The newspaper De Nieuwe Gids asked their political cartoonist Marc Sleen to create a comics series of their own to compete with Suske en Wiske 's popularity.
The name was an idea of journalist Gaston Durnez, who based it on the Flemish dialect verb "zwammen" ("to talk bollocks").
[3][4] Van Zwam's appearances became less frequent from that moment on, though he still remained a good friend of Nero and a major protagonist within the cast.
In early stories Van Zwam wore a trilby, but from "De Groene Gravin" ("The Green Duchess") (1975) on he wears a Sherlock Holmes-type hat.
In "Het Theepotje des Konings" ("The King's Tea pot") (1978) economic crisis has forced him to travel by kick scooter, bike or by foot.
In "De Gouden Patatten" ("The Golden Potatoes") (1984) Van Zwam is shot by the Brabant killers and near death.
As a matter of protest all the main protagonists of The Adventures of Nero decide to go on strike to force Marc Sleen into bring him back to life, which he eventually does.
[12] He is one of the characters sculpted on a bas-relief in Sint-Niklaas, made by sculptor Paul Dekker in 1988 to commemorate Marc Sleen's induction as an honor citizen of the city.