Gargamel and the Smurfs is a Smurf graphic novel published by Le Lombard in 2011. It was translated to English and released in North America by Papercutz.
Plot Summary
The stories contained in the original French version of this book include:
Gargamel And The Crocodile
See the article "Gargamel and The Crocodile".
Gargamel's Twin Brother
Papa Smurf and Sassette were out in the forest collecting dandelion pollen when a being similar to Gargamel approaches them, causing them to hide behind a rock. Confused, Papa Smurf and Sassette follow him as he heads for Gargamel's castle. Upon seeing the approaching visitor from a window, the evil wizard thinks he's the ugliest person on the face of the earth until he opens the door and sees that it is actually his identical twin brother Gourmelin, who upon leaving home decided to become a traveler and a poet. He gives Gargamel a present: a walking stickman that can grant only one wish to a person. Gargamel vocally wishes that he would find the Smurf Village, and immediately the walking stickman starts heading out the door into the forest. Gargamel and his brother head out into the forest carrying nets while Papa Smurf and Sassette flee, going off into separate directions as they reach a fork in the path. Gargamel and Gourmelin also separate, with Gargamel following the stickman and Gourmelin going in the direction when he finds Sassette. Gourmelin captures Sassette, only to inform her that he is no threat, and that he can control the walking stickman with his magic flute to make it walk faster. When Gourmelin plays the magic flute, the walking stickman walks so fast that Gargamel is unable to catch up to it. By night, Gargamel returns to his castle to find a rhyming note from his brother stating the reasons for his departure, which Gargamel tears up in anger. In the village, the Smurfs enjoy the presence of the walking stickman until they hear Gourmelin's flute playing in the distance, causing it to leave the village and join with its master.
The Ogre And The Smurfs
Gargamel and Azrael are walking around the forest, hunting for Smurfs as usual. Suddenly, they hear a loud roar and animals in the forest come rushing out, knocking them over. Then they see to their terror what the animals were running from, namely a monstrous giant walking towards them. The creature grabs them up and tells them that they will become his meal. Gargamel in abject fear asks who he is, and is told his captor is an ogre actually. He ties Gargamel up onto a piece of wood which he places upon a stove. Later, he gathers some fire wood and prepares to grill the wizard. In an effort to buy time, Gargamel tells the ogre about the Smurfs. The ogre states out that he had heard about Smurfs from a cousin, who turns out to be Bigmouth. Gargamel insists that Smurfs are delicious and tells the ogre that he can find some for him. The ogre is interested, so he unties Gargamel who leads him the way to the Smurf village. Meanwhile, a Smurf spots them and reports back to the others.
The Smurfs are naturally afraid to hear the news, but Papa Smurf assures them that no outsider can find the way to their village, though he instructs the Smurf messenger to keep an eye on both Gargamel and the ogre as they continue to walk through the woods. However, though Gargamel protests, the ogre does not listen to the wizard's instructions, insisting that he knows the way. The Smurf to his shock sees the ogre actually discover the correct way of the river, and reports back to Papa Smurf. The Smurfs are shocked at this development, but Papa confidently says that the bridge across the river will stop them. Nevertheless, Hefty and Brainy set out to make sure.
Meanwhile, Gargamel and the ogre arrive at a bridge. Gargamel tries to cross it, but the bridge collapses. To cross the river, Bigmouth's cousin effortlessly hops over it carrying the protesting Gargamel, and continues on his way. Brainy and Hefty are shocked at their success in getting over the river. They report back to the village, but Papa is still confident that the Smurfs are safe because of the crevice that the would-be invaders must past through. Brainy and Hefty go back to the forest again to check. While they are leaving, Papa Smurf learns to his alarm from his book of magic predictions that the ogre will pass all of the obstacles, and thinks about what he can do to save the Smurfs.
