Inflight Magazine of Brussels Airlines

Brussels’ comic faces

If you want to get off the beaten track and make the most of a warm day, take a walk and meet some of Belgium’s famous comic faces. Gary Hills gives you a taste of who you’ll meet and how to find them.

Visitors to Brussels will always enjoy the spectacle of the Grand’ Place, its museums and galleries, the independent shops and lively bars and restaurants. Brussels is a quirky city with locals living right in its heart and it’s worth taking time to get under the city’s skin, to see and feel for yourself how it works. As you walk around, you’re likely to be surprised by works of art painted onto the end gables of downtown buildings. These are no one-offs; they are part of Brussels’ celebration of the comic strip and form a cultural trail through the city streets.

Belgium’s reverence for the comic strip means it’s known as the Ninth Art. With Tintin’s creator Hergé being the daddy of them all, some of the characters are immediately recognisable, especially the Smurfs, Lucky Luke and Asterix & Obelix. The idea for the murals came about in the early 90s when the organisation Art Mural was commissioned by the city to brighten up street corners and ends of terraces.

Now linked together as a walk of fame, the murals provide a colourful way of spending an hour or two on a fine summer’s day and discovering some of the city’s offbeat neighbourhoods.

Just arm yourself with the trail map (€1.25 from the tourist office) and take yourself off on the 6km route, or part of it. A good starting point is the Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée, the official comic strip museum set in a lovely Art Nouveau building designed by Victor Horta. The one-time department store now displays its cartoon collection on three floors, with an emphasis on Tintin. Take to the third floor with care though as this is where the erotic art is, the beloved graphic novel – maybe too graphic for the kids.

The walk itself centres around Grand’ Place and the Marolles district. In Rue de l’Etuve, close to the Mannekin Pis, a Tintin mural shows the fearless reporter, Captain Haddock and Snowy working their way down an eerily realistic fire escape. Tintin has special resonance this year as it’s the centenary of Hergé’s birth – a new mural inside the Gare du Midi was unveiled in January 2007 showing Tintin clinging to the front of a train. Just outside the station you can again see Tintin and Snowy on the rooftop.

A good place to stand to see a pair of murals is on the crossroads of Rues Marché au Charbon and Lombard. One shows the dashing Victor Sackville assisting a young woman – but look closely, the street is an exact replica of the one you’re looking down, it just happens to be 70 years ago. Behind you is a mural by Frank Pé showing his character Brousaille walking across the street you’re standing on. The same buildings are there and, like never ending mirrors, one of them has a mural. Sit on the terrace of the Plattesteen café (it’s good for lunch too) and you have a perfect view of both.

Walk along Rue du Midi and right into Alexiens and you come across two murals that show the Brussels of a bygone age. The first, above the Liquidoma shop, shows Monsieur Jean tripping along by a 50s bar, an old tram emerging round the corner. Further up the hill, you’ll find a striking mural of Yves Chaland’s Le Jeune Albert, another period tram and a wonderful evocation of Brussels in the 30s. This road leads you up to the Marolles district where, in Rue Haute, you can see another Hergé picture, this time showing his cheeky characters Quick et Flupke, at home in this earthy part of town. At No. 233, you’ll find the traditional bar Le Renard where you can play pinball, listen to the Wurlitzer and hang out with the locals. In Rue Blaes, you’ll see Mitacq’s extraordinary representation of a figure on a ladder painting the very wall the mural is on. In Rue des Minimes don’t miss Stuf’s dream-like Passe-moi l’ciel, a thin band of blue fitting its space perfectly.

Elsewhere, you shouldn’t miss Lucky Luke, one of the biggest murals on the walk, at the crossroads of Rue T’ Kint and Rue de la Buanderie. Two minutes away, in Rue des Chartreux, tucked away by Espace Bizarre (a shop worth a look) is the understated L’Ange de Sambre – it’s impossible to tell if the graffiti is original or a later addition made by some tagger.

Finally, into Place de St-Géry where you’ll see the perfectly structured Néron by Marc Sleen, showing a strongman holding three people high into the air. By this time you, too, may want to take the weight off your feet. Sit on the terrace of the Gecko bar opposite and take it all in. Without realising it, you’ve taken in the real Brussels, artistically, culturally and historically. You’ve also met some if its most famous characters.

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