''The Smurfs'' (french: Les Schtroumpfs;

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

: ''De Smurfen'') is a Belgian comic series, created by cartoonist

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 ...

(pen name of Pierre Culliford). The titular creatures were introduced as supporting characters in an already established series, ''

Johan and Peewit ''Johan and Peewit'' (french: Johan et Pirlouit, ) is a Belgian comics series created by Peyo. 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 bo ...

'' in 1958, and starred in their own series from 1959. Thirty-nine ''Smurf''

comic album a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

s 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 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 ...

, 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 of 39. By 2008, ''Smurf'' comics have been translated into 25 languages, and some 25 million albums have been sold.

History

In 1952, Peyo created a series in ''Spirou'' magazine titled ''Johan et Pirlouit'' (''

''), set in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

during the

Middle Ages 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 ...

. Johan serves as a brave young page to the

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen regnant, queen, which title is also given to the queen consort, consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contempora ...

, and Pirlouit (pronounced Peer-loo-ee) functions as his faithful, if boastful and cheating,

midget Midget (from ''midge'', a tiny biting insect) is a term for a person of unusually short stature that is considered by some to be pejorative due to its etymology. While not a medical term like "dwarfism", a medical condition with a number of ca ...

sidekick A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, ...

. 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''"). 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)''. The characters proved to be a huge success, and the first independent

spin-off Spin-off may refer to: *Spin-off (media), a media work derived from an existing work *Corporate spin-off, a type of corporate action that forms a new company or entity * Government spin-off, civilian goods which are the result of military or gov ...

Smurf stories appeared in ''Spirou'' in 1959, together with the first merchandising.

Volumes

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 Anthea Bell (10 May 1936 – 18 October 2018) was an English translator of literary works, including children's literature, from French, German and Danish. These include '' The Castle'' by Franz Kafka, '' Austerlitz'' by W. G. Sebald, the ''In ...

and Derek Hockridge, and 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 ...

(Random House in the USA). The late comic artist Pascal Garray contributed to seventeen editions of ''The Smurf'' comics between 1990 and 2017. Garray's last comic, '' Les Schtroumpfs et les haricots Mauves'', was released in September 2017.

Johan and Peewit appearances

''La flûte à six schtroumpfs'' (originally titled as ''La flûte à six trous'')
''La guerre des sept fontaines''
''Le pays maudit''
''Le sortilège de Maltrochu''
''La horde du corbeau''
''La nuit des sorciers''

Original series

Albums made after the death of Peyo, with help from his son Thierry Culliford (born 1956):

'' Le Schtroumpfeur de Bijoux'' (''The Jewel Smurfer''), Le Lombard, 01/01/1994,
''
Docteur Schtroumpf This is a list of ''The Smurfs'' characters appearing in the original The Smurfs (comics), comics series, The Smurfs (1981 TV series), televisThe Smurfs (2021 TV series), ion shows, Smurfs Bubble Story game and the The Smurfs (film), 2011 movie ...
'' (''Doctor Smurf''), Le Lombard, 01/01/1996,
'' Le Schtroumpf Sauvage'' (''The Wild Smurf''), Le Lombard, 11/01/1998,
'' La Menace Schtroumpf'' (''Attack of the Grey Smurfs''), Le Lombard, 11/01/2000,
'' On ne Schtroumpfe pas le Progrès'' (''You Don't Smurf Progress''), Le Lombard, 11/01/2002,
'' Le Schtroumpf Reporter'' (''The Reporter Smurf''), Le Lombard, 11/01/2003,
'' Les Schtroumpfs Joueurs'' (''The Gambler Smurfs''), Le Lombard, 01/01/2005,
'' Salade de Schtroumpfs'' (''Salad Smurfs''), Le Lombard, 01/13/2006,
'' Un Enfant chez les Schtroumpfs'' (''A Child among the Smurfs''), Le Lombard, 01/12/2007,
'' Les Schtroumpfs et le livre qui dit tout'' (''The Smurfs and the Book that Tells Everything''), Le Lombard, 01/18/2008,
'' Schtroumpfs les bains'' (''Smurfs in Paradise''), Le Lombard, 04/3/2009,
'' La Grande Schtroumpfette'' (''The Grand Smurfette''), Le Lombard, 04/16/2010,
'' Les Schtroumpfs et l'Arbre d'Or'' (''The Smurfs and the Golden Tree''), Le Lombard, 04/08/2011,
'' Les Schtroumpfs de L'Ordre'' (''The Law and Order of The Smurfs''), Le Lombard, 03/23/2012,
'' Les Schtroumpfs à Pilulit '' (''Chicken-Fried Smurfs''), Le Lombard, 04/19/2013,
'' Les Schtroumpfs et L'Amour Sorcier'' (''The Smurfs and the Sorcerer's Love''), Le Lombard, 04/04/2014,
'' Schtroupf Le Héros'' (''Smurf Heroes''), Le Lombard, 03/13/2015,
'' Les Schtroumpfs Et Le Demi-Genie'' (''The Smurfs and the Half-Genie''), Le Lombard, 04/01/2016,
'' Les Schtroumpfs Et Les Haricots Mauves'' (''The Smurfs and the Purple Beans''), Le Lombard, 08/18/2017,
'' Les Schtroumpfs Et Le Dragon Du Lac'' (''The Smurfs and the Dragon of the Lake''), Le Lombard, 03/02/2018,
'' Les Schtroumpfs Et La Machine à Rêver'' (''The Smurfs and the Dream Machine''), Le Lombard, 04/05/2019,
'' Les Schtroumpfs et le vol des cigognes'', Le Lombard, 2020.
'' Les Schtroumpfs et la tempête blanche'', Le Lombard, 2021.
'' Les Schtroumpfs et les Enfants perdus'', Le Lombard, 2022.

