Trip Report: Brussels, Belgium

Part 2: The MOOF! And more.

Having fully immersed ourselves in the glory of the Comic Strip Center, we sat down for a meal of Belgian delicacies: fries and beer! But just down the road, we noticed something strange, something wonderful…something Smurfy.

It turned out this giant Smurf was guarding the entrance to yet another comic museum.

The MOOF, Museum of Original Figures, is actually home to a private collection of figurines and other comic book collectibles.

While its main focus is obviously Belgian works, there is a nice selection of American superheroes here as well.

Can you believe he took these out of the package??

The displays at the MOOF are geniunely breathtaking and a collector’s dream. They’ll have you running to Ikea, trying to hack together a whole new setup for your action figures. Unfortunately the lighting made it a little hard to capture just how great it all was.

And right outside the MOOF was another surprise. A Smurf store!

Tasty.

I’m glad she finally found someone.

You can see the reflection of my Archie shirt in the glass on that last one. Just the disembodied heads of Archie and the gals, cheering on Smurfette and her new love.

We then had a wander around, looking for some of the murals of the Comic Book Route. I have limited mobility, and the cobblestones weren’t helping, so we only found a couple. But we loved knowing that they were all over the city.

Tintin! This guy is like the mayor of Brussels.

This, however, was my favorite bit of street art.

Manneken Pis is a statue of a peeing boy in a fountain, and it is basically the symbol of Brussels. It is on magnets, t-shirts, chocolate bars. They dress the little guy up in different costumes for every holiday. His tiny bronze penis is a national treasure.

No thank you, sir.

We later learned there was one more comic museum, the Herge Museum,focusing on Tintin and his creator. But at that point, we were so exhausted. We opted instead to visit local comic shop The Forbidden Zone and SPEND ALL OUR MONEY.

So many luscious hardcovers, so little room in our suitcases.

We don’t have a bad thing to say about Brussels. Fries, chocolate, waffles, comics—what more could you ask for? A+, would recommend.

See you Friday for more comics!