These are the 10 official books published by Dupuis. And there is not any black smurf.
It is a pity 'cause it is a good story.
Any answer?
Thanks

Joan
Barcelona

I do remember The Black Smurfs! I read it as a little boy growing up. However, it was in French. There was a small section of my school library that had Dupuis comics (which were hardcover, so they're not really "comics"). I also seem to recall a French comic about barbarians, but it really didn't have any appeal to me (must be a cultural thing).

The Black Smurfs was eventually translated for the Smurfs TV show on NBC. Instead of being black, the Smurfs turned purple. The episode was the source of much anxiety for BBS Administrator Sassette, who remembers being transfixed to the screen in horror and amazement.

The cartoon turned out to be a very good episode, and changing the name was at least the right decision from a politcally expedient point of view.

In this case, in my opinion, the story succeeded more on TV than it did in the book. Still, it is a shame that there is no translation in English available. Perhaps, as my librarian hoped, les schtroumpfs noirs was a good way for us anglos to learn a foreign tongue.

J'encore suis toujours effrayé quand j'entends "GNAP!"

I too would love to see that story.

However, there is an incredible sensitivity (one could argue rightly so) to anything here that would remotely appear to disparage African Americans.

To give you an example, there was once an eBay auction a friend put up, selling 2.0007 Angry Smurf (the black Smurf). My buddy received a nasty email explaining that the term "black" Smurf was unacceptable, and that the correct term was "African American". The email was an angry, vituperative rant.

I can understand the email writer's position though - prolonged and continued racial stereotying and generations-long denigration would make me somewhat "testy" as well.

I bet we could all find beloved stories that are unacceptable to a particular culture. Which reminds me of Curious George, who was not called Curious George in the UK simply because some guy called George was the king at the time...Now that's censorship.