Belgian Comic Strip Culture

Belgium takes comics seriously enough to call them the ninth art, and with reason: Hergé created Tintin here in 1929, Peyo the Smurfs, Morris drew Lucky Luke, and the clear-line style developed in Brussels studios became one of the two dominant traditions in world comics. The Belgian Comic Strip Center occupies a former department store designed by Victor Horta, so the building is an Art Nouveau landmark in its own right, and inside it traces the medium from early strips through original artwork, scripts and a full-size rocket from Tintin. Around the city, more than fifty large murals of comic characters are painted onto gable walls, following a marked route that turns a walk through the centre into a treasure hunt, and specialist shops sell original plates and out-of-print albums.

What you actually see

• The Comic Strip Center - the museum in Horta's former department store.
• The mural route - over fifty painted gable walls across central Brussels.
• Original artwork - inked plates and scripts by Hergé, Peyo and others.
• The comic shops - specialist dealers in albums and original pages.

When to go

Year-round; the museum is a good wet-weather option and the mural walk is best on a dry day. The museum closes on Mondays. The Comic Strip Festival, usually in early autumn, fills the city with events and a balloon parade.

Honest expectations

The museum is as much about the Horta building as the comics, and its displays are strongest on the classic mid-century period rather than contemporary work. Much of the material is in French and Dutch, with less in English than you might expect. The mural route is spread across the centre and takes a couple of hours of walking to do properly.

Nearby

The Grand Place is a short walk; the Horta Museum is a ride south in Saint-Gilles.