(Paris) Dupuis editions, which published a first gag by Gaston Lagaffe drawn by a new author, indicated Thursday to suspend the next publications, the time of the lawsuit brought by the daughter of the deceased designer Franquin, who opposes any new version.
Posted yesterday at 11:57
The weekly Spirou dated April 6 contains on the last page a plate with the scenario and the drawing of the Quebecer Delaf, which takes up this hero created by the Belgian André Franquin. Spirou also promised “one gaffe per week” on its front page.
But on Tuesday, Isabelle Franquin, daughter and sole beneficiary of the designer, announced that she had seized Belgian justice to ban “any promotion and pre-publication” of these new adventures.
Franquin “always expressed during his lifetime, continuously and repeatedly, his desire that Gaston not survive him under the pencil of another designer”, she advanced.
Contacted by AFP, Dupuis explained that the weekly was “printed very early”. This plate could therefore not be deleted from the paper version.
“For the sake of appeasement, we have taken the initiative to suspend the rest of the pre-publication pending the court decision,” added the Belgian comic book publisher in a press release.
The case is due to be heard in Brussels on May 16.
Isabelle Franquin’s lawyer, Martine Berwette, interviewed by AFP, considered “unfortunate” that a board appeared. “It is precisely to prevent these pre-publications and vignettes that the summary procedure was initiated pending a decision on the merits,” she continued.
Dupuis’s lawyer, Alain Berenboom, questioned on Tuesday, considered that “the very principle of making a new album is not contrary to moral rights” since Franquin, by ceding his rights to the character, signed a clause providing for the possibility of relaunching the series with another author.
Dupuis adds that the new Gaston Lagaffe is “completely respectful of the work of André Franquin”. It faithfully reproduces the graphics and the spirit of the series published between 1963 and 1997.
The Scrapbook The return of Lagaffe by Delaf is due out October 19, with a circulation of 1.2 million copies.