Lambik
| Lambik | |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Standaard Uitgeverij (Belgium) |
| First appearance |
Suske en Wiske: De Sprietatoom (1946). |
| Created by | Willy Vandersteen |
Lambik is a Flemish comic book character from the Belgian comic strip series Spike and Suzy by Willy Vandersteen. In the English translations he is known as Orville or Ambrose. Lambik is the breakout character of the franchise and one of the most popular and recognizable comic book characters in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Lambik is a middle-aged, fairly fat man who is bald, except for three small hairs behind each of his ears. He often wears a white shirt, a black bow tie and black pants. He is an anti hero. He is a dumb, clumsy, vain, arrogant, absent-minded, aggressive, stubborn and dominant character, but with a heart of gold and provides comic relief in the series.
Lambik's popularity is so huge that he was also a main character in one of Vandersteen's other series, "De Vrolijke Bengels" (1950-1953), and a spin-off series of "Suske en Wiske" called "De Grappen van Lambik" ("The Jokes of Lambik") (1955-1962).
Willy Vandersteen drew Lambik in the winter of 1944-1945 on some white sheets of paper, before he started Suske en Wiske a year later. The character was initially called "Pukkel" ("Pimple"). Later he was named "Lambik", based on Vandersteen's favorite beer style Lambic. He made his debut in De Sprietatoom ("The Tiny Atom") (1946) where he introduces himself as an amateur detective and part-time plumber. In later stories Lambik sometimes performs these professions again, but usually he is able to do other jobs as well.
Lambik is an anti-hero. In early stories Lambik was extremely stupid, clumsy, absent-minded and untrustworthy. He often gets in the way of the main characters, even betraying them sometimes, and is more an obstacle than an aid. In later stories Lambik lost some of his stupidity, though not much, and became more vain and dominant. He has a tendency to overestimate himself and his big mouth brings the others often in serious troubles. Lambik is also easily fooled and is usually the last or only one not to realize this. He can be very cowardly and put the blame for his mistakes on others. Sometimes he gets aggressive and feels mistreated by society, which causes him to flee to other places.
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Wikipedia