Alan Ford is an Italian comic book created by Max Bunker (Luciano Secchi) and Magnus (Roberto Raviola), in print since 1969.

[1] The comic book is a satirical take on classic secret agents laden with surreal and black humour, and sardonic references to aspects of the contemporary Italian and Western society.

[2][3] 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 misfit secret agents, who operate from a flower shop in New York City, United States, which they use as a front for their secret headquarters.

Their outlandish biographies are dwarfed by that of their iron-fisted and shrewd leader, Number One, a Methusalem 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.

There were also direct references to local Italian reality, whose social ills were often satirized by Magnus & Bunker, as well as terms in Milanese dialect.

In 1983, when the comic book moved to another publisher, Max Bunker Press, Raffaele della Monica and Giuliano Piccinnino replaced Piffarerio.

[5] Also, a lot of the comic book's success in Yugoslavia is due to Nenad Brixy's (born 1924 in Varaždinske Toplice) distinctive translation, rich in obscure, baroque-sounding Croatisms.

A writer himself who penned several comedic novels about the clumsy detective character called Timothy Tacher, Brixy approached the job of translating Alan Ford in a free form and the resulting witty adaptation and imaginative text soon won him many admirers across the country.

For example, in issue #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.

There is a fake comic in circulation which features Yugoslav lifetime president Josip Broz Tito in a story line in one of the issues.

Even the comic book's creator Max Bunker acknowledged Brixy's contributions to its popularity in Yugoslavia, praising him as "one of the rare translators who successfully depicted the black satire of the Alan Ford's story and drawings".

After the breakup of Yugoslavia, Borgis picked up the publishing rights for the Croatian market, keeping the original series title Alan Ford Superstrip.

Maverick from Kraljevo initially started publishing for the Serbian market, and the comic was in 2003 picked up by Color Press Group from Novi Sad.

In the 2000s, the original episodes in Brixy's translation have been republished by Strip-agent in Croatia, under the title Alan Ford Klasik, again with great success and high circulation.

In 1994 a play titled Alan Ford written by Mirjana Lazić and directed by Kokan Mladenović was staged at Teatar T in Belgrade.

Running gag in the series is his age: he claims to be alive well even from the Neanderthal era and to meet various characters from history, such as Nero, Homer and Maximilien Robespierre.

He has a habit of telling stories of his past to his agents, who all fall asleep in the end, causing him to angrily wake them up by brandishing his stick.

He is a major underworld figure, well connected within the NYPD and the United States Army: he is known to have a black book which allegedly contains the secrets and past of every character he met in the comics, which he uses to blackmail them into obedience.

He grew up in an orphanage, ran a one-man advertising agency and was evicted from a slum due to neglecting bills at the start of the series, and he joined T.N.T by accident.

Another running gag is his very short and nasty temper: he is easily angered and reacts violently when provoked, and often has to be restrained by Alan or Sir Oliver, with a particular weakness for jokes about his nose.

He wears a monocle, a bowler hat and stripped pants with a long coat, vest and a tie, maintaining a stoic, noble appearance, which helps him in his various schemes.

He was sentenced to life in prison, but he managed to switch seats with an American criminal due to be transferred, and then he freed himself during a flight by parachuting himself out.

His lateral thinking, wittiness and ability to save himself quickly from the most complicated situations make him the most valuable agent of TNT, a trait that even Number One acknowledges.

He moved to America and changed his last name from Grunt to Grunf to avoid detection, and is mentioned to also serve in Second World War.

Running gag in the series is his incompetence: he usually designs various Rube Goldberg machines that end up in failure, fails to properly service or change the vehicles or weaponry (driving a 1910s era car that usually explodes while attempting to start it or brandishing an 1880s revolver), or invents things that already exist (he claims to have invented the skateboard, which he named Skate-Grunf).

Despite his heroic-like behavior and staunch belief in bravery (as seen by quotes stamped on his T-shirts), he is a very cowardly man, constantly running from danger.

He usually dresses in white or grey suits, smokes Cuban cigars, is completely bald and always wears his trademark sunglasses.

He was absent throughout the part of the series due to his temporary relocation to Los Angeles when he lived with The Great Caesar; the two constantly clashed and both were relieved when Clodoveo returned to New York.

Other enemies, whose names are normally puns in Italian, are Katodik, Mr. Tromb, the mobster boss "Il Grande Cesare", Wurdalak the vampire (coming from the pages of Satanik), the scientist Aseptik, the quick-change Arsenico Lupon (pun of Arsène Lupin), the mobster families, the Mangia's masonry, ghost gangster Baby Kate, masked Conspirator, magnate mr. Fitzgerald and witch Witchcraft.