A new album of the adventures of Gaston Lagaffe will be released on October 19. It is Delaf, the designer of “Nombrils”, who takes over the famous character, whose last unpublished adventures were published in 1996.
Gaston Lagaffe, born in 1957 under the pen of the brilliant Franquin, will know a new life. It’s Delaf, real name Marc Delafontaine, Canadian cartoonist of comics The navelswhich has the difficult task of reviving the most sympathetic blunderer of Franco-Belgian comics, as announced by the publisher Dupuis this Thursday during a press conference at the Angoulême comics festival.
The Return of Lagaffean album in the classic 48-page format, is to be released on October 19, with a print run commensurate with the notoriety of this gentle, idealistic, lazy and inventive anti-hero: 1.2 million copies.
“Risk taking”
The cover of the album, the first without Franquin, who disappeared in 1997, as well as an interior board were unveiled on Thursday.
“It’s a risk-taking. Even if it means relaunching the series, we said to ourselves that there was no point in doing it on a small arm. Because he is one of the most emblematic characters in French comics. Belgian”, explained to AFP the editorial director of Dupuis, Stéphane Beaujean.
In the case of Lagaffe, the choice of Delaf was imposed after the publication in 2017 of a tribute to André Franquin, The Gaffe Gallerywhere the board drawn by the Quebecer had struck readers by the mimicry with the work of the Belgian designer (1924-1997).
“This Delaf tribute imitated Franquin to perfection, everyone said so. It is therefore the return of Gaston in his canonical character, as close as possible to the original version”, underlined Mr. Beaujean.
“We made the choice to resuscitate Gaston in his golden age, the 70s, which is the most suitable choice when bringing a hero back to life,” he explained during a press conference at the Angoulême International Comics Festival.
The 21st and last album released by Franquin, Gaffe to Lagaffedates from 1996. The launch was made to 900,000 copies at the time.
“Franquin did not want us to take Gaston back”
The character was the subject of a film adaptation in 2018, Gaston Lagaffe, which had greatly displeased Franquin’s daughter, Isabelle. “I helplessly witness the disaster,” she told the Belgian daily The future.
Isabelle Franquin is also opposed to this revival of comics, respecting the wishes of her father. But she can’t stop it.
“Franquin spoke several times publicly to say that he did not want Gaston to be taken back” and Isabelle Franquin “opposed it orally”, admitted Mr. Beaujean. But, he added, the rights to the character belong to Dupuis, under a contract whose “clauses clearly specify that a recovery is possible”.
Despite the disruptions on the paper market, the huge print run should not pose a logistical problem, underlined the editorial director of Dupuis. “We really organized ourselves in advance, because it was a job that lasted five years”.
The publisher also announced the end of another emblematic character of the house, Spirou, on the occasion of a volume 56 to be published, The Death of Spirou.
“Spirou, our ambassador, accompanied us during our first century, and he will give way to another hero”, explained Mr. Beaujean. It will always be a groom, accompanied by Fantasio, soon to be featured in Spirou magazine.
Éditions Dupuis has been owned since 2004 by the French publishing group Média-Participations.
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