Les Schtroumpfs (The Smurfs) | |
---|---|
Date | 1958-present |
No. of issues | 41 |
Main characters | Papa Smurf, Smurfette, Brainy Smurf, Gargamel |
Publisher | Dupuis [1] |
Creative team | |
Writers | Peyo and Studio Peyo |
Artists | Peyo and Studio Peyo |
Creator | Peyo [2] |
Original publication | |
Published in | Spirou magazine |
Date of publication | October 23, 1958 |
Language | French |
Chronology | |
Preceded by | 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 (probably) 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 "La Flûte à six trous" (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. [6]
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. [7]
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. [8] [9] [10] Garray's last comic, Les Schtroumpfs et les haricots Mauves , was released in September 2017. [8] [9] [10]
No. | Title | Publisher | Release Date | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Les Schtroumpfs noirs (The Black Smurfs) | Dupuis | 30 November 1963 | ISBN 2-8001-0108-3 |
2 | Le Schtroumpfissime (The Smurf King, English title) | Dupuis | 23 September 1965 | ISBN 2-8001-0109-1 |
3 | La Schtroumpfette (The Smurfette) | Dupuis | 16 March 1967 | ISBN 2-8001-0110-5 |
4 | L'Œuf et les Schtroumpfs (The Smurfs and the Egg) | Dupuis | 26 March 1968 | ISBN 2-8001-3969-2 |
5 | Les Schtroumpfs et le Cracoucass (The Smurfs and the Howlibird, English title) | Dupuis | 25 September 1969 | ISBN 2-8001-0112-1 |
6 | Le Cosmoschtroumpf (The Astrosmurf) | Dupuis | 5 November 1970 | ISBN 2-8001-0113-X |
7 | L'Apprenti Schtroumpf (The Smurf Apprentice) | Dupuis | 18 November 1971 | ISBN 2-8001-0114-8 |
8 | Histoires de Schtroumpfs (Stories of the Smurfs, an anthology of one-page humorous stories) | Dupuis | 9 November 1972 | ISBN 2-8001-0115-6 |
9 | Schtroumpf Vert et Vert Schtroumpf (Smurf Versus Smurf) | Dupuis | 13 September 1973 | ISBN 2-8001-0324-8 |
10 | La Soupe aux Schtroumpfs (The Smurf Soup) | Dupuis | 6 December 1976 | ISBN 2-8001-0510-0 |
11 | Les Schtroumpfs Olympiques (The Olympic Smurfs) | Dupuis | 3 February 1983 | ISBN 2-8001-0769-3 |
12 | Le Bébé Schtroumpf (The Baby Smurf) | Dupuis | 27 November 1984 | ISBN 2-8001-1148-8 |
13 | Les P'tits Schtroumpfs (The Smurflings) | Dupuis | 1 April 1988 | ISBN 2-8001-1569-6 |
14 | L'Aéroschtroumpf (The Aerosmurf) | Cartoon Creation/Le Lombard, | 17 October 1990 | ISBN 2-87345-000-2 |
15 | L'Étrange Réveil du Schtroumpf Paresseux (The Strange Awakening of Lazy Smurf) | Cartoon Creation/Le Lombard | 1 January 1991 | ISBN 2-8036-1234-8 |
16 | Le Schtroumpf Financier (The Finance Smurf) | Le Lombard | 1 January 1992 | ISBN 2-8036-1454-5 |
Albums made after the death of Peyo, with help from his son Thierry Culliford (born 1956):
Albums featuring the Smurfy Grove Smurfs from Smurfs: The Lost Village .
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. [11]
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. [12]
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. [13] 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. [14]
At the Grasmarkt in Brussels a five-metre-high (16 ft) statue of a Smurf on a toadstool can be seen. It was sculpted by Maryline Garbe and unveiled on June 25, 2012. [15] [16]
Pierre Culliford was a Belgian comics writer and artist who worked under the pseudonym Peyo. His best-known works are the comic book series The Smurfs and Johan and Peewit, the latter in which the Smurfs made their first appearance.
