Clifton (comics)

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Colonel Clifton
Clifton Macherot-comics series.png
Main character Colonel Clifton with the logo of the series
Publication information
Publisher Lombard Editions (French)
Cinebook (English)
Format Ongoing series
Genre Humor comics
No. of issues21 (in French)
6 (in English)
Creative team
Created by Raymond Macherot
Written byDe Groot
Artist(s)Turk

Clifton is a Franco-Belgian comics series in the humorous spy-genre, featuring the exploits of Colonel Sir Harold Wilberforce Clifton. It was created by Raymond Macherot in 1959, and has since passed on to other artists and writers. Over the fifty years of publication of the Clifton series, approximately twenty albums and twenty smaller stories have been published, totalling about 800 pages.

Contents

Character

A British colonel, retired from MI5, though sometimes still active for the British government, Clifton functions as an amateur sleuth, trying to maintain a stiff upper lip, although the pressure involved frequently makes him lose his cool. Harold Clifton lives in Puddington, near London, supported by housekeeper Miss Partridge, who makes a prize-winning goulash. Clifton drives a red MG TD from the early fifties, which gets mangled in most stories, but is repaired regardless of cost. Clifton's hobbies include Boy Scouting (he's Boy Scoutmaster Singing Heron), cats, and collecting cigar wraps. In Passé Composé it was established that Clifton served in the RAF as a group captain during World War II before joining the Secret Service. He also ascended to knighthood in the issue Mortelle Saison for saving a member of the Royal family.

Clifton's amateur sleuthing leads him to investigate many cases, often with the police or MI5. His main contact at MI5 is Colonel Donald Spruce who often calls on him to deal with delicate missions. Spruce is the sort of man who would be perfectly capable of handling the missions himself if not for a leg injury which has left him partly disabled.

Publication history

It was originally Raymond Macherot who created the Colonel Clifton character, and the first story was published in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine Tintin on 16 December 1959. [1] In preliminary studies, Macherot had used Colonel Horatio Amaory Crickett as a working name, but before the first story decided on Colonel Clifton instead. Clifton's first names Harold Wilberforce were not mentioned until the second story. After three stories, published in 1959–1960, Macherot went on to do other work, and eventually left Tintin for the competitor Spirou magazine, leaving behind his Tintin-owned work. [2] Clifton was shelved for six years.

In 1969, artist Jo-El Azara and writer Greg revived the series with the short story Les lutins diaboliques. In 1972, writer Greg and new artist Turk did the story Le voleur qui rit. [3] In 1974, artist Turk and new writer De Groot (who had collaborated on the Clifton short-story Le mystère de la voix qui court in 1970), started the story Alias Lord X, and that duo began a long-lasting collaboration on eight Clifton volumes.

In 1983, Bédu took over the artwork from Turk and worked with De Groot until the 1990s. [4] In 1991, Bédu became responsible for both artwork and scenario with the story Le clan Mc Gregor, the last story serialised in French Tintin, and continued to work alone for the following two stories published directly to albums.

In 2003, after a long inactive period, Rodrigue collaborated with Bob de Groot who returned to write Clifton scripts, and seven volumes have been published since.

