Mortadelo y Filemón: Difference between revisions

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Mortadelo and Filemón (Mort & Phil in English; check [[That Other Wiki]] for their names in other countries) are two clumsy secret agents and the two main characters in the comic series of the same name, drawn and written by Spanish artist Francisco Ibáñez. They are known by many other names throughout the world, specially Europe, such as Paling & Ko in the Netherlands and Clever & Smart in Germany.

The comics follow the adventures of Mortadelo and Filemón, two agents of the fictional Spanish secret service T.I.A. (In Spanish 'tía' means 'aunt', making this a [[Shout-Out]] to ''[[The Man ~~From~~ ~~UNCLE~~]]'' and a pun on CIA.) The two are totally incompetent and especially Mortadelo is prone to major goofs. The basic setup is that Mortadelo has some wacky idea on how to complete their mission, it backfires, and Filemón gets hurt as a result, angering him and applying some kind of punishment to Mortadelo. However, this basic setup is twisted, subverted and inverted enough for it to never get boring. The action is very fast-paced much like a ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' cartoon, with [[Stuff Blowing Up]] and [[Amusing Injuries]] all over the pages. Also, Ibáñez usually mixes his wacky stories with [[Ripped from the Headlines|real world current events]] and fill the dialogues with [[Punny Stuff|every single style of pun imaginable]]... which they usually work ([[Lost in Translation|at least in the original Spanish]]).

The comics follow the adventures of Mortadelo and Filemón, two agents of the fictional Spanish secret service T.I.A. (In Spanish 'tía' means 'aunt', making this a [[Shout-Out]] to ''[[The Man from U.N.C.L.E.]]'' and a pun on CIA.) The two are totally incompetent and especially Mortadelo is prone to major goofs. The basic setup is that Mortadelo has some wacky idea on how to complete their mission, it backfires, and Filemón gets hurt as a result, angering him and applying some kind of punishment to Mortadelo. However, this basic setup is twisted, subverted and inverted enough for it to never get boring. The action is very fast-paced much like a ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' cartoon, with [[Stuff Blowing Up]] and [[Amusing Injuries]] all over the pages. Also, Ibáñez usually mixes his wacky stories with [[Ripped from the Headlines|real world current events]] and fill the dialogues with [[Punny Stuff|every single style of pun imaginable]]... which they usually work ([[Lost in Translation|at least in the original Spanish]]).

Created in 1958 [[Print Long Runners|and still running]], the strip has released more than 190 books so far (and even more short stories), it's the most popular and respected comic book series ever produced in Spain, and probably the only local franchise that can still compete in sales with [[Manga]] and American [[Comic Books]] at this point in the Spaniard market. The series has also had numerous [[Crossover|crossovers]] with both other Ibañez's characters (like Rompetechos, Pepe Gotera & Otilio or the wacky neighbors from 13 Rue del Percebe) and characters from other Spaniard comic book artists (like Zipi & Zape, Captain Trueno, etc...)

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* [[Cameo]]: Practically every single famous Spanish politician of the second half of the 20th Century has appeared in more than one volume.

** A lot of foreign politicians and world leaders, such as the US Presidents (from Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama), Fidel Castro or the European Prime Ministers, appear quite often too.

* [[Canon Dis Continuity]]: Ibáñez lost the rights to write the comic during the late 80s. During that time, less known authors published some stories on their own (each with his own style, see [[Depending On the Writer]] below). When Ibáñez regained the rights, he dismissed most of the stories written by other authors (some of them are still among the official works, though).

* [[Canon Dis Continuity]]: Ibáñez lost the rights to write the comic during the late 80s. During that time, less known authors published some stories on their own (each with his own style, see [[Depending on the Writer]] below). When Ibáñez regained the rights, he dismissed most of the stories written by other authors (some of them are still among the official works, though).

* [[Catch Phrase]]: Mortadelo repeats his "Run, boss, run!" [http://mortadeloyalgomas.blogspot.com.es/2011/05/4-aniversario-de-corra-jefe-corra.html quite a few times.]

* [[Chekhov's Armoury]]: The first movie. You'll just get amazed at how many details get reused later on.

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** It's also related to the [[Canon Dis Continuity]] mentioned above. The introduction of Irma coincided in time with the loss of publishing rights that Ibáñez suffered. As a result, most of the comic books where Irma appears are "apocryphal" and were not written by himself. If you see a comic book where Irma appears, most likely wasn't written by him. When he eventually regained the rights, he dismissed a character that was now strongly associated with the "apocryphal" comic books.

