DIRECTOR FRANÇOIS BORILLON

Real Name: François Borillon 

Identity/Class: Human;
   citizen of France

Occupation: Director of EuroMind;
   formerly soldier, commander of U.N. Blue Berets (peacekeeping forces) 

Group Membership: EuroMind, S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate);
   formerly United Nation's Peacekeeping Forces ("Blue Berets/Casques Bleus"), Armée de terre (Ground Army) (see comments)

Affiliations: Euroforce (Argento/Michele Argento, Danger/Dolph Dongen, Deep Sight/Jane Melville, Key/Geyr Kluge, Nuage/Silvie Rouge, Picaro/Antonio Rey, Tiger/Hughes Aït-Kaci), EuroLab (Danger, Deep Sight, Key, Nuage, Picaro), Task Force (Argento, Blue Condor/Emilie Scholz, Dragonfly/Cornelia van der Valk, Ice Boy/Hamish Alain Carlyle, Tiger), Salomé, S.H.A.P.E. (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe) Commission

Enemies: A.I.M., corrupt elements within S.H.A.P.E. (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe) Commission 

Known Relatives: None 

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: EuroMind base, Spain   

First Appearance: Europa#0/0 (April 1996) 

Powers/Abilities: Borillon is an experienced soldier and commander. Since he was only shown commanding from base, he didn't demonstrate any combat skills, but given his history, he is presumably a skilled fighter trained in both unarmed combat and a variety of standard military weapons. He is an excellent strategist with a perceptive mind and is an superb diplomat. 

Height: 1.78 meters (roughly 5'10")
Weight: 140 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed (he's never seen without his glasses)
Hair: Brown (see comments)

History: (Europa#3 back cover text) - The Frenchman François Borillon was an officer in the "Blue Berets" ("Casques Bleus"), the peacekeeping forces of the United Nations (Organisation des Nations Unies, or ONU) (see comments). He met German scientist Geyr Kluge in Kuwait during the Gulf War, fighting alongside him on a mission whose details remain classified. A few years later he was the Blue Berets' commanding officer during their involvement in the civil war in the former Yugoslavia, during which time he played an important role in attempting to mediate peace between the various factions.

   Borillon was subsequently recruited to be the director of EuroMind (see comments). In his new role he found his diplomatic skills were still in demand, working to keep in check the continuous intemperance of the different scientific divisions such as Geyr Kluge (a.k.a. Key)'s EuroLab, who resented the control applied to their work by the military arms of the organizations they were associated with.

(Europa#0/2 (fb) - BTS) - After one of his subordinates annoyed Borillon, he assigned the transgressor to EuroMind's orbiting base Eagle-2, at the time still under construction. The agent in question lived the next eight months constantly moving from one flying base to another, a tale which did the rounds, discouraging others from getting on the Director's wrong side.

(EuroMind#0/2) - Two years later Borillon monitored EuroLab's mission to investigate caverns in Spain. An archaeological dig had discovered the Spanish Inquisition had used the caverns to store treasures considered contrary to their puritanical version of Catholic morality, but the dig had halted upon the sighting of giant bugs and recent human remains. Borillon reminded Key that he didn't want martyrs on his conscience, so Key was to let him know the second their was even a minimal sign of danger and he would send in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s specialist combat unit Task Force. Key responded that he felt it imprudent to consider letting Task Force loose on the caverns' frail geological structure, endangering the invaluable archaeological treasures within, and was unimpressed when Task Force's leader, Dragonfly, chimed into the radio conversation to inform him her team was already landing outside. Borillon let them bicker, and continued to listen as EuroLab descended into the caves. They soon encountered hostile insectoids, descendants of Inhumans trapped underground and corrupted by Skrull DNA, prompting Borillon to order Task Force's mobilization even before Key could protest that they weren't needed.

(EuroMind#1/2 (fb) - BTS) - Across Europe there were several reported incidents of individuals undergoing spontaneous mutations, but the mutations always vanished before EuroMind could find them. A report came in of a similar mutation incident taking place in Kuantan, the capital of the Pahang district of peninsular Malaysia, EuroMind tapped into local sources, including radar. A U.F.O. appeared on said radar, just as reports from the market announced the mutate's abrupt disappearance, but vanished near Mount Mulu, Sarawak (a Malaysian state on the island of Borneo). Presumably on Borillon's orders, Task Force were swiftly deployed to investigate. When another report came in stating that a mutate that had appeared on a commercial flight, forcing the plane to crash into the Mediterranean off the Italian coast, it was EuroLab's turn to be sent out.

(Europa#2/2 (fb) - BTS) - Tiger and Argento from Task Force returned to base to report that while in Malaysia they had found the remains of their U.F.O.,  plane wreckage with the insignia of French multinational Nadir, Inc., but that they had been ambushed by armored mercenaries, the Lords of War, who slew two of the team, Dragonfly and Blue Condor, and apparently abducted a third, Iceboy. Meanwhile EuroLab also returned, thankfully with no casualties, to reveal they had found their mutate aboard the sinking plane, but that he had chosen to remain on board and drown rather than risk being recaptured by whoever was responsible for his mutated state. On orders from S.H.A.P.E., Borillon ordered both teams to leave the mutations cases to others.

