Tif et Tondu
Tif et Tondu is a Belgian comic book series that counts 45 albums. It was originally created by Fernand Dineur in 1938 in the Spirou magazine. The art was eventually handled by Willy "Will" Maltaite, and several writers followed. Maurice Rosy would be the most influential one. The series ended in 1997 with Alain Sikorski (art) and Denis Lapière (writing).
The plot is about two short fat guys called Tif and Tondu, a bald guy and a hairy and bearded guy. In the very beginning, Tif was on his own and a few weeks later, he met Tondu.
The heroes being not much more than Everymen, the series became popular mostly for its main villain: Monsieur Choc (created by Rosy), head of Nebulous Evil Organisation The White Hand, and being the reason the series is still remembered today. Tall and thin, wearing a tuxedo and his head being hidden by a knight's helmet and occasionally smoking with a cigarette holder, he was considered one of the great examples of evil coolness. Albums featuring him as the villain got a recent re-edit, with him prominently displayed.
Despite their names, Tif (slang for "hair") is the bald one and Tondu ("shaven") is the hairy and bearded one.
- Coat, Hat, Mask: Monsieur Choc, with his tuxedo and helmet.
- Darker and Edgier: The last albums, which tended to more realistic storylines such as Tif and Tondu dealing with a hostage crisis.
- Everything Is Better With Monkeys: John Fullshoke in The Shadow Without A Body.
- Everything's Even Worse with Sharks: Monsieur Choc about to get eaten by one in the very last panel of Choc 235.
- Evil Is Cool: Monsieur Choc, the villain, is by far the most popular character in the series and the recent re-releases focus on him and feature him prominently on the cover.
- The Faceless: Monsieur Choc.
- Fountain of Youth: What the Nazis are seeking in Swastika.
- Giant Spider: Tif has hallucinations of seeing one in A Diabolical Plan.
- Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: Monsieur Choc uses a cigarette holder to smoke. Not only is it because he is a snappy villain, but also because it'd be difficult to smoke without it through his knight's helmet.
- Humongous Mecha: Monsieur Choc piloting the giant Toar statue in Toar Awakens.
- Invisibility: In The Shadow Without A Body.
- Killed Off for Real: Monsieur Choc, apparently.
- La Résistance: The Stubs in Magdalena, broken automatons who are denied repair.
- Latex Perfection: When not wearing his helmet, Monsieur Choc wears latex-perfect masks. He has even fooled a whole nation by wearing one under his helmet and being arrested.
- Magnificent Bastard: Monsieur Choc, totally.
- Nice Hat: Monsieur Choc's helmet.
- No One Could Survive That: Monsieur Choc goes through these several times. "Choc is never dangerous only when you believe he is alive!"
- Odd Couple: Tif and Tondu themselves.
- Reptiles Are Abhorrent: The villains dressing up as snakes in Tif and Tondu Versus The Cobra.
- Ridiculously-Human Robots: In Magdalena.
- Robot Girl: The titular Magdalena. Her creator locked himself in a room for hours with her, supposedly to enjoy her company. Subverted as she is not a sentient robot but a portal to a world populated with Ridiculously-Human Robots who dress like a Masquerade Ball.
- Rubber Man: Tif turns into one in a two-album story arc (The Green Matter and Tif Bounces Back).
- Strip Poker: Tif plays strip-dart-throwing with a woman. At first, she cheats by giving him unbalanced darts, but he gets better... and she's a sore loser.
- Super Speed: In Choc Treatment, Monsieur Choc uses a special serum that gives super speed.
- The Un-Reveal: A short story was about an agent who managed to get a photograph of Monsieur Choc without his helmet. The end revealed the photograph to be Choc's - useless - baby picture.
- Those Wacky Nazis: In Swastika.
- You Fail Biology Forever: Transplanting a mechanical heart and a human brain on a gorilla turning him invisible!