Editing André Franquin (section)

===Mid period===
By 1951, Franquin had found his style. His strip, that appeared every week on the first page of ''[[Spirou (magazine)|Spirou]]'', was a hit. Following Jijé's lead in the 1940s, Franquin coached a younger generation of comics artists in the 1950s, notably [[Jean Roba]] and [[Jean De Mesmaeker|Jidéhem]], who both worked with him on ''[[Spirou et Fantasio]]''.

In 1955, following a contractual dispute with his publisher Dupuis, Franquin went for a short stint at rival ''[[Tintin (magazine)|Tintin]]'' magazine. This led to the creation of ''[[Modeste et Pompon]]'', a gag series which included contributions from [[René Goscinny]] (of ''[[Astérix]]'' fame) and Peyo. Franquin later returned to ''Spirou'', but his contractual commitment to ''Tintin'' meant that he had to contribute to both magazines, an unusual arrangement in the comic industry. The series was later passed on to authors such as [[Dino Attanasio]] and [[Mittéï]] (Jean Mariette).

[[Image:Belgique - Louvain-la-Neuve - Rue des Wallons - 10.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.80|Mural painting representing Gaston in the rue des Wallons in [[Louvain-la-Neuve]] (Belgium)]]

[[File:Fiat 509 06011701.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.80|Replica of [[Gaston (comics)|Gaston]]'s car]]

In 1957, ''Spirou'' chief editor [[Yvan Delporte]] gave [[Franquin]] the idea for a new figure, [[Gaston Lagaffe]] (from the French ''la gaffe'', meaning "the blunder"). Initially, a joke designed to fill up blank space in the magazine, the weekly strip, detailing the mishaps and madcap ideas and inventions of a terminally idle office boy working at the ''Spirou'' offices, took off and became one of Franquin's best-known creations.

However, Franquin soon suffered a period of [[clinical depression|depression]], which forced him to stop drawing Spirou for a time. This happened between 1961 and 1963, in the middle of ''[[QRN sur Bretzelburg]]''. During this time, he continued to draw ''Gaston'' despite his ill health, most likely because of the lighter nature of the series. (In one story, ''[[Panade à Champignac|Bravo Les Brothers]]'', Gaston's antics drive his boss [[Fantasio]] to yet another nervous breakdown. In desperation he takes some [[anti-depressant]]s which "Franquin left behind".)

In 1967, Franquin passed ''Spirou et Fantasio'' on to a younger artist, [[Jean-Claude Fournier]], and began to work full-time on his own creations.

''Gaston'' gradually evolved from pure [[slapstick]] humor to feature themes important to Franquin, such as [[pacifism]] and [[environmentalism]]. Franquin also used its characters in paid ad strips he drew and worked with the strip on and off until his death.