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65-685: Gaston is a Belgian gag-a-day comic strip created in 1957 by the Belgian cartoonist André Franquin in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine Spirou . The series focuses on the everyday life of Gaston Lagaffe (whose surname means "the blunder"), a lazy and accident-prone office junior who works at Spirou' s office in Brussels . Gaston is very popular in large parts of Europe (especially in Belgium and France) and has been translated into over

130-552: A Spirou et Fantasio story, was effectively hijacked by Gaston), it was decided that it was time for Fantasio to leave. When Fournier took over the Spirou et Fantasio series in 1970, Fantasio was essentially removed from Gaston . At first, he made the occasional guest appearance, even once returning to the office itself, his absence explained as being away in Champignac,. Otherwise, from 1970 onwards, he gradually disappears from

195-507: A Marsupilami in the wild, as he discovers and courts a mate, and they form a family in need of care and protection. In The Gangsters' Fair , Spirou and Fantasio are unexpectedly assaulted by a small martial arts-expert, Soto Kiki, who wants to train them in judo in order to act as bodyguards for the European visit of oil tycoon John P. Nut, a man with gangster enemies. All changes as the gangsters attempt to assassinate Soto Kiki, and kidnap

260-480: A Spirou et Fantasio adventure took place in Spirou issue n°1014 (19 September 1957) as he graced two frames of Le voyageur du Mésozoïque (French: "The Traveller from the Mesozoic Era"). He is first seen "on the streets of the capital" riding a bicycle while reading a newspaper, obliviously littering papers, and then appears two frames later, bruised and dazed, dragging his deformed bike, having ridden into

325-608: A background character without much detail and a relatively calm demeanor, Prunelle eventually takes up the role of office supervisor when Fantasio is removed as a regular character. He is then revealed to be even more short-tempered than his predecessor from whom he has inherited not only the mammoth task of making Gaston work, but also the job of signing contracts with important businessman Aimé De Mesmaeker (see below). Initially optimistic about this, Prunelle slowly realizes that he cannot win. However he refuses to give up and sometimes resorts to drastic measures, such as locking up Gaston in

390-503: A dozen languages, but except for a few pages by Fantagraphics in the early 1990s (as Gomer Goof ), there was no English translation until Cinebook began publishing English language editions of Gaston books (again named 'Gomer Goof') in July, 2017. Since the 1980s Gaston has appeared on a wide variety of merchandise. André Franquin who was then in charge of Spirou et Fantasio , the primary series of Spirou magazine, first introduced

455-448: A final half-page has been removed. In the original comic, issue 1045 published in late April 1958, Soto Kiki places a bomb in a rival gangster's car which explodes, killing his enemy. But Soto Kiki is nearby gloating and is subsequently arrested by the police who were also watching the property. Franquin concludes with a moral: "Gangster? Don't tell me about it. It's the worse job ever!" The book version replaced this unpleasant scene with

520-440: A salesman — soon found that, as Gaston's strip became increasingly popular, concluding a deal would result in the client asking, "Where are the contracts?" (a recurring catchphrase in the comics). Joseph Longtarin ("long nose") is a policeman working in the neighbourhood where the offices of Spirou are located. One of his particular responsibilities is for traffic and illegal parking. An exceptionally petty and vengeful man, he

585-476: A simple drawing of Gaston being released from prison, having been arrested with gangsters whom he assumed were friends of Spirou. Franquin created Le nid des Marsupilamis - which features extensive parenting sequences - while his wife Liliane expected their first child. In 1987, Marsu Productions launched a new series of the Marsupilami with La Queue du Marsupilami ("The Marsupilami's Tail"). Set in

650-417: A sip from Gaston's Champagne again. For a period, Franquin had trained his assistant Jidéhem to take over the strip in due time, but Jidéhem felt no affinity with the character and remained the background artist. Franquin inversely grew tired of Spirou et Fantasio (a series he had not created himself, but inherited from Joseph "Jijé" Gillain in 1946) and decided in 1968 to resign the job, and concentrate on

715-577: A small effigy of Longtarin on the front of his car, in a parody of the Rolls-Royce Spirit of Ecstasy . Ducran & Lapoigne (“Courage & Stronghold”) is an engineering firm (specializing in steel bridges) whose offices neighbour those of Dupuis. This company is also a frequent victim of Lagaffe's mishaps and Fantasio or Prunelle often bear the brunt of Ducran and Lapoigne's anger—both of them being big muscular men, as their names suggest. Freddy-les-doigts-de-fée ("fairy-fingered Freddy")

