It’s been described as the best-behaved of all Flemish comic strips. Certainly it was the best-selling: the adventures of Jommeke, with his trademark bowl-cut hairdo; his friend Filiberke, not quite the full shilling; his acid-tongued parrot Flip; identical twins Annemieke and Rosemieke; and nutty Professor Gobelijn.

The series has sold 55 million albums, which is all the more remarkable considering that Jommeke is virtually unknown outside of Flanders, even in the Netherlands. That may be why, five years ago, Studio 100 declined the opportunity to film what Nys considered his best work – Kinderen baas (The Kids are in Charge) – after the Flanders Audiovisual Fund refused funding, calling the project “too commercial”.

There’s also been virtually no merchandising of Jommeke, though that may change next year when, independent of Nys’ death, publisher Ballon Media plans to expand the Jommeke brand.

Although Nys is best known for the 249 Jommeke albums (number 250 is scheduled for release in July 2010) and for 11 albums featuring the gnomes Langteen and Schommelbuik, he was more diverse in his earlier years when he drew a whole series of biographies of saints, artists and clerics, including Breughel and Pope Puis X.

Nys’ success, however, never quite compensated for the fact that Marc Sleen (Nero), Willy Vandersteen (Suske and Wiske) and of course Hergé (Kuifje) were considered artists, and he wasn’t – because Jommeke was aimed at children. Nevertheless, the serried ranks of celebrities and fellow artists who lined up last week to pay tribute testify to Jommeke’s effect.

Reading Jommeke albums with my children, I always found them only mildly amusing, with a welcome streak of absurdity in Filiberke and madness in Gobelijn. Jommeke, like Kuifje, I found bland and colourless.

“In my will it’s made very clear that Jommeke must never come in contact with violence, racism, religion or sex,” Nys said in an interview in 2003. “I said to myself, Jef, keep Jommeke the way he is. Despite the changing times, you need to provide children with a beacon of light, I think.”

www.jommeke.com