Alan Ford (comics)

Alan Ford

Alan Ford issue #1 (1969)
Story Max Bunker
Ink Magnus
Date 1969
Pages 120
Layout 2 images per page

Alan Ford is an Italian comic book created by Max Bunker (Luciano Secchi) and Magnus (Roberto Raviola), in print since 1969.[1] The comic book is a satirical take on classic secret agents laden with surreal and black humour, sardonic references to aspects of the contemporary Italian and Western society.

Although it became widely popular in Italy shortly after its introduction, Alan Ford remained relatively unknown outside Italy. The French, Danish and Brazilian editions soon failed but the only other foreign edition, in SFR Yugoslavia, was a huge success, becoming and remaining one of the most popular comic books in the former country and its successors.[2][3]

Although the initial plot in the first few episodes develops around an agent called Alan Ford, he is later just one of the central group of characters: Group TNT is an assembly of misfit secret agents, who operate from a flower shop in New York City, USA, which they use as a front for their secret headquarters. They are incompetent and lazy, yet intelligent and cunning, especially when it suits their own personal interests. Their outlandish biographies are dwarfed by that of their iron-fisted and shrewd leader, the wheelchair-ridden Number One, a Methusalem character who embezzles the millions paid to the group by American government or City Fathers for secret missions, while paying a pittance to his agents.

The comic book ridicules aspects of American society, including capitalism and racism. There were also direct references to local Italian reality, whose social ills were often satirized by Magnus & Bunker, as well as terms in Milanese dialect.

Alan Ford is published monthly by Max Bunker Press in Italy. There are also editions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia (at least 4 different editions, as of 2008), Serbia and Slovenia. Republic of Macedonia edition was also available for a while, and the Serbian editions are now imported into Macedonia and Montenegro, still remaining hugely popular. The comic book has been adapted to animated film and theater plays, as well as used as a source of inspiration in books and movies.

Contents

History

Three years before the comic book was published in May 1969, Max Bunker, along with illustrator Magnus, had the idea to create a satire of James Bond (they had previously created a serious spy character, Dennis Cobb). The initial script was written in August 1967 and the dialog revised in April 1968. The script included six main characters (Alan Ford, Bob Rock, Sir Oliver, The Boss, Jeremiah and Grunf), but the creators decided to omit Sir Oliver in the ultimate revision (July 1968), for fear of overwhelming readers with characters in the first issue. Raviola decided to base the drawing of Alan Ford on Irish actor Peter O'Toole.

According to Max Bunker, he wanted to create a comic book which did not fall into either of the then predefined categories of adventures and dark comics, like Satanik or Kriminal (both by Bunker and Raviola), or traditionally funny comics, like Mickey Mouse.[4]

The first issue of the comic book, entitled "Group TNT", was received mildly by its audience. The second issue, entitled "The Rotten Tooth" appeared in June 1968, introduced the Sir Oliver character, and was overshadowed by the first issue's lack of success. The reputation of Alan Ford grew with subsequent issues.

The character of Number One was introduced later into the series, in the 11th issue named "The Number One". Cirano first appeared in the 18th issue ("Dog For Million Dollars"), when he was adopted by Bob Rock, albeit unwillingly.

Magnus drew the first 75 issues, after which he was replaced by Paolo Piffarerio in 1975. In 1983, when the comic book moved to another publisher, Max Bunker Press, Raffaele della Monica and Giuliano Piccinnino replaced Piffarerio.

Currently the comic book is drawn by Dario Perucca (who also draws covers) with inks by Omar Pistolato. In its entire story the drawing style has remained the same set by Magnus.

Translations

Alan Ford was only translated into French, Serbo-Croatian, Danish, Portuguese and in the 1990s subsequent Croatian, Bosnian, Serbian, Macedonian and Slovenian editions appeared. The French and Macedonian editions only saw twelve issues before they got dropped due to poor sales. The Portuguese edition only saw about three issues. It was also translated into Albanian in Kosovo which saw only five issues before getting dropped, also due to poor sales.

Yugoslavia

Alan Ford reached great success in former Yugoslavia and quickly became the best selling comic book, reaching a cult status, and is still popular and well known. Socks with Alan Ford pictures on them can be still bought in Croatian supermarkets (as of 2006).

The comic book was first published by Vjesnik from Zagreb in 1972. Much of the comic book's success in Croatia is due to Nenad Brixy's distinctive translation, rich in baroque-sounding Croatisms, which were almost forgotten in recent times. This edition is still a popular collectors' item.

Some of Vjesnik's editions were occasionally censored by the publisher. For example, in issue number 16, "Don't vote for Notax", a line making fun of American racism, reading "Firstly, I promise that we will get rid of the Blacks. ... This is a country of the white race, and who doesn't think that way will get punished..." was changed to "Firstly, I promise that we will get rid of our enemy. This is our country and who doesn't think that way will..." Certain pictures from the book were removed or repainted in some editions, while in some other editions those very same pictures appeared in original version.

After the breakup of Yugoslavia, Borgis continued publishing for the Croatian market, keeping the original series title Alan Ford Superstrip. Maverick from Kraljevo initially started publishing for the Serbian market, and the comic was later picked up by Color Press Group. In the 2000s, the original episodes in Brixy's translation have been reprinted by Strip-agent in Croatia, under the title Alan Ford Klasik, again with great success and high circulation. Strip-agent is also publishing Alan Ford Extra (new Italian episodes), and Priče broja 1 (Number One's Stories).

In the mid-1990s, a theater play titled Alan Ford was staged at Teatar T in Belgrade. The play was an original story with most of the characters present, largely based on episode #30 ("The Bearded Gang"), but with numerous references to other episodes and characters. The play was performed in Croatian dialect, as used by Brixy.

France

In France, the comic book debuted in 1975 published by Sagédition and lasted for only twelve issues. As Magnus became better known in France, this edition became a collectors' item.

In 2003, a small independent publisher, Taupinambour, started another edition with new issues.

Brazil

In Brazil, the comic book also debuted in 1975, published by Editora Vecchi, and only lasted for about three issues.

Denmark

In Denmark, Alan Ford was published in 1974 by Interpresse under the name Oskar Mortensen, and only lasted for six issues.

Main characters

Many of the TNT Group members have disappeared from most recent issues, and the group currently consists of Alan, Minuette and Clodoveo, under the name "Investigation agency T.N.T at low cost".

Main enemies

Other enemies, whose names are normally puns in Italian, are Katodik, the two killers Frit and Frut, Mr. Tromb, Wurdalak the vampire (coming from the pages of Satanik), the scientist Aseptik, the quick-change Arsenico Lupon (pun of Arsène Lupin) and the ghost gangster Baby Kate.

Animation

Alan Ford was also transposed in 1988 into a low-budget, straight-to-video 30 minutes animated short called "Alan Ford e il Gruppo TNT contro SuperCiuk" ("Alan Ford and the TNT Group vs. SuperCiuk"). It was produced by Max Bunker Press and was based on the SuperCiuk story already published in the comic series.

Popular references

Popular quotes

References

Footnotes

External links