* [[Clothes Make the Superman]]: Some of Mortadelo's disguises grant him abilities he doesn't have undisguised. For example, his ghost disguise allows him to phase through walls, he can [[Wall Crawling|climb buildings]] while disguised as a lizard, breathe underwater with a fish disguise or fly disguised as a bird.

* [[Collared By Fashion]]: Mortadelo.

* [[Collared by Fashion]]: Mortadelo.

* [[Comedic Sociopathy]]: In "Los mercenarios" the two main characters goes so far to throw their boss from the window when (they think they are) rich.

* [[Completely Missing the Point]]: in "La gallina de los huevos de oro" Mortadelo hits Filemón on the head, believing [[It Makes Sense in Context|that it is the hen they are looking for]] and comments that he will wake her up with an injection. Cue angry Filemón starting to run after him, ready to inject him a dose of sulfuric acid. Mortadelo's answer?

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* [[Cranial Eruption]]: From blows to the head, falling from great heights, you name it. The lumps sometimes come in layers of two or three.

* [[Crossover]]: With another popular Spanish character, Capitán Trueno, in the album "¡Bajo el bramido de Trueno!"

** They also had an earlier, better one with [[Zipi Y Zape]].

** They also had an earlier, better one with [[Zipi y Zape]].

** And with pretty much any other Ibáñez strip: 13 Rue del Percebe, Rompetechos, Pepe Gotera y Otilio, etc.

* [[Depending On the Writer]]: Some stories were written during the late 80s by other authors, since Ibáñez didn't have the rights to write his own during that time. Those "apocryphal" stories tend to have [[Continuity Nod|Continuity Nods]] to the former "official" stories, much more than the ones actually written by Ibáñez.

* [[Depending on the Writer]]: Some stories were written during the late 80s by other authors, since Ibáñez didn't have the rights to write his own during that time. Those "apocryphal" stories tend to have [[Continuity Nod|Continuity Nods]] to the former "official" stories, much more than the ones actually written by Ibáñez.

* [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?]]: The Súper at the end of "El bacilón". OK, you have an urgent necessity to go to the bathroom, but [[The Juggernaut|the unstoppable]] [[Muck Monster]] that has been terrorizing the city for the last week is obstructing your way. What do you do? If you're the Súper, deliver a SINGLE slap so that [[No Body Left Behind|it dissolves into nothing]] and stops obstructing your way. No more Bacilón.

** But, unfortunately, this does little to help him relieve himself.

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* [[Franchise Zombie]]: The series has been accused of this since roughly the early 2000's. [[Your Mileage May Vary]], of course.

* [[Funny Background Event]]: Ibáñez is a ''master'' of these. In fact, he makes it a goal to put, at least, 2 or 3 of these events on every page. (one doubles as a [[Funny Aneurysm Moment]])

* [[Fun ~~With~~ Acronyms]]: The two agents work for T.I.A. (tía means aunt in Spanish and also sounds very similar to C.I.A.); one of the older nemesis organizations was the A.B.U.E.L.A. ("grandmother")

* [[Fun with Acronyms]]: The two agents work for T.I.A. (tía means aunt in Spanish and also sounds very similar to C.I.A.); one of the older nemesis organizations was the A.B.U.E.L.A. ("grandmother")

* [[Gag Boobs]]: Ofelia, she once managed to deflect a computer virus with them. [[It Makes Sense in Context|No, really]].

* [[Gadgeteer Genius]]: Subverted, Bacterio's gadgets almost never work right and usually fail in some spectacular way. Once in a blue moon, they'll actually work correctly, and the failure will be due to the agents using it improperly.

* [[Genius Ditz]]: Mortadelo is a [[The Ditz|ditz]], but always expect him to have an idea to solve the problem. Besides, he's usually somehow the one who ends up saving the day [[Self Disposing Villain|(whenever the villain doesn't do it himself)]].

* [[Genius Ditz]]: Mortadelo is a [[The Ditz|ditz]], but always expect him to have an idea to solve the problem. Besides, he's usually somehow the one who ends up saving the day [[Self-Disposing Villain|(whenever the villain doesn't do it himself)]].