Meanwhile, Gargamel and the ogre have arrived at the deep crevice. Bigmouth's cousin pulls down a tree which he uses as a bridge for himself and Gargamel to walk over the crevice. However, Gargamel is still afraid of his new ally, whom he has grown to strongly dislike over his rudeness and persistence in using the wizard as a scout. He tries to abandon the ogre but fails. At the same moment, Brainy and Hefty see them arriving at a pool of quicksand, which is the last barrier before reaching the Smurf village. However, the ogre throws Gargamel into the quicksand and hops on his head to jump over it. Both Hefty and Brainy soon go back to Smurf village to alert the other Smurfs. Meanwhile, Gargamel finally escapes with the help of Azrael and runs back to his castle, leaving the ogre alone, but he still continues his way to the village.
The ogre finally arrives at the village. Every Smurf is scattering about in a panic except for Papa Smurf, who is holding a book. The ogre captures Papa, but the chief Smurf tells him that Smurfs eat sarsaparilla as their main diet, which is a "poison" for ogres. Thinking that Gargamel is trying to cheat and poison him, the furious ogre allows the Smurfs to lead him away from their village and to the wizard's castle, from where he chases Gargamel away as they look happily on.
The Smurfs and Booglooboo
See the article "The Smurfs And The Booglooboo"
Gargamel's Nephews
See the article "Gargamel's Nephews"
Sagratamabarb
A man named Sagratamabarb is coming down the road, asking people for directions toGargamel's castle. Most of the people he meets run away in fear. However, the Smurfs, although fearful, offer directions to the traveling human despite his strong resemblance to the evil wizard (though smaller in stature). They follow him to Gargamel's house, where they learn he is Sagratamabarb, a hated cousin of their enemy, and a fellow wizard. He insists on showing his cousin a will that allows him to set up shop as a sorcerer in the same area. Gargamel however tears up the will, saying that the forest isn't big enough for two sorcerers, then sarcastically tells Sagratamabarb to go ask the Devil if there's any room for him. Sagratamabarb departs, then returns with two demonic witnesses to state the case that there isn't room for him with the Devil. Undeterred, Gargamel summons the evil spirit Totorus to chase away his cousin's witnesses. The Smurfs watch as Sagratamabarb summons a genie to create a castle similar to Gargamel's right next to his. Gargamel proceeds to destroy his cousin's castle with magic, but Sagratamabarb reveals he has created a counterspell that any damage inflicted upon his castle will also be inflicted on Gargamel's own. Still determined to get rid of his cousin, Gargamel summons Beelzebub and offers to be his slave if Sagratamabarb's castle is destroyed. The Smurfs watch this and warn Sagratamabarb, who in turn summons a centaur to deal with Beelzebub. Gargamel sees that the Smurfs are siding with his cousin and so calls upon the power of Lucifer himself to destroy Sagratamabarb's castle. A powerful whirlwind then comes along in response, destroying both castles. Sagratamabarb realizes from this that his cousin is right about the forest not being big enough for two sorcerers, and packs up to leave. However, Gargamel must now honor his end of the deal with Beelzebub and serve him.
Trivia
- Of all the Smurf stories in the Papercutz version, only "Sagratamabarb" remains from the original French collection. The other stories are replaced by "The Smurfnapper", "The Smurf Not Like The Others" and "The Smurfs And The Little Ghost".
- According to Christian belief, Beelzebub, a demon to whom Gargamel pledges to be his slave, is another name for Satan, as is Lucifer. Catholics, however, maintain that the two are separate entities, Lucifer being the Devil, Beelzebub his second-in-command.
- Although it would seem at the end of "Sagratamabarb", Gargamel is gone from the Smurfs' lives forever, we must assume he will figure out some way to get Beelzebub to let him go.
- "Sagratamabarb" is the first story which the eponymous character appears after his introduction in the 1963 story "The Legend Of The Butter Mountain", which is regarded as non-canonical to the Smurfs comics, as neither the Smurfs nor any other related characters (including Gargamel) are mentioned, and it was essentially a plug for the diary company Unicoolait. As this is also his first appearance in a Smurfs story, he has been regarded as a part of the Smurfs franchise ever since.