In March 1940, two months before the start of World War II in Belgium, Bob, his second child, was born. When the first tribulations of the war were over, Vandersteen could restart his work at L'Innovation. From November 1940 until August 1942, he created his first published comic, "Kitty Inno", for the company, consisting of short, simple gags. When the German occupier forbade the publication of American and British comics in the Belgian newspapers and magazines, opportunies arose for local people. On 19 March 1941, the first comic strip of "Tor de holbewoner" ("Tor the troglodyte") appeared in the newspaper "De Dag". It continued until January 1942. Already on 26 March 1941 it was joined by "De lollige avonturen van Pudifar" ("The funny adventures of Pudifar"), a weekly comic strip about a cat. This was in May of the same year replaced by "Barabitje", another comic about a cat, which ended in October 1941.