Yvan Delporte (1928–2007)

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 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.… (mer)

Uberstrong Benny Breakiron's friend Madame Adolphine inexplicably seems to have turned into a super villain overnight, but the solution to the mystery reveals Madame Adolphine's innocence and had Benny chasing a completely (or at least somewhat) different culprit. I read this comic when I was little (although in the Swedish translation and Benny's name was Starke Staffan) and I find that I still enjoy the humor and the drawings very much. The plot is interesting enough and Benny's weakness (the common cold) of course sets in the second he is in most need of his supernatural strength. Really enjoyable example of a Franco-Belgian comic.… (mer)