Adhemar (comic book character)
| Adhemar | |
|---|---|
.gif) |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Standaard Uitgeverij (Belgium) |
| First appearance |
The Adventures of Nero: De Zoon van Nero (1959) |
| Created by | Marc Sleen |
Adhemar is a Flemish comic book character. He is the son of Nero in the eponymous Belgian comic strip series The Adventures of Nero by Marc Sleen and one of the main protagonists. He is a child prodigy who is both a professor as well as an inventor. His full title is doctor professor Adhemar. He is easily recognizable due to his baret and tuxedo.
The Belgian comic book award Bronzen Adhemar has been named after him.
Adhemar made his debut in De Zoon van Nero ("The Son of Nero") (1957), in which he is also born. He surprises his parents and all other people present by being able to talk, smoke a pipe, drink beer and choose his own name. When Nero takes him to the child benefit office he convinces the man behind the counter to raise the money. Later in the story Adhemar wants to leave to see something of the world, but is halted by Petoetje, adoptive son of Meneer and Madam Pheip. He introduces Adhemar to science, which will become his major hobby in the course of the series. Adhemar invents a new petroleum device in the story and strikes oil in their garden, which causes Nero to get rich and convince him that Adhemar's genius ought to be stimulated.
Adhemar had a few predecessors in the series. In the very first Nero album, Het Geheim van Matsuoka ("The Secret of Matsuoka") (1947-1948) Nero is portrayed with a son and daughter on his knee. In later prints they are changed into his nephews. In Het Rattenkasteel ("The Rat Castle") (1948) Nero is seen with another son, this time a baby with a pacifier, but the child is not referred to again in the story, nor the rest of the series. Petoetje, Madam Pheip's adopted son, can also be seen as a prototype of Adhemar. He is very clever and in "De X-Bom" ("The X Bomb") (1955) he is revealed to be a genius inventor and scientist. He reveals that he became intelligent by eating a lot of witlof, while Adhemar gained it by birth. Interestingly enough it's Petoetje who first discovers Adhemar's genius in "De Zoon van Nero" ("The Son of Nero") (1959), when he lets him play in his laboratory.
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