Ever Meulen is something of an oddity in European comix history. Although he never published a comic book, his artwork owes a lot to the European comix tradition and his influence in comix circles is impressive. Ever Meulen, whose real name is Eddy Vermeulen, was born in Kuurne in February 1946, in the Belgian province of West Flanders, and studied graphic arts at the Saint-Luc Institutes in Ghent and Brussels. By then he drew his inspiration from architecture, Saul Steinberg, old-fashioned futurism, pop-art and psychedelic art.
He held his first exposition of his cartoons at the age of 18, and three years later he first used his pen name, Ever Meulen. Shortly after his studies, he fulfilled his military service and after that, he became part of the underground movement of the time. He produced illustrations and some comic strips for the anarchist magazine DIng. His work was noted by Joost Swarte who invited him to participate in Cocktail Comix, an anthology for new Dutch talent in 1973.
Koele Karlos
Vermeulen began an international career making comic stories but mostly illustrations and caricatures for magazines like Tante Leny Presenteert!, Modern Papier, Télé-Moustique, Furore and Michel Deligne's Curiosity Magazine (the gag comic 'Mammouth le Fortich', a.o.). Since the early 1970s, he is the main artist for Humo magazine, initially with comics like 'Balthazar de Groene Steenvreter' and 'Piet Peuk', but later with headers for sections like 'TTT', covers and many illustrations about the rock 'n roll revival and 1950s nostalgia, sometimes using the pseudonym Eddy Flippo.
His style became sharper and hookier when he published in Oor in 1979. He also made designs for album covers and posters, and was engaged by Parisian advertising agencies. A collection of Vermeulen's work, 'Feu Vert', was published by Futuropolis in 1987. Vermeulen's art became more surreal and abstract in the 1990s and during this period, Vermeulen was an internationally celebrated artist, whose artwork has graced the cover of The New Yorker. A new collection of his artwork was published in 2005, 'Verve'. Since 1993 Ever Meulen also teaches illustration at the Institut Saint-Luc art school in Ghent. One of his students was the cartoonist Jeroom.
Ever Meulen stamps (2007)