Max Bunker e Magnus
Il numero 1

A long time ago, back in 1969, the charming Alan Ford made his debut in Italian newsstands, eating only in the morning on Mondays and Fridays (a quote in pure Alan Ford style). To save on internet connection costs, I decided to jot down a crude review of the glorious episode No. 11, where, for the first time, the great Boss, Number 1, makes his appearance. The creator and writer of such a comic masterpiece is the great Luciano Secchi, also known as Max Bunker, considered one of the most important and prolific historical authors of Italian comics still active today, though less known than the more famous Giovanni Luigi Bonelli (Tex), Angela, and Luciana Giussani (Diabolik). He was born in Milan on August 24, 1939. Bunker, even at a young age, began to develop a passion for Italian and French comics. His first character, Maschera Nera, was born in 1962.

Roberto Raviola, known as Magnus, was born on May 31 of the same year in Bologna, an illustrator with an expressive and clean style, attended the Academy of Fine Arts. After the successful collaboration with Bunker, he embarked on an independent artistic career, signing works with his own scripts. The atypical Alan Ford turns the Noir film world of the time upside down like a hole-filled sock, especially the one of the famous secret agent 007. We are talking about a very original pessimistic humorous grotesque parody that mocks the great and efficient international secret services. Therefore, the main characters do not resemble the attractive James Bond at all, but are a bunch of "collected" individuals coming from the slums of the seediest outskirts of New York. The adventures of this ragtag group are supported by meager equipment not exactly technologically advanced, on the contrary, I'd say useless and for real deadbeats. Hunger and fasting thus represent the main sport of these poor wretches, and the salary of the T.N.T. group, as the famous secret investigative group is called, turns out to be just a distant mirage.

The last to join this band of madmen is Alan Ford, the blond, awkward, shy, lanky fellow with a strong resemblance to Peter O'Toole. Identikit and brief character reconstruction of the characters.

CODE NAME: Cariatite. REAL NAME AND SURNAME: Gervasius De' Statuis. RESIDENCE: on the widest chair of the Flower Shop between Fifth and Sixth Avenue in New York. AGE: 50 years (according to him). HEIGHT: 1.70 m (as per draft certificate). WEIGHT: 92 kg (always according to him). PREVIOUS PROFESSION: calligraphy scribe at his hometown's municipality. DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: graying hair, light eyes, overflowing fat. NOTES: appears immediately. He was the first to join the T.N.T. group, becoming a widower shortly before his new activity. (Official notes).

NAME AND SURNAME: Geremia Lettiga. RESIDENCE: Flower Shop, the only secret headquarters of the T.N.T. group. AGE: 70 years (well preserved). HEIGHT: 1.72 m. WEIGHT: 66 kg (on a full stomach). PREVIOUS PROFESSION: former traveling lemon seller, currently official cook (if health allows it, of course). DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: ugly and toothless, afflicted by a multitude of incurable diseases, such as a pancreas with pyorrhea. NOTES: an immigrant of Sicilian origin seeking fortune in the new world. After a serious injury working as a beverage seller in theaters, he permanently moved to the Big Apple.

NAME AND SURNAME: Count Oliver of Oliver-Oliver. RESIDENCE: where he lived, has long been questioned by the policemen chasing him. And also by the T.N.T. agents, since he didn't share the lodgings at the Flower Shop with the troupe. Recently, he has returned to the land of his peers. AGE: 45 years (but he also steals age). HEIGHT: 1.76 m (nobility status). WEIGHT: 75 kg (ideal weight, par excellence). PREVIOUS PROFESSION: nobleman socially committed to income redistribution. DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: has the dexterity of a kleptomaniac, but it's not an illness: his skill in deceit, fraud, and robbery is a sort of art, an intellectual game, an aesthetic pleasure from which the titled cannot withdraw (nor does he feel he should). Despite the rich proceeds, from his thefts, the count goes around patched up and with a two-day-old beard. NOTES: of British origins, he had to leave the country due to a manifest misunderstanding with Scotland Yard. Entered the T.N.T. group thanks to Number One's little agenda (which catalogs all his misdeeds), the count eventually became the true right-hand man of his Excellency. (Official notes).

