As two sisters backpacking across five countries in Europe, Brussels was like a breath of fresh air. Of course, there was the usual café along the cobbled streets that stole our hearts with its hot chocolate and croissants, but Brussels was so much more – it beckoned to us from all quarters.
The walls celebrated comics arts, snack bars said ‘Sprout to be Brussels’, the chocolateries had every flavour and shape imaginable (including Kamasutra poses in its naughty specials!) and Grote Markt, the central square surrounded by magnificent guildhalls, stole our hearts.
That Tintin-Lovin’ Kid
But what Brussels truly appealed to, was the Tintin-loving kid in me. A country that takes comic arts most seriously, Belgium has, in its capital, the Muse De La Bande Dessinee – the Belgian Comic Strip Centre, housed in an Art Noveau warehouse designed by the genius Victor Horta. It is a major city attraction that has been honouring creators of the 9th art for more than 25 years. It was amazing to see a city devote itself to the vibrant art of illustrations and stories so deeply that not only did every wall and street have a mural, they had an entire museum for it.
Unlike other museums, this Horta masterpiece is bright, airy and seems to invite you into its hold. My sister squealed when she saw a life-size model of the red and white moon rocket used by the boy scribe Tintin, Belgium’s most famous son, at the entrance.
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Tintin’s bust, next to a frame of his creator Herge, instantly endeared us to the place.
The moment we caught sight of life-size models of Herge’s adorable gang (dressed up as ‘explorers on the moon’), of course, we weren’t going anywhere and had started prepping for photo-ops. (I, of course, chose Snowy).
Of Chandni Chowk, Captain Haddock and Herge’s True Intentions
When we were kids, it used to amaze us how someone as young as Tintin got to travel the world and solve mysteries. For a brief period of time, I even believed that Tintin actually came to India and went to Chandni Chowk – as is illustrated in Tintin in Tibet. Captain Haddock, landing on a cow’s back and unleashing chaos on our streets isn’t something too hard to imagine in India even now. (In fact, in the times we live in, ‘Gaipajama’ may as well have been a real place.)
We were most interested, therefore, to trace how Tintin came to being. Turns out, Herge thought out his character quite well.
Tintin had simple features and was almost expressionless, thus being “as neutral as is important to receive the emotions felt by the readers”. He could pass as a nobody and an everybody. Captain Haddock was designed to be a contrast – an “emotional volcano in splendid eruption” while Professor Calculus was the ignition that fuelled the youth’s adventures. But, just as the dog-loving me had always suspected, Herge never thought of Snowy as a loyal sidekick – he was the “hero that almost always saved the day”.
The artist Herge too, lived an interesting life. Born as Georges Remis in Brussels (1907), he started to sign his drawings with the pseudonym Herge (RG) – his initials in reverse. He was charged with setting up a children’s supplement to a daily paper run by priest Norbert Wallez and it was in this supplement, Le Petit that Tintin and Bobby were born on 10 January 1929.
It was while working with a Chinese student, Tchang, on The Blue Lotus that Herge decided to construct his stories with better research and lesser stereotypes.
It surprised me to learn that my favourite story, Tintin in Tibet came to Herge during a period of personal crisis, and that it was interpreted as a ‘study in loyalty’. Herge had apparently slowed his pace hereafter and passed away in 1983.
Shining bright in the halls were strips of Little Nemo in Slumberland by Winsor McCay. This genius also laid the foundation of how cartoon films would be perceived for the next century with Gertie the Dinosaur.
(I spent an unhealthy amount of time in the projector room watching strips of Boerke by Pieter de Poortere.)
The Unruly Gauls and Little Smurfs
As we entered the area where panel after panel was dedicated to the unlikely Gaul success Asterix, our middle class lives swam in front of us.
Any kid worth their name knew how precious it was to own an Asterix book. I remembered that one afternoon when we opened a library in dad’s garage and asked friends to donate their story books for the summer – not only did we do a roaring business (of Rs 309!), we also got to read several books we didn’t own, including Asterix.
Ironically, legendary writer and illustrator Rene Goscinny and Alberto Uderzo –immigrants, best friends and geniuses – gave birth to Asterix one afternoon while discussing major periods in history. Goscinny got stuck on the Gallic Age and thus, Asterix and Obelix were born.
Together, the artists picked liberally from Belgian culture – Beefix’s wife Bonanza was a caricature of Belgian actress and singer Annie Cordy – while Manikin, the son of Botanix who was suspected of drinking too much, was a clever reference to the famous ‘little boy pissing’ fountain in Brussels.
Belgian, Peyo, too finds a solid mention in this mecca, with The Smurfs. It was in 1945 that Peyo created the little dancing elves with a small tail and a corolla of flowers on their heads. However, the true Smurfs emerged in 1959 from Studio TVA. (Just when we thought the museum couldn’t get any more adorable, we came across a whole Smurf Village!)
It is my whole hearted recommendation that anyone visiting Europe put Brussels in their must-see list. Not just for the chocolates or the beer, but to spend some magical hours reliving one’s childhood. If paradise existed, I’d say I got a glimpse of it in the comic strip centre.
(Runa Mukherjee Parikh has written on women, culture, social issues, education and animals, with The Times of India, India Today and IBN Live. When not hounding for stories, she can be found petting dogs, watching sitcoms or travelling. A big believer in ‘animals come before humans’, she is currently struggling to make sense of her Bengali-Gujarati lifestyle in Ahmedabad.)
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