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The Alain Van Passen Collection

The Collection 

The Alain Van Passen Collection is an extensive and multifaceted research resource for the study of comics, media history, and popular culture. It was acquired in 2018 as part of the ERC research project  COMICS (no. 758502), led by Prof. Dr. Maaheen Ahmed, and originates from the private collection of the Brussels-based comics collector Alain Van Passen.

The collection consists primarily of Francophone comics magazines from Belgium and France, aimed at both children and adults. It includes a wide range of historical and contemporary comic series and magazines, documentation from comics associations, original comic art created by Alain Van Passen himself, and various forms of comics ephemera, such as collectible cards. Its chronological scope is notably broad: from early publications dating back to 1935—including Les Aventures de TouiToui and Jumbo : pour les jeunes de France—to recent issues of the Journal de Spirou from 2017.

Thanks to this long timespan and the diversity of materials, the collection offers numerous research opportunities. It is an excellent resource for studying the development of comics magazines, shifting target audiences, narrative and graphic styles, publishing practices, networks of comics associations, and the societal role of comics throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Partial digitisation and discoverability through the library catalogue make the collection accessible for exploratory research by students as well as for in-depth academic research. 

     

Les aventures de Touitoui; par Alain Saint-Ogan; 1935; Hachette, Paris
Le journal de Spirou; vol. 6, no. 1, 5 octobre 1944; Dupuis, Marcinelle
Jumbo: hebdomadaire illustré pour enfants; vol. 1, no. 1, 1935; Librairie Moderne, Paris

Alain Van Passen (1941- ) 

Alain Van Passen spent his entire life collecting comics and was himself actively involved in the comics world. He grew up in Etterbeek, in the same neighbourhood as Hergé, and was exposed early on to a vibrant comics culture, supported in part by the many kiosks in the area. His passion was nurtured by countless hours of reading, frequent visits to the cinema, and the creation of his own comics, including Ajax.

Van Passen was also deeply engaged in comics fan clubs, such as the Club des Bandes Dessinées, where he shared his enthusiasm for the medium with like-minded peers. Although comics were long denied recognition as a legitimate art or literary form—something Van Passen experienced firsthand—he continued to pursue his passion. His collecting practices reflect this history and constitute an interesting research object in their own right, for instance for studies on collecting culture, canon formation, and the valuation of popular media. His focus on the boom period of comics magazines from the 1930s onward, as well as on later periodical publications, including Marvel, makes the collection particularly relevant for comparative and transnational research.

Literature and Documentation