Comic Mural Tintin, Hergé, Brussels (cropped)

Brussels' Comic Book Route (or ''The comic strip route in Brussels'') is a path composed by several

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanis ...

s, which cover the walls of several buildings throughout the inner

City of Brussels The City of Brussels (french: Ville de Bruxelles or alternatively ''Bruxelles-Ville'' ; nl, Stad Brussel or ''Brussel-Stad'') is the largest municipality and historical centre of the Brussels-Capital Region, as well as the capital of the Fl ...

, as well as the neighborhoods of

Laeken () or () is a residential suburb in the north-western part of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. It belongs to the municipality of the City of Brussels and is mostly identified by the Belgian postal code: 1020. Prior to 1921, it was a sep ...

and

Auderghem Auderghem (former Dutch spelling, now used in French; pronounced ) or Oudergem () is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region (Belgium). Located to the southeast of the region, along the Woluwe valley and at the entrance to t ...

. The large comic strip murals depict scenes from various popular Belgian comics, for instance ''

The Adventures of Tintin ''The Adventures of Tintin'' (french: Les Aventures de Tintin ) is a series of 24 bande dessinée#Formats, ''bande dessinée'' albums created by Belgians, Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, who wrote under the pen name Hergé. The series was one ...

'', ''

The Smurfs ''The Smurfs'' (french: Les Schtroumpfs; nl, De Smurfen) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. ''The Smurfs'' was first created and in ...

'', ''

Lucky Luke ''Lucky Luke'' is a Western '' bande dessinée'' series created by Belgian cartoonist Morris in 1946. Morris wrote and drew the series single-handedly until 1955, after which he started collaborating with French writer René Goscinny. Their ...

'', ''

Gaston Gaston is a masculine given name of French origin and a surname. The name "Gaston" may refer to: People First name *Gaston I, Count of Foix (1287–1315) *Gaston II, Count of Foix (1308–1343) *Gaston III, Count of Foix (1331–1391) * Gaston ...

'', ''

Marsupilami ''Marsupilami'' is a comic book character and fictional animal species created by André Franquin. Its first appearance was in the 31 January 1952 issue of the Franco-Belgian comics magazine '' Spirou''. Since then it appeared regularly in th ...

'' and '' Gil Jourdan''. The project began in 1991 as an initiative of the local authorities of the City of Brussels in collaboration with the

Belgian Comic Strip Center The Belgian Comic Strip Center (french: Centre belge de la Bande dessinée; nl, Belgisch Stripcentrum) is a museum in Brussels, Belgium, dedicated to Belgian comics. It is located at 20, /, in an Art Nouveau building designed by Victor Horta, ...

. Initially, the project only intended to embellish empty walls and gables of buildings in the city. It then became an opportunity to celebrate the rich comic book heritage of Brussels, which claims to be the capital of the "

". Today, the Brussels' Comic Book Route offers more than 50 mural paintings, most of them located inside the ''Pentagon'' (as the city centre is often called due to its geometrical shape). Following its trail, the Comic Book Route is a good way to discover the capital and even penetrate some neighborhoods less crowded by tourists. The Brussels tourist association ' organizes a 2-hour bike tour starting at the ''Bicycle Riders House'' (). ''Broussaille'' was the first comic book wall to be painted, based on an original project of the Belgian comic book artist

Frank Pé Frank Pé, often signing solely as Frank (15 July 1956) is a Belgian comic book artist, best known for ''Broussaille'' and ''Zoo''. Biography Frank Pé was born in Ixelles in 1956.De Weyer, Geert (2005). "Frank". In België gestript, pp. 112-1 ...

. With its surface of about , the mural painting was inaugurated in July 1991 at the intersection between the central streets / and /. As with most of the mural paintings, the Belgian association ''Art Mural'' was in charge of the execution of the

fresco painting Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster ...

. ''Art Mural'' is an association created by five artists in 1984, mainly aimed to realise mural painting in public areas. Since 1993, it has been devoted to the creation and realisation of new murals for Brussels' Comic Book Route, with a rhythm of two to three new works per year. Georgios Oreopoulos and David Vandegeerde are the only two remaining founder members of the association, having been involved in all the projects and mural paintings, helped with a large number of other artists who have collaborated and worked together with them.

List of comic strip mural paintings

In the centre of Brussels

In La(e)ken

In Auderghem

References

Bibliography

* ''La BD dans la ville''. Author: Thibaut Vandorselaer * ''Bruxelles dans la BD, itinéraire découverte'', 2004 Versant Sud, B-1348 Lovain-la-Neuve. Author: Thibaut Vandorselaer

External links

The walls of the comic strip walk in detail

How Brussels Became a Real-Life Comic Strip

Les fresques sur le site de Bruxelles-ville

Le site de l'asbl Bruxelles BD, responsable du développement du parcours BD à Bruxelles
!
Galerie photo des fresques BD de Bruxelles, avec une carte
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181227172351/http://areyoumad.net/ , date=2018-12-27

* ttp://www.ebru.be/Other/Strips/StripsHome.html Toute la liste des fresques BD à Bruxelles par ordre chronologique avec liens vers pages individuelles
La page consacrée au "Parcours BD de Bruxelles" sur le site de l'a.s.b.l. ART MURAL, qui a réalisé toutes les fresques BDArt Mural asbl

Culture in Brussels Belgian comics Tourist attractions in Brussels City of Brussels

List of comic strip mural paintings

In the centre of Brussels

In La(e)ken

In Auderghem

See also

References

Bibliography

External links