A new Lagaffe album signed by Canadian Delaf could be released later this year after a dispute was settled between publisher Dupuis and Isabelle Franquin, daughter of the famous comic book character’s creator.
The day after an arbitration award was announced in Brussels, the historic Belgian comics publisher said on Wednesday it had “finally” settled the dispute between itself and Ms Franquin for a year.
A version slightly nuanced by the latter’s lawyers, although one of them told AFP “not to question the principle of Gaston’s resurrection”.
At the heart of the controversy that erupted last spring: the possibility for third parties to draw a sequel to the adventures of the famous brave anti-hero created in 1957 by André Franquin (1924-1997).
Upon learning that Dupuis has entrusted Delaf with this mission for an album release scheduled for October 2022, and that certain boards will soon be pre-released in Journal de Spirou, Franquin’s daughter and sole beneficiary has taken legal action in Belgium.
She claims the exercise of an “inalienable moral right” resulting from her father’s statements that “he did not want Gaston Lagaffe to be taken over by another cartoonist after his death”. The 21 albums released so far (excluding reissues) were all signed by Franquin during his lifetime.
Should the first Gaston Lagaffe gag drawn by Delaf (real name Marc Delafontaine) be published in March 2022, the process initiated in an urgent procedure in Brussels will result in the suspension of the other prior publications.
And under pressure, Dupuis announced in May 2022 that he would forego the release of the new album. The period during which the dispute will be resolved in substance through arbitration entrusted to a Brussels lawyer appointed by mutual consent of the two parties.
Nine months after the pleadings before this “referee”, the verdict finally fell on Tuesday evening.
It approves the principle of continuing the adventures of Lagaffe, provided that Isabelle Franquin is consulted before any publication. She must be able to “exercise her father’s moral rights” and “share her possible comments on ethical or artistic grounds,” according to excerpts from the decision shared with AFP.
Unprecedented Creator
For Dupuis, who is always guaranteed to benefit from Franquin’s ownership rights (through the acquisition of Marsu Productions), it is the open door to the release of Delaf’s already completed album.
The latter assured that he was satisfied with the arbitration procedure.
“I can’t wait to share the fruits of my labor (…) I hope that as the album closes, readers will feel all the love and respect I have for Gaston and his incomparable creator André Franquin,” said the Quebec designer, quoted in a press release from the publisher.
The new Lagaffe should be released “soon, if possible by the end of the year,” a spokeswoman for Dupuis in Belgium told AFP.
Alain Berenboom, the publisher’s attorney, estimated that the limits set by the arbitration only applied to possible future albums after that first work was signed by Delaf.
To say that “the issuance, publication and marketing of the album Le Retour de Lagaffe, drawn and written by Delaf, is lawful” (as the decision states, editor’s note) “means that this album has gone to press can be given and sold.” , Berenboom assured me.
Assuming Isabelle Franquin could see the Quebecer’s “last panels,” his attorney Claude Katz, also at AFP, qualified.
“We have no intention of starting litigation again, but Ms Franquin can only endorse what she has seen,” argued Me Katz.
He explained that André Franquin’s daughter had only been presented with “about forty boards in various stages of completion” since December 2021.