "ernst" ("seriousness") and "vrolijk" ("happy"). Dick Hout is the bald one who always takes the initiative, though often puts the duo in more risky situations than they could foresee. His name is a pun on the word "dik hout" ("big wood") and the expression "van dik hout zaagt men planken" (used in situations where things are taken care of in an efficient but crude manner). Although a studio effort, 'Ernst Vrolijk & Dick Hout' had a clear separation of each individual task. Kolk wrote the stories, while Gleever provided the artwork for the characters and René Meulenbroek drew the backgrounds. A total of four stories were produced, but only three appeared in Robbedoes.
'De Vloek van Bangebroek'.
De Vloek van Bangebroek
In Robbedoes, Leever also launched his first solo comic series, 'De Vloek van Bangebroek' (1984-1985). Originally based on a concept for a newspaper comic by René Meulenbroek, Gleever took the feature to his own hand and developed it into a funny gag strip about a village inhabited by vampires, monsters and zombies. By 2008 and 2009, Gleever made new episodes of 'De Vloek van Bangebroek' for Jetix Magazine. In 2008, the series appeared in book format as 'Mon Ami, Le Monstre' (French) and 'The Curse of Yellowville' (English) in the educational Leesleeuw collection of the publishing house Zwijsen. Two Dutch-language album collections were published by Strip2000 in 2014.
Return to Oberon
When the Dutch section of Robbedoes was canceled, Leever's prominence at the Dutch publishing house Oberon rose. First of all, he and scriptwriter Jan van Die launched 'Kanaal 13' (1985-1986) in Eppo/Wordt Vervolgd, a series of two-page stories about a fictional TV channel and its quest for higher ratings. In 1987, one album collection appeared at Van Die's own Divo imprint. Gleever illustrated the magazine's mail section and provided original cover illustrations starring the magazine's foreign characters. Between 1985 and 1987, he most notably made cover drawings for the Dutch album publications of the originally British creations 'Billie Bunter' ('Billie Turf') and 'Bessie Bunter' ('Bessie Turf'). In 1986, Gleever succeeded Mark de Jonge as the illustrator of the jokes page in Donald Duck weekly. It was one of the few editorial non-Disney pages in the magazine. Leever illustrated the section until 1996, when Kees de Boer took over.
'Oktoknopie'.
Oktoknopie
1985 was a productive year for Gleever, as he also created one of the most defining characters of his career for Malmberg's school magazine Taptoe. On 15 September 1985, the first episode of his signature gag comic 'Oktoknopie' appeared in this magazine. The comic centers on a young boy, Jopie, who owns a sentient octopus toy named Oktoknopie. When he and Jopie are alone, Oktoknopie becomes alive and grows to enormous size. He is not only Jopie's friend and confidant, but also has magic powers which enable him to fulfill several of Jopie's wishes and solve problems. Oktoknopie, for instance, has a time machine. In most episodes, other people seem unaware that the doll is alive. In others, Oktoknopie changes reality to such a degree that even Jopie's parents, teachers and friends seem to realize something. Interestingly enough, 'Oktoknopie' debuted only a few months before 18 November 1985, when a similar newspaper comic about a boy and his sentient doll debuted in the USA: Bill Watterson's 'Calvin and Hobbes'.
For years, 'Oktoknopie' was the back page comic in Taptoe. In 2009, the magazine underwent a drastic restyling and 'Oktoknopie' was discontinued. After 2010, reprints of 'Oktoknopie' appeared in the Dutch Nickelodeon Magazine for a while, and some gags were also published in Spanish as 'Oktavio' in National Geographic Kids. Between 2000 and 2016, Malmberg and later Silvester have collected 'Oktoknopie' in seven albums. In 2000, the series won the Award for "Best Dutch Children's Book" during the Dutch Stripdagen event.
Het Felix Flux Museum - 'De Roep van het Masker' (1990).
