''Agent 327'' is a Dutch

action comedy The action comedy is a film genre that applies to action films where humor plays a much more central role. While early films feature stuntwork and humor, academic Cynthia King wrote that the genre only came into its own as a mainstay of the America ...

comic series by cartoonist

Martin Lodewijk Martinus Spyridon Johannes Lodewijk (born 30 April 1939) is a Dutch comics writer and cartoonist, and advertising illustrator. Martin Lodewijk was born in Rotterdam. He dropped out of high school in 1957, and started drawing cartoons, notably of ...

. It was a regular feature from

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

until 1983, and again from 2000 to the present.Royal Dutch Library
/ref> The eponymous Agent 327 is a

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

Maxwell Smart Maxwell Smart may refer to: * Maxwell Smart, fictional character in the television series ''Get Smart'' * Maxwell Smart, a Holocaust survivor and subject of the 2019 documentary '' Cheating Hitler: Surviving the Holocaust'' and the 2023 film '' Th ...

-like Dutch secret agent who fights for "Righteousness and World Peace"; his looks are based on the character of

Peter Gunn ''Peter Gunn'' is an American detective fiction, private eye television series, starring Craig Stevens (actor), Craig Stevens as Peter Gunn with Lola Albright as his girlfriend, lounge singer Edie Hart. The series was broadcast by NBC from Sept ...

. Often partnered with the junoesque Olga Lawina (an agent of the Swiss Secret Service), his adventures take him around

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and the rest of the world as he battles numerous villains, both fictional and parodies of real people. The song "Denk toch altijd met liefd' aan je moeder" by Gerda en Herman Timmerhout is a common feature in the comic, and is often used to hideously torture someone or provide a plot-turning emotional reaction.

Publication history

''Agent 327'' debuted in 1966 as a feature in ''

Pep Pep is energy or high spirits; it may refer to: * Pep band, an ensemble of instrumentalists * Pep (dog) (c. 1923–1930), Labrador Retriever sent to the Eastern State Penitentiary * Pep, the dog in Putt-Putt (series), ''Putt-Putt'' (series) * Pep ...

'' magazine #21, written and drawn by

and published by Geïllustreerde Pers. ''Agent 327'' ran in ''Pep'' as a weekly 4-8-page feature until 1975, when ''Pep'' and the comics magazine '' Sjors'' merged into '' Eppo'', published by

Oberon Oberon () is a king of the fairy, fairies in Middle Ages, medieval and Renaissance literature. He is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', in which he is King of the Fairies and spouse of Titania ...

. Meanwhile, in 1970 Geïllustreerde Pers published the first ''Agent 327'' album, titled '' Dossier Stemkwadrater''. Further albums followed every few years, continuing under Oberon after ''Peps acquisition. ''Agent 327'' was cancelled as a feature in ''Eppo'' in 1983, but returned in 2000 as a regular feature. In 2009, Agent 327 returned to ''Eppo'' as a regular feature.

Characters

Main characters

;Agent 327: Initiated into the world of espionage in the

Dutch resistance The Dutch resistance () to the History of the Netherlands (1939–1945), German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II can be mainly characterized as non-violent. The primary organizers were the Communist Party of the Netherlands, C ...

, his creative and elaborate disguises just to get to work in the morning form a

running gag A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling. Though they are similar, catchphrases are no ...

and

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

: ''Grrrutjes-nog-aan-toe, wat een geheim agent toch allemaal niet moet doen om incognito op zijn werk te verschijnen'' (translation:''"Heavens above, what a secret agent has to do these days to arrive at his job without being recognized.''). Agent 327's real name, Hendrik IJzerbroot, is derived from the Dutch political figure Hendrik Koekoek and an allusion to the Dutch resistance fighter

Bernardus IJzerdraat Bernardus IJzerdraat (1891 – 13 March 1941) was a Dutch resistance, Dutch resistance fighter in the Second World War. A tapestry restorer from Rotterdam, he became involved as early as 1936 in the ''Eenheid door Democratie'' movement which opp ...

. The character's physical features were modelled after actor Craig Stevens who played in ''

''. ;The Chief: One of his main concerns is to keep the costs down. ;Willemse: The doorman. When Agent 327 wants to enter the premises they exchange pass words. ;Miss Betsy: The secretary of the office. Obviously modelled after

Miss Moneypenny Miss Moneypenny, later assigned the first names of Eve or Jane, is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. She is secretary to M (James Bond), M, who is Bond's superior officer and head of the British Secret Intelligence Serv ...

. ;Olga Lawina: A Swiss secret agent partnered with Agent 327 in a wide variety of adventures. Her good looks often present both an advantage and a liability.

Recurring villains

;Boris Kloris: Ruthless spy with paper white skin. ;Dr. Maybe: Brother of Dr. Yes and Dr. No. With his assistant Fi Doh, and sometimes Herr Dr. Vonvonderstein. ;Colonel Bauer: German officer who held many war secrets.

