The announcement of the release of a new album by Gaston Lagaffe, during the Angoulême International Comic Strip Festival in 2022, took many by surprise. Originally planned for release in the fall of the same year, The return of Lagaffe22e volume of the adventures of this awkwardly sympathetic character, took another year to be published, following a legal challenge led by Franquin’s daughter, Isabelle, as to whether or not the Dupuis editions had the right to take up the character created by his father in 1957.
Finally, the arbiter ruled last May and it was on November 22 that the album found itself in bookstores, much to the relief of its author, the Quebecer Delaf (Marc Delafontaine), who found himself at the heart of a legal saga which did not directly concern him. The fact remains that it’s still four years of his life that could have been thrown into the recycling bin like that. “I had come to terms with the idea that the album might not come out and I was still at peace with that. I embarked on this adventure for the pleasure of doing it and telling myself that I was going to learn a lot. Also, when this saga broke out, there was still a lot of work to be done on the album, so it was the fact of not having an answer that I found difficult. »
And did Isabelle Franquin, in all of this, ask to see drawings, to meet the author who was going to take over her father’s work? In context, this would have been natural. “No, because for her, it was more a question of principle. I was willing to do it, she didn’t want to. It’s not more serious than that. »
It must still be special to work all this time and produce an album that could never see the light of day. We can imagine, a few months from its original publication date, that an album must be almost ready to be sent to the printer. “No, it wasn’t finished. It existed from cover to cover, but there were still plates that were inked that I wanted to come back to. My drawing evolved enormously during this whole process, which lasted four years. In short, I’m a bit of a perfectionist and there was still a lot of work to do. »
And how do you become the one who will take Gaston back? Because if there is, basically, a connection with the Dupuis editions, which published the series Navels co-signed by Delaf, there is still a whole step to take before being offered to take on one of the most popular characters in French-speaking comics. “In fact, I was invited to do a cover for the album The gallery of blunders [un album hommage à Gaston fait par plusieurs auteurs, sorti en 2017]. The instructions were to do a Gaston gag, in my own style, and I decided to evacuate this instruction because I wanted to do it in the Franquin style, telling myself that if it didn’t work, it was no more. serious as that. And it worked so well that in 2018, I was asked to cover Gaston. »
“My favorite series when I was little”
And do we hesitate before accepting, or do we launch directly into the adventure? “I was a super fan of Gaston. It was my favorite series when I was little. I made posters because I couldn’t find any in stores. I even spent Halloween dressed as Gaston. And when it was offered to me, I had the impression of entering a parallel world, telling myself that this sort of thing couldn’t exist. I was astonished and stunned. I still took the time to think about it, we’re always a little afraid of being an impostor, even if the little guy in me was screaming at me to accept! Because between the tribute page and the album, there is a world. But the timing was good, I finished an album of Belly buttons, and I told them that I was willing to try, but that they had to give me time and the means. »
And to get back on track, you have to reread everything, study everything? “I went into this thinking I was going to learn a lot. I reread everything, I cataloged, I took notes to get closer to Franquin’s drawing. He himself had done it by taking up Spirou de Jijé, and he said that the transition had to be smooth, that the reader should not see the difference and, then, the author could calmly move on. install. So I gave myself the time to learn and, by doing planks, I realized that it was possible, and it happened. There wasn’t really a moment where we said: “yes, we’re doing it!” »
And is there still a bit of that personal touch? ” Yes ! Of course, I used Gaston classics, like the bowling ball or the gaffophone, but I also decided to link gags together, to create a more continuous part of the story. I also introduced new characters, like the character of the shrink or the printer. But all this is done gently. »
And there will be others, Gaston albums signed Delaf? “It still took four years, but it was super exciting and I really felt privileged to be able to play a character that I loved. On the other hand, it turned out to be a very exhausting process and I have always chosen my projects on instinct and, for the moment, my instinct is still in the mist. I think we’re happy on Dupuis’ side, but I still have to think about it. »
But, honestly, after reading this first Gaston by Delaf, our instinct leads us to believe that there will probably be others. We very much hope so.