Suske en Wiske is the most popular comic strip in Flanders. In 2009, an animated film was even made based on the story of Suske and Wiske and the Texasrakkers (story no. 125). How long has the Suske en Wiske comic strip been around, how did it come about and what is the order? Suske en Wiske comics are not just entertainment. By incorporating many historical facts into the comics, they are also quite educational.
Origin of Suske and Wiske
Willy Vandersteen, the spiritual father of Suske and Wiske, starts in 1945 as a follow-up story in the newspaper De Nieuwe Standaard. In the beginning the adventures are about Rikki and Wiske. Rikki was Wiske’s older brother. But Vandersteen replaces Rikki with Suske after six months, because the character reminds him too much of Tintin and he is looking for a younger opponent for Wiske. Rikki returns one more time in the stories and that is in the album The Prisoner of Prisonov.
Suske and Wiske’s first story together became On the Island of Amoras. In 1947, the columns that together form the story On the Island of Amoras were bundled and thus number 1 of the popular series was created. Until number 36 the stories are in black and white. Then the colors blue and red are added. Number 67 The Money Creator is the first to be released in color. After this, all previous issues are reprinted in color in random order.
Order Suske and Wiske series
So there are some things wrong with the order of the Suske en Wiske series. Number 68 The Island of Amoras should actually be the first Suske en Wiske album. Here the two meet. Jerome is also added later. If you stick to the original storyline, this should actually be the order:
- 68 – On the island of Amoras
- 87 – The flying monkey
- 107 – The whip atom
- 105 – The king drinks
- 129 – Princess Sawdust
- 140 – The Black Madam
- 134 – The white owl
- 138 – Bibbergoud
- 144 – Lambiorix
- 132 – The bull tamer
- 145 – The steel flower pot
- 131 – The singing hippopotamus
- 137 – The ringling treasure
- 133 – The Tuftuf Club
- 141 – The frozen fire
- 146 – The star pickers
- 148 – The laughing wolf
- 89 – The mad musketeers
- 88 – The fanfare beater
- 127 – The Knokkersburcht
- 81 – The circus baron
- 91 – The toy sower
- 76 – The iron haddock
- 95 – The flapping clipper
- 83 – The Street Knight
- 136 – The goat riders
- 80 – The Roaring Mountain
- 70 – The Ghost Hunters
- 93 – The purring mustache
- 84 – The vote robber
- 142 – The Mothcatcher
- 119 – The speaking testament
- 120 – The varnished pirates
- 121 – The dark diamond
- 123 – The black swan
- 124 – The flying bed
- 125 – The Texas Rascals
- 126 – The windmakers
- 118 – The golden circle
- 110 – The singing fungi
- 109 – The Cloud Eaters
- 103 – The sound tapper
- 104 – The Wild Benefactor
- 98 – The dog paradise
- 101 – The card dance
- 99 – The quack rays
- 96 – The rhyming horse
- 94 – The hissing Sampan
- 90 – Sheikh El Ro-jenbiet
- 69 – The Nervous Nerviers
- 73 – The buzzing egg
- 74 – The funny hangover
- 85 – The Sleeper Beauty
- 77 – The monkey fair
- 72 – Jeromba the Greek
- 78 – The dull chick
- 67 – The money maker
- 71 – Wattman
- 75 – The mini ant nest
- 79 – The seven strings
- 82 – The evil mercenary
- 86 – Tender Tronica
- 92 – The snorting bride
- 97 – The jungle flower
- 100 – The golden horse
- 102 – The theft of dreams
- 106 – The charming coffee pot
- 108 – Two cool totems
- 111 – The treasure of Beersel
- 112 – The green splinter
- 113 – The secret of the gladiators
- 114 – The Tartar helmet
- 115 – The envoys from Mars
- 116 – The bronze key
- 117 – The wrathful chiffaf
- 122 – The bald hairdresser
- 128 – The humming bronze
- 130 – The Steensnoepers
- 135 – The Crazy Gambler
- 139 – The evil tree salver
- 143 – The silly marrow tube
- 147 – The doll packer
- 149 – The slippery Glipper
Furthermore, the normal number order can be maintained. An exception is number 154 Rikki en Wiske in Chocowakije. This is a republication of the earlier story of Rikki and Wiske. The drawings in the different albums differ greatly in quality. Vandersteen made Suske en Wiske comics for the comic magazine Tintin for ten years (from 1948). These comics are noticeably better drawn than the comics he makes for the newspaper, and the storylines are also better developed. Yet the first 30 Suske en Wiske comics (order see above) are seen as the most humorous of the series.
Suske and Wiske educational?
The older Suske and Wiskes in particular are not only fun and imaginative, but also educational because they are based on history and folklore. Some figures from Flemish and Dutch folklore that appear in Suske en Wiske are the giant Lange Wapper (folkore Antwerp), Kludde (Flemish tormentor), The Loch Ness Monster (Scotland), the White Wife (Dutch mythological female figure, sometimes benign and sometimes evil), the sparking fireman (from Soest), John Without Fear (Antwerp), the hounds of hell and the pot with three ears from Olen.
Other Suske and Wiske illustrators
From 1972, artist Paul Geerts took over the series from Willy Vandersteen. Willy Vandersteen’s latest comics lack humor and inspiration and are often cynical, even the first comics by Paul Geerts are not much better. This is gradually improving. In 1992, Marc Verhaegen wrote his first complete Suske en Wiske story, namely De creaking carcas. In 2005 he stopped collaborating on the Suske en Wiske comics. After this, drawing the comics was taken over by an entire team, consisting of Erik Meynen, Bruno de Roover, Peter van Gucht and Luc Morjaeu.