There won't be any new comic adventures by Gaston Lagaffe any time soon: the Belgian publisher Dupuis wants to wait for the landmark decision of a Brussels court in September and is therefore postponing the publication of the much-heralded 22nd album in the series until next year.

Dupuis announced this in a press release on the occasion of the beginning of the process that Isabelle Franquin initiated to protect the work of her father André Franquin (1924 to 1997).

The advance publication of newly drawn "Gaston" episodes in the comic magazine "Spirou" had already been postponed after only one published episode.

This is a surprising twist.

The new volume, drawn by Canadian Delaf (real name Marc Delafontaine), was originally scheduled for release on October 19.

That's what Dupuis boss Stéphane Beaujean announced in March at the Angoulême comic festival.

Postponing the date means abandoning the intention of reviving the emblematic comic book character in time for the publishing centenary.

Instead, Dupuis is looking for “pacification”, hoping for a “calm and objective debate” in the future and for the opportunity to convincingly convey his position.

Despite all the appeasement, the publisher leaves no doubt that it wants to maintain the goal of continuing Franquin's cult figure.

There's no harm in reassurance: The project to let the lazy but inventive office boy experience new adventures has been causing heated debates in the comic scene and beyond for two months - the French and Belgian media are full of it because "Gaston “ is about a legendary series.

The situation is complex and touches on fundamental intellectual property issues: the publisher holds the commercial rights of use, Franquin has signed the relevant contracts;

the heiress, in turn, retains the copyright and can insist on it if she is concerned about the integrity of the work.

She claims that her father was vehemently opposed to his character surviving him throughout his life.

Who protests everything against the new Gaston

On this point, she has recently received support from prominent comic book authors: on May 3rd an open letter was published to Média Participations, Dupuis' holding company (www.respectdesauteurs.com);

the nearly 1,100 signatories (as of May 17) include David B., Étienne Davodeau, Philippe Geluck, Thierry Groensteen, Frank Le Gall, Jean-Christophe Menu, Benoît Peeters and Zep.

Geluck emphasizes that his own cat character (“Le Chat”) should not survive him either, and Menu, with his usual verve, protests against the mixture of “homage” and “unbridled commercial exploitation”.

Recently, there have also been voices that articulate an aesthetic objection to the continuation.

The new Gaston is like the original like a pea in a pod.

According to Delaf, he has broken down Franquin's work into thousands of files with figures, objects and attitudes;

he draws on this documentation base to draw his gags.

The accusation of copy and paste was loud: Delaf not only succeeded in drawing like Franquin, he also took over his gags.

In short, respect for the legacy has turned into pure plagiarism;

on the Facebook page "Fans d'André Franquin" a post from March 30 shows what Delaf copied with the help of figures' heads.

In their open letter, benevolent colleagues speak of an experiment that must remain purely artistic (Daniel Goossens), and critical ones of "zombification" (Menu).

Again the thorny question arises as to when drawing “in the style of” makes sense and is legitimate (“Spirou and Fantasio” or “Asterix” are good examples) and when commercial imitation.