Brussels can be discovered through the eyes of Tintin, Belgium’s most famous comic book character. From street murals to the dedicated Hergé Museum, Brussels’ attractions show how the adventures of the intrepid reporter shaped Belgian culture and continue to captivate readers worldwide.
Belgium’s unique comic book culture
You don’t have to walk around Brussels for too long to realise that the comic book has a different status here. Relegated to the nerdier reaches of society elsewhere, in Belgium the strips have a profound respect.
The land of beer and chocolate also seems to have a comic book store on every corner, with carefully curated collections divided up by author and series. To the locals, many of these characters are household names, but one flies the international flag.
Tintin eclipses the fame of all the others combined. The Tintin displays will always be the most prominent in the comic book stores.
The first sighting of Tintin in Brussels comes as you emerge from Gare du Midi. The giant mural of the character and a locomotive pays homage to one of Tintin In America’s key scenes.
Following Brussels’ comic book mural trail
It’s the start of a mural trail that criss-crosses the city centre; walls are given over to faces from various comic books, with the murals all based on original artwork. The route stretches for six kilometres, and specially printed maps are available from the tourist office.
Maps that trace the parks and markets featured in the Tintin books – as well as sites linked to the character and his creator, Hergé – have also been created online. Anyone wanting to follow on the Tintin trail has plenty of clues to help them sniff it out.
Centre Belge de Bande Dessinée: Beautiful but disappointing
The logical first step, however, would seem to be the Centre Belge de Bande Dessinée. This comic strip museum occupies a beautiful three storey art nouveau building, but it’s too reverent.
The experience for all but the most obsessive becomes a tedious trudge through glass display cases containing pages from back issues. It’s an awful missed opportunity; context, cultural impact and narrative are almost entirely lacking, while the Tintin section basically just says who the main characters are.
Five great things to do while in Brussels
- 🍺 Indulge in Brussels’ finest treats on a top-rated beer and chocolate tour.
- 🕊️ Take a Flanders battlefields day tour, including the Last Post ceremony at Ypres.
- 🍫 Learn how to make chocolate pralines in an expert-run workshop.
- 🚲 Go on a bike tour, and cram in more of the city’s highlights.
- 🌙 Discover Brussels’ nightlife on a pub crawl.
Journey to the exceptional Musée Hergé
But Tintin wouldn’t give up in the face of such setbacks, and neither should his fans. A little more pluck and dedication is required for a detour.
Louvain-la-Neuve is a relatively unremarkable university town, a 50 minute train ride away from Brussels. It is home to the Musée Hergé, and this is quite the treasure.
The building is architecturally bold, with the block colours, clearly separated sections and strong lines reflecting Hergé’s drawing style.
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- Convenient digital format: Receive a mobile voucher or printable ticket, plus a free city & museum map — no need for physical tickets or vouchers. :contentReference[oaicite:5]{index=5}
Interactive storytelling at its finest
At the entrance, visitors are given a specially adapted iPod which proves far more effective than the usual bog-standard audio guide. Interactive quizzes, video footage and images that match up to the items on display are used to tell the stories.
The first sections – arguably the most interesting – explore the life of a boy born as Georges Remi. Where possible, things are told in his own words.
“I had an unremarkable childhood. It was not a happy nor a sad childhood, just rather dreary,” the voice from the grave says.
From Georges Remi to Hergé: The making of a cartoonist
His parents would keep him quiet by letting him draw to his heart’s content and he later got work designing adverts. The principle of simplicity underpinned his work – “simplicity is the best way to make something striking” – and this was transferred to the comic strips he was drawing on the side.
At the age of 24, Hergé (his initials – GR – reversed and pronounced in French) was put in charge of a children’s supplement in the Vingtieme Siecle newspaper. Printing limitations also played a part – the rotary presses required defined, clear lines to be able to print legibly, and Hergé became known as the leading proponent of a ‘clear line’ style.
Tintin’s controversial early adventures
Tintin made his debut in 1929, Hergé indulging in his not-so-secret admiration of the reporters who worked at the paper. But the global adventures of the bequiffed investigator were broad exercises in rampant stereotyping for the first few books.
Americans were all cowboys, Africans were all simple savages. But, in one of the most fascinating parts of the museum, you learn why this changed in the later books.
Hergé met a Chinese student called Tchang. “It is he who made me conscious of the need to get the true facts on a country and to lay out a coherent story,” the iPod Hergé admits.
The meticulous research behind Tintin’s adventures
From then on, the research was meticulous. In the later sections of the museum, you learn just how meticulous.
Scientists were regularly consulted to make sure everything was as realistic as possible, while models were built for vehicles and machines to get the details right. Tintin went to the moon long before Neil Armstrong did, and the logistics of it weren’t nearly as absurd as they could have been.
How cinema influenced Tintin’s stories
But Tintin didn’t just become part of popular culture – it was heavily influenced by it. Hergé often ‘borrowed’ elements and plot threads from the cinema.
The Black Island had a large gorilla shortly after King Kong went massive; another passage is blatantly based on the 39 Steps. The museum is also faithful to Hergé’s love of a good story.
Character development and evolution through the series
Each of the main characters is explored individually, tracing their character arcs over the series of books and digging into their origins. Fox terriers, for example, were hugely fashionable in the 1920s, so Hergé made sure Snowy – Tintin’s canine companion – was one.
In the first seven books, Snowy was something of a Sancho Panza-esque comic foil, a role largely taken by Captain Haddock in the later books. Haddock, we learn, was the character Hergé identified with most.
“He has so many human weaknesses, he comes across as a really close friend – like a brother or even a second self,” runs the commentary.
Why the Musée Hergé transforms Tintin appreciation
Such level of detail, told clearly and as part of a narrative that gallops along at an exhilarating lick is what makes the Musée Hergé by far the best place to get to know Tintin. These are also the reasons that you leave re-evaluating Tintin and the art of the comic book.
And the subsequent shopping spree should probably explain why Brussels manages to support so many comic shops.
Planning your Musée Hergé visit
The Musée Hergé in Louvain-la-Neuve requires a 50-minute train journey from Brussels central station. The museum’s interactive iPod guides provide engaging storytelling that brings Hergé’s creative process to life.
Tickets cost €12, and the museum is closed on Mondays.
More Brussels travel
Other Brussels travel articles on Planet Whitley include:
- Travel guide to Brussels, Belgium.
- How to find the best chocolates in Brussels.
- What to expect on a first-time visit to the Atomium in Brussels.
- Guide to seeing the Manneken Pis in Brussels.
- Practical guide to the Autoworld car museum in Brussels.
