Written by: Merho
Illustrations: Jos Vanspauwen, Thomas Du Caju, Merho, Kristof Fagard
Coloring: Ine Merhottein
Publisher: Standaard Uitgeverij
De Kiekeboes #150 K4 – Comic Book Review
The Kiekeboes have made it to their 150th album, which is quite an achievement, and of course it can’t go by unnoticed. Merho, their creator, but also the family themselves have noticed that there is something to celebrate, and they certainly make sure the readers are in for a very special treat.
It’s the 150th album of the Kiekeboes, and to celebrate this, Jens is making a documentary about the four of them. Problem is, they don’t have a story, as Merho, their creator, has been on a cruise these last three months, and hasn’t come up with anything yet. When Fanny calls him to ask for a story, he tells her that he made a story once, before the actual Kiekeboe series started, with characters that quite resembled Marcel, Charlotte, Fanny and Konstantinopel, but weren’t fully developed yet. Maybe they can do a remake of that story? The family agree, as they don’t really have anything better to do, and thus they go to the garage box where Merho keeps his archive. There they find the story he was referring to, but it turns out a lot more dull than they had expected.
The story revolves around a group of neighbors and friends founding a theatre company. The first play they will perform is Macbeth. It all doesn’t sound very exciting, but as it’s what Merho suggested, the Kiekeboes and their friends start to rehearse on Macbeth as well. Strange things happen though, when exactly the same accidents happen as in the story of Merho, and things start to get a bit creepy. When the present Kiekeboe characters even meet their unfinished predecessors, things are getting stranger by the minute.
Even though we’re quite used to the stories of the Kiekeboes being inventive, in this issue, Merho takes it even a step further. The creator becomes a character himself, and de Kiekeboes even have to come up with a story themselves, and meet other comic book characters that are actually their predecessors. Even though it’s a very original idea for a plot, it took us some time to really get into the swing of things, and see the point of the things that were happening. Certainly with the story being divided into two different parts, it all felt a bit strange. Everything of course happens for a reason in the Kiekeboe series, and it’s no different in this album. Once we started piecing everything together, the story became more and more interesting, as did the illustrations momentarily.
Conclusion
De Kiekeboes #150 K4 is quite a special album, as the story is rather different than what we are used to. Merho becomes a character himself, and other characters he once created before the Kiekeboes, suddenly come to life. While the logic in the events happening might be a bit lost in the beginning, this is absolutely a fun album that is absolutely worth the read.
De Kiekeboes #150 K4 - Comic Book Review,
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