Minor (real life) characters

;

: Member of several

jug band A jug band is a musical band, band employing a jug (instrument), jug player and a mix of conventional and homemade instruments. These homemade instruments are ordinary objects adapted to or modified for making sound, like the washtub bass, washbo ...

s. First appearing with the badly-received Endatteme Jugband, he now plays with Chickenfeed. ; Jan Tromp: Struggling painter who was drafted by Boris Kloris to forge

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...

's ''

The Night Watch ''Militia Company of District II under the Command of Captain Frans Banninck Cocq'', also known as ''The Shooting Company of Frans Banning Cocq and Willem van Ruytenburch'', but commonly referred to as ''The Night Watch'' (), is a 1642 painting ...

''. After being exposed he confessed that he'd turned down an offer to draw a one-page family comic for a women's magazine.

Adaptations

Albums

*1 '' Dossier Heksenkring & Dossier Onderwater'' (1975) *2 ''

Dossier Zondagskind A dossier is a collection of papers or other sources, containing detailed information Information is an Abstraction, abstract concept that refers to something which has the power Communication, to inform. At the most fundamental level, it p ...

'' (1976) *3 ''

Dossier Zevenslaper A dossier is a collection of papers or other sources, containing detailed information about a particular person or subject. Dossier can also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * '' Dossier'' the journal of Women Living Under Muslim Laws o ...

'' (1977) *4 '' Dossier Stemkwadrater'' (1970, 1979) *5 ''

Dossier Leeuwenkuil A dossier is a collection of papers or other sources, containing detailed information about a particular person or subject. Dossier can also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * '' Dossier'' the journal of Women Living Under Muslim Laws o ...

'' (1973, 1979) *6 '' Dossier Dozijn Min Eén'' (1980) *7 '' Dossier Nachtwacht'' (1980) *8 ''

Dossier Dozijn Min Twee A dossier is a collection of papers or other sources, containing detailed information about a particular person or subject. Dossier can also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * '' Dossier'' the journal of Women Living Under Muslim Laws o ...

'' (1981) *9 '' De gesel van Rotterdam'' (1981) *10 '' Drie avonturen'' (1982) *11 '' De ogen van Wu Manchu'' (1983) *12 '' De vergeten bom'' (2000) *13 '' Het pad van de schildpad'' (2001) *14 '' Cacoïne en commando's'' (2001) *15 '' De golem van Antwerpen'' (2002) *16 '' De wet van alles'' (2002) *17 '' Hotel New York'' (2002) *18 ''

Het oor Van Gogh Het or HET may refer to: Science and technology * Hall-effect thruster, a type of ion thruster used for spacecraft propulsion * Heavy Equipment Transporter, a vehicle in the US Army's Heavy Equipment Transport System * Hobby–Eberly Telescope, ...

'' (2003) *19 '' De vlucht van vroeger'' (2005) *20 '' De Daddy Vinci-code'' (2015) *21 '' Drie avonturen'' (to be published) *''

Dossier Minimum Bug A dossier is a collection of papers or other sources, containing detailed information about a particular person or subject. Dossier can also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Dossier (journal), Dossier'' the journal of Women Living U ...

'' (1999) (not an element of the official series)

Other versions

Agent 327: Operation Barbershop

On May 15, 2017, the

Blender Foundation The Blender Foundation is a Dutch nonprofit organization (Stichting) responsible for the development of Blender (software), Blender, an Open-source software, open-source 3D computer graphics software, 3D content-creation program. The foundation ...

released a teaser trailer that was almost four minutes long, for an upcoming animated feature film based on the comic. It stars 327 as he investigates a barbershop, battles his nemesis Boris, and learns the dangerous truth about the shop. The 3-minute film was released online as a proof of concept to attract funding for a feature-length adaptation. The trailer won 11 film awards for best short film or best animated short film. At the Blender Conference in November 2017, producer Ton Roosendaal mentioned that the film industry really loved the trailer. It was fresh, new and had potential. The original story for the film didn't resonate in Hollywood, and a new story was developed that was solid enough to transform into a script. Roosendaal revealed the working title of the full feature film as: ''Agent 327, The Case of the Einstein Enigma''. In January 2018, an alternative ending to the trailer was published.

Tribute stories

Between 2017 and 2019, ''Eppo'' pre-published twenty-one shorties drawn and scripted by others. They were released as two volumes.

Translation

The agent's name has been changed in several languages: * Danish: ''Hans Harkhoost'' * German: ''Otto Otto (O.O.) Eisenbrot'' * Norwegian: ''Henrik Eisenbrot'' * Spanish: ''Enrique Panférreo'' * Swedish: ''Otto Otto Gärning''

References

Agent 327
, blender.org. Retrieved 17 April 2017. {{Blender Foundation Dutch comics characters Comics characters introduced in 1966 Male characters in comics Dutch comic strips 1966 comics debuts Spy comics James Bond parodies Humor comics Adventure comics Satirical comics Fictional spies in comics Fictional Dutch people Comics set in the Netherlands