# Mortadelo y Filemón
**Mortadelo y Filemón** is a Spanish humorous comic series created by Francisco Ibáñez (Barcelona, 1935 or 1936 – 2023; sources differ on the birth year)[1](https://elpais.com/ciencia/2025-11-30/mortadelo-y-filemon-en-el-laboratorio-viajes-en-el-tiempo-cacaos-espaciales-y-trompazos-a-discrecion.html) • [2](https://www.zeitgeschichte-digital.de/doks/files/2037/ZF_3_2004_453_461_Rey.pdf) that follows two inept secret agents of the T.I.A., a fictional Spanish counterpart of the C.I.A.[2](https://www.zeitgeschichte-digital.de/doks/files/2037/ZF_3_2004_453_461_Rey.pdf) It first appeared on 20 January 1958 in issue 1,394 of the magazine *Pulgarcito*[3](https://humoristan.org/es/serie/mortadelo-y-filemon-agencia-de-informacion) and is described by scholars as the most successful Spanish comic book series ever published, with more than 150 million issues sold[2](https://www.zeitgeschichte-digital.de/doks/files/2037/ZF_3_2004_453_461_Rey.pdf). The historian David Rey, whose work on the series appeared in *Zeithistorische Forschungen*, places it as the Spanish counterpart of the classic French *Tintin* and *[Asterix](https://www.edgepedia.org/asterix)* series[2](https://www.zeitgeschichte-digital.de/doks/files/2037/ZF_3_2004_453_461_Rey.pdf).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| First appearance | *Pulgarcito* no. 1,394, 20 January 1958, as a one-page story[3](https://humoristan.org/es/serie/mortadelo-y-filemon-agencia-de-informacion) |
| Original premise | A parody of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson; the two detectives work for the T.I.A.[4](https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20180122/mortadelo-filemon-cumplen-60-anos-sin-perspectiva-jubilacion/1665201.shtml) |
| Sales | More than 150 million issues sold, the most successful Spanish comic series[2](https://www.zeitgeschichte-digital.de/doks/files/2037/ZF_3_2004_453_461_Rey.pdf) |
| Album output | 222 albums of 44 pages in the main collection by one count; another source gives 225[5](https://as.com/meristation/comics/criticas/resena-de-super-ibanez-un-repaso-a-todos-los-personajes-del-autor-de-comics-mas-importante-de-espana-f202601-n/) • [6](https://as.com/meristation/comics/noticias/resena-de-hachis-salud-llega-por-sorpresa-un-album-inedito-de-mortadelo-y-filemon-f202512-n/) |
| Biggest film | *La gran aventura de Mortadelo y Filemón* (2003): 4,985,983 admissions and €22,847,733.13 gross in Spain[7](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/es-es/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=62301) |
| Awards | Five Goyas for the 2003 film; two Goyas, including Best Animated Film, for the 2014 animated version[8](https://www.premiosgoya.com/pelicula/la-gran-aventura-de-mortadelo-y-filemon/) • [9](https://www.premiosgoya.com/pelicula/mortadelo-y-filemon-contra-jimmy-el-cachondo/) |
| Foreign editions | Published in about ten languages as *Mortadel et Filémon*, *Fitt et Fil*, *Flip og Flop*, and *Dörtgöz ve Dazlak*, among other names[4](https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20180122/mortadelo-filemon-cumplen-60-anos-sin-perspectiva-jubilacion/1665201.shtml) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and characters
Mortadelo and Filemón are two professed "secret" agents of the T.I.A., the fictional Spanish counterpart of the C.I.A.[2](https://www.zeitgeschichte-digital.de/doks/files/2037/ZF_3_2004_453_461_Rey.pdf) The series began as a parody of [Sherlock Holmes](https://www.edgepedia.org/sherlock-holmes) and [Dr. Watson](https://www.edgepedia.org/dr-watson), and its earliest stories were one-page black-and-white strips[4](https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20180122/mortadelo-filemon-cumplen-60-anos-sin-perspectiva-jubilacion/1665201.shtml) • [5](https://as.com/meristation/comics/criticas/resena-de-super-ibanez-un-repaso-a-todos-los-personajes-del-autor-de-comics-mas-importante-de-espana-f202601-n/). Ibáñez considered several titles before settling on the final name, including *Yesca, agencia detectivesca*, *Ocarino y Pernales*, and *Lentejo y Fideíno*; he was 22 years old at the time[10](https://www.fundacioncinemascomics.com/mortadelo-y-filemon-64-anos-de-una-agencia-de-informacion/).
