In the hours that followed, fans from all over the world sent messages of support to Kyoto Animation, which produces successful cartoons. Among the tributes, there is that of the Belgian representation in Japan.

« With our Belgian animation heroes, we are crying with our Japanese friends and we offer our sincere condolences to the loved ones of those killed in the tragedy of Kyoto Animation, while wishing a quick recovery to those who have been injured, » one can read on the Twitter account @BelgiumEmbJapan.

The message is accompanied by a drawing representing Lucky Luke, Tintin, Spirou, Natacha, Gaston and a crying Smurf. The image, designed by Yves Rodier, dates from March 22, 2016, the day when terrorist attacks hit Brussels.

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Moulinsart, the company managing the rights of the work of Hergé, chose to highlight Tintin’s second adventure: « Tintin in Congo ».

The album appeared in color in its original version, released in 1931. The revised version will be available in digital from January 10th.

« The idea of ​Nick Rodwell (administrator of Moulinsart, Ed) is to release a re-colored version every two years, » said a spokesperson for Moulinsart.

« Tintin in the Soviet Land » in color has sold 300,000 copies since its release, a figure below expectations.

On Thursday 10, a debate will be organized in Brussels on the theme: « Congo Tintin » with speakers Daniel Couvreur, the lawyer Alain Berenboom, the Congolese cartoonist Barly Baruti or Philippe Goddin, author of the « Tribulations of Tintin in Congo », a work decrypting the album.

In Louvain-la-Neuve, the Hergé Museum will present « for the first time and exceptionally » a series of original prints in black and white of Tintin in Congo. These prints will be presented next to those that have been colored and reworked.

The post On January 10th Tintin turns 90 appeared first on Brussels Express.

The Comic Book Route in Brussels is a path through the inner city, as well as the neighborhoods of Laeken and Auderghem, if you don’t mind leaving the city center. It consists of several murals painted on the walls of random buildings. The murals show panels of Belgian’s (should it be Belgium’s?) most famous and popular comics, such as Tintin, Lucky Luke and The Smurfs.

The project started as an initiative by the local authorities to embellish empty walls and gables of buildings, in collaboration with the Comic Strip Center. “It was originally a way to pay homage to famous Belgian comic artists. Fast forward a few years, the trail now has over 50 colorful murals and is one of Brussels’ landmarks and an interesting fun fact about the EU capital,” the Strip Museum informs. “The project keeps growing over time as new creations are added to the list and comic characters come alive in unexpected corners all around town.”

Anyone who wants to see the whole route better wait for a sunny day and prepare oneself for a long walk. “I’ve been living in Brussels for about three years now, and I’ve seen a lot of the murals, but I didn’t know they were part of a special route until a few months ago,” says Sarah Janssen (29). “One day I decided to check out all of the murals, and it took me a whole afternoon. It’s so worth it, though. I discovered some parts of the city I’d never been to before.” For anyone who would rather not walk, the Brussels tourist association Pro Velo also offers a two hour biking tour of all the murals, starting at the Bicycle Riders House.

Belgium is considered the capital of the bande dessinée, or « comic strip ».

Even though it’s one of the more niche segments of Belgian cultural history, it attracts tourists, and some years ago, the comic book tourism in Belgium peaked. “After the Tintin movies, directed by Steven Spielberg, we noticed an increase in tourists asking for maps or guided tours,” says Vincent Dubois, a local who earns some money on the side as tour guide. “Especially American tourists were really interested. They come for Tintin, but they stay because of the quaint neighborhoods that are not crowded by tourists.”

Some of these American Tintin-tourists are Robert Hartman (63) and his wife Gina (59). “We have some family living in Germany, so we were going to be in Europe anyway, but when we saw the Tintin movie, we decided to check out the place where he originated, as we were so close already,” says Robert. His wife continues, “That was seven years ago. Every time we come back to Europe, we say we should come back to see if they added more murals, but this is the first time we did it. I’m really curious to see the new additions.”

