History

The character of Marcel van Cleven has a history dating back to 2014 when he was first conceived as the protagonist of an absurdist comedy novel, Marcel the Drunkard. Drawing inspiration from the likes of A Confederacy of Dunces, Breakfast of Champions, and the wild, gonzo style of Hunter S. Thompson, the novel follows Marcel, a perpetually unemployed, chain-smoking alcoholic, and his motley crew of misfits—including alleged vampire Dr. Joseph Dumas, necromancer Vlen Baelsepap, and disgraced Yakuza Fast Frederick—as they accidentally unleash a biblical apocalypse on the world. The story follows their desperate attempts to escape the consequences of their actions, only for them to be forced to confront the fallout for the first time in their lives.

The novel was fully illustrated in the 19th-century tradition, featuring intricate, page-filling watercolor illustrations for each character and pivotal scene. Around 2016, I began a YouTube channel focused on my other great passion: Japanese jazz. With a wealth of beautiful illustrations already created for the novel, I repurposed them for the channel, and Marcel the Drunkard not only became the name of the channel but also its mascot. Marcel and his eccentric friends were featured in dozens of illustrations related to the channel's music content.

In 2018, Marcel made his debut in comic form with The Drunkard and the Dragon, a 12-page short story. In this comic, Marcel finds himself arrested after a particularly chaotic night of drunken debauchery. Having run afoul of the law many times, Marcel is sentenced to death by the city, which is fed up with his antics. As his execution draws near, however, a new threat arises: a roaming dragon has taken over the lower levels of the prison as its lair. Marcel, always the opportunist, negotiates his release in exchange for defeating the dragon. The warden, expecting Marcel’s inevitable failure, agrees, leading to an absurd battle between a drunken fool and a monstrous beast. Set in Bruges and inspired by a medieval folk tale, this comic was a quirky step into the world of Marcel the Drunkard.

The graphic novel

Fast forward to 2021, when work began on Marcel the Drunkard’s long-form graphic novel debut. This project has been an ongoing labor of love over the past few years, with around 60 highly detailed ink and watercolor pages completed so far. In this adaptation, the absurdity and surrealism are ramped up to almost psychedelic levels. The narrative takes Marcel and the doctor into the land of the Roman god Bacchus, where they find themselves in a wildly colorful, baroque world filled with magical realism. Think airships, towering mushrooms, endless swamps, giant insects, and the ruins of a drunkard’s mind—this is a realm unlike any other. As the story dives deeper into this bizarre landscape, it pushes the boundaries of absurdity while exploring themes of friendship, recklessness, and self-destruction.

Marcel the Drunkard continues to evolve, blending humor, surrealism, and a touch of dark existentialism into a unique narrative. It’s a journey through chaos, color, and the deepest corners of a drunken imagination, all wrapped up in a visual and comedic experience.