Het Felix Flux Museum
In the second half of the 1980s, most of Gleever's regular work for Eppo/Wordt Vervolgd had come to an end. He decided it was time to embark upon a "real" comic. He teamed up with his friend Kees de Boer to write an adventure series loosely inspired by the 'Indiana Jones' movie franchise. The concept stars the employees of an ethnological museum who roam the world in search of ancient artefacts. Gleever concentrated on the artwork, and Wilma Leenders provided the coloring. The project had been two-and-a-half years in the making when 'De Roep van het Masker' (1990) finally began serialization. By then, the weekly Eppo/Wordt Vervolgd had been transformed into the bi-weekly Sjors en Sjimmie Stripblad, and was no longer published by Oberon but by Big Balloon. Two more serials followed: 'De Maya-Codex' (1992) and 'De Jum van de Ararat' (1994). The first two stories were published in book format by Big Balloon. Silvester picked it up in the early 2000s and collected the entire series in three albums. 'Het Felix Flux Museum' was also published in Finnish and Norwegian. Despite critical praise, the authors had to cancel the series due to lack of time and prepublication possibilities.
Besides their adventure comic, Gleever and De Boer also collaborated on 'Junior Reporter' for Junior, the children's publication of the Red Cross (1989-1990). In later years, Leever has also frequently worked at De Boer's Funny Farm Studio, located in the old offices of Studio Arnhem.
'Dik van Dieren en zo'.
Dik van Dieren en Zo
When 'Felix Flux' was canceled, Gleever went to the Belgian comic weekly Suske en Wiske Weekblad to write and draw 'Dik van Dieren en Zo' (1995-2003), a comic about a former lab assistant who starts his own "solutions agency" with a group of freed lab animals. This comic debuted in April 1995 and ran until the cancellation of the magazine in 2003. In 2015, reprints of 'Dik van Dieren' appeared in Nickelodeon Magazine.
Silvester released one album collection in 2003. In 2012, this book was reprinted along with the publication of a second album by Strip2000. In the second half of the 2000s, spin-offs appeared in the children's magazines of publisher Zwijsen. 'Pim, Pam en Pluis' (2007-2008) appeared in Roetsj!, and focused on a boy, a girl and a mouse from the original series. 'Zoo op Zolder' (2009) ran briefly in Paul van Loon's Dolfje Weerwolfje Magazine.
'Gemengd Dubbel'.
Gemengd Dubbel
In 1996, Gleever and Jan van Die started their family gag comic 'Gemengd Dubbel' (1996-2005) in the TV guide Troskompas. The series revolves around a multicultural family. Father Anton is a white man married to a black woman, Rosita. Together they have a white teenage daughter, Rox, and a black ten-year old son, Reggi. The family dog is named Animo. Since 2021, older episodes of 'Gemengd Dubbel' have appeared in the second run of Eppo magazine, published by Uitgeverij L.
'Suus en Sas'.
Suus & Sas
In 2001, Gleever began his long and successful collaboration with the girls' magazine Tina. Editor-in-chief Ingrid Kluvers was in search of a new gag series that could eventually replace the iconic 'Noortje' comic by Jan Steeman and Patty Klein, as Steeman was reaching his retirement age. Gleever's proposal for a gag strip starring teenage twin sisters came at the right time. The characters of 'Suus & Sas' were introduced in a short story in Tina #26 of 2001, and the official gag series started a couple of weeks later, in issue #29. Initially bi-weekly, 'Suus & Sas' became a weekly presence in Tina in 2006, and since 2012, Leever also makes longer stories about the teenagers every five weeks. The series eventually replaced 'Noortje' on the back cover. Books of 'Suus en Sas' have been published by Sanoma, Strip 2000 and Uitgeverij L.
The author's own teenage twin daughters Lonneke and Kelly served as the direct inspiration for Suus (longer hair) and Sas (shorter hair). Rooted in real-life, Tina's readership could easily recognize themselves in the twin's dealings with boys (especially Suus endless crush on the "fries hunk" from the snack bar), their annoying brother Max and a host of even more annoying teachers. Other episodes are set on the soccer field, the library (where the girls always get kicked out because of their corny puns on writers' names) or in the tent of the clairvoyant Madame Zizal. Between 2011 and 2014, the illustrated editorial section 'Lief Sasboek' (2011) offered a peek in Sas' diary. By the time the author's own daughters had grown into adults, the comic's universe offered enough starting points for new gag variations and new storylines. Still, his personal life can serve as inspiration. When Leever's first grandchild was born in 2018, Suus and Sas immediately became the babysitters of their new nephew Sam in the comic. Colleagues and writers such as Patty Klein, Jan Steeman, Nanda Roep and Carry Slee have made guest appearances, while Leever's colleague and friend Mars Gremmen served as the inspiration for the bird watcher Marcella.