The Brussels Tourism Office offers comic maps for 1 euro, or alternatively you can take the route provided on this map here.

The post The Comic Strip Route: Discovering Brussels from a different perspective appeared first on Brussels Express.

A pencil-on-paper 35.2×50 cm (13.8 x 19.6 inch) design and a 30.7×47.7 cm India ink copy, drawn by the Belgian cartoonist known as Herge in 1957, however fell short of the estimated price of between $720,000 to $960,000.

Heritage Auctions’ spokesman Eric Bradley told Agence France Presse that the set had been bought by a Brussels-based collector who « wished not to be identified at this time ». Herge, whose real name was Georges Remi was himself from Brussels, a city which also plays home to Tintin and often forms the initial backdrop to his adventures.

Although Saturday’s auction was held in Texas, it was livestreamed at various locations including at Heritage Auction’s Dutch headquarters outside Utrecht.

The two drawings depict page 58 of the intrepid boy reporter’s adventures in the 19th album by Herge, known as « Coke en stock » in French and published in 1958.

They show 12 panels starting with Tintin, his crusty sea-going friend Captain Haddock, his faithful canine companion Snowy and the eyepatch-wearing Estonian pilot Piotr Skut looking out to sea.

The action seamlessly moves underneath their ship, the S.S Ramona, where an attempt by a frogman to plant a limpet mine is cut short as he is hit on the head by a dropping anchor.

The mine is then eaten by a ravenous shark which swims off emitting a series of hiccups.

Original Herge drawings rarely appear on the open market as the artist did not have to sell his original artworks, but occasionally gave them away to close friends as gifts, Heritage Auctions added in a statement. Herge gave the set on auction Saturday to a « Scandinavian friend » in the 1970s who later sold it to a buyer « in a German-speaking part of Europe, » Brussels-based comic art expert Eric Verhoest said.

Earlier this month a rare original 1939 illustration from the comic book album « King Ottokar’s Sceptre » sold for more than 600,000 euros at an auction at Christie’s in Paris.

The record sale for an original page of Herge’s drawings dating from 1937 was set in 2014 at over two million euros.

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Belgium and comics have undeniable a long and solid love story. There is no secret about that. Tintin is one of the most famous comic strip heroes in the French-speaking literature.

The reporter firstly appeared back in January, 10 1929 in Le Petit Vingtième, a weekly supplement of the Belgian newspaper Le Vingtième Siècle. Hergé – his real name was George Remi –  firstly drew and wrote Tintin’s adventures in the pays des Soviets.

Tintin is a kind and smart reporter who travels the World to solve investigations. He is always accompanied by his loyal dog, Milou, as well as Capitaine Haddock and, later on,  Professeur Tournesol. We can’t forget the brothers Dupont and Dupond.

His first adventure was in the USSR – Tintin in the land of Soviets – followed by many others destinations such as Congo (former Belgian colony), USA, India, China and also….the moon with his mates.

Tintin’s adventures are also an interesting way to analyse the World’s geopolitics back in the 20^th century and, ultimately, Hergé’s perception on politics and foreign countries. In Tintin in the land of Soviets, the author indeed aims to describe how the Soviet Union actually was. And in Tintin in Congo, how Congo was under the domination of Belgium until 1960.

Tintin in Congo remains until today a very controversial episode as Hergé was accused several times of racism. As an example, since 2007, the congolese Congolese campaigner Bienvenu Mbutu Mondondo has been seeking a ban on the book claiming the portrayal of Africans was « a justification of white supremacy ».

Tintin’s adventures survived the last 89 years and remains in 2018 a very successful Belgian brand. Proof is that more than 240 millions albums were sold over the last 89 years in more than 80 countries and even Steven Spielberg adapted Tintin’s story to the cinema.

Tintin also inspired urban art in Brussels. As an example, the Stockel metro station is dedicated to Tintin’s adventures. The Hergé’s aficionados,  should consider visiting the Hergé’s museum in Louvain-la-Neuve.

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