Belgium and Luxembourg (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

A PORTRAIT OF BELGIUM AND LUXEMBOURG 25

PEYO AND THE SMURFS

Best known for The Smurfs,
Peyo (1928–92) was also a
member of the team behind
the Spirou journal that pub-
lished his poetic medieval
series Johan et Pirlouit in

1952. The Smurfs appeared
      as characters here – tiny blue
      people whose humorous
      foibles soon eclipsed any
      interest in the strip’s
      main characters.
      Reacting to their
      popularity, Peyo
      created a strip solely
      about them. Set in
      the Smurf village,
      these stories were
      infused with satirical
      social comment. The
      Smurfs went on to
      become a craze
      between 1983 and 1985, and
      were featured in advertizing
      and merchandizing of every
      type. They spawned a fea-
      ture-length film, television
      cartoons and popular music,
      and had several hit records.

WILLY VANDERSTEEN

While the artists of Spirou
and Tintin filled the French-
language journals, Willy
Vandersteen (1913–90) domi-
nated the Dutch market. His
popular creation, Suske en

COMIC STRIP

ART TODAY

Comic strips, known as

beeldverhaal or bandes

dessinées, continue to be

published in Belgium in all

their forms. In news-

papers, children’s

comics and graphic

novels the “ninth

art” remains one of

the country’s biggest

exports. The high

standards and imag-

inative scope of a

new generation

of artists, such as

Schuiten or Marvano,

have fed growing consumer

demand for comic books.

Both French and Dutch

STREET ART

There are currently 30 large

comic strip images decorat-

ing the sides of buildings

around Brussels’s city centre.

This outdoor exhibition is

known as the Comic Strip

Route and is organized by

the Belgian Centre for Comic

Strip Art, or the Centre Belge

de la Bande Dessineé (see

p62), and by the city of

Brussels. Begun in 1991 as a

tribute to Belgium’s talent for

comic strip art, this street art

project continues to grow. A

free map of the route is avail-

able from tourist information

offices, as well as from the

comic museum itself.

Suske en Wiske by Vandersteen The Smurfs by Peyo A contemporary cartoon strip by Schuiten

Contemporary comic strip artists

at work in their studio

publishers issue over 22

million comic books a year.

Belgian cartoons are sold

in more than 30 countries.

Larger-than-life cartoon by Frank

Pé adorning a Brussels building

During the 1960s, the idea of
the comic strip being the
“ninth art” (after the seventh
and eighth – film and televi-
sion) expanded to include
adult themes in the form of
the comic-strip graphic novel.

Wiske has been translated

into English, appearing as Bob

and Bobette in the UK and as

Willy and Wanda in the US.

The main characters are a pair

of “ordinary” kids between

10 and 14 years of age who

have extraordinary adven-

tures all over the world, and

also travel back and forth in

time. Today, Vandersteen’s

books sell in their millions.

Modern cover

by Marvano