alternative Gaston

published in comics by seven on Mar 22 2008 11:00 AM

Baston BD Gaston Comics Humour Stories Spin-off

Don't worry, this is not a typing error in the name of Franquin's anti-hero Gaston Lagaffe, but a parody created by his peers. A couple of years ago, in 1983, BD authors such as Bercovici, Cosey, Dany, Deliège, Delporte, Derib, Hermann, Macherot, Reiser, Solé e Tome et Janry, among others decided to pay homage to the well-known cartoonist by creating a character called Baston Labaffe. For that, they each made a series of indidual boards which they later compiled in an album entitled La balade des baffes.

The album was published by Jacques Goupil edtions and, as irony would have it, was numbered the fifth (fans of the cartoon strip will know that, as a mistake, there is no number five in the collection). A new edition by Vents d'Ouest has recently been, or is very close to be, released. In these stories, Baston is caricatured in its various personas: as a construction worker, a motorcyclist, pig-headed, vulgar, etc. The word on the street is that Franquin was greatly amused by the tribute, but, nevertheless, declined writing the preface his peers asked him to write...

Baston BD Gaston Comics Humour Stories Spin-off