Gaston Lagaffe is a comic strip originally created in 1957 by the Belgian cartoonist André Franquin in the comic strip magazine, Spirou, and named after its main character. A comic strip is a sequence of drawings that tells a story Currently in the Western world, most comic strips are written and drawn by a Comics artist Year 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar) The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those André Franquin ( January 3, 1924 &ndash January 5, 1997) was an influential Belgian Comics artist, whose best known Spirou magazine is a Belgian comics magazine. First published April 21, 1938 as Le Journal de Spirou, it was an eight page weekly comics The series focuses on the every-day life of a lazy and accident-prone (his surname means "the blunder") office junior. It is very popular in large parts of Europe (especially in Belgium and France), but except for a few pages by Fantagraphics in the early 90s (as Gomer Goof), there is no published English translation. Fantagraphics Books is an American publisher of Alternative comics, classic Comic strip anthologies Magazines Graphic novels

Gaston Lagaffe goes by different names in various languages, such as Guust Flater in Dutch, Tomás el Gafe in Spanish, Sergi Grapes in Catalan, Gastono Lafuŝ in Esperanto, Viggo in Norwegian, Vakse Viggo in Danish, Viggó Viðutan in Icelandic, Niilo Pielinen in Finnish, Gaša Šeprtlja in Serbian, Şapşal Gazi in Turkish and simply Gaston in Swedish as well as in German and Greek. Dutch ( is a West Germanic language spoken by around 24 million people 22 million of which are from the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname Catalan ˈkætəˌlæn ( català kətəˈla or) is a Romance language, the national and official language of Andorra, and a co-official is by far the most widely spoken constructed International auxiliary language in the world Norwegian ( norsk) is a North Germanic Language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is an official language Danish ( d̥ænsɡ̊ is one of the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the Icelandic ( is a North Germanic language, the language of Iceland. Finnish ( or suomen kieli) is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland (92% As of 2006) and by ethnic Finns outside Serbian (sr-Cyrl српски језик sr-Latn ''srpski jezik'' is a South Slavic language, Turkish ( tr Türkçe IPA) is a language spoken by over 63 million people worldwide making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Swedish ( is a North Germanic language spoken by more than nine million people predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly In German he was also called (very briefly during a syndication) Jo-Jo.

Since the 1980s Gaston also appears on a wide variety of merchandise. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989.

Publication history

Gaston's very first (silent) appearance in 1957

André Franquin who was then in charge of Spirou et Fantasio, the primary series of Le journal de Spirou, first introduced the character Gaston in issue n°985, published February 28, 1957. Spirou et Fantasio ( Spirou and Fantasio) is one of the most popular classic Franco-Belgian comic strips Events 202 BC - coronation ceremony of Liu Bang as Emperor Gaozu of Han takes place initiating four centuries of the Han Dynasty 's rule Year 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar) ^[1][2] The initial purpose was to fill up empty spaces in the magazine and offer a (comically artificial) glimpse of life behind-the-scenes at the paper. ^[3] His arrival was carefully orchestrated with a teasing campaign over several months, based on ideas by Franquin, Yvan Delporte and Jidéhem, with mysterious blue footprints in the margins of the magazine. Yvan Delporte ( 24 June 1928 - 5 March 2007) was a Belgian comics writer and was editor-in-chief of Spirou magazine Jean De Mesmaeker (born December 21, 1935) known by the Pseudonym Jidéhem, is a Belgian Comics artist in the Marcinelle

For the Spirou issue N°1000 cover, Franquin drew 999 heads of Spirou, and one of Gaston, and the first Gaston full-page gag was featured in a bonus supplement. Spirou (Walloon Squirrel mischievous is the main character of the Spirou et Fantasio and Le Petit Spirou comic strips ^[4][5][6]

In context of the fictive story evolving at the magazine offices, the man behind the footprints, Gaston, finally turned up for a memorable job interview, telling the bemused Spirou that he didn't remember with whom or for what he had been called. Fantasio, functioning as the magazine's opinionated face of signed editorials, subsequently announced in a formal communiqué that Gaston would be the first "Hero-without-a-job". Gaston's blunders continued during a stressful and frustrating period for Fantasio, pushing him to go on a 4 week strike and eventually a vacation, initiating the story Vacances sans histoires. Strike action, often simply called a strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal by Employees to perform work. ^[7]

