Tintin Forums

He worked with Hergé on the dummy of the magazine in the pre-production period, and was the editor-in-chief (or at least editor-in-chief-in-waiting) of the first twelve issues, from 26th September 1946 until mid-December the same year, at which point, as Le Journal Tintin: Les coulisses d'une aventure, the official history of the magazine, published in 2006, puts it - "...his past caught up with him...".

The caveat is mine I have to say, the book just says "editor-in-chief"; however the book makes it quite clear in reference to Hergé that he could not work officially until he had his cerficats de civisme (Hergé's are reproduced in the book, and it's somewhat sobering to see them, as they more or less were life or death to him...).

Hergé's were not issued until the 25th of June, 1946 and the 4th October 1946, so he was working while some sort of official process was in train; my guess it was the same for Van Melkebeke, who was probably taken on on the assumption that he would be re-habilitated and given paper-work in due course. However that was not to be, and he had to leave the paper.


I have seen him cited as a model for the character of Mortimer - at least personality-wise.

The source I read seemed to imply that he did more than contribute as a model or inspiration for a character, in fact it may be the case that he advised on the plotting as well.

Jacobs' last B&M was Professor Sato's Three Formulæ, which is based in Japan. He got a lot of help on it from Shigehiko Hazumi, Van Melkebeke's son-in-law.

That may be so - to say that he served as a model isn't to say that he did nothing else; it was just an observation...
...however, Jacobs is apparently on record as contradicting the notion that Van Melkebeke played anything other than a passing rôle in the production of the actual Blake & Mortimer comics, so it's not possible to say definitely.

Interesting about the B&M connection as late as Sato. Perhaps loyalty to Jacobs caused some friction with Hergé (Van Melkebeke introduced Jacobs to Hergé in the first place, and Jacobs and Hergé had had their own difficulties).

Reading around the subject, Van Melkebeke was involved in the research for the Moon books with Bernard Heuvelmans in the late forties, so that bears out the notion of further collaboration.

Here are some details about Van Melkebeke's post-war fate, from a biography I got of him for Xmas:

He was editor of Tintin magazine when they started work on it. Jacobs wanted to draw a medieval story, but they already had one and Van Melkebeke persuaded him to draw an adventure in a more contemporary setting: The Secret of the Swordfish, which became the first Blake & Mortimer adventure. Van Melkebeke even inked the first 18 pages - which Jacobs later redrew completely for the book publication.

In October 1946, Van Melkebeke stood trial for collaboration.

The prosecution's main charge was an article he had written for the Nouveau Journal ("New Newspaper") in July 1944 in which he described the trial and death sentences handed out to a group that he had dubbed as "terrorists" - members of the Belgian resistance.

The article was extremely critical of their methods and especially raised the Communist beliefs of Robert Lejour, the group's leader. Van Melkebeke was sentenced to four years in prison and a heavy fine. He was first and foremost a painter, and was banned from having his work exhibited until 1957.

For a while he evaded justice, hiding out in Jacobs' attic and working for the magazine from Hergé's own home in Boitsfort. Hergé also paid him out of his own pocket.

In December 1946, however, a friend informed Raymond Leblanc, the magazine's publisher, of Van Melkebeke's situation and, fearing that the police would turn up at any moment, Leblanc ordered Van Melkebeke out of the Tintin offices.

When Hergé protested, Leblanc made it clear that he had gone to a lot of trouble to clear his name as it was without doing it for his friends and colleagues as well. Van Melkebeke served two years in prison, where he wrote scripts for Paul Culvelier and Jacques Laudy, other artists working for the magazine.

Van Melkebeke painted a portrait of Hergé, which the clairvoyant Bertje Jagueneau claimed had "bad vibes", and it was subsequently taken down. Hergé also got rid of other items and gifts related to Van Melkebeke. The portrait now hangs at the Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée (Belgian Comic Strip Centre).

