# Merho

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{{Short description|Belgian comics artist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox comics creator
| image = Merho.jpg
| caption       =
| birth_name    = Robert Merhottein
| birth_place   = [Antwerp](/source/Antwerp), [Belgium](/source/Belgium)
| nationality   = Belgian
| art           = y
| write         = y
| alias         =
| notable works = ''Kiekeboe''
| awards        = full list
| website       =
| birth_date={{Birth date and age|1948|10|24|df=yes}}
}}
'''Merho''' (born ''Robert Merhottein''; 24 October 1948), is a [Belgian](/source/Belgium) [comic-book](/source/comic-book) writer and artist, best known for creating the comic strip ''[De Kiekeboes](/source/De_Kiekeboes)''.

==Early life==
Robert Merhottein was born in [Antwerp](/source/Antwerp), Belgium in 1948.<ref name=Weyer>De Weyer, Geert (2005). "Merho". In België gestript, pp. 140–141. Tielt: Lannoo.</ref> As a child, he already loved the comics by [Marc Sleen](/source/Marc_Sleen) and [Willy Vandersteen](/source/Willy_Vandersteen), and wanted to become a comics artist when he grew up. He studied at the [Sint-Lukas Art School](/source/Hogeschool_Sint-Lukas_Brussel) in [Brussels](/source/Brussels) in the 1960s.<ref name=RVI>{{cite web|url=http://www.rvi.be/rvi_master/insite/rvi_insite_kiekeboe_a/index.shtml |title=30 kaarsjes voor Kiekeboe |accessdate=2007-03-13 |author=Radio Vlaanderen Internationaal |year=2007 |language=Dutch |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927185459/http://www.rvi.be/rvi_master/insite/rvi_insite_kiekeboe_a/index.shtml |archivedate=27 September 2007 }}</ref>

==Career==
Merho's first two comics, ''Comi en Dakske'' and ''Zoz and Zef'', were made when he is only a teenager. Afterwards, he worked for five years as an assistant on ''[Jerom](/source/Jerom)'' and ''Pats'' with [Studio Vandersteen](/source/Willy_Vandersteen), but then started his own series, ''Kiekeboe'', in the newspaper ''[Het Laatste Nieuws](/source/Het_Laatste_Nieuws)''. Contrary to the other major Flemish newspapers like ''[De Standaard](/source/De_Standaard)''/''[Het Nieuwsblad](/source/Het_Nieuwsblad)'' (with ''[Spike and Suzy](/source/Spike_and_Suzy)'') and ''[Het Volk](/source/Het_Volk_(newspaper))'' (with ''[Nero](/source/The_Adventures_of_Nero)''), ''Het Laatste Nieuws'' had no local, [Flemish](/source/Flanders) comic strip but only published [Dutch](/source/Netherlands) comics by [Marten Toonder](/source/Marten_Toonder) or [Hans G. Kresse](/source/Hans_G._Kresse), which left an opportunity for Merho.<ref name=Weyer/>

''Kiekeboe'' is a typical Flemish comic, about a normal family which unwillingly gets into all kinds of adventures. Filled with humour (mostly puns and misunderstandings), adventure, movie references, and some slight eroticism with the promiscuous teenage daughter Fanny, the comic became an instant success. The first story was serialized in the newspaper starting on 15 February 1977 and continues almost uninterrupted, although the comic has switched from ''Het Laatste Nieuws'' to ''Gazet van Antwerpen''.<ref name=Nieuwsblad>{{cite web |url=http://www.nieuwsblad.be/Article/Detail.aspx?ArticleID=G2K1567TN |title=Merho over 30 jaar Kiekeboe |accessdate=2007-03-12 |author=Michel Kempeneers |year=2006 |publisher=Het Nieuwsblad |language=Dutch}}</ref>

With more than 100 albums, the Kiekeboe series is one of the three most successful Flemish comics and sells over 100,000 copies with each new album and 1 million albums per year in total.<ref name=Gentenaar>{{cite web |url=http://www.gentenaar.be/Article/Detail.aspx?articleID=girjv3qg |title=Vader van Kiekeboe denkt lang niet aan afhaken |accessdate=2007-03-13 |author=De Gentenaar |date=November 2005 |language=Dutch |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071006085213/http://www.gentenaar.be/Article/Detail.aspx?articleID=girjv3qg |archivedate=6 October 2007}}</ref> The series does not have any success abroad, with only a short-lived French, German and English translation, and an unsuccessful rebranding for the Dutch market.<ref name=Weyer/>

==Bibliography==
{| class="wikitable" id="noveltable" border="1"
!Series
!Years
!Volumes
!Editor
!Remarks
|- align="left"
|''Zoz en Zef''
|1965
|1
|Robert Merhottein
|Self published, 1,000 copies only
|-
|''Comi en Dacske''
|1966
|1
|Comidac
|Written by René Adriaenssens
|-
|''Pats'' / ''Tits''
|1976–1977 / 1979–1985
|4 / 26
|[De Standaard](/source/De_Standaard)
|Credited to Studio Vandersteen, the studio started by [Willy Vandersteen](/source/Willy_Vandersteen): the series changed its name in 1978
|-
|''[Kiekeboe](/source/Kiekeboe)''
|1978–
|129
|De Standaard
|First 45 albums originally published by J. Hoste
|-
|}
[[Image:Stripmuur kiekeboe.jpg|260px|thumb|Kiekeboe Wall painting in [Hasselt](/source/Hasselt), 1996]]

==Awards and honours==
*1983: [Bronzen Adhemar](/source/Bronzen_Adhemar), [Turnhout](/source/Turnhout), [Belgium](/source/Belgium)<ref name=HLN>{{cite web |url=http://www.hln.be/hlns/cache/det/art_381306.html?wt.bron=hlnRPArtikels |title=Stad Hasselt huldigt Kiekeboe-auteur Merho |accessdate=2007-03-12 |author=Het Laatste Nieuws |authorlink=Het Laatste Nieuws |date=2007-02-16 |language=Dutch |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930195331/http://www.hln.be/hlns/cache/det/art_381306.html?wt.bron=hlnRPArtikels |archivedate=30 September 2007}}</ref>
*1991: Award for Best Flemish Comic of the Flemish chamber of Comics Experts<ref name=HLN/>
*2000: Stamp with ''Kiekeboe'' issued by the Belgian Post<ref name=RVI/>
*2002: Honorary citizen of [Zoersel](/source/Zoersel), Belgium<ref name=Nieuwsblad2>{{cite web |url=http://www.nieuwsblad.be/Article/Detail.aspx?articleID=nbra16112002_030 |title=Striptekenaar Merho is ereburger van Zoersel |accessdate=2007-03-13 |author=Marc Simons |publisher=Het Laatste Nieuws |date=2002-11-16 |language=Dutch}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* Matla, Hans: "Stripkatalogus 9: De negende dimensie". Panda, [Den Haag](/source/The_Hague), 1998. {{ISBN|90-6438-111-9}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Robert Merhottein}}
*[http://lambiek.net/artists/m/merho.htm Merho biography] on Lambiek Comiclopedia
*[https://www.standaarduitgeverij.be/wpg/de-kiekeboes/ Official site (in Dutch)]

{{ACArt}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merho}}
Category:1948 births
Category:Living people
Category:Belgian comics artists
Category:Belgian comics writers
Category:Belgian comic strip cartoonists
Category:Belgian humorists
Category:People from Zoersel
Category:Pseudonymous comics artists

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Merho](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merho) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merho?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.