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Vandersteen

Vandersteen is a surname of Dutch and Flemish origin. It is a toponymic name derived from van der Steen, meaning from the stone or from the rock. The spelling Vandersteen is common in Belgium and the Netherlands, and related forms include van der Steen.

The most prominent bearer is Willy Vandersteen (1913–1990), a Belgian comics artist who founded Studio Vandersteen.

Vandersteen’s studio produced a large portfolio of titles and trained several generations of Flemish artists. After

He
created
Suske
en
Wiske
(Spike
and
Suzy)
in
the
mid-1940s,
one
of
the
best-known
Flemish
comic
series,
which
has
been
translated
into
many
languages
and
adapted
for
stage
and
other
media.
Vandersteen’s
work
helped
establish
a
distinctive
tradition
of
Belgian
popular
comics
and
influenced
later
generations
of
artists.
his
death,
Studio
Vandersteen
continued
to
publish
new
Suske
en
Wiske
adventures
and
related
works,
maintaining
a
central
position
in
Belgian
comic
publishing
and
contributing
to
the
international
recognition
of
Flemish
comics.
The
legacy
of
Vandersteen
lies
in
the
enduring
popularity
of
Suske
en
Wiske
and
in
the
enduring
example
he
set
for
a
home-grown,
long-running
comic
industry
in
the
Low
Countries.