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The CBBD occupies what was formerly the Magasins Wauquez, an innovative Art Nouveau structure of cast iron supporting large expanses of glass, designed by Victor Horta in 1903–6 (see Pavillon Horta, Brussels).

This small exhibit deals with the practicalities of the art: how the imagination of the story-writer and artist-designer (le scénariste ) is converted into a visual form and prepared for printing.

A large, darkened exhibition space is filled with display cases where 200 of the 6,000 or so original pieces of artwork in the museum’s collection are displayed in rotation. Many were rescued from the publishers’ wastepaper baskets – formerly their usual fate after publication.

The growth of the comic strip coincided with the rapid evolution of movies. In 1914, Winsor McCay saw how the two forms could be combined – the result was Gertie the Dinosaur , the first cartoon (you can see it here). This section explores the genre.

The library has a public reading room, which is open to anyone with a museum ticket.

The “Museum of the Imagination” traces the origins of the comic strip, and looks at many of the classic characters.

This exhibit looks at recent comic-strip trends, including humorous, political and erotic work.

Named after the Little Nemo adventure, the shop stocks everything on the comic strip theme.

This small room is used primarily to show films related to the temporary exhibitions.

Of course, the main hero of the CBBD is the famous boy-reporter Tintin, creation of Hergé. Translated into some 40 languages, over 140 million copies of the books have been sold worldwide. The museum acknowledges his status with 3-D models of key characters, and the rocket that went to the moon.