Bob de Groot was born on 26 October 1941 in Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

, to Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 and French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 parents and is a Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 comics

Comics

Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...

 artist and writer.

Biography

While still a young art student de Groot got his first comics experience as an assistant to Maurice Tillieux

Maurice Tillieux

Maurice Tillieux was a Belgian writer and comic artist. He is regarded by many as a major figure of post-war Belgian comics.-Early life:...

 on Félix. He began creating shorter work for the comics magazine

Franco-Belgian comics magazines

Belgium and France have a long tradition in comics. They have a common history for comics and magazines.In the early years of its history, magazines had a large place on the comics market and were often the only place where comics were published. Most of them were kids-targeted.In the 1970s,...

 Pilote

Pilote

thumb|Cover of the first Pilote teaser issue, #0.Pilote was a French comics periodical published from 1959 to 1989. Showcasing most of the major French or Belgian comics talents of its day the magazine introduced major series such as Astérix le Gaulois, Blueberry, Achille Talon, and Valérian et...

, with creators such as Hubuc, Reiser

Jean-Marc Reiser

Jean-Marc Reiser, April 13, 1941 in Réhon was a French comics creator. He died November 5, 1983 in Paris, of bone cancer.-Biography:...

. With Fred

Fred (comics)

Fredéric Othon Theodore Aristidès, known by his pseudonym Fred, is a French comics artist and comic book creator in the Franco-Belgian comics tradition...

 as scenarist he drew the strip 4 x 8 = 32 L'Agent Caméléon in the late 60s. When the artist Turk

Philippe Liégeois

Philippe Liégeois is a Belgian comic book artist, born on 8 July 1947. He is best known by his penname Turk. He is the co-author of numerous comic books, including Colonel Clifton, Léonard and Robin Dubois...

 joined to assist on the series, de Groot gradually took on increasing amounts of work as scenarist and went on to collaborate with Turk on several series, including Archimède, Robin Dubois and eventually Raymond Macherot

Raymond Macherot

Raymond Macherot was a Belgian cartoonist. Although not nearly as famous as fellow Belgian cartoonists such as Hergé or André Franquin, Macherot's work, both as artist and writer, remains highly regarded among critics and collectors.-The Tintin years:Raymond Macherot was born in Verviers, Belgium...

's Clifton. They also created Léonard for Achille Talon

Achille Talon

Achille Talon is a Franco-Belgian comics series featuring an eponymous main character, created by Greg . Starting publication in the comics magazine Pilote in 1963, the series presents the comic misadventures of an anti-hero.The name derives from "talon d'Achille", the French term for an...

magazine in 1975, before de Groot began a prolific production of comics scenarios for many comics artists, including Tibet

Tibet (comics)

Tibet, the pseudonym of Gilbert Gascard , was a French comics artist and writer in the Franco-Belgian comics genre...

, Dupa

Dupa

Luc Dupanloup, more famous under his pen name Dupa, was a Belgian comics artist best known as the creator of Cubitus which later was turned into an animated series called Wowser...

, Philippe Francq

Philippe Francq

Philippe Francq is a Belgian comic book artist, best known for the series Largo Winch.-Biography:Philippe Francq was born in Etterbeek in 1961. He was since his youth an ardent comic reader, who grew up with the comics from Tintin magazine from the 1950s...

, Greg and Dany

Dany (comics)

Dany, pseudonym for Daniel Henrotin is a Belgian comic book artist, best known for Olivier Rameau and Ça vous intéresse?.-Biography:...

. With Rodrigue

Michel Rodrigue

Michel Rodrigue, aka Rodrigue, is Franco-Belgian comics artist. He started his most successful series in 1999, Doggyguard, with Bob de Groot as scenarist. In 2002 Rodrigue also took over the Colonel Clifton series over from scenarist Bédu...

 he created Doggyguard and continued the Clifton series, and with Morris he collaborated on stories for Lucky Luke

Lucky Luke

Lucky Luke is a Belgian comics series created by Belgian cartoonist, Maurice De Bevere better known as Morris, the original artist, and was for one period written by René Goscinny...

and Rantanplan

Rantanplan

Rantanplan is a fictional hound dog created by Belgian comics artist Morris and French writer René Goscinny. Originally a supporting character in the Lucky Luke series, Rantanplan later starred in an eponymous series. Rantanplan is a spoof of Rin Tin Tin, as idiotic as Rin Tin Tin is clever...

.

Sources

• Bob de Groot publications in Spirou, Pilote, Vaillant and Pif, Belgian Tintin and French Tintin, BDoubliées
• Béra, Michel; Denni, Michel; and Mellot, Philippe (2002): "Trésors de la Bande Dessinée 2003-2004". Paris
  Paris
  Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
  
  , Les éditions de l'amateur. ISBN 2-85917-357-9
• Matla, Hans: "Stripkatalogus 9: De negende dimensie". Panda, Den Haag, 1998. ISBN 90-6438-111-9

Footnotes

External links

• Bob de Groot biography on Lambiek Comiclopedia