Le Petit Noël

Front cover of Noël et l’Elaoin (1978), showing Noël (right) and the Elaoin Sdrétu.(left)

Noël, or Le Petit Noël, is the main character of an eponymous Belgian comics series, and a secondary character of Spirou et Fantasio. His name means "Christmas" in French. The series Noël was created in 1957 by André Franquin and Jidéhem and published in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine Spirou, while Franquin created the following work alone or together with Will.

Synopsis

Noël lives in the little village of Champignac. As Christmas Day approaches, he is more sad and unhappy than ever because he has no friends and his parents are poor and can't afford gifts for him. However, each year, Noël lives a good Christmas, either thanks to the Marsupilami or the Elaoin Sdrétu.

The atmosphere of the series was sometimes melancholic, as in some other of Franquin's work. The same atmosphere is also present in the Gaston Lagaffe series at the times of Christmas: the "miraculous" and idealized period of Christmas and New year is a recurring theme in Franquin's series.

Some of Noël's stories were more humorous: in one story he and the Marsupilami go to a sports stadium to watch a tennis match — only for the creature to ruin a wonderful game by catching the ball in mid-air.

Characters

Noël is a small, shy, introverted, quite unhappy and unlucky boy. His schoolmates make fun of him.
The Elaoin Sdrétu is an automaton, a resourceful machine able to guess and provide what a human needs to be happy.
Marsupilami is a friendly animal whose extremely long and agile tail provides many possibilities.

Publications in Spirou

1957 N.1027 (2 strips) La bûche de Noël by Franquin and Jidéhem
1958 N.1078 (2 strips) Les étranges amis de Noël by Franquin
1959 N.1131 (short story) Noël et l’Elaoin by Franquin
1964 N.1354 (4 strips) Joyeuses paques pour mon p’tit Noël by Franquin

Albums

Le prisonnier du bouddha and Panade à Champignac, two albums of the Spirou et Fantasio series drawn by Franquin, feature Noël.
Noël et l'élaoin was published in black and white by the Yann Rudler editions in 1978. It was reedited in colours in 1982 by Bédérama editions.
Crontch, crontch, was published by Durango editions in 1986.
Capturez un Marsupilami, the seminal Marsupilami album contains a few stories with Noël, published 2002 by Marsu Productions editions.
Les Noëls de Franquin, published by Marsu-Productions in 2006, groups all the stories drawn by Franquin and pre-published in Spirou in the 1950s and 1960s in relation with the Christmas period: covers, calendars, illustrations and some Noël strips.
Retrouvailles, an album made under Franquin's supervision, with script by Serdu and artwork by Stibane, published in 1990 by Marsu Productions.

Sources

Noël publications in Le Journal de Spirou BDoubliées (in French)
Noël et L'Elaoin Franquin.com (in French)

External links

Official website
Le Petit Noël on MarsuProductions.com

André Franquin
Series	Spirou et Fantasio Gaston Lagaffe Marsupilami Idées noires Le Petit Noël Modeste et Pompon Isabelle
Spirou et Fantasio characters	Fantasio Gaston Lagaffe Marsupilami Le Petit Noël Seccotine Spip Spirou Zantafio Zorglub
Spirou and Fantasio albums	Spirou et Fantasio Quatre aventures de Spirou et Fantasio Il y a un sorcier à Champignac Les chapeaux noirs Spirou et les héritiers Les voleurs du Marsupilami La corne de rhinocéros Le dictateur et le champignon La mauvaise tête Le repaire de la murène Les pirates du silence Le gorille a bonne mine Le nid des Marsupilamis Le voyageur du Mésozoïque Le prisonnier du Bouddha Z comme Zorglub L'ombre du Z Spirou et les hommes-bulles QRN sur Bretzelburg Panade à Champignac Tembo Tabou
Gaston Lagaffe albums	Gaffes et gadgets Gala de gaffes à gogo Le bureau des gaffes en gros Gare aux gaffes du gars gonflé En direct de la gaffe Le lourd passé de Lagaffe Des gaffes et des dégâts Un gaffeur sachant gaffer Lagaffe nous gâte Le cas Lagaffe Le géant de la gaffe Gaffes, bévues et boulettes Le gang des gaffeurs Lagaffe mérite des baffes La saga des gaffes Gaffe à Lagaffe ! Gaston 19
Marsupilami albums	Capturez un Marsupilami La Queue du Marsupilami
Other albums	Idées noires
Collaborators	Delporte Jidéhem Greg Goscinny Roba
Publishing houses	Dupuis Marsu Productions
Magazines	Spirou Tintin
Other	Champignac Palombia

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