Alan Ford - Max Bunker & Magnus (Editoriale Corno, 1969)
The spy-chedelic world of slapstick secret organisations, demented urban terrorists, and a rather curious case of mistaken identity. |
| Alan Ford is given a warm welcome by his future colleagues. |
Many of you will have known of the famous Italian comic artist, Magnus, or at least be familiar with his work and influences. Some of you will have heard of prolific writer, and exponent of the fumetti noir movement, Max Bunker. However, very few will have much knowledge of the pair's most prominent creation, Alan Ford.
The comic was first published by Editoriale Corno and hit the Italian stands in 1969, and is still enjoying immense popularity even today as it nears towards its 600th issue. It is possibly the country's best-loved title after Tex, Dylan Dog, Topolino and Diabolik. It was very much considered a slow starter when it first came out; people just didn't know what to make of it.
As far as I know, it has never been translated into English, and is never likely to be. Indeed, even the French attempts at providing their own reprinted version led to cancellation after just twelve issues, and this is a fair indication that the comic was never due to succeed abroad. However, it did prove to be quite popular in the former Yugoslavia, and this is perhaps hardly surprising as many states, primarily Slovenia and Croatia, traditionally maintain strong ties with Italian culture.
In fact, this is the precise reason why Alan Ford was unlikely to ever gain popularity as an exported comic title. Much of the humour and vernacular commentary, although incredibly well-observed though it is, tends to be rooted firmly on aspects of Italian society... even though it's based in New York City!
That being said, this is perhaps the closest attempt to a traditional, British sense of humour I have seen in Italian comics. It succeeds in satirising the spy thriller genre in pretty much the same way as the Pink Panther series of movies, as well as Austin Powers did years later. Although these are of course American productions, the focus is very much on James Bond and related British TV series of the late 1960s. Furthermore, Bunker and Magnus (both of whom were self-confessed anglophiles) were very careful to inject just the right amounts of anarchic, dark humour and visual japery necessary to appeal to an audience brought up on classic English-language television reruns.
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| Any older readers of The Beano may find something familiar about this scene. |
"So why am I reading this?" I can almost hear you ask. Well, the interesting thing about the titular protagonist is that, not only is he by no means the main character, but his very presence within the series is a complete accident. Not bad, eh?
The first issues dealt primarily with the series of events and coincidences that led to Alan Ford (a graphic designer by trade and something of a bit of loser, despite his straight man image), being induced into a bizarre society of secret agents, on the strength of a major misunderstanding. Although he is possibly the only 'normal' person in the whole series, and the one readers are clearly meant to associate with, he soon settles comfortably into his originally intended role as a somewhat passive, secondary character.
The secret society known as Gruppo T.N.T. ("The TNT Group") are an odd bunch of idiosyncratic, and often penniless, secret agents that operate from the back room of a run-down florist's shop in Central New York. Their flawed characteristics are extremely well-defined, as are their complex personality interactions. If you were to think of them as Dad's Army meets Mission: Impossible, in the style of Monty Python, you wouldn't be at all far off.
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| Comedy deaths are a frequent occurrence, except that they stay dead of course. |
- Numero Uno ("Number One"): The ancient, wheelchair-bound leader of the gang. He is extremely tight-fisted and manipulative, often blackmailing his recruits into obedience.
- Bob Rock: A snappy, violent and desperately unfortunate little man. He always wears a trademark Sherlock Holmes-style deerstalker and cape, and is sensitive to jokes about his unfeasibly large nose.
- La Cariatide ("The Pillar"): The original leader, and owner of the flower shop that serves as the group's HQ. After being ousted of his role following an internal power struggle, he is still resentful at being relegated to second-in-command. He also happens to be exceptionally lazy.
- Geremiah ("Jeremiah"): An ageing hermit and chronic hypochondriac. He is one of the few characters actually of Italian origin, although his condition is such that he is often left behind on guard duty.
- Otto Grunf: The stereotypically loyal and oblivious German World War veteran, who is particularly noted for his incompetence as a mechanical inventor, as well as prone to bouts of latent cowardice.