From Spirou issue n°1025, the single-panel gags were replaced with Gaston strips running at bottom of the editor's pages, signed by both Jidéhem and Franquin. ^[8][9] These ran until 1959 when Gaston acquired a weekly half-page, which lasted until the mid-60s when the Gaston Lagaffe gags grew to full-page. ^[10]

Spirou et Fantasio appearances

Gaston's first Spirou et Fantasio appearance

Gaston's first cameo in a Spirou et Fantasio adventure took place in Spirou issue n°1014, as he graced two frames of Le voyageur du Mésozoïque. A cameo role or cameo appearance (often shortened to just cameo) is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the Performing arts, such as Le voyageur du Mésozoïque, written by Franquin and Greg, drawn by Franquin with assistance by Jidéhem, is the thirteenth album of the He is first seen "on the streets of the capital", riding a bicycle while reading a newspaper, obliviously littering papers, and then appears two frames later, bruised and dazed, dragging his deformed bike. ^[11]

His second cameo, this time with a goose on the back of his bicycle, he runs a red light and very nearly gets hit by Spirou and Fantasio's speeding Turbot I, occurred in the early panels of the story Vacances sans histoires (later included in the album Le gorille a bonne mine), and then in the story's final panels, getting hit by the new Turbot II and announcing his new job at the Spirou offices. Le gorille a bonne mine, written and drawn by Franquin, is the eleventh album of the Spirou et Fantasio  series ^[12]

Gaston was given a larger part in the following adventure, La foire aux gangsters (included in Le nid des Marsupilamis). Le nid des Marsupilamis, written and drawn by Franquin, is the twelfth album of the Spirou et Fantasio series Here, Gaston acts naïvely foolish and chooses some bad company, which leads him to spend time in a jail cell. In the story's final frame he is released from a police station, to scornful glances by the nearby public. ^[13][14] Gaston would not be seen again until his appearances in Franquin's two final Spirou et Fantasio stories, published in Panade à Champignac. Panade à Champignac, written and drawn by Franquin, is the nineteenth album of the Spirou et Fantasio  series He is featured in the opening pages of the title story, and plays a central role in Bravo les Brothers. ^[13][14]

Focus on Gaston Lagaffe

For a period, Franquin had trained his assistant Jidéhem to take over the strip in due time, but Jidéhem felt no affinity with the character and remained the background artist. ^[15] Franquin inversely grew tired of Spirou et Fantasio (a series he had not created but inherited in 1946) and decided in 1968 to resign the job, and concentrate on the increasingly popular Gaston Lagaffe. ^[16] Gaston's antics appeared in Spirou from 1957 to 1996, a few months before Franquin's death in 1997, although new material appeared only sporadically after the early 1980s. ^[17]

Format and appeal

Gaston Lagaffe follows the classic "gag" format: one-page stories (initially half-a-page) with an often visual punchline, sometimes foreshadowed in the dialogue. The humour mixes slapstick, puns and running gags. Franquin's style is characterised by extremely nervous characters and action and very quotable dialogue. The series is much loved not only for its perfectly timed comedy, but also for its warm outlook on every day life. Although Gaston works at Spirou magazine and one of his colleagues is a cartoonist, the series satirises office life in general rather than the publishing or comics business; Franquin himself worked at home.

Characters

Gaston Lagaffe

Gaston was hired - somewhat mysteriously - as an office junior at the offices of the Journal de Spirou (the real-life publication in which the strip appeared), having wandered in in a state of confusion. The strip usually focuses on his efforts to avoid doing any work, indulging instead in hobbies or naps while all around him panic over deadlines. Initially, Gaston was an irritating simpleton, but he developed a genial personality and sense of humour. Common sense however always eludes him, and he has an almost supernatural ability to create disasters ("gaffes") to which he reacts with his catchphrase: "M'enfin!" ("What the. . . ?"). His job involves dealing with readers' mail; the ever-growing piles of unanswered letters ("courrier-en-retard") - and the attempts of Fantasio and Léon Prunelle to make him deal with it - are continuing themes of the comic.

