Marc Verhaegen
Marc Verhaegen saw first light at April 5, 1957 in Mortsel, a place in te vicinity of Kontich where he spent the first years of his life.
He made his first moves towards comics during the eighties when he studied at the "St. Lucas", a school for graphic arts at Brussel-Schaarbeek. At that time he drew some underground comics, which he's not very contented about anymore these days. A story from those days that he still merits is Cycloman, a comic about bicyle-racing.
When he drew those undergroud-comis Marc used the pseudonym (Stan) Marver. Using that name he published, apart from Cycloman, some stories about a character with the name "Fil Marver". (De ongrijpbare Fil Marver, Blikschade, The one and only Fil Marver)
At the "St. Lucas" Marc chose the specialization of animation filming. Having finished school he got a job as an animator. He cooperated in several project, among which was the programme Wonderland from the BRT (the Belgian state television) and short animation-sequences for Sesame Street.
In 1987 he was working for "Pen Films" at Gent doing animation jobs for the film Les mondes englouties for the company "France Animation" from Paris. Although they were satisfied with the work of "Pen Films" the company decided to move the film's production to France.
Since Marc was already wanting to do something different he was glad to hear from a friend that the Standaard Publishing Company was looking for an artist for a supplement-series of Boes. The tests that he made were adjusted alright and therefore he could begin drawing for that series.
Because, as an animator, he was already accustomed to working in various styles he could easily adapt to the style that was needed for Boes.
Standaard Uitgeverij ceased the publication of Boes after a few albums. Marc didn't have to wait long for a new task however. Marck Meul (writer of, among other things, Robert en Bertrand) approached him with the request to draw a short story of Suske en Wiske. This story was bound to be published as a kind of prologue to a republication of De schat van Beersel for the Kredietbank. To suit well with the rest of the album the story had to be drawn in the style that was used in the "Blauwe reeks".
The prefatory story to De schat van Beersel was also seen by Paul Geerts and Willy Vandersteen. They admired the work so much that Paul at a certain day called Marc on the phone to ask him how he felt about working on the Suske en Wiske series. Marc didn't need to think long about that question and that's why he began contributing to the series in 1988.
In contrast to the first years of Paul Geerts with Suske en Wiske, Marc didn't start inking the drawings. He got the task to make detailed pencil-drawings of Paul's the blue drawings.
The exact moment of the start of Marc's work for Suske en Wiske is known. From strip 179/180 of De speelgoedspiegel he began drawing.
The first, short, story that was fully Marc completely worked out, starting from a blank page, and based on a script of hiw own is Bosspel. This adventure appeared in the Suske en Wiske familiestripboek of 1989.
His influence on the long stories grew gradually. Ideas of are woven into stories like De mysterieuze mijn and Het wondere Wolfje. The first story for which Marc supplied the basic idea is De goalgetter.
Although Marc was allowed to work more independently when time passed by the influence of Paul Geerts, certainly in the initial period, stayed strong. When Marc wrote a story, Paul took care of the dialogues and gags because it takes a certain time before a writer/artist knows exactly how the characters go about with each other.
After writing various short stories for the "familiestripboeken" based on a script of hiw own, De krakende Carcas was the first long adventure that Marc was fully responsible for.
Since then he has made several albums. Under the watchful eye of Paul Geerts he continues to develop himself as artist of Suske en Wiske.
For the magazine Suske en Wiske weekblad Marc started the new series Calpako in 1996. The first story of that series, Wiona, was published in the last 7 numbers of that year, followed in 1998 by the second episode: De Timucuabronnen.
Under the pseudonym Xao Pi he also created a number of gags of the series Ted en Fred which were also published in the Suske en Wiske weekblad.
Early in 2001 Paul Geerts announced in a column in Versus, the magazine of De Fameuze Fanclub, that Marc would be first man responsible for the Suske en Wiske-series from now on. Paul Geerts would only continue to work as an advisor and assistant for Marc. The major part of the writing and drawing however became the task of Marc Verhaegen.
At the fanclubday of De Fameuze Fanclub on April 22 2001 Marc was officially presented to the main public as the new writer/artist of Suske en Wiske. At the end of the same year his name showed up in an album for the first time. On the titlepage of De blote Belg he's mentioned, next to Paul Geerts, to be responsible for script and drawing.
The position of Marc as head of Studio Vandersteen ended suddenly 4 years later. In February 2005 the decision was made to reorganise the Studio. From that moment two teams (one with writers and another with artists) became responsible for Suske en Wiske. Marc was fired because, according to the directors of the Studio, he didn't fit in to the new organisation.
The last story that's been completely created by Marc Verhaegen is De formidabele fantast, which was published in the "Rode reeks" at 11 May 2005.
After his departure from Studio Vandersteen Marc started a new comic book series: Senne en Sanne. The first story of this comic, Rebecca R. was prepublished in the youthmagazine Kidsweek. In December 2005 it was published in an album.
Underground comics by Marc Verhaegen
De ongrijpbare Fil Marver / [tek. Marver ; scenario Marc Verhaegen en Eric Leeraar]. - Amsterdam : Shark, 1982Cycloman / [door] Stan Marver. - [België] : Lever (Eric Leeraar & Marc Verhaegen), 1983
Vicky / [Monika Lo Cascio ; Marver]. - Antwerpen : Z, 1986
The one and only Fil Marver / [Marver]. - Antwerpen : Z, 1987
Blikschade / [Marver]. - Antwerpen : Z, 1987
Sources
Het grote Marc Verhagen interview / Klaas Rigterink. - Boxtel : De Fameuze Fanclub, 1993. - (Versus ; nr. 22, pp. 21-25 ; 23, pp. 21-23 ; 24, pp. 28-31)Suske en Wiske 50 jaar / Peter Van Hooydonck. - Antwerpen : Standaard Uitgeverij, 1995
Column Paul Geerts. - Utrecht : De Fameuze Fanclub, 2001. - (Versus ; nr. 53, pp. 36-37)
