Tom Poes

Real Name: Tom Poes

Identity/Class: Anthropomorphic cat

Occupation: Adventurer

Affiliations: Olivier Bommel (friend, a bear), Wolle Waf (neighbour, a small dog)

Enemies: Sickbock, Hocus Pas, Bul Super

Known Relatives: None, but there is a sort of alternate grey sister to him: Muizelientje, also thought up by Phiny Dick (Marten Toonder’s wife)

Aliases: Tom Puss (Danish, English and Swedish), Tom Pus (Norwegian)

Base of Operations: Rommeldam

First Appearance: 1938 (In Argentina and Czechoslovakia as a weekly gag strip).

Used in 1939 in his first unpublished text comic.

Replaces Mickey Mouse in March 1941 newspaper “De Telegraaf” his first appearance in the Netherlands and the start of his real career.

Powers/Abilities: None

History: Tom Poes is a small white cat in a world of anthropomorphic animals (see notes). He often participates in adventures of a fantastic nature alongside his bear friend Olivier Bommel. Over the years he has faced foes who can shrink people, turn them evil, or steal faces.

Comments: Tom Poes is a Dutch newspaper comic strip by Marten Toonder that has appeared in Holland since the late 1930s. His strip has been run in Dutch Disney magazines alongside the likes of Donald Duck, but he is not a Disney character himself. He has appeared in at least one cartoon movie. As the years have passed, his strip has been increasingly taken over by his comic relief friend, Bommel.

Thanks to Gérard Courtial for informing me of the existence of this character

Theodoor Westerhof has provided a lot of extra information about him. As well as filling out a lot of the profile above, and correcting some of my mistakes, he also mentions: Tom lives in a world different from ours, his world is one in which a city state (Rommeldam) can be a considerable power. Tom does not live in the proper city, but certainly in its jurisdiction. That more rural area and its surroundings have often been described as showing similarity to Ireland. “Bordering the Black Mountains”. He notes that while Tom's world is inhabited mainly by anthropomorphic animals, there are the “small people” (faerie like), but Hocus Pas, the evil wizard; Terpen Tijn, the great artist and Prlwytzkofsky, the good scientist are three main background characters, who are human.  Oliver Bommel, his best friend, began as comic relief in the strip, but soon became more: He is the 10th richest individual in his world, a gentleman with weaknesses, the engine of the stories, the source of changes and the immovable block that stops the evolution of his world.

Bert van Helden adds In earlier (pre-Bommel) stories, just after the war, Tom Poes had a friend, a dog named "Wolle Waf". In one story many "people" were being robbed, including Tom Poes, by a sly fox. In another story Prof. Sickbock had invented a "ray" which influenced people's brains to leave the city and thereby gave Sickbock the opportunity to plunder the town of Rommeldam. Wolle Waf appeared in both stories. Phini Dick's Muzelientje was not really the friend of Tom Poes but was depicted with a small cat, perhaps the pre-cursor of Tom Poes? Also, his most characteristic expression is of course: "Hm".

CLARIFICATIONS: Not to be confused with

Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.

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