Полковник Клэфтон: Франко-бельгийский комикс о приключениях шпиона.

Franco Belgian comics series

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.

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.

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. 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. 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. 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. 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.