Gaston's age is a mystery - Franquin himself confessed that he neither knew nor indeed wanted to know it. Although Gaston has a job, a car and his own place, he often acts like a young teenager. He is invariably dressed in a tight polo-necked green jumper and blue-jeans, and worn-out espadrilles. Espadrilles are casual flat or high-heel fashion sandals originating from the Pyrenees. It is said that his appearance was originally based on that of Yvan Delporte, editor of the Journal de Spirou at that time. Yvan Delporte ( 24 June 1928 - 5 March 2007) was a Belgian comics writer and was editor-in-chief of Spirou magazine

Gaston alternates between phases of extreme laziness, when it is near impossible to wake him up, and hyper-activity, when he creates inventions or plays with office furniture. Over the years, he has experimented with cookery, music, decorating, chemistry and many other hobbies, all with uniformly catastrophic results. His Peter Pan-like refusal to grow up and care about his work makes him very endearing, while ironically his antics account for half the stress experienced by his unfortunate co-workers.

Gaston's pets

Gaston is very fond of animals (as was Franquin of drawing them) and keeps several pets. The main ones are a depressive, aggressive seagull and a hyperactive cat. Like Franquin's most famous animal creation, the Marsupilami, those two never acquired a name and are just referred to as the cat and the seagull. Marsupilami is a Fictional Comic book animal created by André Franquin, first published on January 31, 1952 in the Gaston also sometimes keeps a mouse (Cheese), and a goldfish (Bubulle). The animals are sometimes Gaston's partners in crime and sometimes the victims of his clumsiness. They are often depicted more realistically than the pets in Spirou, in that we are not privy to their inner thoughts. The cat and seagull in particular can be fairly vicious, although never to Gaston himself, and often team up to obtain food (for example, in volume 14, the seagull distracts the fishmonger while the cat steals a fish, which they later eat together^[18]). A fishmonger ( fishwife for women practitioners - "wife" in this case used in its archaic meaning of "woman" is someone who sells Fish and

The office co-workers

Fantasio of Spirou et Fantasio is the main supporting character of the early part of the series - a sort of irritable father figure to Gaston. Fantasio is a Fictional character from the Spirou et Fantasio comic strip Spirou et Fantasio ( Spirou and Fantasio) is one of the most popular classic Franco-Belgian comic strips Franquin acknowledged with regrets that he had totally destroyed the original clown-like personality of the character by using him in this role. In Gaston, instead of having adventures and doing some reporting, Fantasio has an editorial role in the magazine and, as such, has the impossible task of trying to put Gaston to work. By the time the story Bravo les Brothers came out (which, while nominally a Spirou et Fantasio story, was effectively highjacked by Gaston), it was time for Fantasio (and the occasional cameo by Spirou) to go away. Spirou et Fantasio ( Spirou and Fantasio) is one of the most popular classic Franco-Belgian comic strips When Fournier took over the Spirou et Fantasio series in 1970, Fantasio disappeared from Gaston, replaced by Léon Prunelle. ^[19] He returned later for a cameo, his absence explained as being away in Champignac. ^[20]

Léon Prunelle, an editor at the Journal de Spirou. Prunelle is even more short-tempered than Fantasio, from whom he has inherited not only the mammoth task of making Gaston work, but also the job of signing contracts with important businessman Aimé De Mesmaeker (see below). Initially optimistic about this, Prunelle slowly realises that he cannot win. However he refuses to give up. Perpetually at the end of his tether, running around barking orders, Prunelle turns a nasty reddish purple when disaster strikes and utters his trademark outburst "Rogntudju!" (a mangled version of "Nom de Dieu", roughly the equivalent of "bloody hell", then unacceptable in a children's comic). Occasionally, he manages to turn the tables on Gaston and shows that he is not without a sense of humour. He has black hair, a short beard and wears glasses.

Yves Lebrac, (first presented with the name Yvon Lebrac)^[21], an in-house cartoonist, is comparatively laid-back. He is fond of puns and we see him woo (and eventually win) one of the attractive secretary girls over the course of the series. Although mostly on good terms with Gaston (unlike Prunelle), he occasionally loses his temper when deadlines loom and Gaston's interference becomes too much. When not a victim of "gaffes", he is a lenient comrade of Gaston, and the character with which Franquin himself most identified. ^[22]

Joseph Boulier, a surly accountant for Éditions Dupuis, the publishers of the magazine. He states that he will not rest until he has tracked down every useless expense for the publication, and in particular those of Gaston. However, his attempts to cause Gaston grief backfire in spectacular ways. He represents the more serious side of the comics publishing business.

