BD: Gaston Lagaffe returns in October with an album with a million copies sold

“Finally? ! », Gaston Lagaffe will once again exclaim. The comic book character will return on October 21 with a new album written by Lewis Trondheim and printed in one million copies, its publisher, Dupuis, announced this Wednesday. Drawn by the Canadian Delaf, this 23rd issue is entitled “Des Boum et des Paf”.

“Born 69 years ago under the pencil of the Belgian André Franquin, Gaston Lagaffe has become one of the essential figures of Franco-Belgian comics,” recalls Dupuis in a press release. Initially a nonchalant antihero, he established himself as a character overflowing with imagination and energy, except when it comes to work! », Adds the publishing house.

“As a kid, I read and reread Gaston a thousand times,” explained Lewis Trondheim, quoted in the press release. When Delaf asked me to work on Gaston, I wondered if I would be able to do it. (…) I wrote 75 gags, from which we pecked to build Booms and Booms “, added the creator of the “Dungeon” series, with Joann Sfar.

A successful comeback in 2023

Gaston Lagaffe made a comeback in 2023 with an album designed and scripted by Delaf (real name Marc Delafontaine), whose critics praised his loyalty to André Franquin, who died in 1997.

Previously, the series was interrupted in 1999 and the daughter of the creator of the series, Isabelle Franquin, tried to prevent the release of a new album before giving in to the decision rendered by an arbitrator. She then mentioned “the unequivocal desire” of her father “not to see Gaston outlive him under the pencil of another designer”.

“By dint of speaking Franquin, I speak it better,” Delaf testified. “But my goal is not to imitate him perfectly. I wouldn’t be able to do it. The line I set for myself is to stay in his mind.”