Comic Strip Capital

Comic Strip Capital

Belgium is recognized the world over as the home of the comic strip. Bande dessinée, or BD as it's usually shortened to, is taken very seriously here -- practitioners from the Golden Age of the 1950s and 1960s are now the subjects of museum retrospectives and documentaries.

At the top of the pile is Georges Remi, the Brussels-based writer and illustrator who, under the name Hergé, created the indomitable boy reporter Tintin. These days, Tintin is a multimillion-euro industry, with books, figurines, mugs, and even a clothing line. A Tintin museum in the capital is still under discussion; until that gets off the ground, you'll have to make do with the comic strip museum (Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée/Belgisch Centrum voor het Beeldverhaal), where local heroes Tintin, Lucky Luke, and the Smurfs feature prominently.

Another way to soak up Brussels' comic strip culture is to hit the streets: 23 walls in the city center are covered with colorful murals featuring well-known characters. Ask the Tourist Office for a map of the trail.

Finally, see what all the fuss is about by visiting one of Brussels' numerous comic book stores. Most books are in French or Dutch, but you can find some in English. Look for Benoît Peeters and François Schuitens' Obscure Cities (Cités Obscures), a series of beautifully illustrated graphic novels about a parallel universe that looks like it's been designed by Victor Horta and Jules Verne.

Shops

Brüsel. Blvd. Anspach 100. 02/511-0809. Mon.-Sat. 10-4:30, Sun. noon-6:30

Forbidden Zone. Rue de Tamines 25, St-Gilles. 02/534-6367. www.forbiddenzone.net. Tues.-Sat. 12:30-7

La Bulle D'Or. Blvd. Anspach 124. 02/513-7235. Mon.-Sat. 10:30-7, Sun. 12:30-6:30

-- Susan Carroll