We’re sorry to report the passing of the great and talented Dutch comic artist and rebel Dick Matena, who passed away, on 26th April, two days after his 83rd birthday, after a short illness, in his home in Amsterdam.
“With the death of Dick Matena, the Dutch comic book world loses an iconic comic book maker and storyteller,” says Eppo editor-in-chief Rob van Bavel. “His drive and craftsmanship were unprecedented.”
In a tribute to the prolific creator, the Lambiek comics encyclopaedia team describe Matena as one of the most versatile and productive comic creators of The Netherlands, with work ranging from children’s humor series and licensed comics to graphic novel experiments and literary adaptations.
Comic archivist Paul Gravett notes Matena, who began working in comics aged 17, first caught the eyes of English language readers in early issues of Heavy Metal magazine, which featured nine of his short, sharp, surreal and sometimes sensual self-penned SF fantasies, from February 1980 to January 1984.
“I am a fairly classic artist, who has started drawing these books for my own pleasure,“ Matena said of his work in 2011. Of working with the writing of others, he commented, “I like that I was able to bring something new, but for me it is more of an ode to real literature than I am trying to make literature myself.”
Matena also wrote “Storm” for British artist Don Lawrence, after his departure from drawing “The Trigan Empire” and seeking a better creative deal. Later, three of Matena’s Disney comics ran in the American Gemstone issues.
“The sheer variety of genres and forms and volume of project Matena worked on is remarkable,” Paul notes, “from his early work for Martin Toonder’s beloved ‘Tom Poes‘ (‘Tom Puss’ in English) through his radiant sci-fi and iconoclastic satires to his latter graphic novel biographies and adaptations. And it’s a huge shame that he majority of this remains untranslated into English, so far.
“In fact, the only piece I’ve located created by Matena directly for the English-language market was a script for ‘Crazy Interview No. 1’, a one-page inside front cover of Marvel’s Crazy magazine #41, August 1978. And he didn’t draw it, it was the work of Sam Viviano, and he wrote under a pen-name, ‘Dick Richards’!”
Matena had his start in the 1960s while working for the Toonder Studio’s on the ongoing newspaper features ‘Panda’ and ‘Tom Poes‘, as well as his own funny animal creation ‘Polletje Pluim‘ (1967-1968). He then rose to prominence at the De Geïllustreerde Pers children’s magazines, co-creating historical humor comics like ‘De Argonautjes‘ (1969-1971), ‘Ridder Roodhart‘ (1969-1971) and ‘Grote Pyr‘ (1971-1974) for Pep, and many stories with Walt Disney characters for Donald Duck weekly.
By the time Pep transitioned into Eppo magazine, Matena had become a productive scriptwriter for other artists, most notably writing the Dutch space opera “Storm” for Don Lawrence and “De Partners” (1976-1984) for Carry Brugman.
“During this period, Matena had been alternating his mainstream work with more personal comic projects, characterised by their slick realistic artwork, graphical experimentations and cynical, adult-oriented content,” Lambiek report. “His first excursion in this field was the sci-fi comic ‘Virl’ (1977, 1981) in Mickey Maandblad, followed by one-shot comic creations like ‘Lazarus Stone‘ (1979) and ‘The Preacher‘ (1982), that ran in renowned alternative comic magazines in France, Spain and the United States through the Spanish Selecciones Ilustradas agency.
“Later in his career, Dick Matena became notable for his literary comic adaptations, starting with comic serials based on children’s books for Donald Duck weekly in the 1980s and 1990s, before embarking upon full-scale graphic novel adaptations of Dutch literary classics, in which he combines the full novel text with graphic sequential narratives.
“With his much publicised first effort, adapting Gerard Reve’s De Avonden in four volumes (2003-2004), Matena broke out of the Dutch comic scene and became a well-known figure within literary circles as well.”
In addition to these time-consuming projects, Dick Matena spent the 21st century doing new projects with Marten Toonder characters and illustrating the children’s books of his wife, Nelleke de Boorder.
“His graphic adaptations of Kaas (2007) and especially De Avonden (2003) were no longer mere adaptations, but new works of art,” notes lifelong fan Eppo_de_Pep. “ He showed that literature and image do not compete, but can strengthen one another. To me, it felt as though he reopened Dutch literature, and I was allowed to witness it.
“Looking back now, I see how his work runs like an ink line through my life. From the helmet of Grote Pyr (1966) to the somber room of Frits van Egters in De Avonden (2003), Dick Matena taught me – and so many others – how to look. How to read. How image and story together can shape a life.”
Our sympathies to family and friends at this time.
Dick Matena born 24th April 1943, died 26th April 2026
Head downthetubes for…
• Lambiek’s extensive and illustrated biographical entry for Dick Matena
• The Daily Cartoonist: Dick Matena RIP
With thanks to Dean Simons
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Features, Obituaries
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