Within no time, Suus and Sas won over the hearts of Tina's readership, and their comic remains the magazine's most popular feature to this day. Gerard Leever can count on long rows of fans waiting for a personal drawing at the annual Tina Festival in amusement park Duinrell. The series ushered in a new period in Tina magazine's long existence, where funny but relatable humor comics gradually replaced the melodramatic and realistically drawn short stories and serials of the past. In the wake of 'Suus & Sas', other characters with a strong, personal connection to their creators' own lives were introduced, most notably 'Roos' (2007- ) by Jan Vriends and 'Lotta' (2019- ) by Marloes de Vries.
'Suus & Sas' from Tina #30, 2019. Gleever's grandson Sam has become a regular side character. Also appearing is "aunt" Kelly, the comics version of the author's daughter, who originally was one of the original inspirations for 'Suus & Sas'!
Other activities in the 2000s
While Leever's long-running features 'Gemengd Dubbel' and 'Oktoknopie' were canceled in the late 2000s, several new but shorter-lived projects saw the light. For Paul Teng, he scripted a series of short stories related to Native Americans for Tina, namely 'Een Goede Ruil' (2003), 'Bizon' (2004) and 'Foto's aan de Wand' (2006). In 2006, Gerard Leever and writer Patty Klein created the gag comic 'Ria en Rinus' (2006-2008) for the 50+ magazine Camé. Leever and Klein have additionally made a series of strips about public transport, called 'Dré en Gré in 't OV' (2007-2008). These strips were published in the door-to-door papers in the Gelderland region. On the side, Leever designed some mascots for commercial clients, such as the Jeroen Boschschool in Arnhem, Strip2000, Look-O-Look candy and the security company F.E.S. Management.
'De Yeti's'.
Comics for Zwijsen
A new recurring client during the 2000s period was the educational publishing house Zwijsen. First of all, Gleever revived his 'Dik van Dieren' concept for the short-lived series 'Pim, Pam en Pluis' (2007-2008) in Roetsj!, as well as 'Zoo op Zolder' (2009) in Dolfje Weerwolfje Magazine. He also contributed several booklets to Leesleeuw, a book collection aimed at language teaching. 'De Vloek van Bangebroek' was revived in the installments 'Mon Ami le Monstre' (French, 2008) and 'The Curse of Yellowville' (English, 2008), while Leever created several "Abominable Snowmen" for the book 'Phil, Polly and the Yeti's' (2009). The characters returned in Dolfje Weerwolfje Magazine under the title 'De Yeti's' (2009-2012). In that same magazine, Gleever subsequently wrote and drew 'WeerWolfWezen' (2013), featuring characters from Paul van Loon's original 'Dolfje Weerwolfje' book series.
In 2009, Zwijsen and broadcasting organization NOS launched Jeugdjournaal Magazine, a monthly print magazine related to the Dutch children's TV news. Gleever was present with the adventures of the space traveler 'Ben Benieuwd' (2009-2011), a character he had first introduced in a short story for the Okki holiday book in 2000. The character returned in a new adventure called 'Ben Benieuwd en de Ruimtelus', published directly in book format by Zwijsen in December 2018.
Self-portrait of Gerard Leever and his characters.
Graphic contributions
Gleever paid homage to Marten Toonder in the tribute book 'Was Tom Poes Maar Hier - Een Hommage aan Marten Toonder' (De Bezige Bij, 2006). In 2012, Gleever contributed five strips to 'Bommel en de Bovenbazen', a new redrawn rendition by several Dutch artists of Marten Toonder's classic 'Tom Poes' story 'De Bovenbazen'. In 2016, he was one of the six Dutch artists to draw a comic book starring Willy Vandersteen's 'Suske en Wiske' for S.O.S. Children's Villages, based on a story by a Dutch celebrity. Leever created the story 'De Pientere Pop' with columnist Aaf Brandt Corstius. The other artists involved with the project were Eric Heuvel, Michiel de Jong, Hanco Kolk, Romano Molenaar and Gerben Valkema. For the Dutch StripGlossy magazine, Gleever has made crime noir comic stories inspired by EC Comics and Will Eisner's 'The Spirit' since 2014, as well as a new 'Ernst Vrolijk' story with René Meulenbroek (issue #4, March 2017). He paid tribute to André Franquin's 'Gaston Lagaffe' in the homage album 'Gefeliciflaterd!' (Dupuis, 2017), and to Martin Lodewijk's secret agent 'Agent 327' in the short story 'Dossier Dark Webb' for Eppo #12 of 2018 (script in collaboration with Kees de Boer). In 2020, Leever joined 75 Dutch & Flemish comic artists to make a graphic contribution to the free collective comic book 'Striphelden versus Corona' (Oogachtend, Uitgeverij L, 2020). The book was intended to support comic stores who had to close their doors for two months during the lockdown at the height of the COVID-19 virus pandemic.
