'Tim en Tom Erven Een Kasteel'.
Armand ("Mon") Van Meulenbroeck was a Belgian comic artist and animator, who signed his work with 'AVM'. As a comic artist, he is best-known for 'Tim en Tom' (1949-1951). In the late 1940s he worked for the Artec Studio, founded by Bob De Moor and his brother-in-law John van Looveren to produce comic strips for Flemish magazines and newspapers. Most of the work was made by De Moor with occasional scriptwork by Van Looveren. To keep up with the workload, Van Meulenbroeck was brought in as an additional artist. François Cassiers (who later formed the comedy duo The Woodpeckers with his brother Jef) possibly also contributed to the productions.
Life and career
Born in 1924 in Antwerp, Van Meulenbroeck studied at the local Academy of Fine Arts , together with Bob De Moor. Both he and De Moor began their careers working on animated films during World War II. They were employed by studios like Animated Cartoons and subsequently AFIM, both founded by Ray Goossens, Jules Luyckx and Henri Winkeler. They worked on productions like 'Hoe Pimmeke ter wereld kwam' and 'Smidje Smee' until the studio closed down, after which Van Meulenbroeck and De Moor were forced by the Nazi oppressor to work in the Erla factories in Mortsel during the final war year. Van Meulenbroeck continued to work on animated films for the advertising agency Van Dam K.H. in Antwerp after the war.
Van Meulenbroeck joined De Moor's Artec studio around 1947-1948, and was mainly involved in finishing De Moor's sketches. He also drew a couple of gag strips by himself, which he signed with "AVM". Mon Van Meulenbroeck is most likely the artist behind the adventure series 'Tim en Tom' (1949-1951) which ran in both Kleine Zondagsvriend and 't Kapoentje. Two stories are known, namely 'Tim en Tom Erven Een Kasteel' and 'Tim en Tom Contra Mr. X'. They were also serialized in the local West-Flemish newspaper Het Wekelijks Nieuws in 1958-1960.
Comic strip for Artec Studio, signed "AVM".