RIP Albert Uderzo, Co-creator of Asterix
Albert Uderzo has died at the age of 92. I doubt if I’d have become a cartoonist and storyteller without Asterix and the drawings of Albert Uderzo. Those books taught me so much about the use of humour in adventure comics (and a shout-out to the translations of Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge, who brought their own British stylings to the English language versions). Along with Tintin, Peanuts, the Dandy and the Beano, Asterix is one of the earliest, primary influences on my life and being.
Every single page, every panel in an Asterix book is in service to the story, to immersing the reader in this living, breathing world of crazy, vibrant, magical ancient Gaul. I took one of the earlier books off the shelf just now and leafed through - every single line has a pulse to it. Some of it’s not very PC by today’s standards, but no-one, no stereotype gets off lightly and every character is subjected to similar ridicule. Uderzo didn’t just make funny drawings; he was a maestro of composition and comedy who captured something of the absurdity of the human condition and the joy of being alive. Those books are joie de vivre in ink, right there on the page. His appreciation of architecture and landscape is implicit via lovingly rendered backdrops against which the insanities and inanities of the human cast were played out, scenery which was often wrecked in one of the fights that almost always ended any argument. And heaven help you if you were a wild boar or an oak tree.
Asterix, Obelix and their tribe of Gauls that held out against the Romans were a microcosm of humanity writ large by Uderzo’s creative partner, René Goscinny, and Uderzo drew them with an unmatched kinetic dynamism. They fought amongst themselves, but they always, in the end, celebrated their kinship, with each other and their friends and allies. They held out against the invader, they always trounced the pirates and the bullies, but they also showed that travel - and the people you meet along the way - is the best education.
Asterix books are almost all travelogues, adventures among different peoples and finding both the similarities and differences and celebrating them, having a laugh about them. Asterix was one of the influences that taught me that it is difference and similarity - not one or the other, but both, in balance - that makes the world so interesting and beautiful (and funny). Above all, Asterix taught me not to be told what the rules are by those who would conquer and lie to you for little more than a salve to their own gargantuan, remorseless, humourless egos. Be independent, but be aware, be curious, be lucky, be kind and if you can’t always be patient, listen to the wise and always help those less fortunate than yourselves if you can. And don’t forget the magic potion.
Viva Asterix and Obelix, long live Goscinny, long live Uderzo. A heartfelt thank you for the ongoing inspiration.
Asterix books from my childhood.
Asterix (c) Hachette.