| Alfred Mazure | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1914-09-08)8 September 1914 Nijmegen, Netherlands |
| Died | 16 February 1974(1974-02-16) (aged 59) London, England |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Area(s) | Cartoonist, Writer, Artist |
Notable works | Dick Bos,Romeo Brown |
Alfred Leonardus Mazure (8 September 1914 – 16 February 1974) was aDutch comics artist, novelist andfilm director, best known for his detective comicDick Bos, which was one of the most popular comics series in the Netherlands during the 1940s. He also published English-language comics for several British newspapers, including his second-best-known workRomeo Brown.
Alfred Mazure was born inNijmegen in 1914. His first comic strips,De Chef (1934–1935),Da's juist iets voor Willy (1935),Jerry gaat speculeeren (1937) andDe Havik in Londen (1937) were published in the newspapersDe Utrechtsche Courant, theLimburger Koerier and theDagblad van Noordbrabant (en Zeeland). In 1939 he also published his first comics in Great Britain, namelyErbert (1937–1938) in the weeklyPassing Show andDad inJohn Bull.[1]
In 1940 he created his famous detective comicDick Bos, which he signed withMaz. They starred a brave private investigator, Dick Bos, who was a master injiujitsu and therefore used his fists a lot. The comics were very popular with the youth because during the Nazi occupation all American and British comics were banned and therefore Dutch magazines had to rely on home-made comics to sustain readers' interest. Yet in 1942 evenDick Bos got banned because Mazure refused to turn the comic into a Nazi propaganda strip, despite requests of the Nazi publishing companyUllstein Verlag. Mazure also made five low-budget films based onDick Bos, which were shot and edited between 1942 and 1946.[1] Two of these wereInbraak (1942) andMoord in het Modehuis (1946).
After the Netherlands were liberated in 1944Dick Bos was allowed publication again. Yet they caused a severe media scare over their rather violent content. Dutch Minister of Education, Culture and ScienceTheo Rutten eventually sent a circular among schools to discourage distribution of "violent comics". As a result many comics in the Netherlands were only allowed if they were published intext comics format (which still allowed children to read more) and if the content was child-friendly. Mazure was therefore forced to quitDick Bos, since no magazine or newspaper wanted to publish violent comics any longer.[1]
Mazure moved to the United Kingdom after the war and naturalized himself as a British citizen. He made several English-language comics, such asSam Stone (1948–1950) andBruce Bunter (1948–1950) for theDaily Herald andRomeo Brown (1954–1957) andJane, daughter of Jane (1961–1963)—a spin-off ofNorman Pett'sJane—for theDaily Mirror. In theDaily Sketch he publishedCarmen & Co (1957–1959), whileLindy Leigh (1967–1970) saw print inMayfair. For theSunday Graphic he made a comic strip adaptation of the British TV seriesThe Larkins, while he also adapted the TV soapCrossroads (1972–1973) forTVTimes.[1]
Between 1963 and 1967, when media censorship against comics loosened, Mazure drew new adventures ofDick Bos and made two animated short films based on the character. He was also active as a novelist, writing about the female secret agentSherazad and detectiveApe Dragoner, while also penning down more humoristic titles, erotic stories and travel stories. He died in 1974.[1]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
