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Albert Uderzo has died
- mythz 7y agoNostalgic blast from the past, Asterix and Obelix was some of my favorite comic books as a kid. Surprised that you can find full length Asterix films on YouTube, with the first one released over 50 years ago and the latest just released last year, that's pretty rare longevity for kids comic book characters to have lasted through multiple generations of kids. It's one of the few I can remember that my parents used to read as kids as well.
- davidw 7y agoI loved those books as a kid. He brought a lot of happiness to a lot of people with his work.
- lb1lf 7y ago-If you haven't reread them as an adult, do yourself a favour and get started. I, too, loved them as a kid - but have found that Asterix resonates on many levels. It is definitely a comic for grown-ups too, gently mocking the grown-up world in oh so many ways. I'll pour myself a generous helping of calvados and reread a few of the albums tonight. RIP, Albert.
- cryptonector 7y agoThey tend to have different jokes in different languages. If you can read more than one language, then read Asterix in all of them for which there are translations (or originals).
- 205guy 7y agoIt didn't just gently mock the grown-up world, some of the characters were straight-up caricatures of political figures and other famous people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Asterix_characters#Caricatures https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Asterix_characters#Car...
- iliasku 7y ago"Alain Prost — Appears as Coronavirus, the Roman champion chariot driver in Asterix and the Chariot Race." say what now?
- Zeetah 7y agoSame - brilliant and enjoyable on multiple levels.
- finphil 7y agoRIP Monsieur Uderzo
- jacquesm 7y agoUderzo (and Goscinny, his partner in crime) are childhood heroes of mine, together with Franquin and all the other stripmakers they slowly got me into reading more substantial stuff. Supberb sense of humor and tons of tricks that you'd only appreciate if you read them again at a later age. Naive? Me? ;) https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DY83gwMW4AARkVP?format=jpg https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DY83gwMW4AARkVP?format=jpg
- Baeocystin 7y agoI hold those two directly responsible for much of my love of wordplay. And a strong thank you to all of the translators around the world who made their work such a fun way to learn new languages. Cheers to them all.
- antod 7y agoYes. I always marvelled at the translators ability to recreate the wordplay jokes (eg names) in another language
- zouhair 7y agoM'enfin :(
- poutrathor 7y agoM'enfin is from Gaston Lagaffe, a Franquin's child, as far as I know.
- zouhair 7y agoYup and that was me and my dad inside joke when I was a kid.
- cuspycode 7y agoAs a young child I learned more about ancient European history from Asterix than I did at school. Of course a lot of it was plain fiction, but the historical references made imprints on me, and it wasn't hard to separate that from the fiction, as I grew older. So I thank you Uderzo (and Goscinny) for bringing that education into my life.
- tombert 7y agoThe Asterix comics really never caught on in the US, so I sadly have not read any of them, but multiple people that I respect have told me that I really need to check them out. To someone who is almost completely unfamiliar with the material, what would be a good place to start?
- rjsw 7y agoStart at the beginning [1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterix_the_Gaul https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterix_the_Gaul
- conchulio 7y agoGenerally, most of the Asterix comics that were written by Goscinny with illustrations by Uderzo are good. The later ones only by Uderzo or nowadays even by other authors are not always as good as the original ones.
- hutzlibu 7y ago"or nowadays even by other authors are not always as good as the original ones." That is a very strong euphemism ... But my nephews and niece still enjoyed them, so I try not to be too harsh.
- em-bee 7y agoi find the last ones by uderzo were the worst sadly. the new autors are actually decent.
- gpvos 7y agoAnything before the death of Goscinny, that is up to and including nr. 24, Asterix in Belgium. Some personal favourites are all the ones named Asterix in <area name>, Asterix and Cleopatra (that nose!), Asterix and the Normans, Asterix and the Soothsayer, but it's extremely hard to choose. Also, check out other franco-belgian comics like Lucky Luke and Gaston Lagaffe.
- srean 7y agoI have read the English(British) translations and the American as well. In terms of the humour and slick wordplay they seemed quite different if not poles apart. Those American editions did nothing for me, some of them almost felt like an act of sacrilege. I guess its a cultural thing -- to give a trivial example, the name Readymix just isn't as funny as Getafix. Apparently the notion of getting a fix was something that American children needed to be protected from. "He was called Readymix (the name of a British cement firm) in newspaper comics during the 1970s, as Getafix was considered inappropriate for children." [0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Asterix_characters#Getafix https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Asterix_characters#Get...