(Europa#2/2) - Borillon called Key and Tiger to his office to inform them that S.H.A.P.E.'s executive commission had closed the case. Key queried the apparently senseless decision, but Borillon confirmed that they were supposed to forget about the mystery of the mutates and their lost comrade, conspicuously adding that it might be different if he was calling the shots instead of S.H.A.P.E. and the United Nations, and remarking that he was confident his orders were clear enough. Cracking Borillon's desk as his hands clenches angrily, Tiger contemptuously responded that they were.

   After departing Borillon's office and informing their compatriots of these instructions, the agents agreed that Iceboy's abduction wasn't officially connected to the mutate case, meaning that while attempting to rescue him from the Lord's presumed employer, Nadir, wasn't sanctioned, it wasn't actually going against any orders either. Unfortunately, their discussion was being secretly monitored by unknown parties presumably working for Nadir's true bosses, A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics), who had infiltrated S.H.A.P.E. Double agents within EuroMind  were dispatched to murder EuroLab, Tiger and Argento before they could leave the base, and when they failed, they slaughtered some of their own men to frame the departed agents as murderers.

   Upon learning that a S.H.A.P.E. resolution had called a state of alert and put out a seizure order for EuroLab and Task Force, all without him first being informed, Borillon called the committee to demand an immediate explanation. They told him to calm down, informing him that his agents had stolen a nuclear-equipped plane, thus activating an automated security system, and promised to send him security footage of the rogue agents' violent theft in progress. They backed up their assertion of the agents' guilt with a still image, saying that it would take a little longer to provide proper recordings from the incident, and scheduling a proper meeting to discuss things in fifteen minutes.

(Europa#3/2 (fb) - BTS) - Borillon prepared for his next discussion with S.H.A.P.E. by covertly looping in Salomé, a EuroMind agent with expertise in video manipulation. 

(Europa#3/2) - Four hours after the initial call to S.H.A.P.E., Borillon held another video conference with S.H.A.P.E. for an urgent discussion. He reminded them that the state of alert within EuroMind had been issued without his approval, thus implying that the order came from the commission they represented, and demanded an explanation of why he wasn't informed before the alarm went up. Additionally, he blamed the order to shoot Task Force and EuroLab on sight for forcing them to flee the base and the multiple casualties within EuroMind's security team during that escape.

    His diatribe was interrupted by the commission, who justified their actions by playing security footage showing EuroLab and Task Force brutally murdering the security men without warning or mercy. The commission asserted that it was obvious that after the Task Force mission to Malaya, Borillon's men had entered into a private revenge pact against Nadir, despite the (supposed) lack of any incriminatory evidence. As such, S.H.A.P.E. had regretfully instructed international law enforcement agencies to treat the rogue agents as dangerous terrorists, though they assured Borillon that he retained their full support as EuroMind Director.

    Agreeing that the situation had radically changed, Borillon stated he he needed time to consider the facts, and ended the broadcast, then immediately opened a channel to Salomé. She confirmed she had picked up everything from the transmission, and had already spotted evidence of video manipulation in footage showing EuroLab's Picaro murdering a security agent. Informing him that this was clear evidence of good technology mixed with poor editing skills, she informed him she was confident she could find dozens more examples proving the evidence had been doctored. he thanked her for her excellent work, then added that he had something else he needed her to urgently prepare for his absent agents. Salomé agreed, but told him it would cost him a dinner with her.

(Europa#4/2 (fb) - BTS) - Borillon prepared new IDs, credit cards and fake identities for the rogue agents, as well as a safe house in a villa somewhere on the Mediterranean coast (see comments). He also prepared to fake their deaths, perhaps with Salomé's assistance.  

(Europa#4/2) - Later the same day the rogue agents' stolen plane was destroyed as it fled Nadir's Malaysian laboratory. Borillon called the S.H.A.P.E. commission to inform them that all the renegades had been neutralized. As soon as he finished that call, Borillon opened an encrypted video call to the "slain" agents, now calling themselves Euroforce and staying in the villa hideout. He told them that they would have to remain officially dead until he could figure out how corrupted EuroMind was and prove their innocence.

Comments: Created by Xavier Marturet and Paco Diaz for Marvel Italia.

    Obviously the conflict in Yugoslavia and the Gulf War count as topical references, and it was other, similar conflicts, that he was really involved in - sadly there's plenty of more recent real world examples you can substitute in. His age is given as 51, which means, when Europa was first published, he was intended to have been born around 1945, just at the end of World War II; while that specific date is also topical, his chronological age is presumably not, and he'd be mid-50s now.

