Not sure that there's necessarily a real compelling cultural contrast here, but light fare for thought: Tintin (
http://www.tintin.com/uk/) is 75 tomorrow, and has a Euro coin (
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,8356470%255E1702,00.html) to prove it.
When American cartoonists were creating strips with provencial armed heroes, a la Dick Tracy, the Belgians created a kids' hero who was a world-traveling reporter...with a cute dog. (Well, Orphan Annie had one of those, too, to be fair.) Still...
I'll take the wide-eyed hero of investigative reporting, thank you. Dick can have his wristwatch phones and undisclosed secret locations.
http://www.isebrand.com