Mademoiselle Jeanne ("M'oiselle Jeanne" to Gaston) is one of Gaston’s colleagues and his love interest. She is the only one in the office who sees any good in him. She was first depicted as comically unattractive — one gag sees Gaston needing a partner for the back end of his pantomime horse costume, and he chooses Jeanne for her ponytail. Gradually however, she became cuter — if never really a beauty queen. Jeanne is a perfect match for Gaston, as she admires his talent, his courage, his inventiveness and is utterly oblivious to his lack of common sense (of which she herself has fairly little). However their courtship is perpetually stuck at the very first step. They address each other with the formal vous and as "Mister" and "Miss" and see each other mainly at the office — though they have had the occasional outing together. By the end of the series, Gaston's daydreams about Jeanne did become more explicit. However, to the dismay of fans, Franquin only once drew them being much more intimate on a commercially unavailable greeting card. This platonic relationship, in a way, is in keeping with Gaston's refusal or inability to grow up.

Monsieur Dupuis (the real-life publisher Charles Dupuis) himself has made two appearances - both times we only see his legs. Dupuis is a Belgian publisher of Comic books and magazines Based in Marcinelle near Charleroi, Dupuis was founded in the early 1930s

Spirou is also staffed by translator Bertje Van Schrijfboek, an unnamed red-haired male editor referred to outside the strip as Le Rouquin ("The Redhead"), cleaning lady Mélanie Molaire (who always fumes at the mess left by Gaston and which she has to clean up), concierge Jules Soutier, and a string of attractive secretaries named Sonia (who is constantly handing in her notice), Yvonne and Suzanne. Occasionally, real-life figures from the Journal de Spirou (such as editor Yvan Delporte or writer Raoul Cauvin) have cameos. Yvan Delporte ( 24 June 1928 - 5 March 2007) was a Belgian comics writer and was editor-in-chief of Spirou magazine Raoul Cauvin (born September 26, 1938) is a Belgian Comics author

Friends

Jules-de-chez-Smith-en-face (Jules-from-Smith’s-across-the-street) is one of Gaston’s friends. He "works" (much in the same way as Gaston "works") in the office just across the street from the Journal de Spirou, prompting countless attempts at cross-street communication via walkie-talkie, flash card, carrier seagull etc. Jules shares Gaston's childish enthusiasm, and is his sidekick in many ventures. Although they are close, Jules addresses Gaston as "Lagaffe".

Bertrand Labévue is another of Gaston’s friends/sidekicks and also his cousin. As his name indicates, (bévue means "blunder"), he shares his cousin's tendency to goof up. Bertrand suffers from acute depression, mirroring Franquin's own problems with the illness, and Gaston and Jules do their best to cheer him up with food, country drives and other things (all of which backfire comically).

Manu is another friend, who regularly turns up in different jobs (à la Bert in Mary Poppins): chimney sweep, sewer worker, installer of street signage. Mary Poppins is a series of children's books written by PL Travers and originally illustrated by Mary Shepard. . . He also partakes in Gaston's schemes to irritate Longtarin, the policeman.

Foes

Aimé De Mesmaeker is a rich businessman; we know that he owns a private jet (until Gaston destroys it) and that his oldest daughter drives no less than an Alfa Romeo. Alfa Romeo Automobiles SpA is an Italian Automaker founded in 1910 ^[23] His precise line of business is unknown, but he is repeatedly lured into the offices of Spirou by Fantasio or Prunelle in order to sign some lucrative contracts (see below). De Mesmaeker has developed a deep loathing for Gaston and by extension his colleagues. His frequent visits allow Franquin to satirise business rituals, as Dupuis' employees shower him with attention, complimentary drinks, cigars. . .

De Mesmaeker is named after Johan De Mesmaeker (known as Jidéhem from the French pronunciation of his initials J. Jean De Mesmaeker (born December 21, 1935) known by the Pseudonym Jidéhem, is a Belgian Comics artist in the Marcinelle D. M. ), Franquin’s collaborator on the series; he remarked that the character looked like his own father. ^[24] The real-life Mr De Mesmaeker Sr — actually a salesman — soon found that, as Gaston's strip became increasingly popular, concluding a deal would result in the client asking, "Where are the contracts?".

