The first cartoon strips were published in American newspapers in the late 19th century. Now popular the world over, there is even a museum that celebrates their history, The Brussels Comic Strip Museum. Vehicles of all descriptions have featured strongly for decades, and model cars from some of these cartoon series have been produced by companies such as Altaya and Atlas. Featured below are cars from just four series of “Les Bandes Dessinées”.
BLAKE ET MORTIMER This Belgian comic series was created by Edgar P. Jacobs. It was first published in 1946 and describes the adventures of MI5 agent Captain Francis Blake and his associate, Philip Mortimer, a leading British scientist.
MICHEL VAILLANT Michel Vaillant is a French comic series created in 1957 by Jean Graton. The stories involve racing driver Michel Vaillant who competes in a variety of different events for the Vaillante Racing Team, which was founded by his father Henri in 1939.
SPIROU ET FANTASIO Spirou et Fantasio first appeared in 1938 and is a Franco-Belgian comic series. The two main characters are Spirou (the Walloon word for “squirrel”) who was originally a hotel bell-boy, and his friend Fantasio who is a reporter.
TINTIN “Les Aventures de Tintin” were a series of cartoon books created by Belgian Georges Remi, whose pen name was Hergé. They were first published in 1929 and feature a reporter called Tintin and his dog Snowy. Other main characters include Captain Haddock, Professor Calculus and the detectives Thomson and Thomson. Famous the world over, the books have now sold over 200 million copies and have been adapted for radio, TV, theatre and film.
