History Comicbook / GastonLagaffe

* TheDoorSlamsYou: Featured in a number of gags, the most prominent one being when he invented a system that would slam all other doors shut whenever one was opened. Queue Prunelle, Lebrac and De Mesmaeker all getting a door to the face.

In 2023, the Gaston comic series was officially announced to be reprised, with a new album coming out in November titled ''Le Retour de Lagaffe'' (Lagaffe's return) with art by French-Canadian cartoonist Delaf, best known for ''ComicBook/LesNombrils''.

* NoNameGiven: Two examples:

** A secretary with long black hair who is Lebrac's love interest. Franquin said he once found a very fitting name for her, but forgot to note it down and then he couldn't remember it ever again. A supplementary illustrated article seems to confirm the secretary's name as "Solange", as the illustration makes her look like this recurring character. On a side note, "Solange" is sometimes confused with Sonia and erroneously named so.

** Although Gaston's cat and seagull become his most recurring pets once they were introduced, they're never given names, unlike several of his others pets.

* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Mr. Boulier

In 2023, the Gaston comic series was officially announced to be reprised, with a new album coming out in November titled Le Retour de Lagaffe with art by French-Canadian cartoonist Delaf, best known for ''ComicBook/LesNombrils''.

** Cartoonist Yves Lebrac, with a heavy accent on the IncrediblyLamePun.

* CurbStompBattle: The amateur football match in which Gaston takes part, as a guardian replacement. Spirou journal team suffers a humiliating defeat to the score of 15-1, with the only goal scored by Lebrac being thanks to the unending laughter of the opposite team caused by Gaston's gaffes (such as deserting his goal to fetch an umbrella, fetching his hat blown away by the wind, climbing on the goal to see if Jeanne is here, getting in heated talks with spectators after destroying their property, etc...). After one last goal suffered due to Gaston scoring against his own goal, by tripping on one of his own food cans, Prunelle snaps and ends up punching him.

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Prunelle breaks down in hysteric laughter when Gaston demonstrates an air freshener -- which ''ate De Mesmaeker's suit'', so he is suddenly standing in his underwear.

''Gaston Lagaffe'' is arguably one of the best-known and most well-liked characters of the FrancoBelgianComics school. The character first appeared in ''Magazine/{{Spirou}}'' #985 (February 28, 1957). The creation of Creator/AndreFranquin, who wanted to come up with an AntiHero after working for years on the series ''ComicBook/SpirouAndFantasio'', Gaston Lagaffe is an office drone and errand boy employed by a fictional version of the Dupuis publishing company.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Gaston often does this:

** In another episode, he proudly presents his invention of the elastic safety belt, which allows him to avoid having to fasten and unfasten it every time he has to get out of the car to post a letter. He adds that he always fastens it because security is no laughing matter.

* KlatchianCoffee: Gaston's homemade coffee. It is so strong that Prunelle claims smelling it is enough to give him a sleepless night, and one tiny cup gets Gaston so jittery that he is pulled over for drunk driving.

** Jeanne once got this after Mesmaeker destroyed Gaston’s puppet theatre.

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Gaston

* AskAStupidQuestion: While we don't get to hear the question ourselves, it's quite clear that when Gaston is buying a plunger, he is asking the shopkeeper stupidly obvious questions based on the latter's answers. Gaston ''needs'' the shopkeeper's confirmation to know the the bigger plunger is more expensive than the smaller one and that the plunger will be easier to see in daylight.

** There's a strip where Gaston is in a park and decides to collect some leaves he finds pretty and bring them to his office to make a herbarium. A leaf picker follows him all the way to his office to take the leaves back under the pretext that the leaves are the park's property. Not only it is a jerkass move by the leaf picker since fallen leaves don't belong to anyone, but he interrupted his work to be a jerk to someone who technically simplified his job.

** In an early strip, Gaston builds a rocket and later in the same day, receives officers of different military sections who want to buy his rocket. Later strips establish Gaston as being fully anti-war, going along with Franquin's opinion on the subject.

* SpinoffBabies: ''[[http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastoon Gastoon]]'' is a comic published in 2011, about Gaston's young nephew and his elementary-school-aged friends Jeanne, Jules, Bertrand and De Mesmeaker.

The comic also received an AnimatedAdaption series in 2009, as ''Gaston''. It also had an obscure short-lived live-action/puppet TV series in 1989, ''Merci Gaston!'' ("Thank you Gaston!").

* IndestructibilityMontage: A drawn-out gag has Gaston wanting to crack a walnut that proves to be incredibly tough. After clenching a nutcracker with all his strength, to no avail, Gaston tries stomping on it -- only to hurt his foot. Then he attempts smashing it with a hammer, which ends with several bandaged fingers. He even drops a bowling ball on it, making the whole floor shakes, for sole result to have the nut stuck in one of the holes. In a later strip, Gaston makes one last attempt by putting the walnut on the rail of a tramway -- leading to the tramway car derailing.

** Lebrac tried to destroy the Gaffophone by shoving termites in it. The Gaffophone is the only thing they didn't ate on the whole floor. Gaston theorizes that the varnish on the instrument disgusted them.

* BlackAndGrayMorality: It is a bit difficult to know who is the victim between Longtarin and Gaston because both seem to be a sadistic pleasure in ruining the life of his opponent.

* AccidentalAimingSkills: Gaston aims for the pipes, hits a target and wins the price.