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780-476: A sound so terrible and loud that it causes physical destruction all around and panics animals and even fighter jet pilots. Like the voice of the bard Cacofonix in Asterix , it horrifies everyone except its originator. The first time the instrument appears, the plucking of just one string causes the floor to collapse. Gaston has also created at least one other instrument in the same vein, and an electric version of

845-412: A stressful and frustrating period for Fantasio, pushing him to go on a 4-week strike and eventually a vacation, initiating the story Vacances sans histoires . From Spirou issue n°1025, the single-panel gags were replaced with Gaston strips running at the bottom of the editor's pages, signed by both Jidéhem and Franquin. These ran until 1959 when Gaston acquired a weekly half-page, which lasted until

910-817: Is a burglar. His occasional break-ins at Spirou are always foiled accidentally by Gaston, who tends to inadvertently leave dangerous objects, devices or pets around the office. Workers at Spirou see Freddy as a fellow victim of Gaston, and, instead of turning him in to the police, offer him comfort and freebies when they find him in the morning. Objects play an important part in Gaston's life, and some of them have become iconic enough to be sometimes recreated in real life for exhibitions and such. The main two are: Gaston drives an old Fiat 509 , which he acquires in gag #321, decorated with racing patterns that he added himself. However its top speed still allows passengers to safely pick flowers on motorway verges. Much humour derives from

975-407: Is a perfect match for Gaston. She wholeheartedly admires his talent, courage and inventiveness and is utterly oblivious to his lack of common sense — of which she herself has fairly little. However their courtship seems perpetually stuck at the very first step. They address each other with the formal vous and as "Mister" and "Miss" and see each other mainly at the office — though they have

1040-474: Is also staffed by the Van Schrijfboek brothers: the mustached translator Bertje and the red-haired editor Jef , cleaning lady Mélanie Molaire (who always fumes at the mess left by Gaston and which she has to clean up), concierge Jules Soutier , and a string of attractive secretaries named Sonia (who is constantly handing in her notice), Yvonne and Suzanne . Occasionally, real-life figures from

1105-477: Is another friend, who regularly turns up in different jobs (like Bert in Mary Poppins ): chimney sweep, sewer worker, installer of street signage... He also partakes in Gaston's schemes to irritate Longtarin , the policeman. Aimé De Mesmaeker is a rich businessman; we know that he owns a private jet (until Gaston destroys it) and that his oldest daughter drives an Alfa Romeo . His precise line of business

1170-414: Is characterised by extremely nervous characters and action and very quotable dialogue. The series is much loved not only for its perfectly timed comedy, but also for its warm outlook on everyday life. Although Gaston works at Spirou magazine and one of his colleagues is a cartoonist, the series satirises office life in general rather than the publishing or comics business; Franquin himself worked at home. In

1235-512: Is featured in the opening pages of the title story, and plays a central role in Bravo les Brothers in which he offers Fantasio a troupe of performing chimpanzees as an unwanted birthday present. Gaston does not appear in QRN sur Bretzelburg (published in 1961-63), but in one scene Fantasio is about to endure painful agony by torturers in a totalitarian state. He thus decides that the best thing to do

1300-523: Is his sidekick in many ventures. Although they are close, Jules addresses Gaston as "Lagaffe". Bertrand Labévue is another of Gaston's friends/sidekicks, and (in translated editions) also his cousin. As his name indicates ( bévue means "blunder"), he shares Gaston's tendency to goof up. Bertrand suffers from acute depression, mirroring Franquin's own problems with the illness, and Gaston and Jules do their best to cheer him up with food, country drives and other things (all of which backfire comically). Manu

1365-466: Is said that his appearance was originally based on that of Yvan Delporte , editor of the Journal de Spirou at that time. Also, in his first gags, Gaston was an avid cigarette smoker, but his habit was slowly phased out. Gaston alternates between phases of extreme laziness, when it is near impossible to wake him up, and hyper-activity, when he creates various machines or plays with office furniture. Over

