In this intimate museum, you can experience the life and work of Marc Sleen through his creation Nero, very well known in Belgium and especially Flanders, but relatively unknown abroad.
Yet the museum is visited by Belgians and foreigners alike, tells me Brigitte Delmeire at the reception. I guess many can identify with Nero, the archetypical self-deprecating anti-hero who provides an insight into the Belgian psyche.
Comparing Marc Sleen with Hergé, the Godfather of the Belgian comic strips, there could not be a larger difference. Sleen produced 217 albums almost single-handedly, establishing a world record for the longest series by the same author. Hergé had an army of collaborators to produce a mere 23 albums. Hergé’s albums were very well researched, whereas Sleen often worked on several albums at once. Still Sleen managed to refer regularly to current affairs.
Brussels makes regular appearances in the albums of Nero, and a special exhibition currently draws attention to these scenes. There is also a Brussels walk, developed by museum staff, that takes you around these sites, with drawings to compare them to.
In short, the Marc Sleen Museum is compact. It can be visited quickly in half an hour, but you could as well spend a whole morning or afternoon if you want to see and read all. There is a reading room with Nero comics, which are - unfortunately - no longer in print. In combination with the Comic Strip Center, the visit is a good deal. In contrast to the center, which presents the breadth of the Belgian comic strip movement and can be overwhelming at times, the Marc Sleen Museum can be a breath of fresh air with its focus on a single author, nicely presented.