Comic Heroes from Belgium
Many world-renowned comic characters hail from Belgium, Europe's home of illustrated stories for nearly a century. Here is an introduction to some beloved Belgian comic characters.
Tintin and Snowy
Tintin and Snowy's lust for solving mysteries took them all over the world and beyond, including a 1950 space expedition that took place long before Neil Amstrong's moon mission. The adventurous pair were assisted by the unwavering but foul-mouthed and perpetually drunk Captain Haddock, the absent-minded Professor Bienlein, and the oblivious detectives, Schulze and Schultze.
Spirou and Fantasio
Spirou began his career in 1938 as a Pageboy in a hotel, where he met reporter Fantasio in 1943. Together the pair undertook numerous adventures during which they encountered many other central characters: Fantasio's evil cousin, Zantafio; the crazy scientist Zyklotrop; the unlucky mafia boss Don Vito Cortizone; and the monkey-like creature Marsupilami.
Marsupilami
Marsupilami lives in the jungles of Palombia and belongs to the family of the monotreme animals (like the platypus and echinda). With his eight-meter-long tail and appetite for piranhas, he is shy and rare but has super powers. His biggest enemies are the jaguar preying on his cubs, and the big hunter Bring M. Backalive, who wants to catch Marsupilami and sell him to an animal park.
Spike and Suzy (Willy and Wanda)
Belgian comic artists have regularly caused a sensation with their works. These include Willy Vandersteen’s "Willy and Wanda" (American title, "Spike and Suzy" in the UK), the daily comic strip about two adventurous friends published for the first time in 1945 that achieved a similar cult status as "The Adventures of Tintin" or "Spirou."
Lucky Luke
Lucky Luke and his trusty horse, Jolly Jumper, have been keepers of justice in the wild west since 1946. Their enemy is the notorious Dalton brothers gang who not only attack stagecoaches and banks, but terrorize innocent citizens. Jolly Jumper is forever Luke's loyal and dependable sidekick who not only plays chess, but can also saddle himself and climb trees.
Ric Hochet (Rick Master)
For more than 55 years, Ric Hochet (Rick Master in German) has been solving difficult mysteries. From 1955 to 2010, the reporter and amateur detective undertook a total of 77 adventures, running into all manner of wild nemesis' from werewolves to vampires. But in the end, the plotlines were somewhat blandly resolved.
Gaston Lagaffe
Appearing in the French-language Belgian comics magazine "Spirou," Gaston is a daily comic strip first published in 1957 that features Gaston Lagaffe, a lazy office junior in a comic book publisher who is constantly causing chaos, or "gaffes." Instead or working, he cultures a family of mice in his document folder, or creates innumerable inventions including a shoelace-tying device
The Smurfs
The lovable tiny blue creatures in their mushroom houses and enchanted forest shot to fame in 1958. For the most part, Smurfs are musical and industrious (with the exception of Lazy, who falls asleep even while standing up). Papa Smurf's magical powers help protect his sheep, but more importantly, protect all from the evil wizard Gargamel who likes to hunt for Smurfs.
Silence: the mute
Released in 1980, "Silence," was the greatest success of the writer and illustrator Didier Comès, a pioneer of the graphic novel. The mute and slightly backward servant of the farmer Abel, Silence is badly treated by his employer. But seeing only good in people, he does not realize that he's been rejected as an outsider in the village. When he falls in love with a witch, evil takes its course.
The Cat
"The Cat" was a comic strip by Philippe Geluck published in the "Le Soir" newspaper from 1983 until 2013. It featured an overweight cat in a suit and tie who liked to sprout sometimes absurdist ideas about life and politics — and here comments on the prevalence of men in the forming of the EU. "The cat is a tool for me to say what I want to say," Geluck once said.
Dickie
Enjoyed a growing fan base since first published in 2001, "Dickie" is the ongoing tale of a farmer who is also a walking disaster. Created by Flemish illustrator Pieter de Poortere, Dickie slips into bizarre different roles: He is Bin Laden, sometimes Hitler's son, and then suddenly Marilyn Monroe. Just as poor Dickie thinks it can't get any worse, it always does.