Tintin in a Station of the Metro

The apparition of these figures on the walls;
Bas-reliefs on long, white surfaces.

I've been to Brussels several times, but I don't believe I ever rode the metro. Which means that I missed the opportunity to see the giant Tintin murals in the Stockel metro station! Sob. (Surely, finding out this information was an omen: I must get back to Brussels soon, one way or another.)

But the next best thing might be to visit the station virtually, thanks to BrusselsPictures.com. Check out their exhaustive photo set of the 140 characters from Hergé's Tintin books appearing in the murals. As Captain Haddock might exclaim, "Ten thousand thundering typhoons!"

(Tip o' th' pin to The Ephemerist!)

Early Comics Published in Belgium: A New Blog by Pascal Lefèvre

Internationally regarded comics scholar/historian (and friend) Pascal Lefèvre has announced his new blog. I'll let him describe it, from his initial posting:

This is my research blog on Early Comics published in Belgium before Hergé's Tintin (1929). I've been browsing through Belgian periodicals and popular prints for the last five years and found already scores of examples, but most of them are reprints and translations from abroad. So, this blog will be mainly about early comics from an international perspective. I'm hoping to share parts of my research and foster some dialogue with other researchers. I've lots of plans, various articles are waiting to be published (see [the complete blog post] for former and projected publications). By the end of this year I'll put up also a website about my research.

I became a fan of Pascal's work even before I had the pleasure of meeting him, upon discovering his book (with Jan Baetens) Pour une lecture moderne de la Bande Dessinée in the bookstore of the Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée [Belgian Comic Strip Center] in Brussels. I await his next post with great anticipation!

Image Credit: Dr. Lefèvre's Academia.edu page.