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COMIC BOOKS - my first love

When I was young I was fond of comic books and it was my big dream to become a comic book artist myself one day.
But reading comics is quick and easy, while making your own comics is a difficult and lonely job that takes a very, very long time. That didn't suit me very well. Every story that I started enthusiastically turned out to be a prison after a while that prevented me from doing the new things that I would have loved to do at the time.
I get new ideas very easily - they pop up all the time, far too many to execute - and they often seem more interesting to me than the work I'm currently working on. And after a while that urge for the new wins and the old project dies a silent death... I've experienced it dozens of times, it turned out stronger than myself! So my first love was very strong, but certainly not a success.
Very often my stories got stuck even in the middle of the long development phase, only occasionally I could finish a few pages. Nevertheless, I'd like to show you a few here...

JOURNEY THROUGH HELL was supposed to be a short story about a money transport that gets robbed. Page 2 needed a close-up of a dead horse, but I couldn't find a good reference for it. My creative drive was interrupted and the project got stuck...forever.

JOURNEY THROUGH HELL was supposed to be a short story about a money transport that gets robbed.
Page 2 needed a close-up of a dead horse, but I couldn't find a good reference for it.
My creative drive was interrupted and the project got stuck...forever.

ARCHIE SWEETY was my first real attempt at a comic. I was 17. I drew 4 pages. I find the texts very embarrassing now, but I was still very young, right? On the right an exercise in my 1st year art school. An old car in many poses. Without a driver! :-)

ARCHIE SWEETY was my first real attempt at a comic. I was 17. I drew 4 pages. I find the texts very embarrassing now, but I was still very young, right?
On the right an exercise in my 1st year art school. An old car in many poses. Without a driver! :-)

This here was a 7 page story I made during my summer vacation. I was 20 at the time. I took it to school afterwards where it was discussed in class. It felt kind of strange because I was so personally involved...

This here was a 7 page story I made during my summer vacation. I was 20 at the time. I took it to school afterwards
where it was discussed in class. It felt kind of strange because I was so personally involved...

Now I think the story was way too violent. But I was very young and my tastes were clearly more extreme then. I was also influenced by some revenge movies I had seen before. Growing up, my tastes have become much more varied and humane :-)

Now I think the story was way too violent. But I was very young and my tastes were clearly more extreme then. I was also influenced
by some revenge movies I had seen before. Growing up, my tastes have become much more varied and humane :-)

That summer I also did a month of holiday work. So I worked really hard back then! Before I could start drawing, I first had to write down the screenplay. That took more effort and more time than I expected. But I was very driven, so...no real problem.

That summer I also did a month of holiday work. So I worked really hard back then! Before I could start drawing, I first had to write down
the screenplay. That took more effort and more time than I expected. But I was very driven, so...no real problem.

This is the last page of that story. - Next to it is my first version of the opening drawing on page 1. I apparently didn't think this was good enough at the time because I changed it. I can't remember exactly what I didn't like about it...

This is the last page of that story. - Next to it is my first version of the opening drawing on page 1.
I apparently didn't think this was good enough at the time because I changed it. I can't remember exactly what I didn't like about it...

JOE AND MARIAN was a gag series that appeared in the European magazine "Tintin" for a while. I had developed it in art school. Each gag was 3 drawings on half a page. My teacher had imposed this strict format on me but I found this way too limiting.

JOE AND MARIAN was a gag series that appeared in the European magazine "Tintin" for a while. I had developed it in art school.
Each gag was 3 drawings on half a page. My teacher had imposed this strict format on me but I found this way too limiting.

With HIPPOLIET I wanted to make a series in a simple cartoon style that would allow me to quickly draw a full story in the short time I had available. It didn't really feel like 'my style' but I drew a full story of it anyway (over 50 pages)...

With HIPPOLIET I wanted to make a series in a simple cartoon style that would allow me to quickly draw a full story in the short time I had available.
It didn't really feel like 'my style' but I drew a full story of it anyway (over 50 pages)...

...It was an absurd story about a crazy, rich countess who orders "her ideal son-in-law" in a lab, which accidentally clones hundreds of them... In the end, the Comics Union (Tintin, Superman and Obelix) arrives to help solve the hopeless situation...

...It was an absurd story about a crazy, rich countess who orders "her ideal son-in-law" in a lab, which accidentally clones hundreds of them...
In the end, the Comics Union (Tintin, Superman and Obelix) arrives to help solve the hopeless situation...

This was a page I drew for a comic contest organized by the French retail chain FNAC. They asked one page about 'MAGIC'. My page was selected, but I didn't win a prize.

This was a page I drew for a comic contest organized by the French retail chain FNAC.
They asked one page about 'MAGIC'. My page was selected, but I didn't win a prize.

Toni Frazetti was a comic series I was developing about the exciting life of a street cop in New York. I have made many pages of preparatory sketches, but I have only completed THIS ONE PAGE.

Toni Frazetti was a comic series I was developing about the exciting life of a street cop in New York.
I have made many pages of preparatory sketches, but I have only completed THIS ONE PAGE.

ADELAER was my participation in a competition of the magazine Knack Focus. 4 pages of free choice. I wrote this little story about a detective. I only show the first 2 pages here, the rest contains way too much text, as it was limited to 4 pages.

ADELAER was my participation in a competition of the magazine Knack Focus. 4 pages of free choice. I wrote this little story about a detective.
I only show the first 2 pages here, the rest contains way too much text, as it was limited to 4 pages.

And this untitled story was again for a competition of the same Flemish magazine Knack Focus, but a few years later. The text was not mine this time, this story was created by our daughter Sarah. But again no prize was won.

And this untitled story was again for a competition of the same Flemish magazine Knack Focus, but a few years later.
The text was not mine this time, this story was created by our daughter Sarah. But again no prize was won.

So...this was the last comic page that flowed from my drawing pen... After many years of trying, I finally realized that I could better focus on projects of shorter duration with less preparation. Like, for example, all my other stuff here on ArtStation.

So...this was the last comic page that flowed from my drawing pen... After many years of trying, I finally realized that I could better focus
on projects of shorter duration with less preparation. Like, for example, all my other stuff here on ArtStation.

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