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1430-497: Is seen parked in front of the publishing company. More recently a reference to Gaston was made in the album "Aux sources du Z" (The source of Z) by Morvan and Munuera , when Spirou uses the time shifting machine he remarks that the experience is yucky, almost as bad as the Champagne that Gaston made out of fermented potatoes . Later in that album when Spirou has to use the time shifter once more he remarks that it's time to take

1495-450: Is that of the comically ineffective authority figure, constantly frustrated by Gaston's shenanigans. Occasionally, he manages to turn the tables on Gaston, preventing him from causing chaos or actually pranking him and showing that he is not without a sense of humor. Yves Lebrac , (first presented with the name Yvon Lebrac ), an in-house cartoonist, is comparatively laid-back. He is fond of puns and we see him woo (and eventually win) one of

1560-403: Is the closest thing the series has to a villain. He is one of Gaston's favorite "victims" as well as his nemesis. The two clash continually over Gaston's car and parking habits. Gaston retaliates for Longtarin's repeated attempts to ticket him by wreaking havoc on the neighbourhood's parking meters (not just a bugbear of Gaston, but of André Franquin too). He pulls off other pranks, such as putting

1625-422: Is to Spirou. His seriousness and stress plays the opposite of Gaston's carefree and relaxed attitude towards life and work. Although he appears to be mostly on friendly terms with Gaston, his underling's chaotic behaviour often makes him lose his temper. On occasion, he becomes aggressive and tries to get even by pranking and hazing Gaston. By the time the album Bravo les Brothers came out (which, while nominally

1690-483: Is to focus on emptiness and think of Gaston. Jean-Claude Fournier succeeded Franquin as artist and writer of the Spirou and Fantasio series with Le faiseur d'or , published in 1969. Kidnapped by gangsters, leading scientist the Count of Champignac is forced by them to come up with a means of helping them with their plans. Thinking of Gaston, he comes up with the kind of recipe that the office idiot would devise, but

1755-429: Is unknown, but he is repeatedly lured into the offices of Spirou by Fantasio or Prunelle in order to sign some lucrative contracts . De Mesmaeker has developed a deep loathing for Gaston and by extension his colleagues. His frequent visits allow Franquin to satirise business rituals, as Dupuis's employees shower him with attention, complimentary drinks and cigars, but De Mesmaeker almost inevitably ends up storming out of

1820-559: The Marsupilami , those two never acquired a name and are just referred to as the cat and the seagull. Gaston also sometimes keeps a mouse (Cheese), and a goldfish (Bubulle). The animals are sometimes Gaston's partners in crime, sometimes the victims of his clumsiness and sometimes the perpetrators of nefarious schemes. They are depicted more realistically than the pets in Spirou , in that we are not privy to their inner thoughts. The cat and seagull in particular can be fairly vicious, to

1885-461: The Gaffophone. Fantasio has tried several times to get rid of the Gaffophone, without success. Gag-a-day A gag-a-day comic strip is the style of writing comic cartoons such that every installment of a strip delivers a complete joke or some other kind of artistic statement. It is opposed to story or continuity strips, which rely on the development of a story line across a sequence of

1950-523: The Journal de Spirou (such as editor Yvan Delporte or writer Raoul Cauvin ) have cameos. Jules-de-chez-Smith-en-face (Jules-from-Smith's-across-the-street) is one of Gaston's friends. He "works" (much in the same way as Gaston "works") in the office just across the street from the Journal de Spirou , prompting countless attempts at cross-street communication via walkie-talkie, flash card, carrier seagull etc. Jules shares Gaston's childish enthusiasm, and

2015-412: The attractive secretary girls over the course of the series. Although mostly on good terms with Gaston (unlike Prunelle), he occasionally loses his temper when deadlines loom and Gaston's interference becomes too much. When not a victim of "gaffes", he is a lenient comrade of Gaston, and the character with which Franquin himself most identified. Joseph Boulier , a surly accountant for Éditions Dupuis ,

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2080-407: The baby, the kidnappers approach Gaston, who they know was previously talking to Spirou, and he, quite innocently, offers to show them the way to Spirou's house for what he thinks will be a pleasant social evening. Fortunately for Spirou and the little victim, Gaston keeps getting his directions wrong and he and the gangsters end up in a dead-end, surrounded by police and in jail. In the final frame (of

