Promotional comic strip from 1968, requesting old comic books and newspaper cuttings for the upcoming comics shop Lambiek. From left to right one may recognize Wammes Waggel (Marten Toonder), Eric de Noorman (H.G. Kresse), Thompson and Thomson (Hergé), Olivier B. Bommel (Marten Toonder), Donald Duck (Walt Disney), Marsupilami (André Franquin), Obélix holding Dogmatix (Albert Uderzo), Snoopy (Charles M. Schulz), Snowy (Hergé), Patty and Charlie Brown (Charles M. Schulz), a Moomin (Tove Jansson) and Captain Haddock (Hergé).
Onno Docters van Leeuwen was a Dutch artist and designer, best-known for his artworks related to tarot cards and other esoteric subjects. Although not a comic artist, he is an interesting side note in comic history because of his designs and artwork for comics shop Lambiek when the store opened its doors in 1968. Docters van Leeuwen created stationary and our store sign, the latter which is still in use today.
Early life and career
Eric Helge Onno Docters van Leeuwen was born in 1941. His younger brother, Arthur Docters van Leeuwen, later gained fame as the former head of the Dutch Homeland Security (BVD). Onno Docters van Leeuwen attended the Arnhem Art Academy, where one of his fellow students was Kees Kousemaker. After his studies, Docters van Leeuwen worked as an advertising designer, but he eventually chose a life as an artist instead.
Tarot cards
Docters van Leeuwen described himself as "a metaphysical-realistic artist", whose main body of work was related to tarot, magic, alchemy, the I Ching and the Gnosis. Since age 16, he had been fascinated by tarot cards. His three-dimensional representation of the Great Arcana card set in ceramics, polychromed with oil paint and gold leaf, was in September 1975 on display in the Amsterdam building Kosmos. Together with his older brother Rob, he spent years studying the Tarot and its mysteries. The results of their research were compiled in their book 'De Tarot In De Herstelde Orde' (1995), which came with a deck of 80 tarot cards illustrated by Onno Docters van Leeuwen. The traditional set of 78 cards was expanded with two previously removed cards representing Truth and Intuition. His second book on the subject was 'De Tarot en de Bijbel' (1998).
Tarot cards designed by Onno Docters van Leeuwen.
Lambiek: invitation cards for opening night & the store facade
When in 1968 Kees Kousemaker opened Europe's first comic book store 'Lambiek', on Kerkstraat 104 in Amsterdam, Docters van Leeuwen lent a helping hand. He provided a sequential strip of three frames, starring some of the best-known comic characters of the time. The strip originally requested people to bring in their old comic books and cuttings of classic newspaper comics. The same sequence was used to illustrate the invitation for Lambiek's official opening on 8 November 1968. An extended version of the strip was used as the sign of the first Lambiek location on Kerkstraat 104. When vandalous F.C. Liverpool supporters plastered this original sign in 1977, the Amsterdam artist Charlie Reuvers painted a new one as a replacement.
Same strip, used for the invitation for Lambiek's opening in November 1968. Note that Donald Duck has been replaced by Lambik in the second panel.
Lambiek: stationary and ZIP! logo
Onno Docters van Leeuwen also designed Lambiek's original stationary and painted Lambiek's current sign with the iconic ZIP-logo. The image was derived from the 'Suske en Wiske' album 'Prinses Zagemeel' by Willy Vandersteen, in which comic relief character Lambik is transformed into a centaur. Herwolt van Doornen came up with the basic idea of the sign, while Job Goedhart chose the album format of a 'Suske & Wiske' comic book. Docters van Leeuwen took care of the lettering and color separation. The sign has graced Lambiek's front since the early 1980s on the shop's locations on Kerkstraat 78, Kerkstraat 132 and Koningsstraat 27. In 2010, the original worn-out sign was replaced by an identical remake, painted by Larie Cook. In 1971, Docters van Leeuwen also designed the store front of Au Bout Du Monde, Leon Dupont's bookstore at the Amsterdam Singel 361 (later Singel 313), specialized in works about mysticism and occultism.
The Lambiek shops on Kerkstraat 104 and Kerkstraat 78, with Docters van Leeuwen's signs.
Lambiek: "dog turd" ashtrays
Another contribution to the history of Lambiek was Docters van Leeuwen's design for the infamous "dog shit ashtray", which in 1982 went into production. Research had shown that dog droppings were the top irritation among the citizens of Amsterdam. Kousemaker asked his old friend to design an ashtray, which people could give to their dog-owning neighbors. It had the shape of dog poop with the imprint of a shoe heel containing the metropolitan city arms. Advertisements drawn by Job Goedhart appeared in 'Hondepoep op de Stoep' (Mondria, 1983), a cartoon collection compiled by Kousemaker. The dog turd ashtray was mass-produced, but most people felt it was hideous. As a result, the complete stock merely provided Lambiek with an endless supply of ashtrays for decades to come.
Advertisement for Docters van Leeuwen's dogshit ashtray, drawn by Job Goedhart.
Later life and death
Onno Docters van Leeuwen was a conscientious objector, Greenpeace activist and avid participator in protests against the nuclear bomb. In 2010, he passed away in The Hague, coincidentally in the same year as Kees Kousemaker, who died eight months earlier.
Lambiek's original stationary, designed by Onno Docters van Leeuwen. On top of the page one recognizes from left to right: Goofy (Walt Disney), Lambik (Willy Vandersteen), Tom Poes (Marten Toonder), The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers (Gilbert Shelton), Peewit (Peyo), Flip the Clown (Winsor McCay), Mr. De Mesmaeker (André Franquin). On the left side of the page, from up to below one may spot the General and the Professor (Peter de Smet), Mickey Mouse (Walt Disney), Olive Oyl (E.C. Segar), Abraham Tuizentfloot (Marc Sleen), Professor Pi (Bob van den Born), Nancy (Ernie Bushmiller), Lucky Luke (Morris), Felix the Cat (Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer), a Moomin (Tove Jansson), Thompson and Thomson (Hergé), Mortimer (Edgar P. Jacobs), Pantoufle (Raymond Macherot), Donald Duck (Walt Disney), Jules-de-chez-Smith-en-face (André Franquin), police inspector Crouton (Maurice Tillieux), Siebe the butler (Daan Jippes), Bucky Bug and Bo (Walt Disney), an unnamed character from Don Martin's comics, the unnamed ladybug from Marcel Gotlib's comics, Nestor (Hergé), Libellule (Maurice Tillieux), Olle Kapoen (Phiny Dick), Achille Talon (Greg), Big Papa Smurf (Peyo), Charlie Brown, Linus and Snoopy (Charles M. Schulz), Dr. Lucius (Willy Lohmann), Ketelbinkie (Wim Meuldijk), Nero (Marc Sleen), Agent 327 (Martin Lodewijk), Fritz the Cat (Robert Crumb), Tekko Taks (Henk Kabos and James Ringrose), Ignatz the mouse (George Herriman) and Gaston Lagaffe (André Franquin).