Joseph Longtarin ("long nose") is a policeman working in the neighbourhood where the offices of Spirou are located. Police are agents or agencies usually of the executive, empowered to enforce the law and to effect public and social order through the legitimatized use of force One of his particular responsibilities is for traffic and illegal parking. An exceptionally petty and vengeful man, he is the closest thing the series has to a villain (maybe an anti-villain, given that his job involves enforcing rules and regulations that Gaston openly breaks). He is one of Gaston's favorite "victims" as well as his nemesis. The two clash continually over Gaston's car and parking habits. Gaston retaliates for Longtarin's repeated attempts to ticket him by wreaking havoc on the neighbourhood's parking meters (not just a bugbear of Gaston, but of André Franquin too). He pulls off other pranks, such as putting a small effigy of Longtarin on the front of his car, in a parody of the Rolls-Royce Spirit of Ecstasy^[25]. The Spirit of Ecstasy is the name of the mascot ( Hood ornament) on Rolls-Royce Cars.

Freddy-les-doigts-de-fée ("fairy-fingered Freddy") is a burglar. His occasional break-ins at Spirou are always foiled accidentally by Gaston, who tends to inadvertently leave dangerous objects, devices or pets around the office. Workers at Spirou see Freddy as a fellow victim of Gaston, and, instead of turning him in to the police, offer him comfort and freebies when they find him in the morning.

Props, inventions and other running gags

Objects play an important part in Gaston's life, and some of them have become iconic enough to be sometimes recreated in real life for exhibitions and such. The main two are:

Gaston's car

Fiat 509 at the European Motor Show Brussels 2006, decorated like Gaston's car. Brussels (Bruxelles pronounced; Brussel pronounced) officially the Brussels Capital-Region, is

Gaston drives an old Fiat 509 decorated with racing patterns that he added himself. ^[26] It first appears in gag #321. However its top speed still allows passengers to safely pick flowers on motorway verges. ^[27] Much humour derives from the car's extreme state of decrepitude; for example, a friend of Gaston is able to "waterski" behind it on a slick of oil, while Gaston strenuously denies any such leaks. The car also produces huge quantities of (often toxic) smoke, even more so when Gaston converts it to run on coal. Customisations and ill-fitted upgrades include:

• An emissions filter fitted to the exhaust pipe which turn out not let anything through, causing the exhaust to come in the front. ^[28]
• A bag in which exhaust fumes are collected. Unfortunately, Gaston thoughtlessly empties the bag in a busy street, rendering everyone unconscious. ^[29]
• Snow chains. Snow chains, or tire chains, are devices which are affixed to the Tires of Vehicles to provide superior traction when driving through Snow ^[30]
• A snow-plough device that sucks the snow into a heater, which makes the snow evaporate (it doesn't work). A snowplow (also spelled snow plow, snowplough or snow plough, see miscellaneous spelling differences) is a vehicle or a device intended ^[31]
• Seatbelts, which, unbeknownst to those wearing them, wrap around the rear axle. A seat belt, sometimes called a safety belt, is a Safety harness designed to secure the occupant of a Vehicle against harmful movement that may result from ^[32]
• An airbag (Prunelle states that it allows the driver to die less messily in an accident). An airbag is part of a vehicle's safety restraint system a flexible envelope designed for rapid inflation in an automobile Collision, to prevent vehicle occupants
• A wind turbine. A wind turbine is a rotating machine which converts the Kinetic energy in Wind into Mechanical energy. ^[33]

The car is inadvertently rocket-powered on two separate occasions.

Some of Gaston's colleagues are terrified at the very thought of sitting in the Fiat - Prunelle swears on several occasions that he will never set foot in it again. The car is also the source of many clashes with Longtarin, as Gaston endlessly devises schemes to avoid paying parking meters, even going as far as parking it up in a tree or faking roadworks.

The Gaffophone

This extraordinary instrument, a prehistoric-looking combination of horn and harp created by Gaston,^[34][35] produces a sound so terrible and loud that it causes physical destruction all around and panics animals. Like the voice of the bard Cacofonix in Asterix, it horrifies everyone except its originator. This is a list of recurring characters in the Asterix comics Main characters Asterix Obelix and Dogmatix (en The Adventures of Asterix ( French: Astérix or Astérix le Gaulois) is a series of French The first time the instrument appears, the plucking of just one string causes the floor to collapse. ^[36] Gaston has also created at least one other instrument in the same vein, and an electric version of the Gaffophone. ^[37] Fantasio has tried several times to get rid of the Gaffophone, without success.