The humor rests on physical catastrophe and chronic failure. Characters are smashed to the ground by falling pianos and later "inflated" back to life, in a style the scholar David Rey compares to Warner Brothers' *Looney Tunes*[2](https://www.zeitgeschichte-digital.de/doks/files/2037/ZF_3_2004_453_461_Rey.pdf). The director Javier Fesser, who adapted the characters twice for cinema, described a "kind of lesson, of optimism, in the chronic failure of Mortadelo y Filemón"[11](https://cadenaser.com/programa/2014/11/28/hoy_por_hoy/1417175245_694813.html). Recurring supporting characters include the inventor Professor Bacterio, the secretary Ofelia, and the superintendent known as El Súper[12](https://web.playpilot.com/es/movie/la-gran-aventura-de-mortadelo-y-filem%C3%B3n-pptiCNS/).
The stories are not a continuous narrative but satirical vignettes of Spanish society, with special issues devoted to major events such as the football World Cup[13](https://dspace.umh.es/jspui/bitstream/11000/33999/1/PER_Albaladejo_Marcos_%C3%93scar.pdf). The characters' designs changed over the decades; early versions, closer to the style of Manuel Vázquez, had large downward-turned noses and very thin limbs[14](https://www.akiracomics.com/blog/mortadelo-y-filemon-63-aniversario).
## Publishing history
Ibáñez produced more than 150 issues of the series from 1958 onward[2](https://www.zeitgeschichte-digital.de/doks/files/2037/ZF_3_2004_453_461_Rey.pdf). Until 1985 the series was published by the Bruguera publishing house, and from 1988 by Ediciones B[2](https://www.zeitgeschichte-digital.de/doks/files/2037/ZF_3_2004_453_461_Rey.pdf). The transition was contentious: in 1986 Ibáñez left Bruguera, feeling mistreated by the publisher, and temporarily lost the rights to his characters, which prevented him from making new *Mortadelo y Filemón* stories[5](https://as.com/meristation/comics/criticas/resena-de-super-ibanez-un-repaso-a-todos-los-personajes-del-autor-de-comics-mas-importante-de-espana-f202601-n/). In 1985, after leaving Bruguera, he fought a legal contest over the rights to the characters[15](https://elpais.com/economia/negocios/2025-08-24/escaramuzas-legales-por-las-mejores-frases-de-james-bond-y-mortadelo.html).
The main collection reached 222 albums of 44 pages by one count, while another source gives 225[5](https://as.com/meristation/comics/criticas/resena-de-super-ibanez-un-repaso-a-todos-los-personajes-del-autor-de-comics-mas-importante-de-espana-f202601-n/) • [6](https://as.com/meristation/comics/noticias/resena-de-hachis-salud-llega-por-sorpresa-un-album-inedito-de-mortadelo-y-filemon-f202512-n/). After Ibáñez's death, an unpublished, finished and inked album, *Hachís... ¡Salud!*, which Ediciones B had set aside in 2014 for later publication, came to light[6](https://as.com/meristation/comics/noticias/resena-de-hachis-salud-llega-por-sorpresa-un-album-inedito-de-mortadelo-y-filemon-f202512-n/).
## International reach
The series crossed borders early. Its pages have been published in Germany, France, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Turkey, Brazil, and Denmark, in roughly ten languages, under localized names such as *Mortadel et Filémon* (French), *Fitt et Fil*, *Flip og Flop*, and *Dörtgöz ve Dazlak*[4](https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20180122/mortadelo-filemon-cumplen-60-anos-sin-perspectiva-jubilacion/1665201.shtml).
