King Smurf (original French title: ''Le Schtroumpfissime'') is the second comic book adventure of the

Smurfs ''The Smurfs'' (french: Les Schtroumpfs; nl, De Smurfen) 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 first created and int ...

, and the name of the main fictional character who assumes power in the absence of Papa Smurf. The story was written and drawn by

Peyo Pierre Culliford (; 25 June 1928 – 24 December 1992) 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 whi ...

with

Yvan Delporte Yvan Delporte (24 June 1928 – 5 March 2007) was a Belgian comics writer, and was editor-in-chief of '' Spirou'' magazine between 1955 and 1968 during a period considered by many the golden age of Franco-Belgian comics. He is credited with seve ...

as co-writer.

Publication history

The adventure of King Smurf first started in '' Spirou'' magazine in 1964 as ''Le Schtroumpfissime'' (cf. ''illustrissimo'' — ''most illustrious'' — a term sometimes used to flatter European monarchs of the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

and

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ide ...

period). While not the second story to appear in ''Spirou'', it was the titular story to be published in book format. In the original French book edition from 1965, the comic contains two stories, the titular one and ''Schtroumphonie en Ut'', a story about the frustrated efforts of a Smurf to make some acceptable music and being tricked by Gargamel into playing an enchanted musical instrument which has a disastrous effect on his fellow Smurfs. An English Canadian edition appeared in 1978 by

Dupuis Éditions Dupuis S.A. () is a Belgian publisher of comic albums and magazines. Based in Marcinelle near Charleroi, Dupuis was founded in 1922 by Jean Dupuis, and is mostly famous for its comic albums and magazines. It is originally a French ...

in collaboration with Granger Frères Limitée. A later edition was published by

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

. The English edition of the comic appeared in 1997, published by

Hodder & Stoughton Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette. History Early history The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged 14, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publishe ...

. Other translations appeared in German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Danish, Polish, Catalan, Chinese and Swedish.

Plot summary

The Smurf King

King Smurf is a regular Smurf whose actual name and position is never stated in the original adventure in which he is the titular main character. When Papa Smurf leaves the village for a few weeks in order to get some ''

Euphorbia ''Euphorbia'' is a very large and diverse genus of flowering plants, commonly called spurge, in the family Euphorbiaceae. "Euphorbia" is sometimes used in ordinary English to collectively refer to all members of Euphorbiaceae (in deference to t ...

'' leaves, which he needs to complete an herbal potion for undisclosed use, the Smurfs are left with no

leader Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets v ...

. Arguments ensue when each Smurf claims the post, and are only resolved by the decision to have a

vote Voting is a method by which a group, such as a meeting or an electorate, can engage for the purpose of making a collective decision or expressing an opinion usually following discussions, debates or election campaigns. Democracies elect holde ...

, though everybody intends to votes for themselves. One unnamed Smurf uses demagogic tactics, and makes

promise A promise is a commitment by someone to do or not do something. As a noun ''promise'' means a declaration assuring that one will or will not do something. As a verb it means to commit oneself by a promise to do or give. It can also mean a capacity ...

s to almost all the Smurfs, who agree to vote for him. He puts up posters, holds a parade, makes self-praising election speeches, and offers rounds of

raspberry The raspberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the rose family, most of which are in the subgenus '' Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Raspberries are perennial with ...

juice. Soon, the only candidate remaining is

Brainy Smurf This is a list of ''The Smurfs ''The Smurfs'' (french: Les Schtroumpfs; nl, De Smurfen) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. '' ...

who, as usual, simply claims that he was the only suitable Smurf since, according to himself only, "Papa Smurf always said so". The Smurf thus wins with 97 votes — two of the other three votes go to Brainy Smurf, supported by himself and Dopey Smurf: the winning Smurf had told Dopey Smurf to vote for Brainy Smurf, expecting him to get it wrong when it came to the actual vote. The other is a spoiled ballot. The winning Smurf then proceeds to put on golden-coloured clothes and asks the others to refer to him as "King Smurf". To his anger, the Smurfs laugh off his pretence. Instead he resolves to teach them their place and becomes increasingly

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic vot ...

. The Smurfs begin to despise him as he becomes corrupted by power: King Smurf imposes a repressive regime and installs an armed troop of guards, led by

Hefty Smurf This is a list of ''The Smurfs ''The Smurfs'' (french: Les Schtroumpfs; nl, De Smurfen) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. '' ...

