History YMMV / MortadeloYFilemon

** The 2003 live-action film. Massively successful as it was, fans and critics alike were (and still are) divided about how good of an adaptation it was in reality, pitting the film's excellent casting and recreation of the series' universe against the frequent perception that the story lacked the spirit of the comics and had questionable choices all over it. The universal complaint was the over-abundance of [[GrossoutShow crude, obscene dramedy]], which is typical of Spanish comedy films but contrasts heavily with the comics' more surreal and quirky style of humor, as well as the controversial decision to make Filemón an [[AdaptationalJerkass unsympathetic quasi-villain]], which some saw as an unnecessary and mean-spirited copout on the original character.

** The song "Mira esta cosita" sung by the villain Jimmy El Cachondo also became a meme in the Spanish-speaking meme community.

* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments: "Chernobil... ¡que cuchitril!" ("Chernobyl... what a hovel!") features a rare example of this in the series when Mortadelo and Filemón smell the reactor's gas that turns people into killing beasts and try to [[WithFriendsLikeThese deliberately]] kill each other until they fall into a muddy puddle that reverses the effects, makes them realize that they were trying to murder their life partners, [[AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther and decide to hug each other]]... [[BaitTheDog only to realize that they just stole from each other]]. But they do return their things immediately, so the scene still comes off as sweet.
** The album also has a surprisingly happy ending where Mortadelo and Filemón manage to connect the muddy puddle to the reactor through tubes so that it now causes for everyone to become friendly and peaceful, including even Israelis with Palestinians and Barça fans with Real Madrid fans, and the newspapers have for the first time in the series' history nothing but good news about Chernobyl being now a "friendship paradise".

* GrowingTheBeard: The comic was an entertaining weekly strip with the traditional few-panels-and-punchline formula, but it wasn't until their first full book, ''ComicBook/ElSulfatoAtomico'', that the now standard supporting cast appeared, allowing for deeper storylines and better interactions for the protagonist duo. Ibáñez's drawing style also evolved notably, imitating that of FrancoBelgianComics.

* FranchiseZombie: The series has been accused of this since roughly the early 2000's.

** In an album taking place in New York City, attempts of Filemón and Mortadelo to investigate Harlem and locate a suspected terrorist constantly end with them beaten by various locals (often portrayed as big, muscular, easy-to-anger {{Scary Black M|an}}en) who seem to have white guys as a [[BerserkButton target for their wrath]]. ''However'', when information the two agents finally get their suspect, it turns out that their information about about a bomb was wrong. His "bomb" was evidence about political corruption, and how money supposedly going into urban development ended up in the wrong hands.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: In the animated series's episode "La venganza de Tengo-Pis", equivalent to the comic book "El premio No-Vel", Filemón accidentally squashes a policeman's nose between two bricks (ItMakesSenseInContext), so the cop starts hitting him with his nightstick. This happens just like the comic book, in which they would cut to another scene just after, but the series deviates from the source material by adding a strange scene. Seeing Filemón being defenselessly beaten, Mortadelo turns into a dog and tries to disarm the cop, managing to free his partner; the two TIA agents then attack the policeman, getting the upper hand by pulling his ear and flattened nose, and they stretch and stretch them (with the poor guy screaming in pain in a truly ''creepy'' way) until an explosion fills the camera and it cuts to Mortadelo and Filemón laughing. The incident is never expanded or mentioned again, and the viewer only gets the gruesome implication, rather out of context for the series's level of violence, that they ripped out his ear and nose or something worse.

* MemeticMutation: In April 2022, coinciding with a television broadcast of the 2014 CGI movie, memes of the villain Tronchamulas attempting to do "El aquello" to Filemón became viral in the Spanish community.

** In an album taking place in New York City, attempts of Filemón and Mortadelo to investigate Harlem and locate a suspected terrorist constantly end with them beaten by various locals (often portrayed as big, muscular, easy-to-anger {{Scary Black M|an}}en) who seem to have white guys as a [[BerserkButton target for their wrath]]. ''However'', when information the two agents finally get their suspect, it turns out about a bomb was wrong. His "bomb" was evidence about political corruption, and how money supposedly going into urban development ended up in the wrong hands.

