Eppo
The first issue of Eppo in October 1975.
In October 1975, the first issue of Eppo, the new comic magazine for lovers of good comics, was published. The magazine was the product of a merger. The comic magazines Pep and Sjors were both struggling with declining circulation figures. Two prominent cartoonists (Peter de Smet, known for De Generaal, and Martin Lodewijk, known for Agent 327) conceived the plan to create one magazine that would combine the strengths of both magazines. Publisher Oberon (the department of youth publications of the VNU) gave Martin Lodewijk and Frits van der Heide a million to develop this new magazine. They decided to fill it mainly with new comics by domestic and foreign artists, so that the publisher could sell them abroad as a secondary source of income.
The new magazine was called Eppo, after the comic strip by Uco Egmond, which was on the back cover for a long time. New comics such as Steven Severijn (by the French-Belgian cartoonist René Follet), De Partners (by Carry Brugman), Sjors & Sjimmie (by Robert van der Kroft and Patty Klein), FC Knudde (by Toon van Driel) en Kleine Pier (by Dick Matena) ensured that Eppo quickly became a popular magazine.
The first issue of Eppo was printed in a circulation of 250,000 copies. The launch was accompanied by television commercials. The impact was immediately great: in 1976 the circulation rose to 300,000 copies. Of course, it took some time to actually switch to mainly new national productions. Eppo had taken over many comics from its two predecessors, including the popular series Asterix, Blueberry, Franka, Olivier Blunder and Trigië (The Trigan Empire). It took time to actually produce the new comics, for which plans had already been made. But these gradually appeared: readers were quickly introduced to the football comic strip Roel Dijkstra (by Jan Steeman and Andries Brandt, with guest appearances and advice from Willem van Hanegem!), De Leukebroeders (by Peter Coolen), De Partizanen (by the Serbian illustrator Jules), Willem Peper (by Henk 't Jong en Adrie van Middelkoop) and Professor Palmboom (by Dick Briel).
Big names
In 1977, Eppo managed to attract big names. Hans G. Kresse drew the Alain d'Arcy series, Dick Matena illustrated the text story Captain Blood and the English artist Don Lawrence, who had grown tired of Trigië, was hired for a completely new series: Storm. This would prove to be one of the most popular series during Eppo's run.
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Eppo no. 40, 1978
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The 250th Eppo: no. 28 of 1980
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A horror-themed issue, Eppo no. 42 of 1981
Editorial sections
In addition to comics, Eppo also offered readers various editorial sections. Eppovaria described current or popular scientific topics ("Of course you wear jeans sometimes! Well, then you should read this..."), the Eppopuzzel page offered rebuses and puzzles, and Eppop offered interviews with musicians. Many issues featured the 'Epposter' in the middle, which was often taken out of the magazine to hang on the wall.
Special editions
In addition to the magazine, the publisher soon began publishing albums of the most popular series. Special albums were also released with seven short stories. Eppo Ekstra, published in 1976, was the first, with complete comic strips of Lucky Luke, Trigië, De Generaal, Eppo and Agent 327. A second Eppo Ekstra appeared a year later, with ten short stories. In 1978, two Eppo albums were released as a reprint: readers could turn the book over and read some comics from the girls' magazine Anita.
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Eppo Ekstra, no. 1. Request number: KW SE 1977/5
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Eppo Ekstra no. 2. Request number: KW RE 489/2-1
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Dolle pret: Strips uit Eppo. Request number: KW XKZ 1583
Makeover
After six successful years, Eppo got a radical makeover. Starting with the first issue of 1983, the old logo was replaced by a more modern version and several purchased series appeared in the magazine, such as the Italian comics Tiki and Captain Rogers. Fortunately, new Dutch series continued to emerge. One of the most successful of these was Gilles de Geus (by Hanco Kolk), about a dimwitted highwayman. After 37 short stories, he also started drawing sequels based on a script by Peter de Wit, which made the comic enormously popular. The new comics Kanaal 13 (by Gerard Leever), De Familie Fortuin (by Peter de Wit) and the Alsjemaarbekend Band (by Evert Geradts) were also successful. However, the style of the magazine was strongly influenced by the caricatural style of most comics; realistic comics were increasingly in the minority.
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Eppo no. 34, 1983
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Eppo no. 7, 1984
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The 500th Sjors & Sjimmie page came with a special cover. Eppo no. 17, 1985.
Farewell
In week 33 of 1985, the last Eppo appeared; a week later, the magazine continued as Eppo Wordt Vervolgd, as a result of a proposed collaboration with the popular television program about comics presented by Han Peekel. The fact that this collaboration did not fully get off the ground led to the magazine being renamed Sjors & Sjimmie Stripblad in February 1988. Ten years later, the magazine quietly disappeared from view as Striparazzi, a monthly magazine of which only eight issues were published.
Eppo is back! Eppo no. 1, 2009
Eppo is back
Rob van Bavel was a teenager when he founded the Don Lawrence Fanclub in the mid-eighties. As a fan of Don Lawrence's series The Trigan Empire and Storm, he managed to reach a group of enthusiasts and eventually produce his own magazine: fourteen issues of Thunder were produced, and between 1999 and 2003 another fifteen issues of the fanzine Pandarve were published.
Strengthened by these experiences, he decided in 2008 to revive the magazine Eppo. With a strong campaign, in which he called for a one-year subscription to the magazine, he managed to convince enough people to embark on the adventure from January 2009. Subscribers were rewarded with the book Eppo Forever, which included a short history of Eppo, plus four short stories of the most popular comics: Agent 327, Franka, De Partners and Storm.
Success
The success of the resurrected Eppo turned out to be greater than expected. Many comics were created under the wings of Van Bavel: the war comic Haas (by Fred de Heij), the crime journalist De Vries (by Patrick van Oppen), a comic strip adaptation of Max Havelaar (by Eric Heuvel), 40 Hours (by Dick Heins) about life in a boring office and Rhonda (by Hans van Oudenaarden). But existing series also contributed to the renewed popularity. Esther, Dirkjan, Kort & Triest, Fokke & Sukke and Sigmund all found a place in Eppo and have ensured that the magazine has been published every two weeks since January 2009.
Eppo in the KB
All issues of Eppo, Eppo Wordt Vervolgd, Sjors & Sjimmie Stripblad and Striparazzai are in the possession of the KB (application number PE 4). The resurrected Eppo is also present (application number PE 360). The journals can be consulted in the Special Collections reading room after requesting this form. The relevant information can be found in the KB catalogue. The Eppo website has been included in the Web archive since 2019 and can be consulted within the walls of the KB.
References
- Rob van Bavel, Eppo forever: the rise, fall and return of a legendary comic magazine. Oosterhout: Don Lawrence Collection, cop. 2008. Request number: 5260197
- Ger Apeldoorn, The Eppo years: 35 years of the very best comics: 1975-2018. Oosterhout; Publisher L, 2018. Request number: 16039368
- Eppo Index
