First appearing in a pannel of the Spirou and Fantasio adventure "Le voyageur du Mésozoïque." in issue n°1014 of Spirou magazine, André Franquin's Gaston Lagaffe soon became the star of his own strip. The lazy and accident prone 'hero' (his surname translates as blunder) is the office junior at Dupuis - the company that publish Spirou - and there are frequent references to office life.
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Spirou et Fantasio is one of the most popular classic Franco-Belgian comic strips and has been running since 1938 in the pages of Spirou magazine. Created by Robert Velter for the launch of the magazine, the strip gained a distinctive style when written and drawn by André Franquin from 1946 to 1948. Taking over in 1984 the team of Tome (writer) and Janry (art) revitalized the series and, somewhat controversially, made the series more adult and contemporary.
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Inspired by Robert Ludlam's Bourne Identity, XIII was first serialised in Spirou magazine in 1984. The creative team of Jean Van Hamme (writing) and William Vance (art) created one of the best selling bande dessinée that would continue for 23 years and 19 books. The initial plot arc spans five books and centres around XIII searching for his identity and his past, only to find himself confronting the "conspiracy of the XX".
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The dark thoughts series was created in 1977 for Trombone Illustreé by Franquin and Delporte as an outlet for emotions that were not suitable for the light hearted series Spirou & Fantasio or Gaston Lagaffe. Featuring distinctive black ink art work, as the title suggests, the humour is a cynical look at the human condition.
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