** "ComicBook/ChapeauElEsmirriau" and "[[ComicBook/VenganzaCincuentona ¡Venganza cincuentona!]]": [[DastardlyDapperDerby Chapeau el "Esmirriau"]] is a criminal thief who stands out as one of Mortadelo and Filemón's most tenacious enemies thanks to his big bowler hat filled with [[HyperspaceArsenal mechanical gadgets of any kind]]. After stealing from them an ancient egyptian coin by making a hole in their wall and safe, Chapeau evades their capture throughout the story using the large amount of tools in his hat that range from explosives, to mechanical arms, to even living animals, with him being able to [[SuperReflexes activate the one he needs in the exact situation in an instant]]. Even when they managed to take his hat from him, [[CrazyPrepared he just put up another one]]. Many years after his defeat, he would [[VillainTeamUp collaborate with many other previous villains]] in the series to claim revenge on Mortadelo and Filemón, while still using his hat's various devices to end them.
** "[[ComicBook/LaBandaDeLosGuiris La Banda de los Guiris]]": [[YellowPeril The unnamed Chinese criminal]] stands out as the most clever and scheming member of the titular band thanks to his [[TheTrickster large array of tricks]], as he fools several civilians with traps such as a camera [[ExtendoBoxingGlove that pulls a punching glove]] when used or a fake cockroach that when stomped makes a wall fall on the victim to mug them once they're KO. When Mortadelo and Filemón attempt to arrest him, he uses many techniques such as a fake arm connected to the inside of a streetlight or dressing a cactus like himself to avoid them, with in one particular moment managing to make an attempt to tie him end with the duo tied together instead.

** "ComicBook/ChapeauElEsmirriau" and "[[ComicBook/VenganzaCincuentona ¡Venganza cincuentona!]]": [[DastardlyDapperDerby Chapeau el "Esmirriau"]] is a criminal thief who stands out as one of Mortadelo and Filemón's most tenacious enemies thanks to his [[DashinglyDapperDerby big bowler hat]] [[HyperspaceArsenal filled with mechanical gadgets of any kind]]. After stealing from them an ancient egyptian coin by making a hole in their wall and safe, Chapeau evades their capture throughout the story using the large amount of tools in his hat that range from explosives, to mechanical arms, to even living animals, with him being [[SuperReflexes able to activate the one he needs in the exact situation in an instant]]. Even when they managed to take his hat from him, [[CrazyPrepared he just put up another one]]. Many years after his defeat, [[VillainTeamUp he would collaborate with many other previous villains in the series]] to claim revenge on Mortadelo and Filemón, while still using his hat's various devices to end them.

* SeasonalRot: Most fans agree that it's been going on since TheEighties, though very occasionally a decent album still appears (''La Sirenita'' is one notorious example).

** A notable example from TheNineties, before the aforementioned trend started, is "El quinto centenario" ("The fifth centenary"). It's themed, as its name suggests, after the fifth centenary of the Discovery of America, with the protagonists time-travelling to join Christopher Columbus' crew. ''Many'' jokes are lost to modern readers. To start with, most important characters in the past are drawn like important politicians from the year the comic was released. Some characters were drawn like politicians who would still be recognizable or relevant years later (such as future Prime Minister José María Aznar or Cuban leader Fidel Castro), others... not so much (even the then-Prime Minister Felipe González, still known nowadays, can be hard to recognize due to how he's drawn). The story ends with a parody of the 1992 Universal Exposición of Seville which, as a reference to a one-time event which only lasted 6 months and was located in a single city, is as accessible to modern readers as you would expect.

* AcceptableTargets: The traditional Spanish sentiment of disdain towards authority really shows in each album, starting with resident BadBoss the Súper, who is by far the comic book's greatest {{Jerkass}}. Real life politicians, wherever they show up, get absolutely no quarter.

** "[[ComicBook/LaBandaDeLosGuiris La Banda de los Guiris]]": [[YellowPeril The unnamed Chinese criminal]] stands out as the most clever and scheming member of the titular band thanks to his [[TheTrickster array of tricks]], as he fools several civilians with things such as a camera [[ExtendoBoxingGlove that pulls a punching glove]] when used or a fake cockroach that when stomped makes a wall fall on the victim to mug them once they're KO. When Mortadelo and Filemón attempt to arrest him, he uses many of his tricks such as a fake arm connected to the inside of a streetlight or dressing a cactus like himself to avoid them, with in one particular moment managing to make an attempt to tie him end with the duo tied together instead.

