Jef Nys (1927-2009) was a Dutch-speaking Belgian comic strip artist and the spiritual father of the heroes Gil and Jo. His career as a cartoonist and comic strip artist was launched when he won a competition organized by the satirical weekly 't Pallieterke. On October 30, 1955, he first introduced his hero, Jommeke (Jojo/Gil), in the parish newspaper Kerkelijk Leven, in a series entitled Het Wekelijks Avontuur van Jommeke ("The Weekly Adventure of Jommeke"). The first three albums featuring the little character were soon published. After just over forty years and more than forty-five million albums sold, Jommeke (Gil) was crowned in 1997, when on May 26 the Belgian post office issued a stamp bearing his image, and on July 31 a statue in his honor was unveiled in Middelkerke. Jef Nys made known his wish that Jommeke (Gil) should continue to live his adventures even when he was no longer able to draw them. In Jef Nys's will, it is stipulated that collaborators (or successors) may continue to draw Jommeke (Gil and Jo), under the strict condition, however, that his (their) adventures contain "no violence, weapons, sex or drugs...".