Toon van Driel Andre van Duin Homo Viel

Toon van Driel - generally known simply as "Toon" - is one of the most productive and recognizable humorous cartoonists in the Netherlands, whose down-to-earth style has appealed to readers from all layers of society. After several odd jobs, Van Driel began his cartooning career in 1973, when his long-running gag series 'F.C Knudde' (1973- ) debuted in newspaper Algemeen Dagblad (AD). Centering around the worst (fictional) football team ever, longer stories and color gag pages of his comic strip have subsequently appeared in magazines and books, while the series also inspired many merchandise products. Known for his sharp wit and quick drawing style, Van Driel has produced many additional comic features, the best-known being the gag strip 'De Stamgasten' (1980-2021), about a group of funny animal pub crawlers, also appearing in AD. Over the years, the comic received many spin-off comics, most notably the ones about the failing lion 'Felix Leo' and the dirty joker rabbit 'Ab Normaal'. Since 1987, Van Driel has also been a mainstay in newspaper De Telegraaf with long-running creations like the celebrity comic strip about Dutch comedian André van Duin (1987-1990s), which gradually evolved into a spin-off about Van Duin's dogs 'Wibo & Gorp' (1990s-2019). Telegraaf readers of the 21st century are also well-known with Van Driel's domestic humor strip 'De Familie Weltevree' (1997- ). In addition to his newspaper comics, Van Driel has been present in magazines like Nieuwe Revu, Panorama, Eppo, Veronica Magazine and the periodical of the Van der Valk hotel chain, with a great many long- or short-running comic series, among which 'Rokus en de Rest' (1980-1985), 'Knetter' (1985-1987), 'Het Vreemdelingenlegioen' (1985-1994) and 'Henk de Noodhulp' (1994-2009). He was also the co-creator and original writer of Eric Schreurs' sleazy humor comic 'Joop Klepzeiker' (1982). On top of all that, Van Driel has been busy with animated shorts, TV adaptations and fine art paintings based on his creations. With his efficient, deliberately unpolished drawing style fully in service of the on-the-spot sharpness of the joke, Van Driel heralded a new style of satirical cartooning in the Netherlands, which later also spawned popular creators like Hein de Kort, Gerrit de Jager and Gummbah.