* MagnificentBastard ("ComicBook/ChapeauElEsmirriau" and "ComicBook/VenganzaCincuentona"): [[DastardlyDapperDerby Chapeau el "Esmirriau"]] is a criminal thief who stands out as one of Mortadelo and Filemón's most tenacious enemies thanks to his [[DashinglyDapperDerby big bowler hat]] [[HyperspaceArsenal filled with mechanical gadgets of any kind]]. After stealing from them an ancient egyptian coin by making a hole in their wall and safe, Chapeau evades their capture throughout the story using the large amount of tools in his hat that range from explosives, to mechanical arms, to even living animals, with him being [[SuperReflexes able to activate the one he needs in the exact situation in an instant]]. Even when they managed to take his hat from him, [[CrazyPrepared he just put up another one]]. Many years after his defeat, [[VillainTeamUp he would collaborate with many other previous villains in the series]] to claim revenge on Mortadelo and Filemón, while still using his hat's various devices to end them.

** And in Denmark (as ''Flip & Flop''). Ibañez even made a (pretty good) story set in Copenhagen in honor of his Danish fans, featuring the Little Mermaid Statue as a main character.

* HarsherInHindsight: The last panel of ''El 35 Aniversario'' (''The 35th Anniversary'') released in 1992 shows in the background a plane crashed into one of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.

** Due to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic postponing 2020's Japanese UsefulNotes/OlympicGames to 2021, the ''Tokyo 2020'' album released in 2020 can be seen this way, which was lampshaded in some re-releases.

** Due to the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic postponing 2020's Japanese UsefulNotes/OlympicGames to 2021, the ''Tokyo 2020'' album released in 2020 can be seen this way, which was lampshaded in some releases.

* DesignatedVillain: The one big flaw in "Objetivo: Eliminar al Rana" ("Objective: Get Rid of the Frog"). The titular characters are told by the Súper to become TheMole in Rana's organization and kill him before Rana kills the Súper first. However, Rana [[AffablyEvil always treats the titular characters with respect]], with even Filemón pointing out that he pays very well (in stark contrast with [[BadBoss the Súper]]), and he's never shown to be doing anything evil apart from trying to kill the Súper (and the exact reason for such harmful desire is never explained) until the very last chapter where he tries to kill Mortadelo and Filemón as well (and that's ''only'' after he's heard they're trying to kill ''him'', so it would count as self-defense). This was so egregious that, when "El Tirano" ("The Tyrant"), another story which could be considered a remake of the aforementioned story, was released much later, this time Ibañez made sure to clearly show the antagonist as a monster.

* HarsherInHindsight: The last panel of ''El 35 Aniversario'' (''The 35th Anniversary'') released in 1992 shows in the background a plane crashed into one of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. (This is the current page image.)

* DesignatedVillain: The one big flaw in "Objetivo: Eliminar al Rana" ("Objective: Get Rid of the Frog"). The titular characters are told by the Súper to become TheMole in Rana's organization and kill him before Rana kills the Súper first. However, Rana [[AffablyEvil always treats the titular characters with respect]] (in stark contrast with [[BadBoss the Súper]]), and he's never shown to be doing anything evil apart from trying to kill the Súper (and the exact reason for such harmful desire is never explained) until the very last chapter where he tries to kill Mortadelo and Filemón as well (and that's ''only'' after he's heard they're trying to kill ''him'', so it would count as self-defense). This was so egregious that, when "El Tirano" ("The Tyrant"), another story which could be considered a remake of the aforementioned story, was released much later, this time Ibañez made sure to clearly show the antagonist as a monster.

* DesignatedVillain: The one big flaw in "Objetivo: Eliminar al Rana" ("Objective: Get Rid of the Frog"). The titular characters are told by the Súper to become TheMole in Rana's organization and kill him before Rana kills the Súper first. However, Rana [[AffablyEvil always treats the titular characters with respect]] (in stark contrast with [[BadBoss the Súper]]), and he's never shown to be doing anything evil apart from trying to kill the Súper (and the exact reason for such harmful desire is never explained) until the very last chapter where he tries to kill Mortadelo and Filemón as well (and that's ''only'' after he's heard they're trying to kill ''him'', so it would count as self-defense).
** This is lampshaded by Filemón when the titular pair were (as usual) being pursued by the Super "Be careful, because you can't imagine how well the Frog pays!". At that point, M&F stay with the Super merely out of loyalty or inertia.
** Billy "the Horrendous" was undoubtedly a nasty criminal, but when M&F gained his trust to discover where he stashed his loot, he treated them well, helping them escape from prison, letting them in his plans, and [[ItMakesSenseInContext stealing footwear just so Filemón had something to eat]].
** This was so egregious that, when "El tirano" ("The Tyrant"), another story which could be considered a remake of the aforementioned story, was released much later, this time Ibañez made sure to clearly show the antagonist as a monster.

* HarsherInHindsight: There's a panel from 1992 in which a plane can be seen crashing into one of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. (This is the current page image.)