Dutch cartoonist René Uilenbroek, known best for his superhero parody comic strip Soeperman, has passed away. He was 63.
René was born in 1961. According to Lambiek Comiclopedia, his career started in the mid-1980’s at Pinpoint productions in Amsterdam before joining Studio Arnhem. In 1986, he created his most famous comic Soeperman with screenwriter Willem Ritstier. Soeperman ran from 1986-1998 in the magazine Eppo Wordt Vervolgd.
Between 1995 and 2003, the two created a comic called Stanley. Lambiek describes the feature set in dark Africa. “The series features an incompetent white explorer, Stanley (named after Henry Morton Stanley), and his far smarter and sarcastic black guide Weekend (a nod to Man Friday from ‘Robinson Crusoe’).”
René was the principle cartoonist of Eppo magainze’s title comic from 2013-2019. He continued to contribute to the strip on occasions up until his passing. His final Eppo comic was finished on his drawing board when he passed. It will run next week.
From his obituary, courtesy of stripspeciaalzaak.be, the following recollection describes him best:
Editor-in-chief Rob van Bavel of Eppo Stripblad reacted shocked at the death of Uilenbroek. “René was a great talent and brought a lot of fun and humor into the world with his drawings. I allowed him to draw half of the Eppo together, but meeting deadlines was not his strongest side. As a result, I fired him at least three times, but then hired him four times. We will miss him a lot.”
Feature photo © Alex Odijk