Comic stamps Suske & Wiske & Mourning stamp PRIO

The Flemish comic artist and writer Willy Vandersteen (1913 – 1990) founded Studio Vandersteen in 1952, where various comics were developed. The Suske en Wiske comic became an international success. The first Suske en Wiske comic was published on March 30, 1945, in the Brussels daily newspaper 'De nieuwe Standaard'. The series has been translated into 20 languages. In the Netherlands, the first official Suske en Wiske stamp issue by PTT Post appeared in 1997 — a moment when comic culture and postal history intersected in a unique way.

Comic strip stamps Suske & Wiske, Lambik & Aunt Sidonia

The Suske and Wiske comic stamp issue consists of two parts: the souvenir sheet (a stamp block developed especially for the collector) and the stamp sheet (for the ordinary consumer to frank mail).
Journalist Hero Wit: “With this, PTT Post is driving collectors up the wall once again *). The issue package becomes another 8 guilders more expensive with the sheet!”

1) The souvenir sheet (stamp block)

The special issue of the souvenir sheet consists of specific comic strip images combined with margin texts as a border (top and bottom).

1a) Stamp drawings and texts

“Grab the text balloon. Throw away the text . . . piss it up” in combination with “What?”

With the speech bubble, Jerom shoots upwards at great speed.

Surprised, dismayed, and bewildered, the quartet wonders: “WHAT? How is it possible that the Suske and Wiske logo ended up incomplete on this special stamp sheet?”

Another surprising explanation of the word “WHAT” as a typical Vandersteen joke is: Jerom uses the speech bubble like a real balloon. In doing so, he throws the text overboard as ballast. Thus, Jerom turns his free fall into a glide with a soft landing downwards. Due to air pressure displacement, the tree bends considerably to the right.

With a wink, Suske also closes the souvenir sheet (just like the comics).

The image on the left stamp is taken from the 28th comic story 'De tamtam kloppers' by Willy Vandersteen, dated April 7, 1953. The image on the right, on the other hand, comes from the 227th story 'De begeerde berg' by designer-illustrator Paul Geerts, dated August 6, 1994. In other words, the start and topicality of the comic story (as of 1997) are the focus of both graphic designers E. van Blokland & J. van Rossum. It is worth mentioning that the comics were produced in monochrome immediately after the Second World War due to limited resources, whereas the images subsequently became multicolored.

The 12 independence stamps from 1913 (including 1, 2½, 5 & 10 guilder stamps!) were issued in conjunction with the 18 Austrian jubilee stamps commemorating the 60th anniversary of Emperor Franz Joseph's reign in 1908. Due to the profitability of the Austrian Post, our postal company also expected to make a lot of money from them!

1b) Margin drawings and texts

* “And while Suske and Wiske cleave the boundaries of time, space, and credibility” &
* “But don’t forget to put a stamp on it, okay!” As well as the remarks
“Flash!” and “End” on both tabs to the left and right of the stamps.

View the helicopter and other schematic drawings as visual illustrations of the margin texts:
Jerom's take-off / cleave-through is compared to the speed of the schematically depicted helicopter, which is called a 'gyrocopter' in Suske and Wiske jargon. With this ingenious device, distances in space and time are bridged effortlessly.

Suske's warning (depicted in silhouette) is visually clearly conveyed by means of an exclamation mark and question mark in speech bubbles.

Jerom sees himself falling down from the edge of the field; his hair stands vertically upwards due to the initial falling speed.

With the time machine's 'Zip', you can suddenly end up in the present, while with the 'Flash' you can land back in the past.

The number '250' refers to the provisional target number of Suske en Wiske episodes that Geerts hoped to reach in the reasonably short term after the stamp presentation.

2) Stamp sheet '10 for your mail . . . from Suske and Wiske'

The stamp sheet consists of ten identical stamps, corresponding to the right stamp of the souvenir sheet. The exclamation “WHAT” by the quartet possesses tremendous expressive power.
Unlike the souvenir sheet, this stamp sheet is intended for franking a piece of mail by the consumer. Wiske, together with her inseparable doll Schanulleke, occupies a top position on the PTT Post poster.

Both stamp blog contributors (Bate Hylkema & Hero Wit (1934 – 2025)) listen attentively to what Paul Geerts has to say about his findings (during the stamp presentation on March 18, 1997) as successor to Willy Vandersteen. Both costumed S&W comic book heroes present the 1997 S&W stamp sheets to Paul Vandersteen during the stamp presentation.

After the stamp presentation, the guests received the luxurious, ingeniously folded 16-page PTT Post carnet. However, a few had the 'gift' signed by the comic artist with playful skill.

Paul Geerts

The now 88-year-old Flemish comic author and illustrator Paul Geerts is best known for the comic strip Suske en Wiske by Willy Vandersteen. From 1972 through 2002, Geerts succeeded him as chief writer and illustrator. Initially, Geerts was still closely monitored by Vandersteen.
Gradually, Geerts' input and responsibility grew steadily. Eventually, the Suske and Wiske comics increasingly developed their own style.

Rouwpostzegel PRIO met QR-code

From July 12, a mourning card must be franked with the new Netherlands PRIO 2026 Mourning Stamp. The design of all mourning stamps issued to date by designer Rutger Fuchs broadly corresponds to the previous mourning stamps. Issued mid-June 2026.

The self-adhesive die-cut mourning stamp (mandatory for express delivery from July 12) features a new QR code for the then-current postage rate for a letter.
Two rectangles (partially interrupted) with rounded corners fill the stamp image in vertical (with PRIOriteit) and horizontal positions. The franking hook has a long horizontal arm.