'Bruno de Bever'.
Maarten Gerritsen is a Dutch comic artist, and a part-time member of the art studios Noodweer and Funny Farm. His versatile graphic skills have allowed him to draw several iconic properties, such as Jan Kruis' 'Jan, Jans en de Kinderen', Walt Disney's 'Donald Duck' and Willy Vandersteen's 'Suske en Wiske'. He has also created comic series of his own, such as 'Bruno de Bever' for Roetsj and 'De Rampier' for Dolfje Weerwolfje magazine.
'Jan, Jans en de Kinderen'.
Early life
Born in 1977 in Beneden-Leeuwen, in the eastern Dutch province Gelderland, Gerritsen initially aimed at a career in Communication through his education at the Fontys University in Eindhoven (1998-2004). In addition, he attended Rens Benerink's Cartoonschool in Amsterdam, where his work was noticed by Rob Phielix and Gerben Valkema in 2004. By then the artist still worked in manga-inspired style, but Gerritsen also named Daan Jippes and André Franquin as major influences on his work. For his more realistic artwork, he has been inspired by Jordi Bernet, Joe Kubert and Alex Toth.
Studio Jan Kruis
Rob Phielix and Gerben Valkema invited Gerritsen to join them as an apprentice at Studio Jan Kruis in the editorial offices of women's weekly Libelle in Hoofddorp. He thus became one of the staff artists of the classic Dutch family comic 'Jan, Jans en de Kinderen', amidst fellow studio workers Phielix, Valkema, Peter Nuyten and Michiel van de Vijver. Gerritsen is mainly involved in the penciling of the weekly page for Libelle, but also works on episodes aimed directly at the album publications. When the studio was dissolved in 2007, Gerritsen continued to work on the comic on a freelance basis, both as a penciler and inker, while most of the plots were provided by Peter Weijenberg. In mid-2022, his role in the 'Jan, Jans en de Kinderen' production was taken over by Irene Berbee.
'Het Kerkhof' (Bloeddorst anthology)
During his employment with the studio, Gerritsen cooperated as storyboard and concept artist on the Dutch horror film production 'Horizonica' (2006) by director Ramon Etman and producer Frans Brok. His interest in horror was also showcased in 'Het Kerkhof', a contribution to Menno Kooistra's 'Bloeddorst' (2006) comic anthology. Another realistically drawn comic story was 'Maya', made with writer Pieter van Oudheusden for the 47th issue of comic magazine MYX in 2007. For that same issue, he wrote and drew a comics diary in a style more comparable to Daan Jippes.
'De Rampier'.
Bruno de Bever
After turning freelance, Gerritsen expanded his activities. From 2007 on, he made illustrations for Roetsj, a monthly magazine by Uitgeverij Zwijsen for novice readers. Also for Roetsj, Gerritsen and Michiel van de Vijver created the funny animal comic 'Bruno de Bever', about a curious and slightly naïve beaver with an identity crisis, in 2010 and 2011. A book collection was published by Van de Vijver's Plan A imprint in 2012. In 2016, two new episodes of 'Bruno de Bever' were published in the popular science magazine National Geographic Junior.
De Rampier
Gerritsen also created the adventures of the disastrous vampire 'De Rampier' (2008-2018) for Dolfje Weerwolfje, a magazine based on Paul van Loon's popular children's book character. Other former Studio Jan Kruis members like Rob Phielix and Michiel van de Vijver are also prominent contributors to the child-friendly horror magazine.
'Amorfati - Little Drummer Boy'.
Other comics
Between 2011 and 2012, Gerritsen contributed artwork to the second run of the Dutch edition of Mad Magazine and has drawn comic stories with Hanna-Barbera's' 'Tom & Jerry' for the Swedish division of the publishing house Egmont. Since 2012, Gerritsen is one of the artists for René Leisink's anthology crime comic 'Amorfati', which appears in true crime magazine Koud Bloed as well as comic magazine Eppo.
Donald Duck cover illustrations for issues #17 and 23 of 2017. The Piet Mondriaan cover was nominated in the category 'Best Cover' during the 2017 Mercurs magazine awards.
Donald Duck
Since 2014, Gerritsen regularly works at the art studio of the Dutch Disney magazine Donald Duck in Hoofddorp, eventually as a staff artist. He illustrates covers, and makes cartoons for editorial sections like 'Weet Wat Je Zegt...' (by Jim van der Weele) and 'Oma's Almanak' (by Lotte Roep) in alternation with Jan-Roman Pikula and Wilma van den Bosch. One of the highlights of the magazine's 2014 volume was Gerritsen's lead story 'Donald Duck als Baggeraar' (issue #30), based on an old script by Piet Zeeman from the 1990s. Gerritsen additionally worked with Frans Hasselaar, head of the Disney art studio, on the first story of the superhero parody 'Beterman' in the first issue of StripGlossy in 2016. Later installments were drawn by Tim Artz, Michel Nadorp and Henrieke Goorhuis.
'Greenman' (2011).
Commercial art projects
In 2011, Gerritsen joined Michiel van de Vijver, René Leisink, Rob Derks and Jan-Dirk Barreveld at Studio Noodweer in Nijmegen, and he has regularly worked through Studio Funny Farm in Arnhem as well. Apart from his comic projects, Gerritsen has also done commercial assignments, varying from illustrations for staff magazines and educational comics, including the ecological superhero 'Greenman' for the Dutch Cultural Society in 2011 (script by Jaap Dirkmaat). With Noodweer colleagues Robby van der Meulen and Michiel van de Vijver, he made the landscape format-shaped comic book 'Alles Anders?' (2012) for the Friends of the Aphasia Center Foundation.
Junior Suske en Wiske - 'Wakkere Woefies'.
In 2017, he drew 'Wakkere Woefies', a promotional story for the Bristol shoe chain with 'Junior Suske en Wiske', the juvenile spin-off of Willy Vandersteen's classic series. It was a one-shot assignment after the series' regular artist Jeff Broeckx went into retirement. Among his further clients have been Peugeot, Brabant Bekent Kleur, ProRail, Twentse Courant, the military union AFMP and Studio Bont, an advertising agency co-founded in 2008 by his wife Marie Cecile Oosterhout. Since 2021, he has made a comic strip for the Studio Bont production BEP, an annual magazine with stories about women from the city of Nijmegen.
'Bep' comic for Studio Bont (2024).
Graphic contributions
In 2024, Maarten Gerritsen drew a special four-page story for Eppo magazine's tribute series to Thom Roep and Piet Wijn's 'Douwe Dabbert' comic. Written by his Donald Duck colleagues Lotte Roep and Bas Schuddeboom, the story tells a possible origin story of how Douwe received his magical knapsack.
Part of the Dutch Donald Duck art team during the magazine's 65th anniversary in 2017: Frans Hasselaar, Michel Nadorp, Viktor Venema, Jan-Roman Pikula, Mau Heymans, Maarten Gerritsen and Tim Artz. Front and center: chief editor Joan Lommen.