There are many people who helped bring this website into reality. Lambiek first went online in 1994 when the folks at xxLink set up the site under their domain name, adding new exposition invitations every few weeks. In those days, some of the images were faxed, while others were scanned from original artwork, photos or prints.
The seed was planted, and the site grew to 80 pages in a few years. The store's owner, Kees Kousemaker, envisioned something bigger, where he could use his considerable experience in comics to create an overview of comic artists, and a history of dutch comics.
With the arrival of Apple Mac specialist Rick Webb of California, the new site was designed with a consistent look and feel, better navigation and more bandwidth. The server was moved to 'The Bunker', a secure underground Internet facility near Canterbury, England. With the comics knowledge of Kapitein Kees, this collaboration produced the ever-expanding Comiclopedia, an illustrated encyclopedia with over 11,000 comic artists worldwide.
As the site grew past 600 pages in September 2000, it was featured in a story by Wired magazine, so we added FreeFind search and many navigational improvements to deal with increased traffic. Soon we got requests from local university students to do an internship working on the site, such as Arjan Vlaming, who scanned hundreds of comic panels, and created our first online store, with technical assistance provided by Adam Laurie and his crew at A.L. Digital in London.
With the valuable assistance of editor Margreet de Heer, the Dutch part of the site was reborn, and ultimately premiered the Nederlandse Stripgeschiedenis, more than a hundred pages chronicling a century of Dutch comic-strip history and artists. This comprehensive overview is a dream come true for everyone at Lambiek, and has led to an abridged English translation – the History of Dutch Comics. This was made possible due to the expertise and steadfast vision of our distinguished captain, Kees Kousemaker.
We would also like to thank the many student interns who have contributed new content, such as Bas Schuddeboom, as well as all the artists, writers, publishers and readers of comics. We are especially grateful to writer Dan Schiff for editing over 4000 artist biographies for consistent grammar and style – a phenomenal undertaking, and to a flemish comic enthusiast, Michel Heynen, who graciously translated 170 biographies into French, for the édition francophone.
We try to keep the site accurate and up-to-date, and we appreciate your help. Thanks for all your comments, additions, corrections and praise. Your recommendations and feedback are apreciated. Thanks also to the authors of the many resources we use for the website.
Below are some of the monumental heroes who have worked on the Lambiek website in the last few years - researching, translating, writing biographies, scanning artwork and preparing graphics. It has been an amazing project.
Thanks to everyone who has helped with this monumental task.
Kees, Rick & the Lambiek.Net studio
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