(Sherbrooke) Delaf, co-author of Les Nombrils, has always been a fan of Gaston Lagaffe. As a child, he drew posters for himself with the image of the most brilliant sloth to decorate the walls of his room. He was right to use his pen: here he is at the helm of Return of Lagaffe, an album that revives the famous figure of Franquin.
Published at 1:27 am. Updated at 8:00 a.m.
In front of a partition made of gray-painted concrete blocks on the first floor of the Center Multi Loisirs Sherbrooke, Delaf thinks back to his childhood. There, to the left of the stairs, was once the door to a small library dedicated to children’s literature. “This is where I had my first contact with culture through comics,” he says. I discovered that we could enjoy opening a book and taking this journey. »
“Maybe, like in the world of Harry Potter, you just have to believe in it and run into the wall to find yourself in the missing library,” we suggest to him with a smile. “I’ll let you go first,” the cartoonist replies mischievously.
PHOTO JOCELYN RIENDEAU, LA TRIBUNE
Marc Delafontaine, aka Delaf, has been a big fan of Gaston Lagaffe since he was a child.
Delaf spent many afternoons reading in this building when he was known only as Marc Delafontaine. Even without being one of his friends, the author of these lines knew – like everyone else in the neighborhood – that he was a good designer. His reputation preceded him. The cartoonist also spent entire afternoons drawing in this place called “Biblio Jeunes.”
For him, the place remains linked above all to a great discovery: that of Franquin’s universe. First by Spirou, then with the Gaston Lagaffe series, about an incorrigible slacker who reveals an ingenuity worthy of a Nobel Prize when the time comes to try tricks to avoid work.
For me, Gaston was THE comedian. I had a Gaston sweater and socks, I loved them so much I slept in them!
Delaf
“I wanted to hang posters of Gaston in my room, but since I couldn’t find any, I drew them myself,” he remembers. If I do comics today, it’s because of Franquin and Gaston. »
Court confusion
The stars aligned for him: the success of the series “Les Nombrils” (co-written with Maryse Dubuc) allowed him to forge lasting ties with Dupuis. Following his remarkable participation in a tribute to Franquin (La Galerie des gaffes, 2017), shortly before the pandemic, the famous comic house offered him to bring his favorite character back to life.
“The little guy in me wanted to say yes and the adult in me wanted to say yes too… to make this little guy happy,” says the 50-year-old cartoonist. After thinking and doubting (“I didn’t know if I could do it”), he plunged into it…and found himself in the middle of a legal entanglement. Shortly after the announcement of the series’ revival, in March 2022, Franquin’s daughter challenged the publisher’s right to reboot the series.
BOARD OF RETURN OF LAGAFFE, PROVIDED BY DUPUIS
Cliche, the bowling ball gag? No, a mandatory step to reach readers who love Franquin’s world.
BOARD OF RETURN OF LAGAFFE, PROVIDED BY DUPUIS
Mademoiselle Jeanne is still in love with Gaston, still blind to this love.
BOARD OF RETURN OF LAGAFFE, PROVIDED BY DUPUIS
Gaston’s cat and his laughing seagull, who doesn’t laugh that often, are also back.
BOARD OF RETURN OF LAGAFFE, PROVIDED BY DUPUIS
Delaf has found a subtle way to evoke the present while remaining anchored in the 1970s.
BOARD OF RETURN OF LAGAFFE, PROVIDED BY DUPUIS
Delaf winks a lot. Here to Spiderman and his creator Stan Lee.
BOARD OF RETURN OF LAGAFFE, PROVIDED BY DUPUIS
The contracts to be signed with Mr De Mesmaeker are again the subject of several gags.
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The release of the album The Return of Lagaffe, planned for October 2022, was then suspended. Delaf didn’t initially suffer too much from this dispute. “I couldn’t imagine when the album would be finished and released. “I did it for myself,” he said. When this all happened, looking at things from this perspective meant I was looking at things from a certain distance. »
He continued to work, refining his style and racking his brains to find effective gags in Gaston’s head without being influenced by a legal debate. The case dragged on, the arbitration process took months, and the cartoonist finally had enough. “Whether it was yes or no, I honestly just wanted to know what to expect. Nine months in which you don’t know whether you’re working for free is a long time,” he admits. Especially since he had done his homework over and over again before setting foot in a universe he describes as “sacred.” The case was resolved in May 2023, giving Dupuis the right to continue the series by requiring the publisher to consult Franquin’s daughter, who could exercise “her father’s moral rights.”
Reach readers
Delaf has read and re-read Gaston Lagaffe’s complete works several times. We understand that very early on he decided to leave the character in a universe reminiscent of the 1970s, surrounded by his office colleagues that we know well: Prunelle, Lebrac, Mademoiselle Jeanne, her not-so-laughing seagull and her hilarious cat.
IMAGE PROVIDED BY DUPUIS
Gaston’s environmental values have not deserted him.
“There hasn’t been an album in 30 years, so I wanted to put myself in the shoes of a reader who wants to find Gaston,” he explains.
It was a necessary step to point out things that had already been done. You can then create something new with small steps.
Delaf
The thread of the past is taut from the first pages: Gaston returns to the offices of the Spirou newspaper after a long absence that is not explained. His return worries his colleagues, who lived in peace during his absence, but Prunelle reassures them: He hid all of the big slacker’s odds and ends in the attic – his bowling ball, his gaffophone, his decoy collection, his pharmacy… We suspect Gaston already has them will find soon. To our great joy.
Delaf takes up the gags of the fines imposed by Longtarin or the contracts to be signed with Mr De Mesmaeker, but also makes connections with today’s world by evoking the iPhone or electric bicycles. He plays with this discrepancy without overemphasizing it and discreetly insists on environmental values. And like the Nombrils albums, The Return of Gaston Lagaffe consists of one-sided gags that also contribute to a narrative arc that runs through the entire comic. It’s his way of immersing himself in Franquin’s world.
Delaf knows that several readers fear that their Gaston will be “betrayed” by this resurrection. “I can understand that,” admits the cartoonist, who sees this fear as a great sign of affection towards the character and his creator Franquin. After four years of work, he believes he has given everything he could.
Would he decide to do another album? He does not know. “I have to let things get sorted,” he says. And then he has his sights set on a new project: he will design the new Trondheim and Sfar dungeons. “It’s going to be a great season!” »
Gaston Lagaffe in five dates
- 1957: Franquin creates the character of Gaston Lagaffe in the newspaper Spirou.
- 1960: Release of the first album
- 1997: Death of André Franquin
- 2022: In March, announcement of Gaston Lagaffe’s resurrection and controversy
- 2023: release of the album The Return of Lagaffe in November
The return of Lagaffe
Dupuis
46 pages