Mort & Phil

**Mortadelo y Filemón**
**Mort & Phil**
	Mortadelo y Filemón; Mort & Phil
Created by:	Francisco Ibañez
Genre:	Humor, slapstick, surrelism, satire and farce
Publisher:
Original publication period:	20 January 1958
Country of origin:	Spain
Language of origin:	Spanish
Number of books published:	190
Website:	official website

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Mort & Phil (Spanish: Mortadelo y Filemón) is one of the most popular Spanish comics series, published in more than a dozen countries. It appeared for the first time in 1958 in the children's comic-book Pulgarcito drawn by Francisco Ibáñez. The series features Mort (Spanish: Mortadelo), the tall, bald master of disguise named after mortadella, and his bossy partner, the shorter, pudgier Phil (Spanish: Filemón) Pi.

Initially, they were private detectives operating as Mortadelo y Filemón, Agencia de Información, but now both serve as secret agents in the Técnicos de Investigación Aeroterráquea (TIA is the Spanish word for "aunt", a spoof on CIA, with T.I.A. translating into "Aeroterraquatic (air, land, sea) Investigation Technicians".

[edit] Overview

Mort and Phil can be described as a pair of walking catastrophes, and no matter what kind of mission they are assigned they always manage to get it wrong. The results are almost invariably extremely violent, and most often directed towards Filemón (Phil). At TIA (Spanish for "aunt", a parody of the CIA), which combats "enemy organizations" like RANA ("frog") or ABUELA ("grandmother"), they interact with their boss, the bad-tempered Superintendente Vicente; with Professor Bacterio, a black-bearded, disastrous scientist parodying James Bond's Q; and with the fat, blonde secretary Ofelia, a parody of Moneypenny, whose attempts at seducing Mort always fail.

The series is especially popular in Germany as Clever & Smart. After the 1980s, the albums have featured current news, like computer sabotage, the AVE, Islamic terrorism, Spanish and European politics, and specials for the Olympic Games and the soccer World Cup.

Ibáñez likes to introduce whimsies unrelated to the action especially in covers. A water tap can sprout from a tree, two mice may be chatting, a vase can contain a foot or an eggplant,... An eerie example happened in the final page of "El 35 aniversario" (1993) where a New York scene features an airplane crashing against the World Trade Center. This attracted attention after the 9/11 attacks of 2001.^[1]^[2]

Ibáñez issues several albums a year. Several animated series were also produced. There was a movie based on the series, made in 2003 in Spain, under the name La Gran Aventura de Mortadelo y Filemón (Mort & Phil: The Big Adventure). A second movie was released in 2008, Mortadelo y Filemón. Misión: salvar la Tierra (Mort & Phil. Mission: Save Earth), marking the 50th anniversary of the series.

[edit] Characters

Mort (Mortadelo): Mort is a bald detective with pebble glasses and a long nose who usually wears a black frock coat. He is always fighting with Phil, his partner, mostly because he tends to mess things up, usually to Phil's discomfort. His favourite hobby is wearing all sorts of (sometimes outrageous) disguises - professional and historical clothes and gear, animals, inanimate objects, even small-sized vehicles like miniature blimps and mopeds - which he mostly dons for special tasks or when he is on the run from Phil or his boss. He is the sworn enemy of Bacterio because he used to have lush hair until Bacterio offered Mort a "medicine against baldness". (Mort's full name, "Mortadelo", comes from "mortadela", a kind of sausage).

Phil Pi (Filemón Pi): Mort's partner and friend. He only has two hairs on his head and wears a white shirt with red trousers. He usually insults Mort because Mort is quite clumsy, but is often at the receiving end of any mishaps which come their way, mostly in the shape of their outraged boss. As the leader of the two-man team he is an educated man and an expert in a variety of fields, such as biology^{[citation needed]} and geology.

Vicente /"El Superintendente", "Súper" or just "El Súper": Vicente is the boss of Mort and Phil and is usually called " Súper" or "El Súper" by his underlings. While he, as the head of the organization, lives in splendor, indulging himself in expensive beverages and Cuban cigars, he keeps TIA's operatives on an extremely tight budget; some central story plots revolve around Mort and Phil acquiring and testing new equipment for TIA because the gear used by the organization has long since become (in very mild terms) virtual stone age.
El Super is bald and has a dense moustache, which makes him the object of mocking abuse by his underlings as a human walrus. He is very short-tempered and he usually get angry with Mort and Phil because they fail in their missions, leaving a spectacular mess - occasionally at the expense of his own (and expensive) possessions. Just as often, however, he ends up as the one being chased by his underlings, as his frequently short-sighted assignments cause them no end of grief.

Pr. Bacterio: TIA's black-bearded scientist and chief inventor. Mort blames Bacterio for his baldness (he had tried a new hair-strengthening concoction on Mort's then-lush mane, which made the hair fall out instead) and therefore the doctor is the unwilling prime recipient of Mort's practical jokes. His inventions, which are to assist Mort and Phil in their assignments, often fail quite spectacularly, mostly because they achieve the opposite of what they are supposed to do. Sometimes they do work well, but fail at the most inconvenient moment. ("Bacterio comes from "bacteria", germ).