## Screen adaptations
**Early animation.** The draftsman and publicist Rafael Vara acquired the adaptation rights in 1965, when they belonged to Editorial Bruguera. Through his company Estudios Vara he produced short films of the characters, later compiled into two sketch-format features, *Festival de Mortadelo y Filemón* and *Segundo Festival de Mortadelo y Filemón*[16](https://www.20minutos.es/cinemania/noticias/mas-medio-siglo-adaptaciones-al-cine-la-television-mortadelo-filemon-98531/).
**The 2003 live-action film.** *La gran aventura de Mortadelo y Filemón*, directed by Javier Fesser, opened in Spain on 7 February 2003[17](https://elpais.com/diario/2003/02/07/cine/1044572404_850215.html). It was produced by Películas Pendelton S.A. and Sociedad General de Cine S.A. with support from Telecinco S.A. and Canal+ España, took two years of work, and cost 7 million euros[2](https://www.zeitgeschichte-digital.de/doks/files/2037/ZF_3_2004_453_461_Rey.pdf) • [17](https://elpais.com/diario/2003/02/07/cine/1044572404_850215.html). Benito Pocino, a Barcelona postal worker with no professional acting experience whom Fesser discovered through a photograph shown by a makeup artist, played Mortadelo; Pepe Viyuela, who had auditioned for Mortadelo, was cast as Filemón[18](https://cadenaser.com/nacional/2026/10/23/creo-que-te-he-jodido-la-vida-la-advertencia-que-javier-fesser-hizo-a-pepe-viyuela-tras-convertirse-en-filemon-cadena-ser/). The film drew 4,985,983 Spanish admissions and grossed €22,847,733.13[7](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/es-es/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=62301), becoming one of the Spanish films with the most special effects of its time and the highest-grossing Spanish film of that year; it won five Goya awards, including Best Special Effects[18](https://cadenaser.com/nacional/2026/10/23/creo-que-te-he-jodido-la-vida-la-advertencia-que-javier-fesser-hizo-a-pepe-viyuela-tras-convertirse-en-filemon-cadena-ser/) • [8](https://www.premiosgoya.com/pelicula/la-gran-aventura-de-mortadelo-y-filemon/). Its production included more than 400 digital shots, an average of one digital effect every two shots, and the high-resolution scanning of about 150,000 frames[19](https://roderic.uv.es/bitstream/handle/10550/75225/Tesis%20Jordi%20Revert%20Firmada_signed.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1). David Rey notes that the film added a historical layer absent from the comics, portraying a Franco-like dictator as an antagonist and an allegory of the Franco regime[2](https://www.zeitgeschichte-digital.de/doks/files/2037/ZF_3_2004_453_461_Rey.pdf).
**The 2008 sequel.** *Mortadelo y Filemón. Misión: salvar la Tierra*, directed by Miguel Bardem, opened on 25 January 2008, timed to the 50th anniversary of the characters' first publication. Edu Soto replaced Pocino. It grossed €7,713,583.42 with 1,364,963 admissions, the second most-viewed Spanish film of that year[20](https://infoicaa.mcu.es/CatalogoICAA/es-es/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=55907) • [16](https://www.20minutos.es/cinemania/noticias/mas-medio-siglo-adaptaciones-al-cine-la-television-mortadelo-filemon-98531/).
**The 2014 animated film.** *Mortadelo y Filemón contra Jimmy el Cachondo*, again directed by Fesser, was the characters' first three-dimensional computer-animated feature, released on 28 November 2014[11](https://cadenaser.com/programa/2014/11/28/hoy_por_hoy/1417175245_694813.html) • [21](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/es-es/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=231111). In the Spanish version the two leads were voiced by Karra Elejalde and Janfri Topera[16](https://www.20minutos.es/cinemania/noticias/mas-medio-siglo-adaptaciones-al-cine-la-television-mortadelo-filemon-98531/). It earned 784,765 admissions and €4,998,552.18 in Spain[21](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/es-es/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=231111) and won two Goyas, for Best Animated Film and Best Adapted Screenplay[9](https://www.premiosgoya.com/pelicula/mortadelo-y-filemon-contra-jimmy-el-cachondo/). Critics received it as the more faithful screen translation: Time Out's reviewer wrote that everything missing from the 2003 film, "the true spirit of the panels, the sense of accumulation and excess," was present here, corrected through the resources of drawn animation[22](https://www.timeout.com/es/cine/mortadelo-y-filemon-contra-jimmy-el-cachondo-3d).