In 2023, Gerard Leever and his son-in-law Mathys van der Harst created a special four-page homage story for Eppo with Thom Roep and Piet Wijn's 'Douwe Dabbert' character, on the occasion of the character's upcoming 50th anniversary. Leever also provided the cover illustration for the 2025 compilation of these stories, 'Nieuwe Avonturen'. In the special thematic issue of Tina dedicated to the 50th anniversary of Patty Klein and Jan Steeman's 'Noortje' comic (issue #18 of 2025), Gerard Leever created a special 'Noortje' episode in his own style as a tribute to the character's creators.
Wilma Leenders
In an overview of Gleever's impressive comics oeuvre, the role of his wife and colorist Wilma Leenders should not be overlooked. A former student of fashion design, she forms an essential part of Gerard Leever's comics production since their first meeting in 1983. Besides coloring all of his pages, she naturally also has a prominent role in his diary comics. Wilma has established herself as one of the leading comic colorists of the Netherlands. She has colored many comics in the magazines Eppo/Wordt Vervolgd and Sjors en Sjimmie Stripblad, and is since many years the colorist of the front and back cover of Donald Duck weekly. Many comics by Hanco Kolk and Peter de Wit were treated with her coloring skills, including 'Gilles de Geus', 'De Familie Fortuin' and 'S1ngle'. She was also the regular colorist of Aloys Oosterwijk's 'Willems Wereld', Charel Cambré's 'Amoras' and 'Jan, Jans en de Kinderen' by Studio Jan Kruis.
'Gleever's Dagboek'.
Offspring
Leever and his wife Wilma Leenders' offspring have all followed in their parents' creative footsteps. The twins Kelly and Lonneke (1987) as well as son Daan (1993) have all become colorists of Disney comics for the Dutch Donald Duck weekly. Lonneke also colors comics for Tina ('Noortje', 'Karlijn, Catootje en de Ouders'), and is also a master in paper cut-outs. Kelly is additionally active as a costume designer, while Daan has been the bass and saxophone player in the band De Raad van Toezicht, who released their first album in 2017.
In 2020, Gerard Leever started working with his son-in-law Mathys van der Harst, writing comic scripts with the Disney characters 'The Big Bad Wolf' and 'Jose Carioca' for Donald Duck, at the request of editor Bas Schuddeboom. They expanded the Big Bad Wolf universe by developing a subseries centered around the forest school, where his evil nephew Izzy becomes a classmate of his son, Li'l Wolf. Since then, Leever and Van der Harst have also written many stories with the Duck characters, both for the Donald Duck weekly and the monthly Katrien Duck. For the weekly's 2022 back covers, Leever and Van der Harst wrote gags with Donald Duck and his family, illustrated by either Tim Artz or Henrieke Goorhuis, and then colored by Wilma Leenders. In mid-2022, Leever and Van der Harst also began submitting gags for the 'Eppo' comic, which appears on the back page of comic magazine Eppo (art by Aart Cornelissen).
Recognition
In 1996, Gerard Leever received the Stripschapspenning for "Best Album" with his 'Gleever's Dagboek'. He won the prize again for his book collections of 'Oktoknopie' (2000), 'Dik van Dieren en Zo' (2004), 'Suus & Sas' (2009) and 'Pim, Pam & Pluis' (2013). During the Stripdagen comic festival in Houten, on 2 October 2006, he was awarded the Stripschap Prize for his entire body of work. During the Stripdagen in Breda of 16 and 17 October 1993, Wilma Leenders was awarded the Stripschap Prize for Special Merits for her achievements as a colorist. In 2016, Gerard Leever was prominently featured in the memorial book, special Stripnieuws issue and exposition celebrating the 35th anniversary of Studio Arnhem.
Gerard Leever signing at the 2012 Tina Day in Duinrell.