* [[Genre Savvy]]: Mortadelo quickly becomes this, doing stuff like using a fire extinguisher invented by Bacterio (whose inventions always work backwards) to fry a living wax monster.

* [[Gotta Catch Them All]]: Some of the plots are like this, such as catching all members of a gang, rounding up all animals that escaped from Bacterio's lab, or checking a bunch of paintings for a secret message hidden behind one of them.

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** A number of 1990s stories have jokes commenting on how people view our heroes as a couple. For example a story includes a section where a paparazzo "outs" Filemón as a homosexual and posts pictures of him holding hands with a particularly effeminate man. Other TIA agents start teasing him on the job - Mortadelo included. The paparazzo's next trick is having Mortadelo and Filemón photographed pushing their heads through holes in a wooden plank, which has been painted so that it looks like they are marrying, with Mortadelo as the groom. The same story had Ibánez give a brief introduction on history's greatest romances... concluding with Mortadelo and Filemón. Followed by the two characters chasing their creator with murderous intent, "It was just a joke!".

* [[Hey, It's That Voice!]]: In the video-game adaptations. In "Una aventura de cine" ([[Your Mileage May Vary|arguably]] the best so far ever made), Filemón is voiced by Carlos Revilla, widely known in Spain as the first [[The Simpsons|Homer Simpson]].

** In the second version of the same game, Mortadelo is voiced by Luis Posada, more known as [[Jim Carrey]]'s usual dub voice actor. He's also the usual voice actor for [[Johnny Depp]] and was for [[Leonardo ~~Di Caprio~~]] during the late 90's.

** In the second version of the same game, Mortadelo is voiced by Luis Posada, more known as [[Jim Carrey]]'s usual dub voice actor. He's also the usual voice actor for [[Johnny Depp]] and was for [[Leonardo DiCaprio]] during the late 90's.

* [[Hilarity Ensues]]: and how!

* [[Hypno Ray]]: Magín el Mago.

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** Many times, Ofelia will go tell Mortadelo that the Súper is looking for him. He will say something that Ofelia takes for a romantic thing, but turns out to be some kind of insult (mostly aimed at her girth), to which she responds quite forcefully. Filemón will later continue the joke, and finally the Súper will say something completely innocent that Ofelia takes for the continuation. The one that suffers most is the Súper.

** Whenever Prince Charles (the most recurrent antagonist) appears, someone (normally Mortadelo) will make continuous jokes about Charles' ear size. Sometimes, even supposed English newspapers get in the joke.

* [[Self Disposing Villain]]: It´s a rule in the comics that when a villain really tries to destroy the pair for real, he will fail miserably and get himself owned. A notable example is "El señor todoquisque" the bad guy is a man who can disguise himself and, in the first half of the album, humiliates our heroes in a very painful ways. However, when he decides to take care of them himself and goes to the TIA, his plans brutally backfire on him, and, at the end, he goes insane.

* [[Self-Disposing Villain]]: It´s a rule in the comics that when a villain really tries to destroy the pair for real, he will fail miserably and get himself owned. A notable example is "El señor todoquisque" the bad guy is a man who can disguise himself and, in the first half of the album, humiliates our heroes in a very painful ways. However, when he decides to take care of them himself and goes to the TIA, his plans brutally backfire on him, and, at the end, he goes insane.

* [[Sexy Secretary]]: Irma, the newest (and most short lived) member of the team that fits this trope to a T.

* [[Shaky POV Cam]]: Often used when something is thrown at someone's face.

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* [[Spy Speak]]: Usually people around take these words literally with odd results.

** It doesn't help that several arranged codes seem to be offensive. Requiring the agents to insult people having facial hair or a certain ideology or ethnicity. At that moment, an agressive member of that group happens to overhear and deals with them accordingly.

*** Fun fact: In [[Real Life]], Enrique Chicote, the only man who ever got the top prize in the Spanish version of [[Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?]], answered one of the last questions correctly thanks to one of these jokes that he read in the comic books.

*** Fun fact: In [[Real Life]], Enrique Chicote, the only man who ever got the top prize in the Spanish version of [[Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?]], answered one of the last questions correctly thanks to one of these jokes that he read in the comic books.

* [[Stuff Blowing Up]]: Very, very common, but since this comic follows the laws of cartoon physics, they are all [[Non-Fatal Explosions]].

* [[Suckiness Is Painful]]: Crappy music and films are used as a method of torture.