(Sherbrooke) Delaf, co-author of Les Nombrils, has always been a fan of Gaston Lagaffe. As a child, he drew posters for himself depicting the most ingenious sloth to decorate the walls of his room. He was right to exercise his pen: here he is at the helm of Retour de Lagaffe, an album which resurrects the famous character of Franquin.
Standing in front of a dividing wall made of concrete blocks painted gray, on the first floor of the Center Multi Loisirs Sherbrooke, Delaf thinks back to his childhood. There, to the left of the staircase, was once the door to a small library dedicated to children’s literature. “It’s here that I had my first contact with culture, through comics,” he says. I discovered that we could have fun opening a book, taking this journey. »
Maybe, like in the world of Harry Potter, you just have to believe it and run into the wall to find yourself in the missing library, we suggest to him, smirking. “I’ll let you go first,” replies the cartoonist, mischievously.
Delaf spent many afternoons reading in this building when he was only known 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 above all associated with a great discovery: that of the universe of Franquin. By Spirou, first, then with the Gaston Lagaffe series, focused on an incorrigible slacker who reveals an ingenuity worthy of a Nobel Prize when the time comes to tinker with tricks to avoid working.
“I wanted to put posters of Gaston in my room, but as I couldn’t find any, I drew them myself,” he recalls. If I’m making comics today, it’s because of Franquin and Gaston. »
The stars aligned well for him: the success of the series Les Nombrils (co-written with Maryse Dubuc) allowed him to forge lasting links with Dupuis. In the wake of his notable participation in a tribute to Franquin (La Galerie des gaffes, 2017), the famous comic book house offered him, a little before the pandemic, to bring his favorite character back to life.
“The little guy in me wanted to say yes and the adult in me also wanted to say yes… to please this little guy,” says the 50-year-old cartoonist. After thinking and doubting (“I didn’t know if I could do it”), he dove in… and found himself in the middle of a legal entanglement. Shortly after the series’ resurrection was announced in March 2022, Franquin’s daughter challenged the publisher’s right to relaunch the series.
The publication of the album The Return of Lagaffe, scheduled for October 2022, was then suspended. Delaf did not suffer too much from this dispute at first. “I couldn’t imagine when the album would be finished and published. I did it for me, he said. When all this happened, seeing things from this angle meant that I took it with a bit of detachment. »
He continued to work, refining his style and racking his brains to find effective gags in Gaston’s mind, without letting himself be affected by a legal debate. The case dragged on, the arbitration lasted months and the cartoonist finally got fed up. “Whether yes or no, honestly, I just wanted to know what to expect. Nine months of not knowing if you’re working for nothing is a long time,” he admits. Especially since he had done and redone his homework before setting foot in a universe that 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 will be able to exercise “the moral rights of her father”.
Delaf read and reread Gaston Lagaffe’s complete works several times. Quite early on, we understand, he decided that he was going to leave the character in a universe evoking the 1970s, surrounded by his office colleagues that we know well: Prunelle, Lebrac, Mademoiselle Jeanne, her not-so-laughing seagull and her hilarious cat.
“There hasn’t been an album for 30 years, so I wanted to put myself in the shoes of a reader who wants to find Gaston,” he explains.
The thread to the past is tense from the first pages: Gaston returns to the offices of the Spirou newspaper after a long absence which will not be explained. His return worries his colleagues, who lived in peace during his absence, but Prunelle reassures them: he hid all the great lazy person’s odds and ends in the attic – his bowling ball, his Gaffophone, his collection of decoys, his chemist’s kit… Gaston, we suspect, will find them soon enough. To our great pleasure.
Delaf returns to the gags of fines given by Longtarin or contracts to be signed with Mr. De Mesmaeker, but also forges links with today’s world by evoking the iPhone or electric bicycles. He plays on this discrepancy, without overly emphasizing it, discreetly insisting on environmental values. And like the Nombrils albums, The Return of Gaston Lagaffe is made up of one-page gags which also contribute to a narrative arc which unfolds throughout the comic. It’s his way of putting his paw in Franquin’s world.
Delaf knows that many readers fear that their Gaston will be “betrayed” by this resurrection. “I can understand,” admits the cartoonist, who sees this fear as a great mark of affection towards the character and his creator, Franquin. He, after four years of work, believes he has given everything he could.
Would he commit to another album? He does not know. “I need to let things settle,” he says. And then, he has a new project that has his sights set on him: he will design the new Trondheim and Sfar Dungeon. “It’s going to be a great playtime! »
