THE DUTCH SUPERHERO DE STILLE GETUIGE (THE SILENT WITNESS)

This weekend’s light-hearted and escapist superhero post here at Balladeer’s Blog looks at the Dutch-created superhero de Stille Getuige, created by Steven de Rie.

DE STILLE GETUIGE (The Silent Witness)

Secret Identity: Koen Ernst

NOTE: Koen Ernst was a Dutch-Belgian policeman stationed in Antwerp. Dutch-Belgian artist and writer Steven de Rie created de Stille Getuige in 1987 but the figure did not see publication until 1989 in the pages of Veteranen – Het Album (Veterans – The Album).  

Origin: Police officer Koen Ernst clashed with the supernaturally powered villain Siam Silkpoint. The mystical criminal maneuvered Ernst into the clutches of the beautiful witch Miro Pyro. That witch tore out Koen Ernst’s tongue in the course of the origin story which saw the former policeman gain mystical powers himself as the Silent Witness. 

Powers: No longer able to speak in his Koen Ernst identity, the Silent Witness wore a tight facial mask which sported eye-holes but no mouth or nose. This hero could magically speak through that mask while in his Stille Getuige costume (think of the Charlton superhero the Question).

That ability to speak came from the amulet this character wore around his neck – the Sign of Ton. That amulet also granted the Silent Witness more strength and agility than a normal man plus empowered him to turn intangible to walk through walls, let bullets pass through him, etc.   

Comment: De Stille Getuige’s debut adventure concluded with the superhero fighting it out with Silkpoint in a television studio. The good guy won and also turned over all the evidence he dug up to convict Silkpoint of his crimes – some of which he had framed Koen Ernst for committing.

In addition to the Silent Witness’ solo adventures, the 1989 publication Veteranen – Het Album also featured the figure in action as a member of the superhero team called the Veterans. In addition to the Stille Getuige that team also consisted of the superheroes Vow, the Tormented, and the now-reformed witch Miro Pyro.

The Stille Getuige stories were not published in chronological order. The formation of the Veterans was set years after our hero’s origin story. The group formed in the wake of a cosmic adventure involving hostile alien forces which killed dozens of other superheroes. Tensions ran high for a while between the Silent Witness and Miro Pyro, who was by then the love interest of the superhero Vow.

In 1990, the publication of Veteranen – Op Leven en Dood (Veterans – Of Life and Death) continued the sagas of the Silent Witness and the title supergroup. Additional Stille Vertuige tales came out in 1992 in the new magazine Wartaal. 

The years 1993 and 1994 saw the publication of the Silent Witness miniseries titled Getuigenessen – 3 Dagen van de Doler (Testimonies – 3 Days of the Doler).

This serialized adventure featured a complex plan enacted by the villain called the Demon Lord backed up by three members of our hero’s Rogues Gallery.   

1995 saw the launch of a new set of Stille Vertuige stories, this time written by Rob den Houter and published under the title De Stille Vertuige: Comagie (The Silent Witness: Magic Realism). Miro Pyro (at left) shared this adventure with our hero, with Vow having been slain and the Tormented having quit the Veterans earlier in the 90s. 

The Silent Witness and Miro Pyro were now having separate solo adventures as super-powered operatives of the Belgian government. In 1998 Steven de Rie returned to write and draw another adventure of de Stille Vertuige, this one the multi-part A Godfearing Man. 

The Vow

In the year 2000 de Rie brought back the Silent Witness for additional tales. Among those adventures a powerful undead menace named Zizi escaped from the mystic prison in which Miro Pyro had imprisoned him years earlier. Our hero and Miro Pyro took him down.

Next the Demon Lord returned in an attempt to steal the Stille Vertuige’s amulet the Sign of Ton. In the villain’s hands it could give him the power to transform the Earth into a horrific new world. The Demon Lord was defeated.

Still determined to get the amulet, the Demon Lord launched an all-out invasion which the Silent Witness managed to thwart with the help of Karshof, the vampiric brother of the late superhero the Vow. This apocalyptic battle left de Stille Vertuige too exhausted to stop the Demon Lord from stealing the Sign of Ton from him. 

In a final adventure ranging from Amsterdam to Antwerp the Silent Witness recruited Miro Pyro – who gave him another amulet which restored his superpowers – then convinced the Tormented (below right) to go back into action with him and their witch colleague.

Another ally for our heroes was the superhero A’dam II, son of the original A’dam, one of the superheroes killed in the alien invasion whose survivors formed the Veterans superteam long ago. The assembled heroes defeated the Demon Lord and his followers for good, marking the final Stille Vertuige story to date.

NOTE: The above Silent Witness stories were often reprinted in the years ahead, leading to some confusion on the part of people who mistakenly believed those were new adventures of this memorable superhero. 

FOR MY LOOK AT GRIPS, THE GRINDHOUSE SUPERHERO, CLICK HERE.