Noël, or Le Petit Noël, is the main character of an eponymous

Belgian comics Belgian comics are a distinct subgroup in the comics history, and played a major role in the development of European comics, alongside France with whom they share a long common history. While the comics in the two major language groups and regio ...

series, and a secondary character of ''

Spirou et Fantasio ''Spirou & Fantasio'' (french: Spirou et Fantasio, wa, Spirou eyet Fantasio) is one of the most popular classic Franco-Belgian comics. The series, which has been running since 1938, shares many characteristics with other European comics, European ...

''. His name means "

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

" in French. The series ''Noël'' was created in 1957 by

André Franquin André Franquin (; 3 January 1924 – 5 January 1997) was an influential Belgian comics artist, whose best-known creations are '' Gaston'' and ''Marsupilami''. He also produced the ''Spirou et Fantasio'' comic strip from 1946 to 1968, a period s ...

and

Jidéhem Jean De Mesmaeker (21 December 1935 – 30 April 2017) known by the pseudonym Jidéhem ("JDM"), was a Belgian comics artist in the Marcinelle school tradition. He was best known for his series featuring a cute, playful and adventurous young girl, ...

and published in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine '' Spirou'', while Franquin created the following work alone or together with

Will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

Synopsis

Noël lives in the little village of

Champignac Champignac, or specifically Champignac-en-Cambrousse, is a fictional village frequently featured in the adventures of ''Spirou et Fantasio'' by André Franquin and the successive authors. The initial idea of Champignac is attributed to Henri Gilla ...

. As

Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...

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 ''Marsupilami'' is a comic book character and fictional animal species created by André Franquin. Its first appearance was in the 31 January 1952 issue of the Franco-Belgian comics magazine '' Spirou''. Since then it appeared regularly in the ...

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 ''Gaston'' is a Belgian gag-a-day comic strip created in 1957 by the Belgian cartoonist André Franquin in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine '' Spirou''. The series focuses on the everyday life of Gaston Lagaffe (whose surname means "the blund ...

'' 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 An automaton (; plural: automata or automatons) is a relatively self-operating machine, or control mechanism designed to automatically follow a sequence of operations, or respond to predetermined instructions.Automaton – Definition and More ...

, a resourceful machine able to guess and provide what a human needs to be happy. Its name comes from the French equivalent of Etaoin Shrdlu. * 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 *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 Pâques pour le Petit Noël'' by Franquin

Albums

* '' Le prisonnier du bouddha'' and ''

Panade à Champignac ''Panade à Champignac'' is the nineteenth album of the ''Spirou et Fantasio'' series. The story, written and drawn by Franquin, was serialised along with ''Bravo les Brothers'' in '' Spirou'' magazine before publication as a hardcover album in 19 ...

'', 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. * , was published by Durango editions in 1986. *''

Capturez un Marsupilami ''Capturez un Marsupilami!'', written and drawn by André Franquin, is a comic album containing the adventures and short gags of the Marsupilami. Although not collected in one album until 2002, the contents are the earliest works of the original ar ...

'', the seminal ''Marsupilami'' album contains a few stories with Noël, published 2002 by

Marsu Productions Marsu Productions, or simply Marsu, is a publishing house and licensing and merchandising company located in Monaco, managing Franco-Belgian comics characters and copyright concerns, chiefly from the comics universe of André Franquin. The name Ma ...

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 Stibine (IUPAC name: stibane) is a chemical compound with the formula SbH3. A pnictogen hydride, this colourless, highly toxic gas is the principal covalent hydride of antimony, and a heavy analogue of ammonia. The molecule is pyramidal with H–S ...

, published in 1990 by Marsu Productions.

Sources

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

External links

Official websiteLe Petit Noël
on MarsuProductions.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Petit Noel Belgian comic strips Dupuis titles Christmas characters Child characters in comics Male characters in comics Comics by André Franquin Spirou et Fantasio Christmas comics Humor comics Drama comics Children's comics 1957 comics debuts Comics characters introduced in 1957 1964 comics endings Fictional Belgian people Belgian comics characters