Johan and Peewit (French: Johan et Pirlouit, pronounced [ʒoan e piʁlwi]) is a Belgian comics series created by Peyo and named after the two main characters. 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 mainly concerns the adventures of Johan, a young squire and his jester sidekick Peewit, and includes elements of sword-and-sorcery. It is also notable for branching out into The Smurfs franchise, following their first introduction in the 1958 story The Smurfs and the Magic Flute.
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[1] and the initially blond-haired hero became dark-haired.[2]
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.[3]
Peyo stated that Pirlouit was his favourite character,[4] 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.
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, or Spirou's Fantasio.
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.
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 under the title The Black Arrow (Fantasy Flight Publishing USA, 1995).[9]
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.
Peewit acquires a flute, which is bad enough for the castle's inhabitants, but this one has the ability of making its audience dance crazily before they collapse from exhaustion. When a thief steals it and uses it to commit further robberies, Johan and Peewit decide to consult the flute's makers: some little blue beings called the Smurfs.
Johan and Peewit appeared in different other languages, of which the ones below with their corresponding names.