Online magazine of Lithuanian children living in Brussels – Maklinėtojai – shares impressions from the Brussels Comic Strip.
Brussels Comic Strip. Brussels is often called the capital of the European Union, but those familiar with Belgian art and culture will admit that Brussels could certainly be called the capital of funny drawings – comics. There are even several comic museums in the city, many comic drawings on the walls of houses, sculptures. And of course, you can buy new or old comics at every bookstore, store, or antique store. If you want to buy them, ask where the “BD” department is. BD (French: “Bande dessinée”) comics are French-language comics created by Belgian and French authors.
Brussels’ Comics Characters
The most popular comic book character in Belgium is undoubtedly Tintin (by Herge). You can find a painting of Tintin, Captain Haddock and the dog Snowy not far from the famous peeing boy fountain in Brussels.
Other famous characters are the Smurfs (French: Les Schtroumpfs), Spiru (French: Spirou), Lucky Luke (French: Lucky Luke), Quick et Flupke (French: Quick et Flupke), Cat in a Suit (French: le Chat), Gaston Lagaffe (French Gaston Lagaffe), Marsupilamis, Lukas and Lucy (French Bob et Bobette, Dutch Suske en Wiske, English Spike and Sucy).
Comics are so popular in Belgium that it can be said that a real cult of comics has formed – sculptures built for comic characters (Charleroi is especially notable for this, which probably surprises every year by erecting a new gigantic sculpture of comic characters), museums or even pedestrian routes are created.
The Brussels Comic Strip
We tried to cover part of the Brussels Comic Strip. You can find all (currently 60 of them, but more and more every year) drawings and their addresses on the Brussels comic road map. The drawings are really impressive and liven up the sometimes not very attractive environment. The drawings are scattered all over Brussels, so one day is definitely not enough. Also, if you look for comic book characters on the walls, you will see many different types of wall art. The culture of street art and wall paintings (English murals, French la peinture mural) is very popular in Belgium as well.
If you want to not only see the comic drawings on the buildings of Brussels, but also learn about the comic culture, we would definitely advise you to visit the Belgian Comic Center (pr. Center Belge de la BD), which is located at 20 Rue Des Sables – 1000 Brussels.