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Alan Ford - Il Gruppo TNT (Alan Ford and Group TNT), commonly known as '''Alan Ford''', is an Italian Comic Book created by Max Bunker (Luciano Secchi) and published since 1969 . 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 edition soon failed. On the other hand, the only other foreign edition in Yugoslavia was a huge success, becoming and remaining one of the most popular comic books in the former country and its successors. 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 miscast secret agents, who operate from a flower shop in New York , USA , which they use as a front for their secret headquarters. They are incompetent and lazy, but 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 Methuzalem 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 . However, Italian readers clearly understood that beyond the satire of American and Western culture an dpolitics, there were direct references to local Italian reality, whose social ills were often satirized by Magnus & Bunker. Alan Ford is published weekly by Max Bunker Press in Italy. There are also editions in Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia. The comic book has been adapted to animated film and theatre plays, as well as used as a source of inspiration in books and movies. HISTORY Three years before the comic book was published in May 1969 , Max Bunker, along with illustrator Roberto Raviola (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 drawn by the Bunker and Raviola), or traditionally funny comics, like Mickey Mouse. {Link without Title} 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. Raviola 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. Many readers think that the first issues, those drawn by Raviola, are the best. 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 and Croatian , and in the 1990s subsequent Macedonian , Serbian and Slovenian editions appeared. The French and Macedonian editions saw only twelve issues before it was dropped as unsuccessful. 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. In Croatia one can (as of 2006 ) still buy "Alan Ford" merchandise (e.g. socks) in supermarkets. The comic book was first published by ''Vjesnik'' from Zagreb in 1972 . The initial translation, by Nenad Brixy, became popular and much of the comic book's success in Yugoslavia is due to Brixy's distinctive translations. This edition is still a popular collectors' item. Some of ''Vjesnik's'' editions were occasionally censored by the Yugoslavian government. 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..." After the break up of Yugoslavia, ''Borgis'' continued publishing for the Croatian market. ''Maverick'' from Kraljevo initially started publishing for Serbian market, and was later picked up by ''Svet''. In the mid 1990s , a theater play "Alan Ford" was performed in Teatar T in Belgrade. The play was an original story with most of the characters from the comic book, mostly based on the episode #29 "The Bearded Gang", but with numerous references of other episodes and characters. The play was performed in the Croatian dialect, used by Brixy, otherwise alien to Belgrade. One of the best films by Serbian director Emir Kusturica , Black Cat, White Cat , is unashamedly inspired by ''Alan Ford''. In one of the scenes, a character is shown reading an issue of the Yugoslav version. 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. POPULAR REFERENCES
MAIN CHARACTERS
MAIN ENEMIES
Other enemies, whose names are normally puns in Italian Language , are Katodik, Mister Lamp, 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 ed 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. The animation was fairly good, despite the large use of tricks (ie. repeating backgrounds), some limited animation and sporadic defects. It should be noted that considering the situation of the animation at time - especially the italian one - and the budget this was pretty understandable. EXTERNAL LINKS
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