What do a lecture hall in Antwerp and a campsite full of eccentric types have in common? Mike Beyers. A lecturer in professional communication by day and a copywriter and comic strip fanatic by night, he took up his pen to contribute to Flanders’ best-known comic strip series De Kiekeboes. On 15 May, his first album as a brand-new scriptwriter was published: Camping Vital – a boyhood dream that came true after taking the long way round.
In short
- Besides the action and exciting stories, humour and witty dialogue are at the heart of the De Kiekeboes universe.
- Comic strips are a goldmine for academic research: the narrative techniques, the interaction between image and text, the social context... There’s more literary quality and narrative ingenuity to a good comic book script than you think.
- Comics can be a stepping stone to “real” literature, but can also offer people something to hold onto and to warm their hearts in a busy, stressful world.
How does one become a scriptwriter for De Kiekeboes all of a sudden?
‘It wasn’t all that sudden, but it was unexpected. Through a series of coincidences, I came into contact with the comic’s creator, Merho. When he called me, I was a bit starstruck, because I’ve been a big De Kiekeboes fan all my life. Merho asked me to send him some story ideas. I did and an hour later he emailed me back: “I like it!” That was basically my job application. I then went to pitch those rough storylines at his house in Brasschaat and three hours later I was still sitting there; we had an immediate connection. One of those storylines became the basis of this first album, Camping Vital.’
What role does Merho play in the writing process?
‘Quite a big one, actually. He uses his wealth of experience to give me advice. We send a lot of emails back and forth and regularly discuss new ideas. It took a while for me to get to the heart of De Kiekeboes. Besides the action and the exciting stories, it consists of the humour and the dialogues. Merho’s feedback is rarely about the big picture – he trusts me – but mainly about the dialogues. The series are all about humour and witty conversation. Merho is a great admirer of Dutch-speaking comedians like Toon Hermans and Youp van ‘t Hek, and you can see that in his work. That witty, sometimes slightly philosophical tone, that’s something that has to come natural to you. So there’s a clear De Kiekeboes universe, but fortunately there’s also a lot of freedom. Merho finds it important that the series are rooted in time, and evolve with the times.’
You’re not a cartoonist, but as a copywriter you were already into comics, right?
‘Indeed. For one thing, I had already worked on comic strips for commercial clients through striptekenaargezocht.be. Storytelling is the common thread in everything I do, be it copywriting or comics. By the way, did you know that the master dissertation I had to write for my German studies at UAntwerp was about comics? I investigated how humour and word play may or may not translate into cartoon stories. With certain word play, it’s not so difficult for a translator to find an equivalent, but when a pun is related to the visuals, it gets harder. Consider Asterix, for example, a series full of French language jokes and cultural references that often don’t survive in translation. Fascinating, I thought.’
Are comics actually taken seriously enough academically?
‘Not quite enough, I think. But comics are difficult to classify into a single field. You have language, visuals, culture, media... where does it fit in? My PhD supervisor, linguist Georges De Schutter, was a big comic strip fan, and Ghent professor Jean Paul Van Bendegem even uses dialogues from De Kiekeboes in his philosophy classes. But they remain exceptions, professors who are interested in comic strips. And yet, comic strips are a goldmine for research. The narrative techniques, the interaction between image and text, the social context… There’s more literary quality and narrative ingenuity to a good comic strip script than you might think, but apart from the occasional dissertation, this is still largely unexplored territory.’
Incidentally, were you afraid of the fans’ response to your first album?
‘I would be lying if I said I wasn’t. De Kiekeboes has a very loyal audience. Over the past period, national daily Het Laatste Nieuws published a page of the comic every day, and some online comments didn’t go easy on me. ‘But don’t worry too much about that,’ Merho had told me beforehand. Most fans seem especially excited that characters like Sapperdeboere and Vital are returning. But some will find it a bit “too traditional”, others “too woke”... you can’t please everyone. Fortunately, the initial response has been largely positive.’
Your predecessor Nix was widely criticised for his innovations. How do you view his contribution?
‘I have a lot of respect for what Nix and Charel Cambré tried to do. They chose a different approach, with more focus on Fanny and new characters. But I think what makes De Kiekeboes so good is its traditional cast: Marcel, Charlotte, Van de Kasseien, Van Der Neffe, Moemoe... If you push them into the background, you get a different kind of comic. You’d miss the humour and layers that are typical of the De Kiekeboes DNA, I think. Fanny is only so cool and decisive because she acts as a counterweight to her bumbling father, her naive uncle Vital, the arrogant Van De Kasseien, etc.’
Social criticism should be possible if the rest of the story is strong enough. But any message must remain subtle, without a pedantic tone.
Which characters did you miss the most?
‘I put Charlotte and Marcel back into the thick of things. And then you have the typical characters, like Van de Kasseien. He’s the boss you love to hate who treats Marcel as a doormat. And also the nagging neighbour Van Der Neffe, who divorced his wife in the series a while back. That was unheard of in Flemish family comics at the time. Such themes show that Merho often pushed boundaries within the world of comic strips. Readers did buy into those storylines. After all, these were things that also happened in real life.’
Do you plan to integrate social criticism into your stories, like Merho did?
‘That’s certainly a possibility if the rest of the story is strong enough. Camping Vital also addresses a major injustice. But any message must remain subtle, without a pedantic tone. The priority is always: a great story, nice dialogue and characters you can sympathise with. All this, of course, with the heart in the right place.’
How are your UAntwerp colleagues reacting to your new role?
‘Amazingly positive. I discovered that a lot of colleagues knew the comics, often even grew up with them, and still regularly buy them for their children now – in the hope that they spend a little less time on their screens. It’s nice to work on something that people have fond childhood memories of.’
As a lecturer in communication, how do you view comics as a medium today? Have they become less relevant, or not at all?
‘The 1990s were the golden era for comics. Sales were going through the roof, so to speak. Back then, comics had a slightly greater presence in family life and in society, but today you’re obviously competing in a very crowded leisure space. On the other hand: comics used to be considered inferior to books, in a way; now we’re happy if children are reading at all. Comics can be a stepping stone to “real” literature, but can also offer people something recognisable to hold onto and to warm their hearts in a busy, stressful world. For me, the most important role of comics remains giving people a good time with a nice story.’
Will the University of Antwerp also feature in an album soon? Konstantinopel as a student, our rector as his teacher, Lerwig Heirs?
(laughs) ‘Never say never. The university is a vibrant, dynamic place. What I experience here often inspires me. The campus, the conversations, the students ... anything can be the point of departure of a story, including science. I have a folder full of articles on scientific research here at the university that can serve as potential inspiration. I have to deliver four albums a year, which is a lot. I find that this makes me constantly looking for ideas, consciously and subconsciously.’
And finally, where do you hope to be in five years as a scriptwriter?
‘By that time, I hope to have perfected my skills as a scriptwriter and to have met all of my deadlines. (laughs) And that De Kiekeboes still has a long, healthy and bright future, and I’ve been able to write some great stories with surprising plot twists that both make sense and are well-liked. I would also like to introduce some great new characters. This really is my dream job. When I recently found an old diary, I read the following words written by my eight-year-old self: ‘I’ve decided: I want to become a cartoonist.’ I may not have succeeded completely, but I’ve come very close. I might have taken the long way round and needed a stroke of luck or two along the way, but it just goes to show one should never stop dreaming!’
The new album Camping Vital is available in bookstores and on strips.be.
Find out more about the Professional Communication and Management programme.