- shaneos 7y agoI read all of them over and over again as a child, then one more full reading in my 20s. They were even better as an adult. One of the oddities is that the names in English are actually much funnier than the original French names, e.g. Unhygienix the fishmonger, Getafix the druid, Fullyautomatix who makes the weapons. These two authors brought so many hours, days and years of joy. A life well lived
- markvdb 7y agoSome of the original French ones are hilariously funny. Have a look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Asterix_characters https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Asterix_characters for their meaning. I especially like "Abraracourcix" and "Assurancetourix".
- lb1lf 7y agoIn Norway, the fishmonger was named Hermetix (as in, canned food), and - two of my favourites - the Greek tour operator Setopenextrabus (Schedule an additional bus) and the drunken legionnaire Sophus Antabus.
- jacquesm 7y agoIn the UK version there is also dubbelosix...
- jacquesm 7y agoMy personal favorite is Idefix, the dog who is so imprinted on Obelix he has to follow him.
- jordigh 7y agoThe English translation of "Dogmatix" is the most perfect translation ever. It kept the original meaning and even introduced a new pun.
- 7y ago
- GordonS 7y agoAh, I used to love the Asterix books as a kid! I also remember having a game, "Asterix and Obelix", I think it was called, though I can't recall if it was on the Atari ST or Commodore 64 - it was quite a complex game for the time, and my brothers and I were obsessed with it!
- dudul 7y agoI don't think I could ever fully forgive him for continuing the series after Goscinny's passing. While a handful may have been good (I like "L'Odyssée d'Astérix" a lot) most of them were average/bad. That being said, as an absolute fan since I was 7 years old, this makes me very sad.
- Tarsul 7y agoregarding going on after Goscinny's death, i just now read this passage in "The Complete Guide to Asterix" (p.21): "Following the death of his working partner of the last twenty-six years, Albert Uderzo did not have th eheart to complete Asterix in Belgium. Dargaud [publishing partner] responded by taking him to court and forcing him to draw the book. Uderzo had no choice. He completed the album, but appealed against the court's decision. Ironically, the appeal court found in his favour - but by then the books were already in the shops." I think we can forgive him (even for the books that followed).
- dudul 7y ago"Asterix chez les Belges" is actually quite good. And while this is an interesting anecdote, it doesn't explain why he kept going after that. I'm sorry, I can't forgive introducing aliens into an Asterix story :)
- em-bee 7y agothat is probably the worst story of the lot. before i didn't think anyone else could continue the work on asterix. but if the new authors realize that the best way to win over the readers is by listening to them, then they will have a chance
- rs23296008n1 7y agoThe complete set of Asterix is on archive.org https://archive.org/details/Asterixcompleteset/mode/2up https://archive.org/details/Asterixcompleteset/mode/2up
- bryanrasmussen 7y agothat right there is worth another year's donation, although I have to say how is it even possible - surely these aren't out of copyright?
- JD557 7y agoI'm not sure if this is the case here, but IIRC, the internet archive is considered a library, which grants them some special rights regarding copyright. I believe that's the reason that allows them to host arcade ROMs as well.
- lonelappde 7y agoThat's not true. There is no special blanket copyright exemption for libraries (equivalent, everything is a library). The exemption is only for making backup copies of circulating materials. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/108 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/17/108 Archive.org only serves things that copyright holders haven't demanded they remove. Some things they "lend" out to one person at a time using streaming technology, so it's the users fault if they copy it, same as with Blockbuster videotapes. Their arcade ROMs at abandonware or streamed.
- bvandewalle 7y agoI spent hours of my childhood reading Asterix, Tintin and Gaston [0]. Each had an amazing slightly different universe. Now living in the US it always amazes me how different the Comics culture over here is. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaston_(comics) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaston_(comics)
- yardie 7y agoComing from the opposite direction. I grew up reading Marvel and DC. Didn't care for too much of it as an adult. Then when I moved to France and discovered the BD titles weren't just plentiful they were high quality as well.
