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Noël, or Le Petit Noël, is the main character of an eponymous Belgian comics series, and a secondary character of ''
Spirou et Fantasio ''Spirou & Fantasio'' (), commonly shortened to ''Spirou'', 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 humorous adventu ...
''. His name means "
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...
" 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 (comics), Gaston'' and ''Marsupilami''. He also produced the ''Spirou et Fantasio'' comic strip from 1946 to ...
and Jidéhem 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. 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 liturgical feast central to Christianity, Chri ...
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 th ...
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 a sentient
automaton An automaton (; : 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. Some automata, such as bellstrikers i ...
,https://www.lambiek.net/artists/f/franquin_andre.htm 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'', 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'', the seminal ''Marsupilami'' album contains a few stories with Noël, published 2002 by
Marsu Productions Marsu Productions is a comics publishing house which mainly manages the Franco-Belgian comics characters and copyright concerns of the comics universe of André Franquin (Marsupilami, Gaston Lagaffe, Le Petit Noël, Les Monstres). The company ...
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
''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 Comics about children Comics set in Belgium 1957 comics debuts Comics characters introduced in 1957 1964 comics endings Fictional Belgian people Belgian comics characters Comics about anthropomorphic mammals Comics about anthropomorphic objects Comics about talking objects Characters created by André Franquin