[DrunkSmurf]

Hi I finally forked the gold (literally) to buy 12 of Peyo's comics from Amazon France. Actually, after postage, they only came to $12.50 apiece which is about what I've paid for Asterix hardbacks at stores in the USA.

(By the way, Amazon USA sells the same books for $25 !!!!!!!! / each + postage).

Whether I'll be able to read them when they come is another matter. "Schtroumpfeur", "Schtroumpfer" "Schroumpfissime" aren't exactly Pocket dictionary words....

But--my point: I had to pick and choose pretty hard to decide what 12 I wanted (final decision: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9,11,12,13 + Johan and Peewit 8 (magic flute). No English websites except for an inaccurate Wikipedia site attempt any sort of table of contents. I found a French site that was a little better, but not much (and hard for me to read).

Has anyone tried to catalog the official comics? Each book seems to contain 2 or more stories (while #8, Schtroumpf Histoire, is 52 one page "funny stories"). It would be handy to know which ones contain important stories (like the Clockwork Smurf Story--inside the Smurfling book, but not represented on the cover)

Also, Peyo only wrote the first 16 books (of 23) (after that his son took over).

[Jocelyn]

Hi, if you have translation problem i can help you

[Fram]

The first 9 books normally have the titles of the other stories included on their cover. It's only later ones that for some reason don't...

[Rachel]

Hi Tim, I certainly like the idea of a Smurf Comic website, as far as I know, there isn't a site specially dedicated to the comics so it would be a great resource.

[DrunkSmurf]

Hi, if you have translation problem i can help you

Hey, thanks for the offer to help.

[Tojo]

I've only got 5 of the 16 German smurf comic books 2 of which have more than 1 story. I wonder why there are so many more French language versions. It's a bit unfair to all those of us with miserable French

A proper smurf comic website or catalog would be really interesting. There are several good Asterix ones, my favourite one being http://www.asterix-international.de/index.shtml

[DrunkSmurf]

Hi Tojo

Was French the original language Peyo wrote in? I realize he was from Belgium, but doesn't Belgium have different language regions, like Switzerland?

[Tojo]

I know that he was half British, half Belgian but I believe he wrote in French. I'm sure Fram can help us out there.

I remember seeing a program on TV recently where they were talking about the different languages spoken in Belgium. They were saying that the 2 most important ones are Flemish & French but that there is also an area where German is spoken.

[DrunkSmurf]

I wonder why there are so many more French language versions. It's a bit unfair to all those of us with miserable French

How popular did the comic become in Germany? It's possible in Germany that smurfs the toy became popular while smurfs the comic didn't take off.

In the US, at least, the general view is that Smurfs are a toyline that Hanna-Barbera made a cartoon of. Peyo is just a trademark over here. Who ever heard of him? When I was a kid I didn't know who Peyo was. I later bought two smurf comics that Marvel Comics translated (actually, the main stories from Peyo's "Le Schtroumpfs et le Cracoucas" and from "Le Aeroschtroumpf") and remembered not caring that much about them (the other kids must not have either, because the Marvel Comic line didn't survive to a third issue).

[Fram]

Peyo originally wrote in French. The comics were popular throughout Europe, but nowadays they seem to sell only in French and Dutch anymore. A problem is also that the series switched editors a few times, with only the first and the last one (Dupuis and Lomabrd) really large editors, with good contacts in other countries. That's perhaps why the series stopped in so many countries. They still sell a lot in Germany, but it seems like only the classic Dupuis ones have been translated. After all, those are the best.

And there were 3 Marvel Smurf comics, not 2.

Maybe with the new movie, many countries will have another go at editing Smurf stories.

[Tojo]

Thanks for the information Fram. Things seem to be picking up here in Germany. McDonalds still has smurf promotions, the cartoon is shown daily on TV, the 2nd set of 3 DVD's has just been released, there are horrible smurf music CDs, the Smurf Mag comic has just come out, Panini has stickers & there are flip-pix (what we used to call wobble pictures when we were kids) which have just come out too. I like these especially. Schleich is still making smurfs too. All that's missing are reprints of the comic albums In all the comic shops you can get Tin Tin books but never any of the smurf ones. Both are from Carlsen comics though.

[Gran Pitufo]

Hello, I have some questions for you, Tojo. I know there was a german magazine called "Die Schlumpfe". If I´m not wrong, it has been published for more than 10 years. A lot of short Smurfs stories (4-8 pages) were published in it, and I think only a part of them were published in french, but not in the main series of albums. Could you tell me how many issues of "Die Schlumpfe" were published, more or less? Was it very different of the new "Schlumpf Mag" of your message? Are there new short Smurfs comics in it? And, finally, are these magazines difficult to find? Thanks!

[Tojo]

Hi Gran Pitufo,

the 'Die Schlümpfe' comics you mentioned haven't been made since 2002 As fas as I can make out they were published from 1991 - 2002 by Bastei. (10 years x 12 months makes about 120 issues). Here's a link showing some of the last issues to be published:-

http://www.weltderkobolde.de/ComicsvonHeute.html

I've got one issue which I rescued from my kids comic collection before it got completely trashed. The cover's missing though. These comics are probably only available from ebay.

The new comic which started this year is called 'Smurf Mag' & comes out every 2 months. The first cover I posted in the 'Smurf Comics' section under the post 'smurf comics' on page 6. The 2nd one can be seen here:-

http://www.paninionline.com/collectible ... dEdit=1488

It's been available since 23rd March. This is the one that has the free sticker album with it. As you can see, the comic is published by Panini & can be found at most good newsagents. It has a mix of short stories & puzzles / quizes for children. It also has a double sided poster & a toy (as you can see on the Panini link). It's not as good as the old 'Die Schlümpfe' comic in my opinion but perhaps is targeted more at todays kids & what they like.

Hope I've been of help,

greetings from chilly Germany

Tojo

[DrunkSmurf]

They still sell a lot in Germany, but it seems like only the classic Dupuis ones have been translated. After all, those are the best.

Hi Fram would you ever have time to list some of your favorites, or why you consider some better than others? What about Peyo's son--did he take the series in a different direction? Due to the cost, I didn't order any he wrote, though some of the titles looked interesting.

[Gran Pitufo]

Thank you very much for all that info, Tojo! That´s exactly what I wanted to know!

[Fram]

Oh, I do think the recent ones are mostly in the spirit of the old ones. E.g. The Gambling Smurfs is still firmly based in the Middle Ages, and the Smurfs are all the traditional ones. The drawings aren't too bad either. However, all the recent ones I have read lack something, some spark, some truly original stuff. It may be nostalgia speaking of course.

As for my favourites, they vary every so often, but mainly the classics: Angry Smurfs, King Smurf, Astrosmurf, Howlibird, ... I think my pure favourite has to be Hunger at the Smurfs, as it is so sad and funny at the same time. This one is included in the Smurfette book.

[Cool Smurf]

I would like to see a Smurfs' comics website, too.

The only one I have ever seen is the Astrosmurf.