An illustrated text published in the Journal de Spirou column En direct de la Rédaction (and later collected in Gaston nº 10), chronicled the Gaffophone's blossoming and development into a small ecosystem, which then self-destructed. Gaston later rebuilt his instrument.

Costumes

An early running gag involved Gaston coming up with elaborate and extremely impractical costumes for fancy dress parties at the facetious suggestions of his colleagues: Weeble-like toy, octopus, Greek urn, petrol pump, Eiffel Tower etc. Weebles is a trademark for several lines of children's Toys originating in Hasbro 's Playskool division on July 23, 1971. He was invariably worried about whether he would be able to dance with the outfit on. Once, he dressed as the Marsupilami^[38]. Marsupilami is a Fictional Comic book animal created by André Franquin, first published on January 31, 1952 in the

Other inventions

These have included:

• A necktie- / shoelace-tying device
• A ceiling-suspended table^[39]
• A self-heating duffle coat^[40]
• A rotating Christmas tree^[41]
• A pneumatic ashtray
• An electric scarecrow^[42]
• A folding bicycle^[43]
• A remote-controlled electric iron^[44]
• A mini-lawnmower (to mow around daisies)
• A suit of armour for mice^[45]
• A solar-powered flashlight^[46]

The mail backlog

The task most often given to Gaston by Prunelle is to sort and answer the mail, presumably sent by readers. A duffle coat, or duffel coat, is a coat made from duffle a coarse thick woollen material Pneumatics, Pressurized gas to affect mechanical motion Pneumatic power is used in Industry, where it is common to have factory units plumbed for Compressed A flashlight (also called an electric torch or torch) is a portable electric spotlight which emits light from a small incandescent Lightbulb This often builds up to a mountain-like backlog, which Gaston often attempts to dispose of in creative ways, for instance stuffing a homemade sofa with it. In a similar vein, Gaston was briefly put in charge of the reference library: at first he arranged the books into a maze and charged his colleagues for admission, and later he simply piled them up, dug a cave in the middle and settled there with his pets and a stove to sleep all day.

De Mesmaeker's contracts

This is possibly the most frequent running gag in the series, and by Franquin's admission a MacGuffin: "Whatever's in the contracts is irrelevant. A MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin) is a Plot device that motivates the characters or advances the story but the details of which are of little or no importance What we want to see is how Gaston will prevent them from being signed. " Over the years, Fantasio and Prunelle's efforts to get the iconic contracts signed become increasingly frantic and desperate. The contracts are irrevocably jinxed, and even if they do get signed, Gaston will accidentally destroy them. On two occasions, De Mesmaeker actually ended up signing other contracts with Gaston spontaneously, instead of the contracts, both merchandising deals over Gaston's inventions (the "Cosmo-clock", an Apollo spacecraft-shaped cuckoo clock,^[47] and a soup recipe). A cuckoo clock is a Clock, typically pendulum driven, that strikes the hours using small bellows and pipes that imitate the call of the Common More often than not however, Gaston irritates, offends or even wounds the hapless businessman first, causing him to storm out, or in some cases pass out.

Politics, activism & promotional material

Authors at Spirou could only go so far in expressing anything resembling politics within the magazine, and so the author of Gaston generally stuck to a gentle satire of productivity and authority. However, the pacifism and concern for the environment that formed the basis of Franquin's politics and would be expressed much more bluntly in Idées noires were already surfacing in Gaston (and Spirou et Fantasio). Idées noires is a collection of Black comedy comic strips drawn by André Franquin, written by Franquin and Yvan Delporte. Very occasionally, Franquin stepped over the mark, as in an uncharacteristically angry strip where Gaston uses a toy Messerschmitt plane to strafe the whole office in protest at their (real life) appearance in the magazine's modelling column. Messerschmitt AG was a famous German Aircraft manufacturer known primarily for its World War II Fighter aircraft, notably the Bf 109 Outside of Spirou however, Franquin had a free rein, and used Gaston in promotional material for diverse organisations such as Greenpeace and Amnesty International. Greenpeace, originally known as the Greenpeace Foundation, was founded in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1972 Amnesty International (commonly known as Amnesty or AI) is a Western based international Non-governmental organization which defines its mission as "to In the former, activists scare whales away from whalers by plucking the dreaded gaffophone. For the latter, Franquin produced a gut-wrenching sequence where Gaston is beaten and tortured and forced to watch M'oiselle Jeanne raped in front of him, before being sent to a prison camp. Awaking in a sweat, he shouts at the reader that "although this was a nightmare, it's happening right now around the world", urging membership.

