El Laberinto De Perséfone: ARTICLE of SEMANARIO JUVENIL STRONG (STRONG YOUTH WEEKLY)

Possibly the first time that The Smurfs were published under this name in Spanish in Spain was in the famous SEMANARIO JUVENIL STRONG, published by Ediciones Argos Juvenil, S.A.

The first issue of this journal was published in October of 1969, and after 90 numbers and 3 Extras (Christmas and summer) said goodbye to all readers in 1971 after a huge success over the years of publication . The numbers 1 to 90 were composed of 28pages with various sections, they were mostly translations of material from the Franco-Belgian magazine Spirou, plus cultural articles and some news from Spanish artists.Normal numbers costing 8 pesetas, Extras 15 pesetas and consisted of 39 pages. Inmost issues of the journal was a gift to readers, stickers, posters, puzzles, etc ... plus thelaunch of this magazine was accompanied by a television campaign, a novelty at that time.

From the beginning The Smurfs had a major role in the magazine, and the proof wasthat the Smurfs were the undisputed winners of the survey conducted STRONG amongits readers to find out which of the characters that appear on their favorite numbers werethe readers, winning by a large majority followed the Smurfs Lucky Luke, this list waspublished in Issue 61 of the magazine (we scanned the results of the survey). It is alsovery funny article on the Smurf language published in one of the Extras of the magazine(including scanning).

And on the cover of the first issue of our beloved Smurfs appear STRONG, starring withhis funny stories most STRONG numbers. Then we are going to detail the issues of the journal which displayed the cartoon Smurfs and their adventurous friends JANO and PIRLUIT:

EL HUEVO Y LOS PITUFOS (NÚMEROS 1 A 5) (L'Œuf et les Schtroumpfs (The Egg and the Smurfs))
EL FALSO PITUFO (NÚMEROS 7 A 11) (from the album Les Schtroumpfs noirs (The Black Smurfs))
EL PITUFO NÚMERO 100 (13 A 17) (from the album L'Œuf et les Schtroumpfs (The Egg and the Smurfs))
LOS PITUFOS NEGROS (27 A 31) (Les Schtroumpfs noirs (The Black Smurfs))
EL PITUFISIMO (32 A 41) (Le Schtroumpfissime (The Smurf King))
LA FLAUTA DE LOS SEIS PITUFOS (CON JANO Y PIRLUIT) (42 A 55) (La flûte à six trous)
EL HAMBRE DE LOS PITUFOS (62 A 64) (From the album La Schtroumpfette (The Smurfette))
LA GUERRA DE LAS 7 FUENTES (CON JANO Y PIRLUIT) (74 A 83) (La guerre des sept fontaines)
EL PITUFO VOLADOR (84 A 85) (from the album Les Schtroumpfs noirs (The Black Smurfs))

Strong as we said goodbye to his readers with the number 90 of its publication withoutreally clarifying the reasons for closing the magazine, and how could it be otherwise inthe farewell he did the editor made a statement informing the Smurfs that "publishedregularly find in the form of complete adventures in albums ARGOS collecting comics. "