This text is part of the special Pleasures notebook
Europe’s nerve center puts 9e art in the spotlight. In Brussels, “bubbles” are everywhere – from small specialist bookstores to museums and markets – sometimes creating a bit of a stir. A colorful trip to the city of Tintin, Thorgal and Spirou.
There were speculoos, beer, chip stalls, rod puppets and the flower carpet on the Grand-Place. Now there are comic strips. Last spring, on the 9the art has officially been included in the list of elements that make up the identity and folklore of Brussels. Although late, this recognition has highlighted the central role played by comics in the cultural influence of the city where Hergé, Peyo, Franquin and others sketched their first boards.
Every year since 2010, the most iconic characters from the Belgian repertoire and elsewhere have taken up residence in the European capital for the BD Comic Strip Festival (formerly the Comic Strip Festival), which is held at the beginning of September. On the programme: exhibitions, events, conferences and signing sessions that traditionally delight comic strip fans from all over the world. An event not to be missed, even if comic strips are somewhat celebrated all year round in Brussels.
Asterix among the Belgians
While street art was not yet in vogue, the City was one of the first on the Old Continent to launch a mural trail. The first frescoes dedicated to comic book heroes appeared more than 30 years ago now. Today, there are no fewer than 70 of them, scattered all over Brussels, from the old historic centre to the more remote and less touristy streets. Tintin, Spirou, Thorgal, like the Smurf gang, are displayed all over the walls.
For their part, Asterix, Obelix and their magic potion have arrived in a park in Anneessens, in order to revitalize a working-class neighborhood that was losing momentum. Initially designed to represent all the diversity of the Belgian scene, the comic strip route has opened up to other characters from the French-speaking world, such as the irresistible Gaulois or the very Parisian Monsieur Jean, by Philippe Dupuy and Charles Berberian. The route is also an opportunity to immerse yourself in a colorful and fanciful universe with Brussels as a backdrop.
In a country where visual culture and humor have always occupied a prominent place, most artists have taken a mischievous pleasure in slipping in emblematic monuments of the city here and there and playing with the surrounding urban landscape. More recently, QR codes have also been added to plaques to provide an explanatory note to frescoes that have caused a bit of a stir. It was in 2021 that the controversy burst — like a bubble — at the time of the celebration of the 30e anniversary of the comic book route.
The Spiral of Time
Murals found themselves in the eye of the storm, such as the fresco by Odilon Verjus which depicts, in the Marolles, a missionary sent on an evangelization mission by the Vatican, or the one illustrating Ric Hochet as the savior of a young woman who is necessarily blonde and in distress, on rue de Bon Secours. Associations have criticized them for promoting colonialist and macho stereotypes. “Are the walls of Brussels racist and sexist?” even asked Radio France in a column published in 2022.
The controversy grew so big that a committee of experts was set up, under the supervision of Iadine Degryse, historian and researcher at the Brussels Studies Institute. Discussion meetings with activists and citizens on the future of the contested works were organized. Rather than removing them from the public space, they chose to enrich them with a QR code to put them in the context of their time and bear witness to the evolution of mentalities and morals on these delicate issues.
“It was essential to contextualize the frescoes, like the one by Olivier Rameau, which has also been criticized for its sexism. This comic strip was created at a time when female characters were often represented in an ultra-stereotypical way,” explains Sarah Cordier, art historian and guide on the comic strip trail for over 20 years. “The world of comics was very masculine at first, before becoming more feminine under the influence of characters such as Yoko Tsuno, an Asian electronics engineer far from the clichés of her time.”
Moon Destination
With her expertise in the field, Sarah Cordier devotes her free time to training future antique dealers by teaching them the history of comics and their value on the market. “Original boards of Tintin can soar to 2 million euros. But, for the rest, it is a market that remains fairly accessible to antique dealers, unlike that of paintings, for example,” she says. And in Brussels, there is no shortage of bookstores to try to get their hands on the rare piece.
The comic book capital is home to, without a doubt, the largest concentration of specialist shops per square metre. Almost every Brussels neighbourhood has its own bookshop. You can find great bargains on Rue du Midi, at the Dépôt de Bruxelles and at Évasions, or come across collectibles, figurines and other derivative products at Moule à gaufres, a stone’s throw from Manneken Pis. For Hergé fans, the Tintin Boutique is naturally a must-see, as is the unmissable Jeu de bulles.
Overlooking the Place du Jeu de Balle and its famous Sunday flea market which inspired Hergé to create a memorable scene from Secret of the Unicornthis latest brand is much more than just a bookstore. With its impressive collection of rare statuettes and moon rockets from the world of Tintin, Jeu de bulles serves as a real museum. “The world of comics is doing really well, and the prices of figurines have exploded,” confides the store manager, Anne-Catherine Misonne.
With the famous journalist with the quiff as ambassador, the City of Brussels has not finished celebrating the infinite wealth of its 9e art. The next goal? To obtain real recognition at the international level with the registration of Belgian comics as part of UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage in 2029, the year of celebration of the centenary of our dear Tintin.
This content was produced by the Special Publications Team of Dutyrelevant to marketing. The writing of the Duty did not take part in it.