Ofelia: The fat and vain secretary of the Superintendente Vicente. She is still single and would like to become involved with someone(usually with Mort), but so far her attempts have been in vain. She is quite touchy her lack of luck with a relationship and being called fat; she reacts with corresponding violence when either of topics are brought up- and with her considerable weight, this is nothing to be ignored. She was the first female character created for the series.

Irma: The boom secretary of the Súper. Mort and Phil are in love with her (much to Ofelia's chagrin), but she is not interested. This character disappeared from the series after only 24 volumes.

F. Ibañez: The creator of the series himself has a number of cameo appearances, either by name or in cartoon form. Mostly he is (humorously) portrayed as the bald and bespectacled "Artist of the Nation", in perhaps the same league as Pablo Picasso. On several occasions, the series' characters often long for being "as rich as Ibáñez".

"Rompetechos"/the Mole Eyed Guy: A small man with a rather oversized head, receding black hair and a small moustache in a black suit. He is always put in as a comic relief character; although he wears glasses, they must either have the wrong prescription or are totally ineffective, because his eyesight is totally down. This causes him to react in ways which causes some inconvenience to Mort and Phil if they happen to cross his way. He both has his own comic series (little known outside Spain) and cameoes in Ibañez' other works.

The Minister: Vicente's boss (and the only person who he ever toadies to). His appearance changes constantly throughout the series. In recent appearances has been replaced by a caricature of the President of the Government of Spain.

Señora Superintendente: The wife of Vicente (also with an everchanging face). While he may hold the rudder in the TIA, she holds the rudder in their household.

Bestiájez: The giant agent of the TIA. He usually has to hunt down Mort and Phil because they don't want to do their missions. A rather minor character, his face has changed many times in the past. Many other agents appear, most of them having descriptive surnames ending in "-ez" ("Bestiájez" comes from "bestia", beast).

Casimira Nitorta: An expert in "secret chases", she has a penetrating and incisive glance. She's also a relative of "Rompetechos".

[edit] Famous people

Numerous celebrities and political personalities have guest-starred or made some cameos:

Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush, former presidents of the United States

Charles, Prince of Wales, and Queen Elizabeth II

Adolfo Suárez, Felipe González and José María Aznar, former presidents of Spain

Helmut Kohl and Gerhard Schröder, former Chancellors of Germany

François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac, former Presidents of France

Adolf Hitler

Fidel Castro

Juan Antonio Samaranch, former President of the IOC

Pau Gasol, Spanish professional basketball player for the L.A. Lakers

The Marx Brothers, Humphrey Bogart, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and several other actors

[edit] Albums

In order of publication:

[edit] Between 1969 and 1971

[edit] Between 1972 and 1974

[edit] Between 1975 and 1976

[edit] Between 1977 and 1979

[edit] Between 1980 and 1981

[edit] Between 1982 and 1983

[edit] Between 1984 and 1985

[edit] Between 1986 and 1987

[edit] Between 1988 and 1989

[edit] Between 1990 and 1992

[edit] Between 1993 and 1994

[edit] Between 1995 and 1996

[edit] Between 1997 and 1998

[edit] Between 1999 and 2000

[edit] Between 2001 and 2003

[edit] Between 2004 and 2008

[edit] Between 2009 and 2012

[edit] Animated series

There was an animated series, with the name of "Mortadelo y Filemón" with Spanish voice actors.

[edit] Film adaptations

Further information: La gran aventura de Mortadelo y Filemón and Mort & Phil. Mission: Save Earth

Betwenn 1965 and 1970, Rafael Vara directed 16 short films which was united in two films (Festival de Mortadelo y Filemón and Segundo Festival de Mortadelo y Filemón). In 1970 make other film, El armario del tiempo.

[edit] In other languages

Catalan: Mortadel·lo i Filemó
Chinese: 特工二人组
Czech: Clever & Smart
Danish: Flip og Flop
Dutch: Paling en Ko
English: Mort & Phil
French: Mortadel et Filémon (Futt et Fil)
German: Clever & Smart (Flip & Flap)
Greek: Αντιρίξ και Συμφωνίξ
Italian: Mortadello e Polpetta
Norwegian: Flipp og Flopp (earliest pocket editions), Clever & Smart
Polish: Mortadelo i Filemon
Portuguese: Mortadelo e Salaminho (in Brazil), Mortadela e Salamão (Portugal)
Russian: Морт и Фил (Мортадело и Филемон)
Slovak: Clever & Smart
Slovene: Mortadelc pa File
Swedish: Flink & Fummel
Turkish: Dörtgöz ile Dazlak
Finnish: Älli ja Tälli (used to be first Nopsa ja Näpsä)
Spanish: Mortadelo y Filemón
Serbo-Croatian: Zriki Švargla i Šule Globus

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ Mortadelo y Filemón llegan al cine de la mano de Javier Fesser: Ibáñez y la viñeta profética del 11-S: “¡Qué quince días pasé!”, El País, 4 February 2003.
^ September 11 Premonitions, Dark Roasted Blend (blog), September 10, 2007.

[edit] External links

	Spain portal
	Comics portal

Official website

[El_Pa.C3.ADs-0] Mortadelo y Filemón llegan al cine de la mano de Javier Fesser: Ibáñez y la viñeta profética del 11-S: “¡Qué quince días pasé!”, El País, 4 February 2003.

[DarkRoasted-1] September 11 Premonitions, Dark Roasted Blend (blog), September 10, 2007.

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