2145-438: The book Le nid des Marsupilamis ). Here, Gaston hinders Spirou's investigation into a baby's kidnapping. Spirou's search leads him to a fairground and Gaston, who just happens to be there, keeps approaching him. When Spirou, desperate to keep a low profile, whispers to Gaston that they "don't know each other", he keeps insisting that they do or else suggesting that it is Spirou who looks like someone he knows. When Spirou recovers

2210-472: The book version) Gaston is released from prison, to the scornful glances of the passing public. In 1961, Franquin and Yvan Delporte wrote a radio serial "Les Robinsons du rail" (French for "The Railway Robinsons"). In this story, Fantasio is sent to cover the inauguration of the first nuclear powered train and, since no one else is available, is compelled to take Gaston with him for assistance. Needless to say, with Gaston on board, things start to go wrong and

2275-451: The car's extreme state of decrepitude; for example, a friend of Gaston is able to "waterski" behind it on a slick of oil, while Gaston strenuously denies any such leaks. The car also produces huge quantities of (often toxic) smoke, even more so when Gaston converts it to run on coal . Customisations and ill-fitted upgrades include: The car is inadvertently rocket-powered on two separate occasions. Some of Gaston's colleagues are terrified at

2340-410: The cellar or even a cupboard. Prunelle comes across as a tortured person who will end up having a nervous breakdown from taking everything too seriously [2] . Perpetually at the end of his tether, he is constantly running around barking angry orders, turns a nasty reddish purple when disaster strikes and regularly utters his trademark outburst "Rogntudju!" (a mangled version of "Nom de Dieu", roughly

2405-408: The character Gaston in issue n°985, published February 28, 1957. The picture above is found on the 5th page of the magazine in segment of the story, Le Piano à Bretelles (written by Paul Berna and illustrated by Morris ) which only contains letters and large images. The initial purpose was to fill up empty spaces in the magazine and offer a (comically artificial) glimpse of life behind-the-scenes at

2470-504: The comic. Gaston's age is a mystery – Franquin himself confessed that he neither knew nor indeed wanted to know it. Although Gaston has a job, a car and his own place, he often acts like a young teenager. In the publication of Dossier Franquin Franquin had said that Gaston is a boy in his late teens but certainly not in his twenties. He is invariably dressed in a tight polo-necked green jumper and blue-jeans, and worn-out espadrilles . It

2535-403: The early part of the series. Franquin acknowledged with regret that he had totally destroyed the original clown-like personality of the character by using him in this role, which required him to be formal and businesslike and behave as an authority figure. In Gaston , instead of having adventures and doing some reporting, Fantasio has an editorial role in the magazine and, as such, is burdened with

2600-415: The end, he is again cycling, this time down the wrong way of a one-way street, when he actually gets hit by the new Turbot II . More surprised than anything else, stretched out on the front of the car, he simply tells Spirou and Fantasio that they are requested back at the Spirou offices. Gaston was given a larger part in the following adventure, La Foire aux gangsters ("The Gangster's Fair", included in

2665-453: The entire city. He is not above covering road signs with advertising posters or even snowmen, reasoning that it is the only decent use that they have — being oblivious to the chaos and accidents that covering the road signs cause. Gaston is very fond of animals (as was Franquin of drawing them) and keeps several pets. The main ones are a depressed, aggressive seagull and a hyperactive cat. Like Franquin's most famous animal creation,

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2730-611: The equivalent of "bloody hell", which was unacceptable in a children's comic when the strip was originally published). Often a victim of Gaston's inventions and projects, his efforts to counter his subordinate's laziness and carefree attitude leave him at the brink of exhaustion and violent rage attacks. A large portion of Prunelle's time is spent chasing Gaston around and to remind him that he has to deal with late mail, prevent him from taking unnecessary naps or breaks and to stop him from using office hours for cooking, tinkering, inventing and, of course, goofing around. In short, Prunelle's role

2795-491: The extent of forcing all employees and an unwilling De Mesmaeker to wear helmets, but never to Gaston himself. They often team up to obtain food. For example, in volume 14, the seagull distracts the fishmonger while the cat steals a fish, which they later eat together. Fantasio , a character originally hailing from the Spirou et Fantasio series, is the first main supporting character and irritable straight man to Gaston in

