A Smurfin’ Good Read

Many Americans who grew up in the ‘80s have fond memories of waking up on Saturday morning to watch cartoons. One of those cartoons was the Smurfs. It comes as no surprise with all the ‘80s cartoons that are being made into movies and the Smurfs is no exception.

What many Americans don’t know is that the Smurfs was originally a Belgian comic book by Belgian comic artist Peyo.

With the release of the Smurfs movie PapercutZ is releasing these comics in graphic novel format with two-three comics in each volume. So far volumes 1-6 are available in the US.

These comics will bring any fan back to the days when they watched the Smurfs on TV. Each story reads like an episode from the show and has all the fun, humor, and adventure fans expect from the Smurfs. The artwork is exactly how fans remember the Smurfs looking like on the show. All the usual suspects are here: Papa Smurf, Brainy Smurf, Gargamel and his cat Azrael, and in her own comic, Smurfette. In Volume Two, there are two characters that many fans of the cartoon will not recognize: the Johan and his tone-deaf friend Peewit.

There are a few things fans will notice different between the cartoon and the comic. Here are a few: Papa Smurf is more aggressive towards the Smurfs, there are many Smurfs just called “Smurf,” there’s (censored) swearing and Grouchy Smurf says “me, I don’t like X” instead of “I hate X.” One major shock to fans comes when they read “The Smurfette” and find out that Smurfette was created by Gargamel to sabotage the Smurfs.

This is the last and only time she’s seen in these comics.

The best story out the first six is in volume one, “The Purple Smurfs.” Here, a Smurf goes into the forest to cut down a tree and gets bitten by a “Bzz” fly. This fly turns the Smurf purple and into essentially a Smurf zombie. The story turns into a zombie-like story where the purple Smurf goes around biting other Smurfs. Meanwhile, Papa Smurf is looking for a cure. It’s a fun and lighthearted spin on the zombie genre that is a pleasure to read.

Not all is Smurfy with these comics though. Volume Two “The Smurfs and the Magic Flute” is the weakest story so far. Here the main focus is on two humans, the page Johan and Peewit. One day an instrument merchant comes to the castle Johan and Peewit lives and accidentally drops a magic flute with six holes. This flute is stolen by a thief and Peewit wants it back. We don’t see the Smurfs until halfway through the story. It’s not very interesting and can be skipped.

Despite one bad story, the Smurfs comics is a must read for any fan. It’s also one of the best ways to get ready for the movie being released on July 29. This is one summer that will be both blue and Smurfy.