''Les Schtroumpfs et le Village des Filles'' (''The Smurfs and the Village of Girls'')

Albums featuring the Smurfy Grove Smurfs from '' Smurfs: The Lost Village''. # '' La Forêt interdite'' (''The Forbidden Forest''), Le Lombard, 04/24/2017, # '' La trahison de Bouton d'Or'' (''The Betrayal of Smurfblossom''), Le Lombard, 08/24/2018 # '' Le Corbeau (Smurfs)'' (''The Raven''), Le Lombard, 10/31/2019 # '' Un nouveau départ'' (''A New Beginning''), Le Lombard, 11/24/2020 # ''Le Bâton de saule'', Le Lombard, 2022.

''Look-In'' magazine strips

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."

Marvel Comics

In 1982

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in ...

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.

Papercutz graphic novels

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: # ''The Purple Smurfs'' (August 31, 2010, ) # ''The Smurfs and the Magic Flute'' (August 31, 2010, ) # ''King Smurf'' (November 23, 2010, ) # ''The Smurfette'' (January 18, 2011, ) # ''The Smurfs and the Egg'' (March 15, 2011, ) # ''The Smurfs and the Howlibird'' (May 10, 2011, ) # ''The Astrosmurf'' (August 2, 2011, ) # ''The Smurf Apprentice'' (September 27, 2011, ) # ''Gargamel and the Smurfs'' (November 22, 2011, ) # ''The Return of the Smurfette'' (January 17, 2012, ) # ''The Smurf Olympics'' (March 27, 2012, ) # ''Smurf Versus Smurf'' (August 7, 2012, ) # ''Smurf Soup'' (November 13, 2012, ) # ''The Baby Smurf'' (March 5, 2013, ) # ''The Smurflings'' (May 14, 2013, ) # ''The Aerosmurf'' (August 6, 2013, ) # ''The Strange Awakening of Lazy Smurf'' (March 25, 2014, ) # ''The Finance Smurf'' (July 1, 2014, ) # ''The Jewel Smurfer'' (August 18, 2015, ) # ''Doctor Smurf'' (March 1, 2016, ) # ''The Wild Smurf'' (September 6, 2016, ) # ''The Smurf Menace'' (January 17, 2017, ) # ''You Can't Smurf Progress'' (June 6, 2017, ) # ''The Smurf Reporter'' (September 25, 2018) # ''The Gambler Smurfs'' (2019) # ''Smurf Salad'' (October 8, 2019 ) Other special books: #"Christmas Smurfs" (October 1, 2013) #"Forever Smurfette" (November 18, 2014) #"Smurf Monsters" (September 29, 2015) #"The Village Behind the Wall" (March 21, 2017) # "The Smurfs Special Boxed Set" (April 4, 2017) Papercutz published "The Smurf Submarine" in ''Geronimo Stilton & Smurfs'' for

Free Comic Book Day Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) is an annual promotional effort by the North American comic book industry to attract new readers to independent comic book stores. It usually takes place on the first Saturday of May and is often cross-promoted wit ...

on May 7, 2011.

In popular culture

In the

Belgian Comic Strip Center The Belgian Comic Strip Center (french: Centre belge de la Bande dessinée; nl, Belgisch Stripcentrum) is a museum in Brussels, Belgium, dedicated to Belgian comics. It is located at 20, /, in an Art Nouveau building designed by Victor Horta, ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

the permanent exhibition brings homage to the pioneers of

Belgian comics Belgian comics are a distinct subgroup in the comics history, and played a major role in the development of European comics, alongside France with whom they share a long common history. While the comics in the two major language groups and regio ...

, among them Peyo. In the room dedicated to his work various objects, comic book pages, sketches,... from "The Smurfs" comics can be seen. 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 A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...

with the name ''Rue Schtroumpfs/ Smurfstraat'' placed under the actual street sign. 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 Smurfette (French: La Schtroumpfette) is one of the protagonists from the comic strip ''The Smurfs''. Smurfette was created by the evil wizard Gargamel, the Smurfs' archenemy, in order to spy on them and sow jealousy. However, she decides that ...

was unveiled in Middelkerke. It was sculpted by Monique Mol. At the Grasmarkt in Brussels a statue of a Smurf on a

toadstool A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is th ...

can be seen. It was sculpted by Maryline Garbe and unveiled on June 25, 2012.

References

External links

The Smurfs official siteHappy Smurfday: Official Smurfs 50th Anniversary site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smurfs, The Belgian comic strips Belgian comics titles Belgian comics characters Lombard Editions titles The Smurfs Star Comics titles Dupuis titles French-language literature 1958 comics debuts Comics characters introduced in 1958 Comics by Peyo Comics set in forests Comics set in the Middle Ages Humor comics Gag-a-day comics Fantasy comics Adventure comics Children's comics Comics spin-offs Belgian comics adapted into films Comics adapted into animated films Comics adapted into television series Comics adapted into animated series Comics adapted into video games Sony Pictures Animation franchises