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 comics magazine Spirou, on September 11, 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 October 23, 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 60s, 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.
Read more about this topic: Johan And Peewit
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