The Aerosmurf
| The Aerosmurf (L'Aéroschtroumpf) | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Series | The Smurfs |
| Creative team | |
| Creator | Peyo |
| Original publication | |
| Date of publication | 1990 |
| Language | French |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | The Smurflings |
| Followed by | The Strange Awakening of Lazy Smurf |
The Aerosmurf (original French title: L'Aéroschtroumpf) is the fourteenth album of the original French-language Smurfs comic series created by Belgian artist Peyo.
Apart from the titular one, it contains other four stories: The Gluttony of the Smurfs, The Masked Smurfer, Puppy and the Smurfs and Jokey Smurf's Jokes.
Plots
The Aerosmurf
Flying Smurf still has not abandoned his dream of flying (as seen in The Flying Smurf story from The Black Smurfs), so he asks Handy Smurf to make him a flying machine.
The following morning, Flying Smurf shows off to the other Smurfs his new airplane, the Aerosmurf. Whilst flying around in the Aerosmurf, Flying Smurf destroys Smurfette's flowers and her laundry. An irate Smurfette leaves and goes to the forest to calm down. The evil Gargamel captures Smurfette and sends a crow bearing a note for the Smurfs, stating that she will be freed her in exchange for her weight in gold, but the Smurfs don't have any.
Flying Smurf uses his Aerosmurf to rescue Smurfette from Gargamel's net, and since Gargamel can't reach the Aerosmurf, he decides to make his own flying machine, which has pedals connected to batlike wings. Gargamel fires arrows at the Aerosmurf, but Flying Smurf does a loop and throws explosive gifts (presumably obtained from Jokey Smurf) that destroy Gargamel's machine. After landing, Smurfette promises something to Flying Smurf: she sets him the assignment of restoring everything he destroyed during his first flight.
The Gluttony of the Smurfs
Gargamel makes a sarsaparilla cake and mixes a petrification elixir into it, then he leaves it in the forest for the Smurfs to find. The following day, some Smurfs go to the forest to pick raspberries. They find the cake, and eat it despite Brainy Smurf's warnings; they even throw some cake in his face, so he also becomes exposed to it. The Smurfs, with the exception of Grouchy Smurf – the only one who does not eat cake – are all petrified by the cake's elixir. Grouchy is able to go to alert Papa Smurf in the Village. Gargamel takes the petrified Smurfs to his house, but has to leave in search of ingredients he needs for an antidote. Then Papa Smurf and the rest of the Smurfs arrive, they read the antidote formula and get the ingredients before Gargamel, restore the petrified Smurfs and leave Gargamel's house. Before doing so, Papa Smurf leaves behind a caramel laced with a substance that will make Gargamel's body too soft to chase them.
The Masked Smurfer
There is disharmony among the Smurfs. Suddenly, Jokey Smurf arrives with his face full of cream and says a masked Smurf with a cape threw a cake in his face. Then Brainy Smurf and Smurfette arrive, also claiming to have been pied in the face by the masked Smurf.
That night, the masked Smurf shoots an arrow, with a note attached signed "the Masked Smurfer", telling the Smurfs to write down the names of the Smurfs they would want to throw a pie at, and leave the note in the hollow trunk in the forest for him.
While each Smurf denies sending notes, they all do because they are all embroiled in disputes with one another. The following day every Smurf has been pied at least once. The Smurfs decide to investigate Chef Smurf. However, by comparing the taste of the Masked Smurfer's pies and Chef Smurf's, Greedy Smurf finds that the difference in taste proves his innocence.
To find the culprit, Papa Smurf takes matters on his hands: he sends a note to the Masked Smurfer, dipped in white ink. After everybody is pied the following day, Brainy Smurf finds the Masked Smurfer's disguise, which makes him the Smurfs' prime suspect. Then, Papa Smurf arrives and tells everybody to show their hands, and Jokey Smurf's hands are white due to the ink; he had pied himself the first to avert suspicions.
Puppy and the Smurfs
One morning, the Smurfs find a creature in the village. Everybody is scared, until Papa Smurf arrives and tells them it's just Puppy, the dog belonging to the wizard, Homnibus. The Smurfs think Homnibus may have sent a message inside Puppy's locket, but everyone who tries to open the locket is electrocuted. Papa Smurf sends a message to Homnibus, and the Smurfs care for Puppy in the meantime. Papa Smurf gets his own message back, which means Homnibus isn't at home.
The Smurfs leave to take Puppy back to Homnibus' home, but are secretly followed by Gargamel. When they arrive, they find out from Homnibus, who had just returned from looking for his dog, that Puppy had fled. Papa Smurf asks about Puppy's locket, and Homnibus explains that whoever opens the locket will become Puppy's real master; the eavesdropping Gargamel hears all of this. Homnibus offers Puppy to the Smurfs if they like him.
Gargamel captures Puppy using a net and tries to open his locket, but gets electrocuted. Puppy escapes to the Smurf village and Gargamel follows him there. While he tries to capture Smurfs, Baby Smurf opens Puppy's locket and sends him against Gargamel. The defeated Gargamel returns home to try to make a similar locket for Azrael.
Jokey Smurf's Jokes
The Smurfs are tired of Jokey Smurf's explosive presents, so Papa Smurf makes him promise to never give such gifts again. Jokey Smurf is depressed by this admonition at first, but then he decides to make more varied jokes: he gives a water-squirting flower to the Smurfette, puts a fake ink stain on Poet Smurf's poem, and so on. Everybody gets soon tired of his new jokes, so nobody wants to see him. Jokey Smurf goes to the forest and is captured by Gargamel. He makes a fake explosion sound, causing Gargamel to drop him and allowing him to free himself. But Gargamel still manages to follow him to the village. To make Gargamel go away, Jokey Smurf asks Papa Smurf if he can break the promise, to which Papa Smurf agrees. Jokey Smurf then gives a big explosive present to Gargamel that sends him away like a rocket. In the end, Jokey Smurf returns to his old pranks.
Publications and other media
- While the main story of the book wasn't adapted for TV, the plots of the latest three stories are similar to some TV episodes.
- The Howlibird briefly appears during "The Aerosmurf".
- "The Masked Smurfer" is the first time Chef Smurf and Greedy Smurf appear in the same story, thus confirming they are separate characters in the original canon (unlike the animated series).