## Other media
The franchise extends to video games, television series, trading-card albums, action figures, and theater[23](https://www.fundacioncinemascomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Mortadelo-y-Filemon-en-las-olimpiadas-tokiotas_-transmision-de-estereotipos-orientalistas-en-el-comic.docx.pdf). The point-and-click graphic adventure *Mortadelo y Filemón: El Sulfato Atómico*, developed by Alcachofa Soft and released for PC in 1998, was based on the 1969 comic of the same name, in which the agents must recover a spray that makes insects grow[24](https://as.com/meristation/noticias/el-mitico-juego-de-mortadelo-y-filemon-que-llega-por-primera-vez-a-consolas-ya-esta-disponible-en-ps4-ps5-xbox-y-switch-f202601-n/). On 30 January 2026, Erbe Software and Ratalaika Games released it on consoles ([PlayStation 4](https://www.edgepedia.org/playstation-4) and 5, Xbox, and [Nintendo Switch](https://www.edgepedia.org/nintendo-switch)) for the first time, as a relaunch with achievements, multilanguage text, and CRT filters at a launch price of €5.99[24](https://as.com/meristation/noticias/el-mitico-juego-de-mortadelo-y-filemon-que-llega-por-primera-vez-a-consolas-ya-esta-disponible-en-ps4-ps5-xbox-y-switch-f202601-n/).
## Cultural standing
Humoristan, the digital museum of 150 years of Spanish graphic humor, calls the series the longest-running living series of Spanish humor comics and the most popular, known and recognized by practically all [Spaniards](https://www.edgepedia.org/spaniards)[3](https://humoristan.org/es/serie/mortadelo-y-filemon-agencia-de-informacion). A 2003 audience figure of roughly five million viewers within months of release led Rey to describe the film as the most successful Spanish film ever shown measured by popularity[2](https://www.zeitgeschichte-digital.de/doks/files/2037/ZF_3_2004_453_461_Rey.pdf). The characters' endurance is also visible in their continued topicality: Ibáñez kept publishing stories tied to current events, from *Okupas* (2002) to *La litrona... vaya mona* (2013)[6](https://as.com/meristation/comics/noticias/resena-de-hachis-salud-llega-por-sorpresa-un-album-inedito-de-mortadelo-y-filemon-f202512-n/).
## References
1. [Mortadelo y Filemón en el laboratorio, El País (30 November 2025)](https://elpais.com/ciencia/2025-11-30/mortadelo-y-filemon-en-el-laboratorio-viajes-en-el-tiempo-cacaos-espaciales-y-trompazos-a-discrecion.html)
2. [David Rey (2004). Laughing at the Dictator: Franco and Franco's Spain in the Spanish Blockbuster "Mortadelo y Filemón". Zeithistorische Forschungen 1 (3), 453–461.](https://www.zeitgeschichte-digital.de/doks/files/2037/ZF_3_2004_453_461_Rey.pdf)
3. [Mortadelo y Filemón, agencia de información, Humoristan](https://humoristan.org/es/serie/mortadelo-y-filemon-agencia-de-informacion)
4. [Mortadelo y Filemón cumplen 60 años sin perspectiva de jubilación, RTVE.es (22 January 2018)](https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20180122/mortadelo-filemon-cumplen-60-anos-sin-perspectiva-jubilacion/1665201.shtml)
5. [Reseña de 'Súper Ibáñez', MeriStation](https://as.com/meristation/comics/criticas/resena-de-super-ibanez-un-repaso-a-todos-los-personajes-del-autor-de-comics-mas-importante-de-espana-f202601-n/)
6. [Reseña de 'Hachís... ¡Salud!', MeriStation](https://as.com/meristation/comics/noticias/resena-de-hachis-salud-llega-por-sorpresa-un-album-inedito-de-mortadelo-y-filemon-f202512-n/)
7. [ICAA Film Data: La gran aventura de Mortadelo y Filemón](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/es-es/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=62301)
