Comics that leap off the page
Last September, Brussels opened the ultimate playground for lovers of comics. The Museum of Original Figurines (Moof) brings comic heroes to life, from a giant roaring troll to a miniature baby Smurf. It also shows the evolution of Belgian female characters, from men in disguise to liberated women. And to ensure the future of local comics, the museum is doing its bit to encourage young talent.
Brussels’ fantastic new museum of figurines is putting the finishing touches on its Flemish collection
In Central Station’s Horta Gallery, about 1,500 figurines from mostly Belgian and French comics are on show, and soon visitors will even be able to smell their breath, thanks – or not – to the “Odorama” feature.
Moof complements the Belgian Comic Strip Centre, which focuses on the history of local comics. “Moof highlights the artistic side of comics by showcasing the cast of the stories in 3D,” says Geert De Weyer, Moof curator and writer of 100 stripklassiekers (100 Comic Classics).
Nostalgia
“Cast” can be taken literally in the case of three Smurfs standing on top of the yellow suitcase that brought them from the US. They are prototypes used for the Hollywood movie The Smurfs, and the producers gave them to the daughter of Pierre Culliford, otherwise known as Peyo, the Brussels-born creator of the little blue creatures. Véronique Culliford gave them to the museum, where they now form a major attraction. The rest of the exhibition comes mostly from private collections.
The Smurf village is De Weyer’s favourite place. “I grew up reading the comic strips and watching the television series. Immediately, I am sucked back into their world.” The camp of the Blauwbloezen, a comic about the adventures of US cavalrymen during the American Civil War, had a similar effect on one visitor. “A man in his 40s stood at their display case for half an hour, totally overcome by nostalgia because the Blauwbloezen represented his youth,” says De Weyer.
Tintin, or Kuifje in Dutch, is another crowd-puller. The subject of the recent blockbuster by Steven Spielberg, here you can watch him in 3D without special glasses. Large as life in a space suit, he walks on the moon accompanied by his faithful fox terrier Snowy and other comrades. “Seventeen years before Neil Armstrong, Hergé depicted this vision of man on the moon,” says De Weyer.
Other local icons on display are Robbedoes, Guust Flater, Lucky Luke and Blake and Mortimer. Asterix is the French headliner, and there are hanging multi-layered comic book covers of Batman, Spiderman and Superman on a wall in what is to become the corner dedicated to American superheroes. A manga area is also being prepared. Flemish favourites such as Jommeke, Suske & Wiske and the Kiekeboes should be fully installed in their place by the end of January.
Grrrl power
The museum provides a rare insight into the evolution of female characters in Belgian comics. “The British newspaper The Times claimed that Kuifje was homosexual because women don’t take part in his adventures, except ‘manly’ women, like Bianca Castafiore,” says De Weyer. “But this absence of female touches is partly explained by the censorship of the French on sexuality in comic strips; It was established to boycott Belgian comics that grew too popular for their liking. This censorship did not apply to French comics.”
At the end of the 1960s, the ban was lifted, and, in 1970, Japanese electrical engineer Yoko Tsuno and stewardess Natasja became the first female heroines in Belgian comics. Figurines of Castafiore, Tsuno and Natasja are exhibited, followed by femme fatale Jessica Blandy and private detective Caroline Baldwin. The procession finishes with comic pin-up girls.
The next generation
Moof also houses the Raymond Leblanc Foundation, named after the founder of comic book publisher Lombard Editions, the influential Tintin magazine and the animation studio Belvision. Images of Belvision’s first animated film, De fluit met de zes smurfen (The Smurfs and the Magic Flute), are projected on a screen.
The Foundation tries to ensure the future of local comics with an annual prize for the new generation of “the ninth art”. Moof director Jean-Pierre Vanhemelryck is an enthusiastic supporter of their mission. “All the decoration in the museum is done by young comic artists. We also cooperate with art schools and in time hope to award our own grants.”
Moof is keen to provide tourist services connected to the exhibition. Vanhemelryck: “In the near future, we will open a restaurant and a shop where visitors can start their own collection of figurines, including a ‘Smurf shop’.”
http://moof.d2d.be
