There are many extraordinary people who helped bring this website into reality. Lambiek went online in 1994 when the folks at xxLink Internet Services in Amsterdam set up the site on their servers and registered the first domain name, adding new exposition invitations as they were announced. In those days, some of the images were even sent by fax, while others were scanned directly from original artwork, photos or silkscreen prints.
The seed was planted, and the site grew like this for a few years, to about eighty pages. But the store's owner, Kees Kousemaker, envisioned something much bigger, where he could draw on his considerable experience in comics and create an overview of comic artists around the world, with a history of dutch comics and artists.
With the arrival of an Apple Macintosh wizkid from California, the site was redesigned with a consistent look and better navigation. The server was relocated to The Bunker, a secure underground Internet facility near Canterbury in Kent, England. Under the guidance of kapitein Kees, this collaboration produced the ever-expanding Comiclopedia, an illustrated encyclopedia with about 10,000 international comic artists.
As the site grew past 600 pages, 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 would later create an online store. Technical assistance was provided by Adam Laurie and his crew at A.L. Digital.
With the important addition 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 hope to present you with a small Spanish section too.
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 brought to you by your good friends at Lambiek.
Thanks to everyone for all your great input and enthusiasm!
The Lambiek.Net crew
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