    Borillon's mini-bio in Europa#3 reveals he was commanding the U.N.'s peacekeeping forces. Since the Blue Berets take their members from individual nation states' armed forces, the French-born Borillon was probably in the Armée de terre (Ground Army) before and during his time in the Blue Berets. According to the the bios, EuroMind was part of S.H.I.E.L.D. until the Deltite affair caused the parent organization's dissolution; this happened in 1988 (real world). Since the information states that EuroMind was a section of S.H.I.E.L.D. that wasn't dissolved, this presumably means it came into independent existence that year. Tie that to Borillon being in the Blue Berets until at least 1991 (the start of the civil war in former Yugoslavia) and we realize that presumably there was at least one prior director of EuroMind before Borillon.

    Borillon's hair is inconsistently colored through the miniseries. As the images on this page show, he's usually brownish, but in the second image on the Task Force profile you can see he looks blond. This isn't the only coloring inconsistency in the series (see Nuage's comments). Since Borillon seems to be brown haired more than blond, I've ASSumed that's the correct color.  

    Borillon wears some sort of metallic exo-skeletal spine on his back, as can be more clearly seen in the S.H.A.P.E. sub-entry image; presumably it has a function beyond looking mysterious and cool, but it is unrevealed what that function is; it might be a weapon (though he's not in the field, he's still a combat veteran in charge of a S.H.I.E.L.D. subsidiary, so being armed and ready even while in the supposed security of EuroMind's base would be a sensible precaution) or a medical support (maybe he got his back broken in the past, and the spine is an external bionic support without which he is crippled - though you'd expect some sort of mention of something this major).

    The location of the villa that Borillon prepares for Euroforce to hide out in isn't given. However, Borillon is in EuroMind's headquarters, located on Spain's Mediterranean coast, when he speaks to Euroforce in their villa hideout, and the sun is visibly setting outside the windows of both locations.

    It's not overtly stated who attacked the jet after Euroforce fled Malaya. The attackers are drawn wearing armor similar to the known Lords of War, but the man behind them, one of S.H.A.P.E.'s commission, was informed the Lords were unconscious at the time the jet blew up, so it seems the whole attack, not just Euroforce's "demise," was a fake. Euroforce were surprised by the armored trio who breached the jet, clearly thinking they were the Lords, but given the subsequent revelation that Borillon was assisting the team, it seems likely he was behind the "attackers." However, who they were remains unrevealed. Given Borillon's conversation with Salomé the issue before about arranging something urgently to help Euroforce, and her apparent expertise with computers/videos, she probably had something to do with it.

    I can't help but notice that, more than Nick Fury, Lance Hunter, or any other superagency commander, Borillon is drawn as a man who has clearly spent his entire adult life in the military - look at all three images of him on this page, and you'll see that in every one, Borillon is depicted as standing "at ease" when not carrying out another action. No slouching, leaning on things or folding his arms for Borillon - nope, his bearing is always straight backed (though he might have no choice in this bit, given the exo-skeleton), feet slightly apart, and arms folded behind his back with hands grasped together.

Profile by Wolfhead and Loki, with comic translations by Angelo Mammone.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Borillon has no known connections to:

Salomé has no known connections to:

Salomé

    A EuroMind agent with an undefined past relationship with Director Borillon, Salomé was informal and flirtatious when dealing with her commanding officer, calling him by his first name, "love" and "baby." Though he didn't respond in kind, neither did he rebuff her, though whether this was because he liked her flirting or merely was willing to endure it because of her loyalty and skill set remains unclear.

    When Borillon suspected that S.H.A.P.E. and EuroMind had been corrupted, he remained confidant of Salomé's loyalty and integrity, turning to her to analyze the security footage S.H.A.P.E. had provided as proof EuroLab and Task Force had gone rogue. Within seconds she spotted that someone had manipulated at least one part of the film, shifting a shadow projected behind Picaro by three degrees, something she declared would take good technology operated by an inept user. She stated confidently that she was sure she could find more, betting she could find dozens more mistakes on the edges of the images inserted on the refractory zones.

    Borillon told her that this would be perfect, but that he also had something else he wanted her to prepare for his wayward agents, and it was urgent. Smiling, Salomé accepted the challenge, but told him it would cost him a dinner with her, "the way I like it, obviously." 

--Europa#3/2














images: (without ads)
All images from Europa issues, 2nd (Euroforce) stories:
#4, p21, pan 1 (main)
#3, p9, pan 3 (headshot)
#0, p4&5 (printed sideways across 2 pages), pan1 (Borillon in EuroMind control center)
#2, p21, pan 2 (back brace)
#3, p8, pan 4 (Salomé)
#3, p9, pan 4 (Salomé without sunglasses)

Appearances:
Euroforce#0-4 (April-October, 1996) - Xavier Marturet (writer), Paco Diaz (art), Enrico Fornaroli; Marco M. Lupoi; Miguel Carrasco (editors)

First Posted: 01/14/2019
Last updated: 01/14/2019

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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