Famous Belgians? You’d struggle to name ten. If you like tennis, you’d get Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters. Those with longer memories would remember Xavier Malisse. If you were pushing your luck, you could have Hercule Poirot despite him being fictional.
But what many people forget is that Hergé was Belgian. You know, the cartoon artist – the guy who wrote Tintin. Oh, him. Still, you’re probably thinking, what has any of this got to do with Brussels?
Well since – as we’ve ascertained – there aren’t very many famous Belgians, the one’s who exist are national icons. And all of this rambling introduction is to make one point: in Brussels they have the Belgian Centre of Comic Strip Art – a museum celebrating (yep, you guessed it) Belgian Comics. But as it has its 20th anniversary this year, it is putting on a special exhibition about the recent changes in comic strips which promises to be very interesting.
And although it exists because of Hergé, there is much work aside from Tintin to be enjoyed in the museum. There is some brilliant work from young talent in the modern comics sections. Moreover, as well as Hergé, the Belgians also produced three other great comic strip authors: Willy Vandersteen, creator of Willy and Wanda, Jean Roba, creator of Ballie and Billie, not to mention Peyo with his famous Smurfs.
The collection is housed in the architecturally stunning Waucquez Warehouses, a spectacular building designed by the famous Art Nouveau architect Victor Horta. But it really is a case of beauty being more than skin deep, with the collection inside matching the building.
Indeed, Belgians may only be good at three things: brewing beer, playing tennis, and drawing comics. But they’re bloody good at the comics as a visit to this museum will demonstrate.
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