Cartoonist Marc Sleen's funeral: So long, and thanks for all the waffles

It was one of those headlines that only a Belgian would understand. "Funeral ceremony to end with a wafelenbak", announced Het Laatste Nieuws.

And what, you might ask, is a wafelenbak. The Flemish Dictionary defines it as "a party where waffles are cooked and sold in aid of a good cause". In other words, the sort of thing the scouts would do to raise money for their summer camp.

But, unlike most waffle parties, this one was going to be held after a funeral. The town of Hoeilaart organised a huge waffle party on Saturday 12 November in memory of Marc Sleen, the spiritual father of the comic strip hero Nero who died at the age of 93.

No one doubted that eating waffles was the right thing to do at Sleen’s funeral (pictured). It served as a reminder of the Nero comic books, which traditionally concluded with everyone eating waffles.

The people of Hoeilaart were upset by the death of the town’s most famous resident. For Marc Rooms, who runs Marc’s ice cream van, the death was particularly hard to take. He got the go-ahead from the comic book artist a few years ago to have sole rights for making Nero waffles.

But at least everyone knew what they have to do to get over the loss. The council provided the dough, residents and local groups were asked to provide the waffle irons.

More than 1,000 waffles were served after the funeral. "We used about 50 kilograms of flour," Rooms said, "to make the dough for the waffles and spent four-and-a-half hours preparing it."

"Rest in peace, Marc Sleen", wrote one fan on a social media site. "You have given me years of reading pleasure, and so I will eat a waffle in your honour."

Photo: Filip de Smet/Belga