Willy Linthout

Willy Linthout was born on 1 May 1953 in Belgium and has built one of the most prolific careers in Flemish comics over more than four decades. He is perhaps best recognized for two very different bodies of work: the long-running humor series centered on the character Urbanus, and his deeply personal graphic novel *Years of the Elephant*.

Linthout's path into comics led him to take on virtually every craft the medium demands — he has worked across his career as writer, artist, inker, colorist, and letterer, a versatility reflected in credits spanning 286 issues between 1983 and 2026. The *Urbanus* material, published under titles including *De avonturen van Urbanus* and *Urbanus speciaal*, forms the backbone of his output and introduced his work to a broad popular audience in the Low Countries.

Alongside that comedic tradition sits *Het jaar van de olifant* (*Years of the Elephant*), a quieter and far more intimate work that demonstrated his range as a storyteller capable of handling grief with restraint and honesty. His catalog also includes *Roboboy*, *Het laatste station*, and contributions to *Het Belang van Limburg*, pointing to a sustained creative curiosity well beyond any single genre. Across all of it, Linthout has remained a central figure in Belgian comics culture, his career remarkable for both its longevity and its emotional breadth.