, punishing all opposition. He forces the Smurfs into building him a palace. When a present from Jokey explodes on King Smurf, Jokey is promptly imprisoned as a warning. The only Smurf to show King Smurf any real support is

, but, because he has no strong convictions and also upset by the treatment of Jokey he later joins a growing

resistance movement A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objectives ...

. The rebels (joined by an escaped Jokey Smurf) base themselves in the forest, insulting and provoking King Smurf from a distance. By offering the other Smurfs gold medals, King Smurf mounts an expedition into the forest to confront the rebellion, but it ends in failure: the rebels get more recruits in the process. To prevent any more

defection In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state. More broadly, defection involves abandoning a person, ca ...

s, King Smurf has the village surrounded by a wooden wall. When he refuses to abdicate, the rebels attack the village. King Smurf's troops fight back by pelting the attackers with tomatoes. The rebels eventually break through the wooden wall, and a full-scale battle ensues, causing widespread destruction. During the fight, a rebel takes explosives from Papa Smurf's laboratory and blows up King Smurf's castle. King Smurf is left helpless, with only his guards to support him. In spite of this, he defiantly refuses to stand down, and a final confrontation seems inevitable, but at that moment, Papa Smurf returns from his journey and demands an explanation for the conflict. The sudden return of paternal authority brings an immediate end to the battle, and the embarrassed Smurfs explain themselves to Papa Smurf. He is angry with them for "behaving like humans", but mostly puts the blame on King Smurf. Extremely remorseful, ex-King Smurf announces his abdication and returns to his old home. He takes a bucket and a broom, and promises to clean up the damaged village. Smurfs feel sorry for him, and offer their help, saying that the destruction was also their fault and that they still liked him. Ex-King Smurf is touched by this, and seeing this, Papa Smurf forgives them all. King Smurf's outfit is then used for a

scarecrow A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin, often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.Lesle ...

Smurphony in C

An unnamed Smurf is rejected from the village orchestra since he plays badly every instrument (even the triangle!). He meets a strange fairy who gives him a magic instrument, the "turlusiphon", which always plays well. However, when the Smurf plays the turlusiphon to the other smurfs, they fall asleep. The Smurf discovers the fairy was really

Gargamel Gargamel is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the '' Smurfs'' show and comic books. He is a wizard and the sworn enemy of the Smurfs. His main goals are to destroy the Smurfs, eat them, or transform them into gold. Appearance ...

in disguise and goes to Gargamel's laboratory to find the cure for the turlusiphon-induced sleep, and faces both Gargamel and his cat Azrael. Sadly, Gargamel's books say there is no known cure for the turlusiphon. Angry, the Smurf kicks the turlusiphon into the chimney and leaves Gargamel's home. At the village, Harmony (as the Smurf now calls himself) takes his old trumpet and decides to play a requiem for his fellow Smurfs. The miracle happens when his music is so awful that it awakens the Smurfs. The Smurfs decide to accept him at the orchestra due to his heroism, but they still cover their ears when he plays.

Issues

In the King Smurf story,

and

(the writer) appear to make several comments about

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

, the lengths politicians will go to be

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

(such as making promises that they fail to keep) and the corruption and

abuse of power Abuse is the improper usage or treatment of a thing, often to unfairly or improperly gain benefit. Abuse can come in many forms, such as: physical or verbal maltreatment, injury, assault, violation, rape, unjust practices, crimes, or other t ...

. By these standards, the story can be considered a satire on

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

; which was particularly poignant in post-WW2 Europe, most analysts agreeing that

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

took power through perfectly legal means before imposing a dictatorship. In the Dutch edition this link was even more apparent since the title of the story was "The Smurführer" (a reference to the German title "Führer" which Hitler used) instead of "King Smurf." The embarrassment the Smurfs feel when Papa Smurf returns makes the final battle seem like a schoolyard game which got out of hand.''Images du Totalitarisme en bandes dessinées'' by Paul Guillerm

In other media

When the story was made into an animated cartoon, it is Brainy Smurf who becomes King Smurf. "His Majesty's" disastrous forest-campaign is eliminated; Brainy's palace is destroyed not by a bomb, but by a flood when the dam on the River Smurf breaks. Ultimately, Brainy spells out the episode's moral, that "being a good leader means more than just giving orders." In the animated version of ''Smurphony in C'', the melody of the smurphony is based on a

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

gavotte. Furthermore, the instrument the "fairy" (Gargamel) offers Harmony is called a "shazala-kazoo".