Not All Heroes Need Museums: Brussels’ Marc Sleen Museum Closes

Photos by Mike Rhode, January 2019

by Wim Lockefeer

Somewhere in the 70s, when people all over the world started seeing comics as something more than "just for kids," early cognoscenti of comics in Flanders (the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium) decided that their region's own comics tradition needed recognition on its own (as opposed to the generally more-accepted Franco-Belgian school, which was largely francophone in origin.).

Typically, Flemish comics were newspaper-based, serialized stories in a comedic style, and its founding fathers were Willy Vandersteen, the creator of Suske & Wiske, Marc Sleen, one-time Guinness World Record holder for most prolific cartoonist, and Bob De Moor (even though he predominantly worked for the Studios Hergé). Later, the Pantheon was expanded with people like Jef Nys (Jommeke), Robert Merhottein (Kiekeboe) and Hec Leemans (Bakelandt and De Kampioenen, the current best-selling comic in Flanders).

Of the three, Vandersteen and Sleen were real cultural giants, well-known by even the most casual comics reader, regulars in the mainstream media, and bestowed with all kind of honorary titles. And both wanted to continue their legacy with a museum. Vandersteen's studio was transformed in an experience museum for kids, and in 2009 Sleen's own museum opened in the Rue des Sables in Brussels, across the street from the famous Belgian Comics Centre.

Stallaert dedicace in book in the giftshop

By then, Sleen had already concluded his longest-running series (Nero, in 2002), a decade after he had delegated the artwork for the comic to collaborator Dirk Stallaert, limiting his own contribution to scripting the actual stories. It must be said, by then Nero (and Sleen) already was a bit of a faded glory, cherished by an older, nostalgic audience, but without much of the social and cultural relevance it used to have.

The reason for this was that Sleen's stories were typical newspaper strips, realized without too much of a plan or script, and loaded with topical references. The stories were highly entertaining, often very funny romps with a lot of smashing and running, but also with keen social and political satire and criticism. Published as albums, though, they seldom aged well, as the references often faded with the times.

Additionally, while Vandersteen did create a readership for himself in the French-speaking part of the country, attempts to introduce Nero to his francophone compatriots proved more difficult, and the series was halted in 1987.

It's hardly a surprise that the Marc Sleen Museum never really got off the ground.  Since its opening, it was never able to welcome the expected number of 25,000 visitors, and it was hardly able to break even. Support by the Brussels government (200,000 euros annually) kept the organization afloat for a while (even though much of the money was used for an artist-in-residence program) until it was announced that that would end by 2022, when Sleen's centennial would be celebrated throughout the year. The Museum itself closed to the general public on May 31, 2023.

The old Le Peuple building that used to house the Museum, will remain the property of the Marc Sleen Foundation, and his (recreated) studio will remain open to the public, albeit only upon request. Starting in the summer of 2023, the Comics Museum will rent most of the rooms for specific exhibitions and events, specifically focusing on the introduction of new comics talent. 

 

As is the case with the building, the objects that were part of the Museum's main exhibition remain with the Marc Sleen Foundation.

At the moment of writing, the website for the Museum at https://www.marcsleen.be/ reads as a 2022 time capsule. A virtual tour of the Museum can be seen at https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=e3wMeeHrPpm The still-extant Suske en Wiske Museum’s website is https://www.suskeenwiskemuseum.be/