Gaston Lagaffe

Gaston Lagaffe is a cheerfully incompetent office assistant at the Dupuis publishing house, introduced by cartoonist André Franquin. Perpetually lazy and accident-prone, he transforms his mundane workplace into chaos through harebrained inventions, bizarre pets, and an endless talent for avoiding work.

Few comic characters have earned their place in the pantheon quite like Gaston Lagaffe, the gloriously hapless office fixture who first stumbled onto the pages of Les Aventures de Spirou et Fantasio #13 in 1960, conjured into being by the legendary André Franquin. Born at the height of the Silver Age from the storied Belgian publisher Dupuis, Gaston has kept remarkable company over the decades — sharing adventures with the likes of Léon Prunelle, Tif, Tondu, and Boule across the beloved pages of Spirou and his own eponymous series. That a character introduced in a single anthology would go on to headline his own title and remain a presence in the catalog across more than six decades speaks to an enduring charm that has captivated generations of Franco-Belgian comics readers. If you have any love for the rich tradition of bande dessinée, Gaston Lagaffe is absolutely essential.