His fall-out with Hergé was apparently also due largely to their views and treatments: Hergé liked his stories to have a basis in reality, while Van Melkebeke liked to let his imagination flow. There was also the fact that Hergé was far more successful professionally - and that Tintin's commercial potential meant that he got the kind of support from Leblanc which Van Melkebeke was denied. Van Melkebeke also criticized what he saw as Hergé's "lack of culture" and "low intelligence", saying that, "when I knew him, this 'great man' had only read three novels."

The final nail was apparently caused when, according to some claims, Hergé tore up Van Melkebeke's script for Tintin in Tibet without even reading it.

For the next thirty years, his contributions to the comic world were low-key and done using pseudonyms, or else were simply not credited. Hergé's first wife Germaine said that he probably deserved better.

Hergé did involve Van Melkebeke's daughter Chantal in the production of the film Tintin and the Golden Fleece. It was she who discovered Jean-Pierre Talbot while at the beach, and got him to be cast as Tintin, though she hid behind the name "Chantal Rivière" in order to avoid embarrassment.

Van Melkebeke makes a cameo in "Seven Crystal Balls" that I was not previously aware of. On page 57, panel 2, when Alcazar tells Tintin that he is returning to South America, Van Melkebeke can be seen in the background, looking up at the ship.

I'm wondering if it's a hint by Hergé that Van Melkebeke was thinking of emigrating himself - given his circumstances when the story was first published in 1946.

This is probably the appearance which rodney mentioned earlier in this thread.

Well Hergé was considering a move to Argentina at this time, so it's a possibility I suppose. Then again, Van Melkebeke appears in various places throughput the canon, from throne-rooms to theatres and train stations to flea-markets, so it may just have been an accidental juxtaposition.

Now if Hergé had drawn himself on the ship, waving good-bye...!

Sorry, that'll teach me not to read a full thread first.

I know about most of his other cameos, but those are mainly as a face in the crowd and his appearance at the flea market in "Unicorn" was during the war. I just think this seems so much more specific, like a hint. It's not impossible that going abroad was an option he was seriously considering and discussed with Jacobs and Hergé.

BTW, when does he make an appearance in a theatre?

I was fairly certain that he was the chap with his back to us, gesturing at the stalls, who is in the box with E.P. Jacobs; in addition to the signature shock of hair, it would be only right that Hergé drew them together, given that they were both childhood friends, and had worked together in the theatre.

However, upon further investigation, I also see that the chap in the front row, sitting three seats in and also pointing at the stage has been identified elsewhere as Michel Regnier, better known perhaps as "Greg"; he's a virtual twin for the bloke in the box, so perhaps it isn't Van Melkebeke, but a second appearance by Greg (which is quite possible given that Édouard Cnapelinckx manages to be in both the left- and right-hand boxes).

Hmmmm... when "Seven Crystal Balls" was first published Greg was only about 17 and although he started his career early is there any indication that Herge even knew him then?

Granted it looks like a teenage boy with his parents, but then again there are other children in that scene.

He and the guy in the box who is pointing at the stage and looking at Jacobs both have their backs turned to the reader. If Herge meant it to be them then I would think that they would have their faces turned towards the reader in order to be more identifiable.

I've nothing at hand to say one way or another; however, someone has made the identification, so there may be specific evidence in the literature that says they did. In the mean time, I'm keeping an open mind, and will see if I can find further evidence to support a name for the figure.

It's probably missing the point a bit: virtually all the people he placed in that scene are turned away from us, but that's just the nature of this scene. Hergé included these figures mainly because he needed people to be in the scene, not because they had to be those specific people.
It's only because there are Tintinologists that the identities take on any real significance; their faces would have generally been unknown to the readership at large, even back in the day.
Hergé was always keen to get the attitudes of his characters correct and from life, and posed and drew whoever was to hand when he needed a referenece figure.
He himself would often pose for Tintin (there is a sequence of him doing just that in the documentary, Moi, Tintin, which was used again in Tintin et Moi).
There was obviously a degree of regard and affection in placing a person in the strip, but I think we shouldn't forget utility; it wasn't due to liking M. Cnapelinckx and the sandy-haired lad twice as much as Jacobs that put them in the frame twice, it was simply to fill four seats in the theatre he was drawing.