Peyo (1928–1992)

A fun little nostalgic read for me. As a kid, I loved the cartoon and had a respectable number of the Smurf PVC figures, so when I discovered that Papercutz has been reprinting the original comics, I thought I'd pick up the first volume and have a nice little walk down memory lane. Coming at these stories as an adult, however, some things that I noticed beyond the "cute" factor: Papa Smurf is kind of an ass in these early stories, demanding that the other Smurfs in the village do his bidding show more at every turn, without question; the purple Smurfs may have been my earliest (altho unknown at the time) experience with zombies - the fact that the regular Smurfs aren't infected until they are bitten and then they in turn become "evil" purple Smurfs is definitely a reflection of the modern idea of the zombie; holy crap they use the word "smurf" a lot in the dialogue in these stories, almost to the point of being obnoxious. I actually found that I still enjoyed the stories, so I'm sure I'll be picking up some more of the volumes as I find them. show less

The Smurf Reporter by Peyo follows the (mis)adventures of one Smurf who takes it upon himself to start reporting the events of the previous day for all to read, after seeing how stories can get distorted by word of mouth. However, just as many problems can arise when facts are reported without tact. Can harming still reign in Smurf as guilty secrets are revealed? The news in the Smurf papers draws the attention of the one person the Smurfs don't want attention from- Gargamel!

These stories show more add new elements to the Smurfs’ story, further evolving them for today in ways I don't necessarily agree with, but at least this time it bothered me less. Like the concept of payment among the Smurfs. That's new. On the flip side, I love the lessons on the destruction that rumour can unleash. Reporter Smurf may have had good intentions at the start, but fell prey to tabloid sensationalism instead. It's not just the reporters that need to be responsible. Readers need to use their common sense and not blindly believe everything that's in print. Recommended!

***Many thanks to Netgalley & Papercutz for providing an ecopy in exchange for a fair and honest review. show less

Bought it mainly for the Johan tale which was awesome but also enjoyed the Benny Breakiron story. The smurf strips and story in this were kinda meh though. Overall though I liked the book, it delivered what I was looking for so I recommend this to those who enjoy the Johan and Peewit stories (sans Peewit in the Johan story however).

The Return of Smurfette by Peyo is a cute collecting of stories revolving around Smurfette visiting the Smurf Village. For some reason, here she lives away from the village instead of in it. I love the Smurfs. They are an integral part of my childhood. But Smurfette lived in the village with the other Smurfs. These stories had the male Smurfs much more attracted to Smurfette than in the TV series. Yea, they sometimes low-key flirted in the show. Nothing like this though, which was a turn off show more for me. Messin’ with my childhood here! I imagine younger readers unfamiliar with the original show would enjoy this more than I.

***Many thanks to Netgalley & Papercutz for providing an ecopy in exchange for a fair and honest review. show less