- phtrivier 7y agoEver read Oumpah-Pah (the probably slighly incorrect and insensitive native american character) from their beginning ? https://www.bedetheque.com/BD-Oumpah-Pah-Tome-1-Oumpah-Pah-le-Peau-rouge-1285.html https://www.bedetheque.com/BD-Oumpah-Pah-Tome-1-Oumpah-Pah-l...
- conradfr 7y agoI mean Asterix is also slightly incorrect and insensitive about a lot of European people ... and we love it.
- mikepurvis 7y agoThere are a few bits of Asterix that are pretty problematic, too, for example the depiction of the African pirate. YMMV, but for me it's a small enough piece that it's worthwhile just talking it over with my kids (vs something like Dr. Seuss's "If I Ran The Zoo", which probably belongs in the dustbin of history, along with Song of the South and everything else that really isn't worth it at this point). https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/17/magazine/how-to-read-a-racist-book-to-your-kids.html https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/17/magazine/how-to-read-a-ra...
- 7y ago
- basementcat 7y agoFrom the 12 Tasks of Asterix: The Place That Sends You Mad https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtEkUmYecnk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtEkUmYecnk
- conradfr 7y agoA brilliant parody of the French administration. "Le laissez-passer A-38" is still a pop culture reference.
- brnt 7y agoTook a French course at academie francaise when I just moved to France. When we as matter of exercise had to describe our experience so far in France I played this video instead. All including the teacher had painful looks of recognition ;)
- irrational 7y agoI've always thought that the equivalent of Albert Uderzo in the USA was Carl Barks. I'm not sure why, but the adventures Uncle Scrooge got up to remind me of the adventures Asterix got up to.
- klodolph 7y agoThere’s also Dave Sim, although I’d put an asterisk next to that comparison for sure.
- egypturnash 7y agoI think the whole “went off the deep end pursuing a religious epiphany that required him to call women uncreative receptacles for male creative power” thing disqualifies Sim from being compared to Uderzo. (And I say this as someone who leant a LOT about comics reading Cerberus.)
- DanielleMolloy 7y agoDuck comics are quite popular in Europe too and Carl Barks is honored, but I’d say he is not comparable to Uderzo / Goscinny. You could claim that Don Rosa is comparable though (looking at historical / cultural references, dedication to detail and effort that went into each panel). Can’t recommend „The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck“ enough.
- jeegsy 7y agoRIP Monsieur Uderzo. Even sadder than the loss itself is the realization that there aren't really any replacements for talents like these. We'll always have the books and thats it.
- jansan 7y agoSo what is the name of Courdeténis in your language? He is the Egyptian guy who speaks in hieroglyphs and thinks he's participating in a package tour while being enrolled in the Roman legion. He was one of the greatest characters ever. When asked for his name, his speech bubble only contained a hieroglyph of a tennis court, hence the name "Courdétenis" (tennis court).
- cardinalfang 7y agoHis English name was Ptenisnet.
- julienfr112 7y agoMy favorite character is Caius Detritus, you know the guy that bring discord in seconds wherever he goes in "La Zizanie". That's my favorite because when I was young, I naively though it was not possible. And one day, I cross pass with a one in a million A..H... that was exactly like that. Remembering Asterix and exposing him as Caius Detritus incarnation, I stopped his misdeeds (until he moved to another room ....). Great moment, and bedtime story for my daughter after reading La Zizanie to her.
- shripadk 7y agoI spent my entire childhood reading Asterix comics. The best part about these comics is that the jokes make more sense as you age. This is sad news.
- flashgordon 7y agoNoooooooooo. I wouldn't be the first one to call out the timelessness of Uderzo (and Goscinny's) work. My favorite was his trolling of Herge (Thomson twins in Asterix in Belgium)!!!
- richardw 7y agoI found an abandoned Asterix in a dump in my apartment block as a child in around 1984. My mother discovered it and loved them. Getting one was a very special treat, even more so in hindsight. I still have many and will read them with my daughter. Thank you Goscinny and Uderzo.
- nevster 7y agoGreat bunch of annotations that help explain some of the more subtle references: http://asterix.openscroll.org/book-annotations.html http://asterix.openscroll.org/book-annotations.html
- dwd 7y agoThe graphic says it all https://www.asterix.com/ https://www.asterix.com/