Chapeau el "Esmirriau" ("Chapeau the 'Small'") is a 1971 comic from the Spanish series Mortadelo y Filemón, and the sixth long adventure in the series.
Secret agents Mortadelo and Filemón are tasked to guard an important coin the infamous thief Chapeau el "Esmirrau" wants to steal. Unfortunately, it only takes a couple of hours for the thief to take the coin for himself, and soon the duo is going behind their new enemy, whose cunning and infinite arsenal of tools and weapons provided by his bowler hat makes him one of the most capable enemies Mortadelo and Filemón have ever faced.
The 2007 album ¡Venganza cincuentona! would feature the return of Chapeau, alongside several other previous villains of the series.
This comic provides examples of:
- All for Nothing: Mortadelo and Filemón manage to arrest Chapeau and recover the coin... only for Bacterio to reveal that it has little real worth - save for the fact that he's been using it for years to get free tobacco.
- Contrived Coincidence: The Super comes to visit (and berate) Mortadelo and Filemón for not recovering the coin, and does so wearing a hat - just when Mortadelo has a dog trained to attack people wearing hats.
- Crazy-Prepared: Chapeau's signature bowler hat hides a Hyperspace Arsenal containing a potentially unlimited number of things that help Chapeau in escaping Mortadelo and Filemón, and he seems perfectly capable of activating every single one of those devices exactly at the moment when he needs it, with nary a thought. Among other things, a dog, a helicopter propeller and a steel girder that is larger than Mortadelo.
- Had the Silly Thing in Reverse: Mortadelo tries to fight fire with fire using their own gadget hat that can pop a punching glove at the utter of "hop!", but the first time he uses it against Chapeau it ends up hitting Filemón due to having it backwards.
- Instant Messenger Pigeon: Reconstructed and Parodied. The coin is sent to the duo through a messenger pigeon, which Mortadelo then tries to cook, but is stopped by the pigeon's vulture bodyguard.
- Mundane Solution: Filemón tries to find Chapeau's address by asking various underground snitches, and after hours of no avail, he discovers that Mortadelo found it just by looking through the phone book.
- Super Weapon Surprise: How Mortadelo finally catches Chapeau: a paper bird that can fly on its own and drop bombs.
- There Was a Door: When they are trying to get into Chapeau's home to take him by surprise, Filemón tries to open the door using a cable as a lockpick, only to give up after sixteen hours - enough time for Mortadelo to open a door through the wall next to it with his penknife.
