Format and Appeal
Gaston Lagaffe follows the classic "gag" format: one-page stories (initially half-a-page) with an often visual punchline, sometimes foreshadowed in the dialogue. The humour mixes slapstick, puns and running gags. Franquin's style is characterised by extremely nervous characters and action and very quotable dialogue. The series is much loved not only for its perfectly timed comedy, but also for its warm outlook on everyday life. Although Gaston works at Spirou magazine and one of his colleagues is a cartoonist, the series satirises office life in general rather than the publishing or comics business; Franquin himself worked at home. In the later episodes, the reader could discover a visual reference to the story in Franquin's signature at the bottom of the page.
Read more about this topic: Gaston (comics)
Famous quotes containing the word appeal:
“I don’t like comparisons with football. Baseball is an entirely different game. You can watch a tight, well-played football game, but it isn’t exciting if half the stadium is empty. The violence on the field must bounce off a lot of people. But you can go to a ball park on a quiet Tuesday afternoon with only a few thousand people in the place and thoroughly enjoy a one-sided game. Baseball has an aesthetic, intellectual appeal found in no other team sport.”
—Bowie Kuhn (b. 1926)