This article presents an overview of the scientist as a special character in Belgian comics. In the years after World War II and during the first stages of the Cold War, scientists were introduced in many long-term Belgian comic series. The first aim of this article is to find structural commonalities in the scientist as a comic character. The characters are classified following a typology: geniuses, wizards, puzzlers, adventurers, nerds, mad scientists and the misunderstood genius. The second

more »

... im is to explain the appearance of the stereotypical character of the scientist in Belgian comics. To trace its origin, the histories of some real scientists and of scientists in novels and films are discussed. It is argued that the way scientists are portrayed in Belgian comics is mainly the result of pragmatic choices the authors have to make, inspired by the work of colleagues and examples from other art forms.