Gaston Lagaffe could be reborn, provided that the publisher Dupuis consults the daughter of the cartoonist Franquin, the only one authorized to raise objections to such a project, decided on Tuesday a private arbitration requested by the two parties in this legal dispute. "The principle of a resurrection of Gaston is lawful, but Dupuis and Dargaud-Lombard did not respect the contractual approval process and Isabelle Franquin still has the right to put forward her observations", indicated, Tuesday evening, the Isabelle Franquin's lawyers, announcing the decision.
In March 2022, at the Angoulême festival, Dupuis created a stir in the world of Franco-Belgian comics by announcing the forthcoming release of a new episode of the adventures of Lagaffe, a new album entitled Le Retour de Lagaffe, under the pencil of Canadian designer Marc Delafontaine, alias Delaf.
But that was counting without the pugnacity of Isabelle Franquin, daughter of André Franquin, who died in 1997. Refusing to let her father's star character live again in the guise of another designer, the latter took legal action in Belgium. She first obtained, in the context of an interim action a year ago, the suspension of the publication of the "Return", initially scheduled for October 2022.
For her part, Isabelle Franquin argued that her father himself "in no way wanted Gaston Lagaffe to be taken over by another cartoonist after his death". It is "an inalienable moral right" that she can exercise, her lawyer Martine Berwette insisted in May 2022.
Ultimately, the arbitration, a procedure that is not subject to appeal, concludes that Lagaffe can be reborn "provided that Isabelle Franquin's prior approval is sought in the forms provided for in a contract entered into between the parties in 2016" . "Gaston's project by Delaf was not approved by Isabelle Franquin" and "the moral right" exercised by the latter "spring intact", is it stipulated.
"His agreement is essential for any new creation, including the choice of the author", insists the arbitrator according to the press release, which specifies that "any refusal on his part must be justified by ethical or artistic reasons". .