Timeline of major stories

ArtistScenarist  Year*  FR titleNL titleEN title
Raymond Macherot Macherot1959Les enquêtes du colonel Clifton De onderzoekingen van kolonel Clifton Colonel Clifton's Inquiries
MacherotMacherot1960Clifton à New YorkClifton in New YorkClifton in New York
MacherotMacherot1960Clifton et les espionsClifton en de spionnenClifton and the Spies
Jo-El Azara   Greg 1969Les lutins diaboliques [short story]De duivelse dwergenThe Evil Elves
Turk De Groot 1970Le mystère de la voix qui court [short story]Het geheim van de rennende stemThe Mystery of the Running Voice
TurkGreg [3] 1972Le voleur qui ritDe lachende diefThe Laughing Thief
TurkDe Groot1974Alias Lord XAlias Lord XAlias Lord X
TurkDe Groot1975Sir JasonSir JasonSir Jason
TurkDe Groot1976Ce cher Mr WilkinsonDear Mr WilkinsonMy Dear Wilkinson 
TurkDe Groot19787 jours pour mourir7 dagen om te sterven7 Days to Die
TurkDe Groot1979Atout...coeur!Hartkloppingen!The Heart Attack Caper
TurkDe Groot1980Une panthère pour le colonelEen panter voor de kolonelA Panther for the Colonel
TurkDe Groot1982Weekend à tuerWeekend om te dodenWeekend to Kill
TurkDe Groot1983KidnappingKidnappingKidnapping
Bédu De Groot1984Passé composéUit de oude doosPerfect Tense
BéduDe Groot1986La mémoire briséeGeheugenverliesThe Broken Memory
BéduDe Groot1987Dernière séanceLaatste voorstellingLast Session
BéduDe Groot1990Matoutou-falaiseMatoutou-falaiseMatoutou-cliff
BéduBédu1991Le clan Mc GregorDe Mc Gregor clanThe Mc Gregor Clan
BéduBédu1992Mortelle saisonEen fataal spelDeadly Season
BéduBédu1995Le baiser du cobraDe kus van de cobraThe Kiss of the Cobra
Rodrigue De Groot2003JadeJadeJade
RodrigueDe Groot2005Lune noireZwarte maanBlack Moon
RodrigueDe Groot2006Elementaire, mon cher CliftonElementary, my dear Clifton!Elementary, My Dear Clifton
RodrigueRodrigue2008Ballade IrlandaiseEen Iers uitjeIrish Ballad
TurkZidrou2016Clifton et les gauchers contrariésSpookrijders onder invloedClifton and the Left-Handers Thwarted
TurkZidrou2017Just marriedJust married
TurkZidrou2023Le dernier des Clifton
*Denotes original year of publication until Tintin ceased to be published, and Clifton no longer serialised

Publications in magazines and other media

The cartoonists worked with original French language stories, whereas all were published simultaneously in French and Dutch, the two main Belgian languages, in the weekly magazines Tintin / Kuifje (French / Dutch edition of the same magazine), Junior (French) and Ons Volkske (Dutch), all published by Lombard Editions in Brussels. Clifton also ran in other magazines, across Europe such as the German publications Zack and YPS.

Beside French and Dutch, the stories have been translated into Finnish, Portuguese, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, English and German (where in most publications Clifton is named Percy Pickwick).

In 1984, a six minutes long Clifton theatrical animated short film was made by Belvision Studios as one of the studios' final productions in the 1980s, the film department of Lombard. The cartoon was based on the short story "Un pépin pour Clifton" (French) / "Onder Cliftons Paraplu" or "Pech voor Clifton" (Dutch) (Lit. "Bad luck for Clifton"/"Under Clifton's umbrella") by Turk and De Groot. The animation was produced by Michel Leloupe, with Anthony Hamilton voicing Clifton.

English translations

Cover to My Dear Wilkinson (1976, trans. 2005), the first album that was released in English Clifton cover.jpg
Cover to My Dear Wilkinson (1976, trans. 2005), the first album that was released in English

The series have been translated into English by Cinebook Ltd, a British publisher specializing in Franco-Belgian comics. So far, eight books have been translated. [5]

  1. My Dear Wilkinson, 2005, ISBN   978-1-905460-06-9
  2. The Laughing Thief, 2005, ISBN   978-1-905460-07-6
  3. 7 Days To Die, 2006, ISBN   978-1-905460-08-3
  4. Black Moon, 2007, ISBN   978-1-905460-30-4
  5. Jade, 2008, ISBN   978-1-905460-52-6
  6. Kidnapping, 2009, ISBN   978-1-905460-87-8
  7. Elementary, My Dear Clifton, 2014, ISBN   978-1-849181-98-3
  8. Sir Jason, 2018, ISBN   978-1-84918-407-6

See also

Marcinelle school

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References