You might have heard that Belgium is the land of comic books. It is indeed the one country in the world where comic books are still popular, perhaps only Japan can rival it. There are tons of current artists, making comic books of all sorts, for children, adolescents, adults.
Such love for comic books can be felt all over town, in the souvenir shops especially. If Tintin ran for president in Belgium, he would probably win! There is so much Tintin merchandise to put Disney to shame.
Comic books are not to be found in newspaper stands, which, by the way, are few in Brussels. They are really books, with hard binding and all. Serious stuff.
Since I like comic books, I had to visit at least one of the comic book emporiums. I visited two.
Before you get to excited, thinking you will find reissues of old American comic books, slow down. You will find mostly (90%, I would say) Belgian goodies, some Disney, some Japanese material. No Little Nemo in Slumberland, Captain America stuff there. At least I didn't find it, and I did look.
I did find French Michel Vaillant books, and bought this one, that seemed to have an interesting story.
Additionally, most material is in French and Dutch. There are small English language sections. For the record, I also bought some Tintin material, including a book that tells how each Tintin album was created.
Such love for comic books can be felt all over town, in the souvenir shops especially. If Tintin ran for president in Belgium, he would probably win! There is so much Tintin merchandise to put Disney to shame.
Comic books are not to be found in newspaper stands, which, by the way, are few in Brussels. They are really books, with hard binding and all. Serious stuff.
Since I like comic books, I had to visit at least one of the comic book emporiums. I visited two.
Before you get to excited, thinking you will find reissues of old American comic books, slow down. You will find mostly (90%, I would say) Belgian goodies, some Disney, some Japanese material. No Little Nemo in Slumberland, Captain America stuff there. At least I didn't find it, and I did look.
I did find French Michel Vaillant books, and bought this one, that seemed to have an interesting story.
Additionally, most material is in French and Dutch. There are small English language sections. For the record, I also bought some Tintin material, including a book that tells how each Tintin album was created.
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