28 March, 2024

Gaston 60

Gaston Lagaffe's first appearance, Journal de Spirou #985 (ill. Franquin; Copyright (c) 1957 Dupuis and the artist; colors by Spirou Reporter after Rombaldi Franquin intégrale)
The first appearance of Gaston, in ‘Journal de Spirou’ #985 (28. February, 1957)

Yesterday it was 60 years since Gaston Lagaffe walked into the door of the offices of the Journal de Spirou (or to put it another way, 60 years since the publication date of issue #985 of the Journal, with the first appearance of the character). As low-profile as the introduction was, Gaston – created by André Franquin and Yvan Delporte – would come to have immense impact on Spirou & Fantasio, pulling Franquin away from the series and redefining the relationship between the characters and the magazine publishing their adventures.

At first, Gaston just appeared in a single silent illustration in each issue (initially in black and white and small format, see below):

Gaston illustration #2, Journal de Spirou #986 (ill. Franquin; Copyright (c) 1957 Dupuis and the artist; scan from Rombaldi Franquin intégrale)

Gaston illustration #3, Journal de Spirou #987 (ill. Franquin; Copyright (c) 1957 Dupuis and the artist; scan from Rombaldi Franquin intégrale)

Gaston illustration #4, Journal de Spirou #988 (ill. Franquin; Copyright (c) 1957 Dupuis and the artist; scan from Rombaldi Franquin intégrale)

After a few weeks, an explanation of sorts led to further questions…

Gaston illustrations #5-6, Journal de Spirou #989-990 (ill. Franquin; Copyright (c) 1957 Dupuis and the artist; scan from Rombaldi Franquin intégrale; SR scanlation)

They never managed to get rid of him, and the current issue of the Journal de Spirou is renamed in his honor:

Journal de Spirou #4115 "60 ans de Gaston 60" cover (ill. Yoann; Copyright (c) Dupuis and the artist; image from izneo.com)
Journal de Spirou #4115, “60 Years of Gaston”; cover by Yoann.

Here’s how the drawings originally appeared in the magazine (from GastonLagaffe.com):

Spirou Reporter

I grew up reading Spirou in Scandinavian translations. Now I'm learning French and trying to decode the originals.

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3 thoughts on “Gaston 60

  1. I think these shoe prints arrived a few issues earlier, a pretty advanced marketing ploy to build up interest. If I remember correctly, Yvan Delporte was the brain behind it.

    1. Looking at the three preceding issues here, I don’t see footprints in any of them. Delporte and Franquin used many similar gags later on (e.g. the white mice), so you’re probably thinking of some other instance.

      1. Okay. I own the original Belgian edition of the “Gaffes ed Gadgets” album, reprinting the earliest Gaston material, and there’s no mention of anything like that, so I might have mixed it up…

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