Papa Smurf is one of the protagonists from the comic strip The Smurfs. Most Smurfs are said to be about 100 years old, but at the advanced age of 546, Papa is the oldest Smurf and the leader of all Smurfs. Despite his age, he is still quite energetic. Easily distinguishable from all the other Smurfs, Papa Smurf has a bushy white mustache and beard and is typically dressed in red pants and a matching red Phrygian cap, making him the only Smurf who does not wear white. He was introduced in Peyo's 1958 Johan and Peewit story "La Flûte à Six Trous", the first appearance of the Smurfs.
The Purple Smurfs is the first album of the original French-language Smurfs comic series created by Belgian artist Peyo. It was first published as an album in 1963, but the stories it contained had already been published in Spirou magazine. The main story Les Schtroumpfs noirs was first published in number 1107 as the first "mini-récit" in the magazine. This was a special supplemental page which readers would remove and fold up in order to create a small booklet. Mini-récits were not included when the issues of Spirou were collected in the quarterly hardcover volumes, so this story is absent from volume 72 of Spirou, though the page containing instructions for creating the booklet is there.
Johan and Peewit is a Belgian comics series created by Peyo and named after the two main characters. Since its initial appearance in 1947, it has been published in 13 albums that appeared before the death of Peyo in 1992. Thereafter, a team of comic book creators from Studio Peyo continued to publish the stories.
The Smurfs and the Magic Flute is a 1975 Belgian animated film starring the Smurfs, directed by their creator, Peyo. Although the film premiered in 1975 in Belgium and Switzerland, it was not released in the United Kingdom until 1979, and in the United States until 1983, in the wake of the characters' newfound popularity.
The Smurfette is the third album of the original French-language Smurfs comic series. The story has also been made into an episode of the Smurfs animated cartoon show, where the only known significant difference is that Smurfette stays in the village for the rest of the show's run. Apart from the titular story, it contains another one called La Faim des Schtroumpfs.
Schtroumpf Vert et Vert Schtroumpf is the ninth comic album adventure of the Smurfs, written and drawn by Peyo with Yvan Delporte as co-writer. The story is considered a parody on the still ongoing language war between French- and Dutch-speaking communities in the authors' native Belgium. The plot is similar in a way to King Smurf, an earlier adventure, in that the usually harmonious community of Smurfs falls into disarray due to the failure of father-figure Papa Smurf to exercise his leadership.
The Smurfs and the Howlibird is the fifth album of the original French-language Smurfs comic series created by Belgian artist Peyo.
The Astrosmurf is the sixth album of the original French-language Smurfs comic series created by Belgian artist Peyo.
The Smurf Apprentice is the seventh album of the original French-language Smurfs comic series created by Belgian artist Peyo.
The Smurflings is the thirteenth album of the original French-language Smurfs comic series created by Belgian artist Peyo.
Smurf Soup is the tenth album of the original French-language Smurfs comic series created by Belgian artist Peyo.
The Baby Smurf is the twelfth album of the original French-language Smurfs comic series created by Belgian artist Peyo.
The Olympic Smurfs is the eleventh album of the original French-language Smurfs comic series created by Belgian artist Peyo. It was first published in Spirou in 1980 and appeared in book format in 1984.
Finance Smurf is the sixteenth album of the original French-language Smurfs comic series created by Belgian artist Peyo. It is Pierre Culliford's last comic book work before his death on December 24, 1992.
The Smurfs is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. The Smurfs was created and introduced as a series of comic characters by the Belgian comics artist Peyo in 1958, wherein they were known as Les Schtroumpfs.
The Aerosmurf is the fourteenth album of the original French-language Smurfs comic series created by Belgian artist Peyo. Apart from the titular one, it contains other four stories: The Gluttony of the Smurfs, The Masked Smurfer, Puppy and the Smurfs and Jokey Smurf's Jokes.
Pascal Garray was a Belgian comics artist and cartoonist best known for his work on Peyo's The Smurfs and Benoît Brisefer.
The Jewel Smurfer is the seventeenth album of the original French-language Smurfs comic series. It was the first album created after the death of the Belgian artist and creator of the Smurfs, Peyo.
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