| Les Schtroumpfs | |
| Foreigntitle: | The Smurfs |
| Publisher: | Dupuis[1] |
| Date: | 1958-present |
| Issues: | 41 |
| Main Char Team: | Papa Smurf, Smurfette, Brainy Smurf, Gargamel |
| Creator: | Peyo[2] |
| Writers: | Peyo and Studio Peyo |
| Artists: | Peyo and Studio Peyo |
| Origpublication: | Spirou magazine |
| Origdate: | October 23, 1958 |
| Origlanguage: | French |
| Previous: | Johan and Peewit |
The Smurfs (French: Les Schtroumpfs; Dutch: De Smurfen) is a Belgian comic series, created by cartoonist Peyo (pen name of Pierre Culliford). The titular creatures were introduced as supporting characters in an already established series, Johan and Peewit in 1958, and starred in their own series from 1959. More than forty Smurf comic albums have been created, 16 of them by Peyo. Originally, the Smurf stories appeared in Spirou magazine with reprints in many different magazines, but after Peyo left the publisher Dupuis, many comics were first published in dedicated Smurf magazines, which existed in French, Dutch and German. A number of short stories and one page gags have been collected in comic books next to the regular series. By 2008, Smurf comics have been translated into 25 languages, and some 25 million albums have been sold.[3]
In 1952, Peyo created a series in Spirou magazine titled Johan et Pirlouit (Johan and Peewit), set in Europe during the (problably) Middle Ages. Johan serves as a brave young page to the king, and Pirlouit (pronounced Peer-loo-ee) functions as his faithful, if boastful and cheating, midget sidekick.
On 23 October 1958, Peyo introduced a new set of characters to the Johan et Pirlouit story "French: La Flûte à six trous|italics=no" (tr. "The Flute with Six Holes").[4] This alone caused no great excitement, as the brave duo constantly encountered strange new people and places. This time, they had the mission of recovering a magic flute, which required some sorcery by the wizard Homnibus. And in this manner, they met a tiny, blue-skinned humanoid creature in white clothing called a "Schtroumpf," followed by his numerous peers who looked just like him, with an elderly leader who wore red clothing and had a white beard called Grand Schtroumpf" (Papa Smurf). Although intended to be secondary characters who were only to appear in the single episode, the characters proved to be a huge success, and the first independent spin-off Smurf stories appeared in Spirou in 1959, together with the first merchandising. The short Smurf stories were published as mini books, where the story was printed on a large page and had to be folded and cut by the reader into a small book.[5]
A few years later, the first adventures were redrawn with a graphic design that made the characters more graceful. The stories became longer and were republished in full in a hardback version.[6]
This is the list of the original French-language comic issues. Some of them are anthologies of several stories. A number of them were translated into English by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge, and published by Hodder & Stoughton (Random House in the USA). The late comic artist Pascal Garray contributed to seventeen editions of The Smurf comics between 1990 and 2017.[7] [8] [9] Garray's last comic, Les Schtroumpfs et les haricots Mauves, was released in September 2017.[7] [8] [9]
| No. | Title | Publisher | Release Date | ISBN | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Les Schtroumpfs noirs (The Black Smurfs) | Dupuis | 30 November 1963 | ||
| 2 | Le Schtroumpfissime (The Smurf King, English title) | Dupuis | 23 September 1965 | ||
| 3 | La Schtroumpfette (The Smurfette) | Dupuis | 16 March 1967 | ||
| 4 | L'Œuf et les Schtroumpfs (The Smurfs and the Egg) | Dupuis | 26 March 1968 | ||
| 5 | Les Schtroumpfs et le Cracoucass (The Smurfs and the Howlibird, English title) | Dupuis | 25 September 1969 | ||
| 6 | Le Cosmoschtroumpf (The Astrosmurf) | Dupuis | 5 November 1970 | ||
| 7 | L'Apprenti Schtroumpf (The Smurf Apprentice) | Dupuis | 18 November 1971 | ||
| 8 | Histoires de Schtroumpfs (Stories of the Smurfs, an anthology of one-page humorous stories) | Dupuis | 9 November 1972 | ||
| 9 | Schtroumpf Vert et Vert Schtroumpf (Smurf Versus Smurf) | Dupuis | 13 September 1973 | ||
| 10 | La Soupe aux Schtroumpfs (The Smurf Soup) | Dupuis | 6 December 1976 | ||
| 11 | Les Schtroumpfs Olympiques (The Olympic Smurfs) | Dupuis | 3 February 1983 | ||
| 12 | Le Bébé Schtroumpf (The Baby Smurf) | Dupuis | 27 November 1984 | ||
| 13 | Les P'tits Schtroumpfs (The Smurflings) | Dupuis | 1 April 1988 | ||
| 14 | L'Aéroschtroumpf (The Aerosmurf) | Cartoon Creation/Le Lombard, | 17 October 1990 | ||
| 15 | L'Étrange Réveil du Schtroumpf Paresseux (The Strange Awakening of Lazy Smurf) | Cartoon Creation/Le Lombard | 1 January 1991 | ||
| 16 | Le Schtroumpf Financier (The Finance Smurf) | Le Lombard | 1 January 1992 |
Albums made after the death of Peyo, with help from his son Thierry Culliford (born 1956):
Albums featuring the Smurfy Grove Smurfs from .
In the 1970s and '80s, the British children's magazine Look-In ran an original series of one-page comic-strip tales called "Meet the Smurfs."
In 1982 Marvel Comics released a Three issue mini series featuring full length stories and one page gags featuring The Smurfs. Marvel Comics also published a large format comic book as well as six mini comic books with a full length story in each comic book.
Since August 2010, Papercutz has been issuing Smurfs comics, translated by Joe Johnson. Following a special preview comic in July 2010 that contained the story "The Smurfnapper," the following graphic novels have been issued to date:
Other special books:
Papercutz published "The Smurf Submarine" in Geronimo Stilton & Smurfs for Free Comic Book Day on May 7, 2011.[10]
In the Belgian Comic Strip Center in Brussels the permanent exhibition brings homage to the pioneers of Belgian comics, among them Peyo. In the room dedicated to his work various objects, comic book pages, sketches,... from "The Smurfs" comics can be seen.[11]
The Smurfs are among the many Belgian comics characters to jokingly have a Brussels street named after them. The Rue des Sables/ Zandstraat has a commemorative plaque with the name Rue Schtroumpfs/ Smurfstraat placed under the actual street sign.[12] Close to the Smurfs studios in Genval (a province of Brabant), a bronze statue of the Smurfs is sited in a traffic circle.In 2003 a statue of a Smurf building a statue of Smurfette was unveiled in Middelkerke. It was sculpted by Monique Mol.[13]
At the Grasmarkt in Brussels a 5m (16feet) statue of a Smurf on a toadstool can be seen. It was sculpted by Maryline Garbe and unveiled on June 25, 2012.[14] [15]