NAME AND SURNAME: Grunt Von Grunt, Otto Grunf (commonly called Grunf). RESIDENCE: Flower Shop, specifically in the "Credere Obbedire" lab, his private "residence" next to the gym of audacity. AGE: 76 years. HEIGHT: 1.96 m. WEIGHT: 98 kg (without the aviator uniform). PREVIOUS PROFESSION: specialized polisher of fighter jet propellers of the Luftwaffe military aviation during the Second World War. DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: Grunf is the bodyguard as well as the go-to guy of his Excellency, Number 1, washing, ironing, and otherwise, providing the (non) necessary equipment to the T.N.T. group. Of bold temperament, he swears eternal loyalty to the cause and to his native homeland, "Cermania." For Grunf, carrying out a mission, under penalty of death, is a prerogative. His battle cry is: "He who is worthy flies, he who flies is worthy, he who does not fly is a coward." NOTES: illegally expatriated to the United States to avoid life imprisonment due to a small modification on the Stukas of the late Colonel Bombardone who fell in an aerial battle. He was immediately hired by Cariatide for his dedication and physical prowess.

NAME AND SURNAME: Robert (called Bob) Rock. RESIDENCE: last known address: Flower Shop between Fifth and Sixth Avenue in New York. AGE: 35 years. HEIGHT: 1.50 m (very short). WEIGHT: 47 kg (dressed). PREVIOUS PROFESSION: did not have a fixed occupation. Managed as best he could... DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: very pronounced nose, minimal height. Hot-tempered, irritable, afflicted by (justified) inferiority complex due to his nose and height. Always wears a cape and Scottish cap. NOTES: appears since the first issue. Is an orphan, but the first of four siblings (he is the first born). His mother died in a shoot-out with the police while attempting to rob a bank. His father, on the other hand, was executed in the electric chair. (Official notes).

NAME AND SURNAME: Alan Ford. RESIDENCE: Flower Shop between Fifth and Sixth Avenue in New York (later became the T.N.T. agency headquarters). AGE: eternally young. HEIGHT: 1.80 m. WEIGHT: 75 kg. PREVIOUS PROFESSION: young and broke advertising graphic designer, raised in an orphanage and accustomed to living by his wits. DISTINGUISHING FEATURES: is handsome, blond, tall, with a robust physique but naive, innocent, and timid by incurable nature. He has long worn black tight-fitting pants and shirt. Recently, he has started wearing a light jacket. NOTES: becomes part of the T.N.T. group by chance: he went to the wrong address and presented himself at the Flower Shop, where he is mistaken for a new agent. He has long been unlucky with women until meeting Minuette. (Official notes).

This episode tells the story of how the T.N.T. group succeeded in the feat of cornering Dr. Crack. Gosh, excuse me, I have quite a hole in my stomach. After, I'll have to raid the fridge because I can't see straight from hunger... but duty first. So as I was saying, the group defeats the gang of criminals led by the shady Crack, likely the right-hand man of a big billionaire tax-evading entrepreneur. The doctor, with the help of a skinny accomplice, promptly mummified with bandages, and urgently hospitalized where he works, manages to retrieve the billionaire's loot (hidden under the "skinny" mummy's bandages) to transfer it to Swiss banks, obviously pocketing a substantial percentage first. But our friend evidently didn’t account for Alan Ford and co... returning to headquarters victorious, Cariatide announces to them the fabulous news of having been hosted by the mysterious Number One in his secretive abode...

- Hey, Alan, who do you say Number One will be? - says the Count. - I haven't the slightest idea, replies Alan. - -I believe I imagine him as a rich, austere, noble, tall, handsome person... - states Bob. - Who will live in over-the-top luxury, surrounded by objects of immeasurable value... - concludes the Count.

Well, it won’t quite be like that... but on the horizon, I already see a brighter future looming for the T.N.T. group after this exciting encounter. MAYBE... kids, that's all, let's see what's in the fridge... yuck boiled cabbage, maybe if I added three drops of oil... hmm... if possible.