John and Solfamì - The characters of comics and cartoons

January 12 2021

John and Solfamì (Johan et Pirlouit in the original French and Johan and Peewit in the English language) is a Belgian comic series created by cartoonist Peyo. Since its first appearance in 1947 it has been published in 13 comic volumes, which appeared before Peyo's death in 1992. Subsequently, a team of comic creators from Studio Peyo continued to publish other stories.

The series is set in medieval Europe and includes elements of sword and sorcery. John and Solfamì appeared in the adventures of the Smurfs.

History

Set in the Middle Ages in an unnamed European kingdom, the series follows the adventures of John, a brave young page of the king, and Solfamì (Peewit, Pirlouit), his faithful, albeit boastful and traitor, little helper. John sets out in search of adventure with his trusty horse Bayard, while Solfamì gallops sporadically and reluctantly, behind his goat, Biquette. The two are driven by duty to their king and by the courage to defend the less powerful. The power struggles between deposed lords and villains usurpers are the basis of many plots that also contain elements of detective fiction, as the couple hunts down traitors and outlaws, as well as fantasy, with witches and sorcerers, giants, ghosts and, above all, the Smurfs.

In the first adventures, Solfamì was not present. Since his first appearance in 1947, Johan has had a number of solo adventures and only met Solfamì in 1954, thus, in line with many other comic series of the time, giving Johan's serious hero a comedic helper similar to Captain Tintin's Haddock, Lucky Luke's Rantanplan, Asterix's Obelix, Spirou's Fantasio or Gil Jourdan's Dragonflies.

Characters of John Solfamì

John: servant of the king. Brave and skilled with both the sword and the bow, this black-haired hero aspires to become a knight. He is the quintessential bold fighter, always ready to be in the middle and a natural leader. John is ready to intervene whenever he sees an injustice committed and will do everything possible to right the wrongs, ignoring Solfamì's complaints about the problems they will face in the process. His name is pronounced "Yohahn".

Solfami: a blond and greedy dwarf, he lived in the forest near the king's castle playing pranks on people and stealing meat and apples before being hired as a court jester. He agreed, provided he was not required to wear a jester's suit, which he felt made him look like a "madman" (which is another term for a jester).

Contrary to what he believes, Solfamì is a terrible musician, although, unlike Cacofonix from the Asterix series, the other inhabitants of the castle cannot tell him how bad he is, even though the king once pretended to remove the caps for the ears in the presence of Solfamì. Even his "music" is known to cause rain
Solfamì gets angry easily, especially when John volunteers him to go on another adventure but, being cunning and agile, he is quite capable of escaping a tight corner and fighting. When he defeats his enemies, he shouts his cry of triumph. In the Smurfs cartoon series, rather than being a random dwarf, he is the king's grandson, as he states in the episode The Sorcery Of Maltrachu, and is portrayed as a child, younger than Johan.

Bayard: John's horse, is his faithful steed and is always ready to limp whenever Solfamì is unable to help him.

Biquettes: Solfamì goat, with a strong character. His horn attack is extremely powerful. Its name is the French word for nanny goat.

The king: the unnamed monarch of the kingdom. He is a bit light-hearted and loves wine, but he is also purposeful and is loved by his subjects and vassals. He has a beautiful niece, but no direct descendants. He can be very eager to undertake expeditions and battles, which can be difficult given his old age.

Omnibus magician: a spellcaster that heroes often consult on matters of magic. He is also an alchemist and herbalist. It is he who first tells John and Solfamì about beings called Smurfs.

Olivier: young servant of Homnibus.

Rachel: an old sorceress, who has a very bad reputation, but is actually very kind and helpful. He knows how to make many different potions, including a blend called Wine of Giddiness.

Count Tremaine: (“Comte Tréville” in the French original) a skilled knight and a brave warrior, he is a friend and a model for Johan.

Lady Barbera: Usually called "Dame Barbara" in the cartoon series; an old aristocrat who resides in the king's castle, always dressed in green. She has a reputation for being a gossip, as well as being a bit proud and conceited.

The Smurfs: they appear in several stories as allies of John and Solfamì. While the Smurfs have their own series, the adventures with their two human friends remain part of the “John and Solfamì” series. The knowledge of Papa Smurf's magic is particularly useful.

Princess Savina: nephew of the king. She's cute but hates lady things and is an excellent sharpshooter (only featured in the Smurfs cartoon series).

Gargamel: the main antagonist and sworn enemy of the Smurfs, Gargamel is an evil wizard with limited powers. Gargamel is absolutely obsessed with the Smurfs, and his main focus falters from trying to eat them to trying to catch them for use in a potion to make gold to just getting revenge.

Birba: Gargamel's domestic cat.

The animated series

An adventure of John and Solfamì, 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 hit cartoon Hanna-Barbera Smurfs, and has enjoyed some success in the United States as well.

John and Solfamì they have also been featured in some of the Smurfs cartoons, being the main stars in many episodes. In France and other European countries, their TV cartoon adventures have been treated as a separate series from the Smurfs, although the latter is much more famous.

In the early 80s, some recordings of their adventures were made in France and Italy, with some collaborators including Cristina D'Avena.

When the Smurfs got their streak, John and Solfamì they have not appeared anymore. However, they appeared in a 2008 Smurfs adventure called Les schtroumpfeurs de flûte (French: "The Flute Smurfs"). This story, published on the occasion of 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 that was to be the basis of the 1958 story. John and Solfamì they help a human friend of the Smurfs, but don't actually meet the little blue elves.

Comics

Original title Johan and Pirlouit
Original language French
Country Belgium
Author Peyo
Texts Peyo (1952-1970), Yvan Delporte (1994-1998), Thierry Culliford (1995), Luc Parthoens (2001)
Drawings Peyo (1952-1970), Alain Maury (1994-2001)
Editor Dupuis (1952-1972), Le Lombard (1994-)
1 edition 11 September 1952
Albi 17 (in progress) +1 out of series