Gaston has also appeared in advertising campaigns for batteries, a soft drink (Orange Piedboeuf)^[48], and in a campaign to promote bus use. The material was always drawn by Franquin himself rather than under licence, and has been reprinted in books. The latter campaign is interesting in that it shows Franquin's evolution from car enthusiast inventing the Turbo-traction and other fancy sports vehicles for Spirou in the 1950s, to disillusioned citizen concerned over traffic and pollution in later years. One topical strip had the seagull boycotting Gaston's car after seeing a bird stuck in an oil spill on television. "Life is becoming more and more complicated", its owner concludes gloomily in a very rare joke-free ending.

Albums

In 1960 the first Gaston book, a small-format (7x13 cm) publication, was released. Year 1960 ( MCMLX) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Its format was so unorthodox that some retailers thought it was a promotional issue to be given away free. ^[49] The cover features Gaston wearing orange espadrilles without socks, not yet given his trademark blue espadrilles. Fifteen major albums were published between 1963 and 1996, including all the strips that appeared in Spirou. Year 1963 ( MCMLXIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar) There were some oddities such as number 1 appearing out of sequence and number 0 twenty years later. The first five were quickly sold out; the others were frequently reprinted.

Included in the series were the "R1" through "R5" albums (R for Réédition, French for republication). The R5 album was not published until 1986; its non-existence until then had been a mystery. Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar) This was due to the republication of the real first five books: they were published on a smaller format and from this small ones they couldn't make five big ones. After several years it was decided to fill it up with early unpublished material and some advertising gags for PiedBœuf.

Beginning in 1987, Éditions J'ai lu began publishing a 17-volume series in paperback format. Year 1987 ( MCMLXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays 1987 Gregorian calendar) Paperback, softback, or softcover describe and refer to a Book by the nature of its binding. The titles and contents did not exactly match the large-format albums.

In 1996, upon Gaston's 40th anniversary, Dupuis and Marsu Productions published Edition Définitive, containing nearly all Gaston gags in chronological order. Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar) Marsu Productions, or simply Marsu, is a publishing house and licensing and merchandising company located in Monaco, managing Franco-Belgian comics As some of the earliest material had been damaged, restoration work was done by Studio Léonardo, with the results approved by Franquin. ^[50] This edition is being published in Spain by Planeta DeAgostini Comics starting in January 2007. ^[51]

In 2007, upon Gaston's 50th anniversary, Marsu Productions published Gaston 50, a new album with unpublished work. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. The strange number 50 refers to Gaston's age but also to the chaotic numbering of the Classic series, which hadn't got a number five for a very long time.

Série classique, Classic series

n°	Title	Year	ISBN
00	Gaston	01960
02	Gala des gaffes	01963
03	Gaffes à gogo	01964
04	Gaffes en gros	01965
01	Gare aux gaffes	01966
05	Les gaffes d'un gars gonflé	01967
06	Des gaffes et des dégâts	01968	0ISBN 2-8001-0088-5 0
07	Un gaffeur sachant gaffer	01969	0ISBN 2-8001-0089-3 0
08	Lagaffe nous gâte	01970	0ISBN 2-8001-0090-7 0
0R1	Gala de gaffes à gogo	01970	0ISBN 2-8001-0093-1 0
09	Le cas Lagaffe	01971	0ISBN 2-8001-0091-5 0
010	Le géant de la gaffe	01972	0ISBN 2-8001-0092-3 0
0R2	Le bureau des gaffes en gros	01972	0ISBN 2-8001-0094-X 0
0R3	Gare aux gaffes du gars gonflé 0	01973	0ISBN 2-8001-0308-6 0
011	Gaffes, bévues et boulettes	01973	0ISBN 2-8001-0330-2 0
0R4	En direct de la gaffe	01974	0ISBN 2-8001-0370-1 0
012	Le gang des gaffeurs	01974	0ISBN 2-8001-0400-7 0
013	Lagaffe mérite des baffes	01979	0ISBN 2-8001-0658-1 0
014	La saga des gaffes	01982	0ISBN 2-8001-0955-6 0
00	Gaffes et gadgets	01985	0ISBN 2-8001-1248-4 0
0R5	Le lourd passé de Lagaffe	01986	0ISBN 2-8001-1473-8 0
015	Gaffe à Lagaffe !	01996	0ISBN 2-908462-73-7 0

