This Flemish comic started came from the hand and mind of Willy Vandersteen. It's based on Johan de Rode Ridder (Johan the Red Knight) a character from the youth books by the same name that were written by Leopold Vermeiren. It's the publisher Standaard Uitgeverij longest running series after to Suske en Wiske.
History
The first 106 issue covers were originally blue with black and white stories, with the exception to number 106, which had a full color story. From issue 107 on the cover was in silver, with full color stories. They also re-released most of the blue series as full colored series with silver covers (added here as alternative covers). When Karel Biddeloo left in 2004 the cover got a complete makeover now with only the left side of the cover being silver.
De Rode Ridder stories were drawn and written by Willy Vandersteen. At first the stories started as normal medieval knight stories with a mythical element here and there. From issue number 19 (King Arthur) the Arthurian legend was woven into the story line. From issue number 44 (Three Mercenaries), Karel Biddeloo drew and wrote the stories on his own. He used a lot more Fantasy and Sword and Sorcery than his predecessor.
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