The Smurfs (Les Schtroumpfs) are a fictional group of small sky blue creatures who live in Smurf Village somewhere in the woods. The Belgian cartoonist Peyo introduced Smurfs to the world in a series of comic strips, making their first appearance in the Belgian comics magazine Le Journal de Spirou on October 23, 1958. The English-speaking world perhaps knows them best through the popular 1980s animated television series from Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Smurfs.[1]

History

Johan et Pirlouit

At the time, Peyo (original name Pierre Culliford) created a Franco-Belgian comics series in Le Journal de Spirou titled Johan et Pirlouit (translated to English as Johan and Peewit), set in Europe during the Middle Ages. Johan serves as a brave young page to the king, and Peewit (Pirlouit, pronounced Peer-loo-ee) functions as his faithful, if boastful and cheating, midget sidekick.