Albert Uderzo, one of the original illustrators for Asterix, dies at 92

[LeftyGreenMario]

Asterix creator Albert Uderzo dies at 92

French comic-book artist, who created Asterix with the writer René Goscinny, dies at home ‘from a heart attack unrelated to the coronavirus’

www.theguardian.com

A lot of you probably don't know who he or the comic is, or maybe in passing mention, but he's an illustrator for a long-running and acclaimed Franco-Belgian comic series that's huge outside of the U.S. He's drawn with author Rene Goscinny, but has been writing and drawing after Goschinny's death in 1977 and retired in 2009. He'll be remembered as one of the many greats of comics to me.

Oh, and Anthea Bell, who did a splendid job translating their works to English and allowed me to enjoy them, has been gone since 2018 so there's a tribute to her too.

 

[Ray Trace]

This makes me wonder what will the future for the Asterix comic series will entail. I really hope the American installment that will come out in May would break that mold somewhat, a lot of American comic readers are really missing out on this series, which is very famous worldwide, EXCEPT in America.

 

[Mags]

I know the comic. I also know Tintin.

 

[LeftyGreenMario]

This makes me wonder what will the future for the Asterix comic series will entail. I really hope the American installment that will come out in May would break that mold somewhat, a lot of American comic readers are really missing out on this series, which is very famous worldwide, EXCEPT in America.

Well Uderzo retired nearly ten years ago. We already have a pair of a new author and an illustrator (Jean-Yves Ferri and Didier Conrad) and they've made at least two albums. From what I'm hearing, they're doing a pretty good job continuing the series and some of their albums are considered maybe better than solo Uderzo ones. I've read through Asterix and the Falling Sky and there was definitely a quality drop between that one and the Goscinny era ones.

I'm wondering who's going to take the mantle translating those books though, because Anthea Bell has done a swell job. The books are known for having a lot of word play and regional jokes so it's one of those things that are pretty hard to translate compared to, say, Super Mario-Kun.

And that's not considering there's going to be an American localized series coming around May, just this year. The English ones are indeed British-translated so they tend to have more British jokes. I wonder if there's going to be American jokes and I'm looking forward to seeing the differences between the two. Just hoping the American translation is good as the British one. I'm kind of hoping Americans will try to know it, but we'll see if the European references that are throughout the series will jive.

I know the comic. I also know Tintin.

Same. I need to read Tintin for serious. wonder if it's in the same situation as Asterix where there's no American versions, but there are British versions.

 

[Koops]

This breaks my heart.

A part of my childhood was spent on Asterix and his adventures. I used to idolize this man who I recognized and knew as the man who draws the characters, and he was probably an inspiration for me to start drawing myself. It's so saddening to see him go, but no one is meant to last forever.

May he forever rest in peace.

 

[LeftyGreenMario]

This breaks my heart.

A part of my childhood was spent on Asterix and his adventures. I used to idolize this man who I recognized and knew as the man who draws the characters, and he was probably an inspiration for me to start drawing myself. It's so saddening to see him go, but no one is meant to last forever.

May he forever rest in peace.

Asterix's one of those things where you enjoy a lot as a kid; it's a bunch of cartoony mustached men beating up soldiers! But you gain a lot of appreciation and respect for it when you're older as you start getting the satire, stereotypes, and parody they put in. Mad respect for that sort of achievement.

 

[Koops]

I even own an animated movie about the story where Asterix and Obelix help this Egyptian architect build Cleopatra this palace, and I remember trying to spot the differences between the movie and the book as a kid.

Damn, I'm feeling so nostalgic right now.

 

[Ray Trace]

The Romans are my favorite group of villains period. I love how they exist as vessels to get beaten up, I love how despite all their other efforts of being this large threatening army that almost took over all of France, they still utterly lose it and cower in fear of the Gauls at sight, and they have their own blissfully stupid moments. Oh and that they take their jobs super seriously while the Gauls don't care are the best moments in the books like this below.

 

[Mister Wu]

I have the original three Asterix animated movies, as well as the three slightly newer animated movies (the series with the Great Britain movie, bar the American one), they're great! They also had a great Italian dubbing, with the Romans speaking in Roman dialect! I've seen them many times in my childhood, thanks to their unique humor (the Cleopatra one and the Great Britain one are a true blast!). It's a kind of humor that tends to be different from North American and Japanese humor, plus you need to know a few details of the story of the times of Julius Caesar to fully appreciate it, so I can see why it had a difficult time going outside of Europe.

It's sad to see Uderzo go, may he rest in peace.

 

[winstein]

I didn't quite appreciate Asterix fully until I am more cognizant on a fuller picture of the comic, since when I was younger I only see the pictures. Knowing about the wordplay in the comic made it all the better, as well as some familiarity with the commentary on real life, even if not necessarily political. The ones where Asterix travels to different countries are also something I like, and even if I didn't consider it my favourite (that would be Britain), I acknowledge that Cleopatra is a very well-liked work (it's got an animated film, a live-action film and a video game made after it, not to mention Cleopatra appearing occasionally later on, after all).

I know an Uderzo-only run was not as well-liked as a duo team, but I think he's still a very good artist and he has some works that I like, which include Black Gold and The Great Divide. The newer duo Ferri and Conrad that handles Asterix seems to be doing quite well, with 4 albums from them thus far (Picts, Missing Scroll, The Chariot Race, Chieftain's Daughter) and no signs of stopping. I have heard that they have a good track record thus far, with Pict probably being more of a warm-up in that respect.

In terms of appreciation outside of the books, I liked the first Asterix live-action film even though the idea of a live action Asterix might be dubious (since Asterix is, by nature, extremely short), but it's very much enjoyable. There's also that XXL 2 video game, which is filled with video game references and that made it glorious, since it's what Asterix already did references on many things.

It's a shame that Uderzo is gone, too.

Thank you for reading.

 

[Ray Trace]

I've watched the 3D animated film Maison of the Gods and I really enjoyed that. I've also heard they made another one that isn't based off any books called...Secret of the Magic Potion and I need to see that as well. I've also seen the animated films of Britain, America, and the Big Fight, and let me just say that the animators had WAY TOO much fun animated many parts of The Big Fight.

 

[Teedgee]

I really like Asterix. I kinda grew up with that comic series and I can compare it to things like mario. I just found out that the illustrator passed away, and I'm truly devastated. I know the series has different people working on it now, but it's so sad to hear this. At least now Albert can be with the original creator, Rene Goscinny.

I hope you're resting in peace, Uderzo.

 

[The Green Knight]

Man, Asterix was cool. Hope the person who inherits the rights doesn't do something dumb.

 

[LeftyGreenMario]

Man, Asterix was cool. Hope the person who inherits the rights doesn't do something dumb.

Afaik Uderso sold the rights off already, and after he retired, we already got a few books not written nor drawn by him but they retain their style really close, it could fool you. I also think some consider the post Uderzo ones to be superior to some of the worse ones Uderzo wrote. Might be some soft reboot, but I hope the writers and illustrators, while having huge pressure to follow-up on the original two, get better as they develop their own style and get more confident with their works.