Äddi Roger Leiner :-(
Mäin häerzlecht Bäileed senger Famill a senge Frënn!
Very sad and unexpected news: Luxembourg’s most famous comic artist Roger Leiner died yesterday, aged 61. Together with writer Lucien Czuga he was the creator of Superjhemp, the very stereotypically Luxembourgish version of Superman: Charel Kuddel, a somewhat stocky civil servant who draws his secret special powers from eating Kachkéis (a kind of spreadable cheese). I’ve included an article in English below (first link).
Leiner and Czuga were not the first to create comics in Luxembourg (see for example Péil Schlechter’s De Bim an de Jopi, 1948-1952, or the adventures of Mil by Gab Weis, 1952-1972), but Superjhemp (1988-2014) certainly put comics on the national map once and for all like no other Luxembourgish comic before it.
The (not quite so secret) special power of the Superjhemp universe (called ‘Luxusbourg’) is that it is one big caricature of Luxembourg, appealing to all ages and effectively marrying political satire and references to national history, culture, quirks, local and international celebrities and current affairs with adventure, many nods to (especially Franco-Belgian) comic culture and a very peculiar, chipper sense of humour that could be almost pythonesque in one panel and then just as unflinchingly knee-slapping in the next.
No wonder, the adventures of Superjhemp quickly achieved mainstream success and became a major inspiration to all comic artists from my generation (this may sound a little exaggerated to outsiders but it is a very small country and Superjhemp really is huge). For almost thirty years one thing I could be 100% sure about was that for Christmas my parents would get me the latest publication(s) by Leiner and Czuga.
I never met Roger Leiner personally apart from having a few of my books signed, but he always seemed like a really down-to-earth kinda guy who was just so glad that he could afford to do nothing but draw - and who was happy to draw for literally anyone. Over the years he created cartoons and comics for many a good cause, for public information campaigns, for small businesses and countless local clubs, even if a village was so small it had only enough inhabitants to form a one-man table tennis team. His work is plastered all over Luxembourg.
Even though, or rather: because (since his personal career certainly served as a catalyst), the (active) comics scene in Luxembourg is more alive and diverse than ever, the death of Roger Leiner is going to leave a huge gap.
Links: Superhero Comics / Roger Leiner @ Lambiek / RogerLeiner.lu / Superjhemp @ Wikipedia
