Comic Art Museum - Brussels

Even though comic strip art has increasingly been gaining official recognition over the last few decades, young authors are nevertheless finding it more and more difficult to establish a career in this field. The Belgian Comic Strip Centre therefore cordially welcomes the new ‘64_page’ comic strip art magazine that has come upon the scene. The latter has set itself the highly laudable mission to promote the creation of comic strip art. In just two years and eight issues, 64_page has already managed to provide an excellent launching pad for some 35 talented young authors.

For some of them, this is not only the first time that they are seeing their work in print, but this is also their very first opportunity to take part in an exhibition.  

Willem De Graeve, Belgian Comic Strip Center

An atypical format and wide angle content… In a nutshell, something completely new and a breath of fresh air in the world of comic strip art! Given that virtually all weekly comics have disappeared from the shelves, this vital link between the schools and the professional world has also been lost. So, the idea to launch 64_page first came about in 2014. The magazine provides a launching pad for these often highly talented young authors, who have been left to fend for themselves. Half of the pages of each issue are dedicated to them, enabling them to present a complete story, without any restrictions on technique, topic or aesthetics. The emphasis is purely on their potential and the originality of the project.

Over the course of its eight publications, 64_page has opened up its pages to 35 young authors.

Every issue also introduces a heart throb; an established author and celebrity of the 9^th Art. And finally, to complete the whole picture, the comic magazine includes a number of headings that touch upon other aspects of the medium, and these may or may not be recurrent. What more could we possibly wish for?

An exhibition? Some original plates?

Well, here they are, and to celebrate our second anniversary, we are repeating the successful Paper Anniversary experience from September 2015 in the magical setting of the Belgian Comic Strip Centre. 64_page, Continued… is offering 12 young authors the opportunity of a first exhibition, and 10 of last year’s exhibitors are being offered a second experience.

Philippe Decloux, 64_page

64_page expresses its sincere thanks to Didier Reynders, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign and European Affairs, Head of Beliris and the Federal Cultural Institutions, as well as the Commission for the Support of Comic Strip Art from the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.