2860-447: The fictive story evolving at the magazine offices, the man behind the footprints, Gaston, finally turned up for a memorable job interview, telling the bemused Spirou that he didn't remember with whom or for what he had been called. Fantasio, functioning as the magazine's opinionated face of signed editorials, subsequently announced in a formal communiqué that Gaston would be the first "Hero-without-a-job". Gaston's blunders continued during

2925-720: The gag-a-day format. In fact, Lynn Johnston recommends it for story strips, to keep the readership and engage new audience which may be not very familiar with the background of the story. This comics -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Le nid des Marsupilamis In The Nest of the Marsupilamis , Seccotine invites Spirou and Fantasio to a screening of her new documentary film, revealing what she has been doing since last seen in Palombia (in Le dictateur et le champignon ). The film follows

2990-489: The impossible task of trying to make Gaston actually do some work. He is the main character's hierarchical superior, often seen trying to sign contracts with Monsieur De Mesmaeker . His job in this series could be described as that of an office manager. In opposition to his role in Spirou , in Gaston , Fantasio was a comically serious character, a regular victim of Gaston's goofy antics who thus became to Fantasio what Fantasio

3055-473: The increasingly popular Gaston . Gaston's antics appeared in Spirou from 1957 to 1996, a few months before Franquin's death in 1997, although new material appeared only sporadically after the early 1980s. Gaston Lagaffe follows the classic "gag" format of Franco-Belgian comics: one-page stories (initially half-a-page) with an often visual punchline, sometimes foreshadowed in the dialogue. The humour mixes slapstick , puns and running gags . Franquin's style

3120-399: The installments. Most syndicated comics are of this type. Another term for this distinction is non-serial (gag-a-day) vs. serial strips . Compared to single-panel cartoons (" gag panels "), gag-a-day comic strips can deliver a better timing for the narrative of a joke. The distinction between continuity and gag-a-day strip may be blurred: a continuous story may still be delivered in

3185-572: The later episodes, the reader could discover a visual reference to the story in Franquin's signature at the bottom of the page. Gaston was hired - somewhat mysteriously - as an office junior at the offices of the Journal de Spirou (the real-life publication in which the strip appeared), having wandered in cluelessly. The strip usually focuses on his efforts to avoid doing any work, and indulge instead in hobbies or naps while all around him panic over deadlines, lost mail and contracts. Initially, Gaston

3250-616: The mid-60s when the Gaston Lagaffe gags grew to full-page. A full length comic featuring Gaston has not yet been published in English. In 1971 4 gags of Gaston were published in the Thunderbirds Annual 1971. Gaston was christened Cranky Franky for this series. In the early 1990s Fantagraphics translated about a half a dozen gags into English and Gaston was rechristened Gomer Goof for this one. Gaston's first cameo in

3315-465: The middle of ongoing traffic. His second cameo occurred in the early panels of the story Vacances sans histoires ( fr: "Quiet Holidays") (later included in the album Le gorille a bonne mine ) which was published between November 1957 and January 1958. Gaston appears at the start of the story when, cycling and lighting a cigarette at the same time, he runs past a red light and very nearly gets hit by Spirou and Fantasio's Turbot I sportscar . Towards

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3380-510: The millionaire's infant son. Since the stories of this album were produced some time apart, the protagonists abruptly shift from driving their Turbotraction:Turbot-Rhino I in the first story, and the Turbot 2 in the second. Gaston Lagaffe features in his third Spirou adventure cameo in La foire aux gangsters . The version of this album differs slightly from the one serialised in Spirou , in that

3445-568: The occasional outing together. This platonic relationship, in a way, is in keeping with Gaston's refusal or inability to grow up. It is revealed in the album En direct de la gaffe that Jeanne is color blind: she can't tell green from red. She also still lives with her mother and, although it is assumed that she is well beyond her teens, is shown grounded after a row. As the comic strip progresses, Gaston's love for Jeanne becomes more obvious. During his office naps, his daydreams about her become increasingly explicit and erotically charged. In one of

3510-455: The offices, swearing never to set foot in them again, passed out on the floor or even in hospital due to Gaston's catastrophic blunders. De Mesmaeker is named after Jean De Mesmaeker (known as Jidéhem from the French pronunciation of his initials J.D.M.), Franquin's collaborator on the series; he remarked that the character looked like his own father. The real-life Mr De Mesmaeker Sr — actually

