Gaston is the main character in a Belgium comic created in the French language by André Franquin (1924-1997) in 1957. Gaston Lagaffe (Gaston Blunder) symbolizes and forecasts to a certain extent the roaring sixties. Gaston worked at the office of the publisher of the comic and the story line follows the daily activities of Gaston in the office, but also his ventures outside the office. Gaston doesn’t respect authority, nor dress codes or working hours, keeps animals at the office, carries out experiments that endanger not just the office, but the whole city and builds his own machines. Gaston became very popular in France and Belgium and he is the opposite of the other popular comic in France: Asterix, appearing in a time when French patriotism under President De Gaulle and fierce resistance against the Roman (read German) occupier had their heyday. Gaston turns sixty years in 2017, 28 February 1957 to be exactly. All artists will finally pass away, but Gaston has another century to go, as the exhibition in the library of the Centre Pompidou in Paris shows (further information: www.centrepompidou.fr).
Gaston, Guust in Dutch, in and on his comic strips . Photo: TES.