Erik Deneyer Obituary, Death -Erik Deneyer oversaw the sole Dutch-language comic book store in Brussels for 27 years. The Dutch comic book world lost a great hero with Deneyer’s passing on Friday, and Brussels lost its lone Dutch comic shop. Deneyer had long battled cancer. For nearly 30 years, Deneyer oversaw a comic book shop in the center of Brussels. He ran ‘t B-gevaar at first in Rue de la Fourche, but then moved to Rue des Bouchers and founded Expo 59. Under the Enigma banner, Deneyer also published several comic books, including Excalibur, Usagi Yojimbo, Kane, L for Lloyd, and Harry’s Magazine.
Deneyer’s passing has led to the closure of the only Dutch-language comic book store in Brussels. He prevented all the French-language comics from being read, according to Tine Anthoni of the Comic Museum. “In his modest comic book shop, he could always offer the right advice and would eventually locate the perfect comic for his clients at the bottom of a stack of comics. It was clear that anyone interested in Dutch-language comics should go there. Comic books began to appear there.”
Deneyer, according to Anthoni and many others, was an unrivaled comic book lover. He had won respect for his in-depth understanding of comic books, as well as for his quick wit and high standards, which he steadfastly defended when they weren’t met—a difficult characteristic to uphold in the limited world of comics.
There are a ton of messages of encouragement for Deneyer on social media. According to Catharina Kochuyt of the Marc Sleen Museum, he was the only Fleming to vehemently defend and expand the Dutch-language comics business. “Erik has the biggest comic book heart on the entire planet. He was a huge comic book fan. He periodically made fun of me for claiming to be an expert on comics because his knowledge was far greater “The manager of Het Beeldend Verhaal and comic book authority Kurt Morissens was recalled.