Johan and Peewit
Johan and Peewit () 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 book creators from Studio Peyo continued to publish the stories. The series is set in Medieval Europe and includes elements of sword-and-sorcery. "Johan et Pirlouit" provided the framework for the first appearances of "The Smurfs". Publication history. Initially titled simply "Johan", the series first appeared in the newspaper "La Dernière Heure" in 1947, and then in "Le  Soir" from 1950 until 1952. It began publication in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine "Spirou" on 11 September 1952 and the initially blond-haired hero became dark-haired. In 1954, Johan was joined by Pirlouit, and the series took its final name. It was in "Johan et Pirlouit", on 23 October 1958, that the first smurf appeared. Peyo stated that Pirlouit was his favourite character, and "Johan et Pirlouit" was the only series on which he always did the drawings without the aid of the studio. Their adventures appeared regularly in "Spirou" in the 1950s and early 1960s, but the  success of the Smurfs meant that they were much neglected afterwards, aside from a very short one-off adventure in 1977. However, following Peyo's death, other artists and writers have revived the series with 4 more albums between 1994 and 2001. Synopsis. Set in the Middle Ages in an unnamed European kingdom, the series follows the adventures of Johan, a brave young page to the King, and Peewit, his faithful, if boastful and cheating, midget sidekick. Johan rides off in search of adventure with his trusty horse Bayard, while Peewit gallops sporadically, and grudgingly, behind on his goat, Biquette . The pair are driven by duty to their King and the courage to defend the underpowered. Struggles for power between deposed lords and usurping villains form the basis of many of the plots which also contain elements of detective fiction as the pair hunt down traitors and outlaws, as well as fantasy, with witches and sorcerers, giants, ghosts and, above all, the Smurfs. The first few adventures did not feature Peewit. From his first appearance in 1947, Johan had a number of solo adventures and met Peewit in 1954, thus, in line with many other comic series of the time , giving Johan's earnest hero a comic relief sidekick similar to Tintin's Captain Haddock, Lucky Luke's Rantanplan, Asterix's Obelix, Spirou's Fantasio or Gil Jourdan's Libellule. Merchandising. While never as popular as the Smurfs, Johan and certainly Peewit enjoyed their share of fame and popularity as well, and consequently some merchandising was made. In 1959, a first Peewit figurine was made by Dupuis, followed a few years later by a Johan. In the 1970s, Bully and Schleich made Johan and Peewit figurines in their series of PVC Smurf figurines. Plush puppets were made as well. In  other media and comics. Originally a "Johan and Peewit" adventure, "The Smurfs and the Magic Flute" was adapted into an animated film in 1976 in Europe, with considerable success. It was re-released in 1983 in the wake of the success of the "Smurfs" cartoons from Hanna-Barbera, and enjoyed some success in the USA as well. Johan and Peewit were also featured in some of the animated Smurf cartoons, being the main stars in many episodes. In France and other European countries, their TV cartoon adventures were treated as a separate series from that of the Smurfs, even though  the latter feature heavily. In the early 1980s, some records about their adventures were made in France and Italy, contributors including Cristina D'Avena. Another Peyo series was "Benoît Brisefer" (best known in English as "Benny Breakiron") about a little boy with extraordinary strength. Benoît's adventures are set in modern times. In one episode a man strongly resembling Johan can be seen signing into a luxury hotel near a film studio — he even wears a brown jacket and red trousers similar to Johan's; in another, Benoît reads a newspaper which appears to indicate the announcement of a film called  Johan: The Return II with a photo of Johan next to it. When the Smurfs got their own series, Johan and Peewit did not feature. However, they did appear in a 2008 Smurf adventure called "Les schtroumpfeurs de flûte" (French: "The Flute Smurfers"). This story, published to mark the 50th anniversary of the first appearance of the Smurfs, is a prequel to "La flûte à six schtroumpfs" (published in English as "The Smurfs and the Magic Flute") and tells how the Smurfs first deliver the flute which was to be the basis of the 1958 story. Johan and Peewit help  out a human friend of the Smurfs, but do not actually get to meet the little blue elves themselves. Stories and English translations. Few of Johan and Peewit's adventures have been published in English: "La Flûte à six Schtroumpfs" as "The Smurfs and the Magic Flute" (Hodder and Stoughton UK, 1979, Random House USA, 1983 and Papercutz USA, 2010), "La guerre des sept fontaines" as "The War of the Seven Springs" (Papercutz USA, 2013), and "La Flèche noire" (Fantasy Flight Publishing USA, 1995) under the title "The Black Arrow". Below is a list of the French titles, their year  of publication, an English translation of the titles and a brief description. The first 13 albums were published by Dupuis; those that came afterwards were published by Le Lombard. As well as "Spirou" magazine, some of the shorter stories, like "Sortilèges au château", were published in "Risque-Tout" (French for "Daredevil") which came from the same publishers. Johan's adventures published in newspapers prior to his appearing in "Spirou" are not included.