3575-405: The paper. His arrival was carefully orchestrated with a teasing campaign over several months, based on ideas by Franquin, Yvan Delporte and Jidéhem , with mysterious blue footprints in the margins of the magazine. For the Spirou issue N°1000 cover, Franquin drew 999 heads of Spirou , and one of Gaston, and the first Gaston full-page gag was featured in a bonus supplement. In the context of

3640-514: The publishers of the magazine. He states that he will not rest until he has tracked down every useless expense in the company, and in particular those of Gaston. However, his attempts to cause Gaston grief backfire in spectacular ways. He represents the more serious side of the comics publishing business. Mademoiselle Jeanne ("M'oiselle Jeanne" to Gaston), one of the magazine's secretaries, is Gaston's love interest. A short redhead with freckles, glasses, conservative dress style and very long hair, she

3705-401: The resulting and disgusting mixture does have the results that the gangsters wanted, much to the Count's annoyance. When Tome and Janry took over the series a couple of references to Gaston were made in the album " La jeunesse de Spirou " (Spirou's youth) where a scam artist is publishing a faux number five album of the Gaston series. And during the tale about Spirou's childhood Gaston's car

3770-403: The series as Franquin abandoned Spirou et Fantasio to devote himself solely to Gaston , appearing for the last time in gag n ° 551 (and with a cameo in gag 662 as a prehistoric hunter). His role as the office's authority figure is completely taken over by Léon Prunelle . Spirou of Spirou et Fantasio was a fairly major supporting character in the comic's very early days, though his role

3835-468: The series' final stories, Gaston and Jeanne are actually seen holding hands in public, hinting at a more intimate and serious relationship. To the dismay of critics, Franquin only sporadically actually drew them naked, with Gaston in a state of arousal, on several unpublished sketches and commercially unavailable greeting cards. Monsieur Dupuis (the real-life publisher Jean Dupuis) himself has made two appearances - both times we only see his legs. Spirou

3900-482: The train is soon speeding out of control, leaving Spirou and the train designer the task of sorting things out. The serial was broadcast on Belgian radio in 1961. It was later published in Spirou magazine in 1964 and as a book, but in text form with Franquin and Jidéhem contributing just a few illustrations. Gaston also appeared in Franquin's two final Spirou et Fantasio stories, published in Panade à Champignac . He

3965-478: The very thought of sitting in the Fiat – Prunelle swears on several occasions that he will never set foot in it again. The car is also the source of many clashes with Longtarin , as Gaston endlessly devises schemes to avoid paying parking meters, even going as far as parking it up in a tree or faking roadworks. This extraordinary instrument, a prehistoric-looking combination of horn and harp created by Gaston, produces

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4030-486: The years, he has experimented with cooking, rocket science, music, electronics, decorating, telecommunication, chemistry and many other hobbies, all with uniformly catastrophic results. His Peter Pan-like refusal to grow up and care about his work makes him very endearing, while his antics account for half the stress experienced by his unfortunate co-workers. Gaston's disregard for authority or even public safety are not confined to his office — they occasionally threaten

4095-516: Was an irritating simpleton, but he developed a genial personality and sense of humour. Common sense however always eludes him, and he has an almost supernatural ability to cause disasters ("gaffes") to which he reacts with his catchphrase: "M'enfin?!" ("What the...?"). His job involves chiefly dealing with readers' mail. The ever-growing piles of unanswered letters ("courrier en retard") and the attempts of Fantasio and Léon Prunelle to make him deal with it or to retrieve documentation are recurring themes of

4160-588: Was first depicted as comically unattractive in a gag where Gaston needs a partner for the back end of his pantomime horse costume and chooses Jeanne because of her ponytail. However, in the following appearances, she increasingly becomes prettier and more attractive, if never really a conventional beauty queen: her body changes from pear-shaped to curvaceous, she pays more attention to her makeup and her long hair, her dress style gradually switches to modern (and often revealing) outfits and she becomes more confident in her interactions with Gaston and other characters. Jeanne

4225-401: Was quickly reduced to occasional appearances. He was on generally friendly terms with Gaston, sometimes trying to mediate between him and Fantasio, usually without much success. Like Fantasio, he vanished entirely from the comic when Franquin stopped drawing Spirou et Fantasio . Léon Prunelle , an editor at the Journal de Spirou . He has black hair, a short beard and wears glasses. Originally

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