G is for Gaston Lagaffe

As Gaston Lagaffe appears today on Google's front-page

Gaston is a comic strip created in 1957 by the Belgian cartoonist André Franquin in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine Spirou. The series focuses on the every-day life of Gaston Lagaffe (whose surname means "the blunder"), 

a lazy and accident-prone office junior. 

Gaston is very popular in large parts of Europe.

Gaston has also appeared on a wide variety of merchandise. The editor of Spirou et Fantasio, the primary series of Spirou magazine, first introduced the character Gaston on February 28, 1957. The initial purpose was to fill up empty spaces in the magazine and offer a (comically artificial) glimpse of life behind-the-scenes at the paper.

One of the many Gaston Lagaffe figurines

Gaston’s appearance changed over the past 57 years. From his first appearance (left) to what he looked like yesterday (he has not arrived at the office; he is usually somewhat late on a Friday), but he will probably wear the same sweater, denim and sneakers.