8. [La gran aventura de Mortadelo y Filemón, Premios Goya](https://www.premiosgoya.com/pelicula/la-gran-aventura-de-mortadelo-y-filemon/)
9. [Mortadelo y Filemón contra Jimmy el Cachondo, Premios Goya](https://www.premiosgoya.com/pelicula/mortadelo-y-filemon-contra-jimmy-el-cachondo/)
10. [Mortadelo y Filemón, 64 años de una agencia de información, Fundación Canaria Cine+Cómics](https://www.fundacioncinemascomics.com/mortadelo-y-filemon-64-anos-de-una-agencia-de-informacion/)
11. ["Hay una enseñanza en el fracaso crónico de Mortadelo y Filemón", Cadena SER (28 November 2014)](https://cadenaser.com/programa/2014/11/28/hoy_por_hoy/1417175245_694813.html)
12. [La gran aventura de Mortadelo y Filemón (2003), PlayPilot](https://web.playpilot.com/es/movie/la-gran-aventura-de-mortadelo-y-filem%C3%B3n-pptiCNS/)
13. [El lenguaje del cómic como herramienta de comunicación, Universidad Miguel Hernández](https://dspace.umh.es/jspui/bitstream/11000/33999/1/PER_Albaladejo_Marcos_%C3%93scar.pdf)
14. [¡Feliz cumpleaños a Mortadelo y Filemón!, Blog Akira Cómics](https://www.akiracomics.com/blog/mortadelo-y-filemon-63-aniversario)
15. [Escaramuzas legales por las mejores frases de James Bond y Mortadelo, El País (24 August 2025)](https://elpais.com/economia/negocios/2025-08-24/escaramuzas-legales-por-las-mejores-frases-de-james-bond-y-mortadelo.html)
16. [Más de medio siglo de adaptaciones al cine y la televisión de 'Mortadelo y Filemón', 20minutos](https://www.20minutos.es/cinemania/noticias/mas-medio-siglo-adaptaciones-al-cine-la-television-mortadelo-filemon-98531/)
17. [Mortadelo y Filemón dan el gran salto al cine, El País (7 February 2003)](https://elpais.com/diario/2003/02/07/cine/1044572404_850215.html)
18. ["Creo que te he jodido la vida": la advertencia que Javier Fesser hizo a Pepe Viyuela, Cadena SER (23 October 2026)](https://cadenaser.com/nacional/2026/10/23/creo-que-te-he-jodido-la-vida-la-advertencia-que-javier-fesser-hizo-a-pepe-viyuela-tras-convertirse-en-filemon-cadena-ser/)
19. [Jordi Revert, doctoral thesis, Universitat de València](https://roderic.uv.es/bitstream/handle/10550/75225/Tesis%20Jordi%20Revert%20Firmada_signed.pdf?isAllowed=y&sequence=1)
20. [ICAA Film Data: Mortadelo y Filemón. Misión, salvar la Tierra](https://infoicaa.mcu.es/CatalogoICAA/es-es/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=55907)
21. [ICAA Film Data: Mortadelo y Filemón contra Jimmy el Cachondo](https://sede.mcu.gob.es/CatalogoICAA/es-es/Peliculas/Detalle?Pelicula=231111)
22. [Mortadelo y Filemón contra Jimmy el cachondo 3D, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/es/cine/mortadelo-y-filemon-contra-jimmy-el-cachondo-3d)
23. [Mortadelo y Filemón en las olimpiadas tokiotas, Fundación Canaria Cine+Cómics](https://www.fundacioncinemascomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Mortadelo-y-Filemon-en-las-olimpiadas-tokiotas_-transmision-de-estereotipos-orientalistas-en-el-comic.docx.pdf)
24. [El mítico juego de 'Mortadelo y Filemón' que llega por primera vez a consolas, MeriStation](https://as.com/meristation/noticias/el-mitico-juego-de-mortadelo-y-filemon-que-llega-por-primera-vez-a-consolas-ya-esta-disponible-en-ps4-ps5-xbox-y-switch-f202601-n/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Films by genre, form, and subject › Adaptations of literature, stage, and other media › Films based on comics and graphic novels*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license