Kapitein Rob
First part of the reissue of 'The Adventures of Captain Rob' from 1969
'Here are the three main characters of the story that is coming': this is the first sentence from the very first part of the series De avonturen van het zeilschip De Vrijheid (The adventures of the sailing ship De Vrijheid) by Pieter Kuhn. It is a sentence that does not really stick and that seems terribly dated. Who starts an exciting story with such an intro? There will be few men of about sixty or seventy who know it by heart.
Kapitein Rob
Perhaps they will recognize the sentence, because Kapitein Rob (Captain Rob) was a key concept for thousands of boys in the gray and impoverished fifties of the last century. The captain, assisted by his faithful dog Skip, experienced a long series of improbable adventures in all parts of the then known world. The series that would later be called De avonturen van Kapitein Rob was a resounding success.
The first sentence thus became the prelude to a voyage of discovery in which, with the captain's help, you as a reader could escape from everyday things, such as school, shorts or ill-fitting plus-fours and your parents' wired radio.
Cartoonist Pieter Kuhn as a living cartoon character Captain Rob with his Keeshond Skipper in front of the palace on Dam Square, 3 August 1948
Pieter Kuhn
Already during the Second World War, cartoonist Pieter Kuhn was thinking about making a newspaper comic strip about Rob van Stoerem and his ship De Vrijheid. The name of the ship was well chosen in 1945. Five years of occupation created a great desire for freedom and the captain was the personification of that. The comic strip was published in the former resistance newspaper Het Parool, which was of course also associated with freedom. The first part of the series, De avonturen van het zeilschip De Vrijheid, was published in December 1945 and would be followed by 56 booklets printed on cheap newspaper paper in oblong format.
Advertising artist
Kuhn had been trained in graphic arts and started working as an advertising artist in the 1930s. He made film posters and book illustrations, among other things. But because he wanted to work independently, he resigned during the Second World War and accepted assignments for drawing and illustration work. Shortly after that period, his comic strip appeared on the pages of Het Parool.
QN and Evert Werkman
Pieter Kuhn was a gifted artist, knew how to come up with exciting plots, but was not a great stylist. Het Parool arranged for Nanny Aberson (1912-1994), who had worked for the underground newspaper, to write the text for the first story. From the second part onwards, journalist Evert Werkman (1915-1988) became the series' regular text writer. Kuhn is mentioned as an artist in many parts with his pseudonym QN. Both shared a certain passion for the sea and got along well.
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QN, De avonturen van het zeilschip "De Vrijheid", 1946
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QN en Evert Werkman, 24000 mijlen oceaanrace, 1947
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QN en Evert Werkman, Het geheim van de Bosplaat, 1948
Interruptions
After about nine years of collaboration, the creative tension had somewhat disappeared. Kuhn wanted to do something different, but after a year he changed his mind and the gentlemen picked up the thread again. In 1958 there was another interruption, when Kuhn was admitted due to heart problems. After that, the duo continued drawing and writing, until the series abruptly ended in January 1966. In the middle of the last part, Rendez-vous in Jamaica, Pieter Kuhn and thus Captain Rob were overtaken by death.
Reprint after reprint
Kuhn's death certainly did not mean the 'death' of Captain Rob. The comic strip remained as popular as ever and the oblong parts experienced reprint after reprint. In 1969, publisher Skarabee started a series of Rob editions in pocket form, the last of which appeared in 1972. A series of six booklets in oblong form followed in 1977. After that, occasional facsimile editions of oblong parts were published by enthusiasts and maritime organizations. Rijperman Communications B.V. recently completed the umpteenth reprint of the complete series of stories. In short, fifty years after his death, Kuhn still has a readership.
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QN en Evert Werkman, Avontuur op Pampus, 1955
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De avonturen van Kapitein Rob, deel 26, 1972
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Filmposter for Kapitein Rob en het geheim van professor Lupardi
Also as a film
Over the years, there have been various initiatives to film the adventures of Captain Rob. It took until 2007 before these plans were realised. The film Captain Rob and the Secret of Professor Lupardi was clearly less successful than the comics.
Kapitein Rob in the KB
The KB owns many parts of the series De avonturen van Kapitein Rob, all of which can be found in the catalogue. The books can only be viewed on request in the Special Collections reading room after requesting this form via this form. The relevant data can be found in the KB-catalogue books and periodicals.