- Conte Oliver ("Sir Oliver"): A disgraced English nobleman, complete with bowler hat and monocle. Famed for his stiff upper lip, ability to turn on the gentlemanly charm, and for being an outrageous kleptomaniac.
- Clodoveo ("Clovis"): Numero Uno's intelligent pet parrot, who is not only a reformed alcoholic, but can also speak a vast range of languages and regional dialects.
As you have probably realised by now, the comic falls somewhere between humorous parody and crime noir, with frequent dips into either extremity. However, what really keeps the series ticking are the evermore eccentric and acutely surreal villainous elements.
The Baddies
- Superciuk ("Superdrunk"): Undoubtedly the group's most (in)famous recurring villain. Often described as a "Robin Hood in reverse", he is an overweight drunkard that actually robs from the poor to give to the rich. He is equipped with a lethal halitosis, due to a special combination of cheap alcohol and a rich, onion-based diet.
- Gommaflex ("Rubberflex"): A mysterious and dastardly individual, with a face so malleable that he is able to accurately impersonate any living being. Definitely one of the more sinister and dangerous foes of the series.
- Aseptik: The mad scientist who is convinced that humankind is not doing its bit in polluting the world's environment quickly enough.
- Dr. Alsar: A professor of medicine that attempts to worsen the condition of his patients, instead of trying to cure them.
- Arsenico Lupon ("Arsenic Lupin"): The dashing master thief and gentleman poisoner. A real lady-killer, in the literal sense of the term.
- I Mangia ("The Eaters"): A secret sect who are bent on world domination. They are specifically based on the concept of the Illuminati, although are in fact a satire of the Italian political system.
- Anten-Man ("Antenna Man"): An explicit parody of Silvio Berlusconi in his former career as a media mogul. His intent is on achieving a broadcasting monopoly by simply wiping out all of the opposition.
- Diamond Fitzgerald: A billionaire entrepreneur that only ever communicates to the world via live broadcast. He often comes up with ingenious, yet highly unethical, ways of forcing people to buy his latest products.
- Katodik: ("Cathode Ray") Another criminal mastermind that takes advantage of people's over-reliance on television. He has the ability to travel in and out of people's TV screens, and therefore attempting the most audacious robberies.
Krime Pretention
The more culturally aware members among you, may have noted the excessive use of the letter K within the naming of some of these characters, and that the character itself does not actually form part of the Italian alphabet. This was a light-hearted attack on the previous generation of noir comics of the 1960s (of which Bunker and Magnus were themselves primary exponents of), in which using the letter K had become synonymous within the genre, such as Kriminal, Satanik, and Diabolik, to name but a few.
The other thing to note is that it was traditional for Italian comic creators to visually style their main characters on famous celebrities. Alan Ford is no exception to the rule; the creators, in this case, deciding to model his specific likeness on that of the actor, Peter O'Toole.
So there we have it. If you have managed to last this far, you probably know a lot more about one of Italy's most treasured comic creations than you did before. However, what I really wanted to achieve was to share with you the concept and thinking behind what I, and many others, consider a truly original masterpiece.
If you are a creator yourself, I hope that this piece will have somehow inspired you, challenged you, and encouraged you to experiment with your characters and ideas. If you are a consumer, then I hope it will have convinced you to demand more; get in touch with publishers, like Europe Comics (even though they never respond to their emails), editorial houses, or app providers. I will even provide the translations, if someone would make it worth my while. And if you are simply a reader, or just a lover of all comics like myself, then why not pick up a copy next time you visit Italy, or on Ebay... even if just to admire the wonderful artwork.
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| Well, you've heard of The Singing Detective, haven't you?... |
I think it is only fair to mention that the comic has taken a dramatic turn for the worse in recent years. Since his marriage in issue 500, Alan Ford has very much become the centre of attraction, as the editorial staff have done away with many of the original characters. The pair now very much operate as a husband and wife investigative team, and the series has lost much of its edge.
Not sure if this gimmick will catch on or not, and I don't really care to be honest, but you can download the full set of eCards from this post here.
All visual content is for demonstrative purposes only and is the property of the respective owners.
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