Série définitive, Definitive series

Volume	ISBN
Gaston n°1 0 0	0ISBN 2-8001-2681-7 0
Gaston n°2 0 0	0ISBN 2-8001-2682-5 0
Gaston n°3 0 0	0ISBN 2-8001-2683-3 0
Gaston n°4 0 0	0ISBN 2-8001-2684-1 0
Gaston n°5 0 0	0ISBN 2-8001-2685-X 0
Gaston n°6 0 0	0ISBN 2-8001-2686-8 0
Gaston n°7 0 0	0ISBN 2-8001-2687-6 0
Gaston n°8 0 0	0ISBN 2-8001-2688-4 0
Gaston n°9 0 0	0ISBN 2-8001-2689-2 0
Gaston n°10 0	0ISBN 2-8001-2690-6 0
Gaston n°11 0	0ISBN 2-8001-2691-4 0
Gaston n°12 0	0ISBN 2-8001-2692-2 0
Gaston n°13 0	0ISBN 2-8001-2693-0 0
Gaston n°14 0	0ISBN 2-8001-2694-9 0
Gaston n°15 0	0ISBN 2-8001-2695-7 0
Gaston n°16 0	0ISBN 2-8001-2696-5 0
Gaston n°17 0	0ISBN 2-8001-2697-3 0
Gaston n°18 0	0ISBN 2-912536-10-3 0
Gaston n°19 0	0ISBN 2-912536-31-6 0

0
0

Other publications

• Biographie d'un gaffeur (1965) Franquin & Jidéhem, Gag de poche n°26
• La fantastica Fiat 509 di Gaston Lagaffe (1977)
• Gaston et le Marsupilami (1978, ISBN 2-8001-0637-9)
• Les Robinsons du rail (1981, ISBN 2-903403-05-8) A text and image album featuring Gaston, Spirou and Fantasio
• Fou du Bus (1987, ISBN 2-906452-01-7) Advert album commissioned by the Union of Public Transportations
• Rempile et désopile (1989) Advertising gags for Philips, only printed in 2500 editions
• Le facteur est mon ami (1992) Advertising for the Belgian Post
• Gaston 50 (2007, ISBN 2-354260-00-8) Edition for Gaston's 50th birthday with unpublished work

Gaston film

In 1981, a live-action French film based on Gaston Lagaffe, called Fais gaffe à la gaffe! directed by Paul Boujenah and starring Roger Mirmont was released to disappointing reception. Year 1960 ( MCMLX) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1963 ( MCMLXIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1964 ( MCMLXIV) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the 1964 Gregorian calendar. Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. Year 1966 ( MCMLXVI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the 1966 Gregorian calendar. Year 1967 ( MCMLXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. Year 1968 ( MCMLXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1970 ( MCMLXX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1970 ( MCMLXX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1971 ( MCMLXXI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. Year 1972 ( MCMLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1972 ( MCMLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1973 ( MCMLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. Year 1973 ( MCMLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. Year 1974 ( MCMLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. Year 1974 ( MCMLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. Year 1979 ( MCMLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1979 Gregorian calendar) Year 1982 ( MCMLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar) Year 1985 ( MCMLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar) Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar) Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar) Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. Also 1977 (album by Ash. Year 1977 ( MCMLXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays Year 1978 ( MCMLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar) Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV ( Royal Philips Electronics Inc. Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. (It also features future Sopranos star Lorraine Bracco. This article is related to a series of articles under the main article Voice type. Lorraine Bracco (born October 2, 1954) is an Academy Award - Golden Globe - and Emmy Award -nominated as well as Screen Actors )

Franquin, uncomfortable with the prospect of the adaptation of Gaston, had given permission for the elements and jokes from his work to be used, but not the actual characters. As a result, the characters' names were all changed, making the film appear more like an imitation than a proper adaptation.

See also

• Belgian comics
• Franco-Belgian comics

Sources

Footnotes

External links

• Gaston Lagaffe official site (French)
• Franquin official site (French)
• The Franquin forum (French)