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Albert Uderzo has died

theguardian.com

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Re: Albert Uderzo has died

#21

Post by hutzlibu »

conchulio wrote: post #10
tombert wrote: post #8

The 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?

Generally, 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.

"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.

Re: Albert Uderzo has died

#23

Post by SuoDuanDao »

tombert wrote: post #8

The 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?

I would recommend to look at the titles and choose based on a subject that interests you - the series makes very clever jokes about a lot of the history of the places they visit, and you'll get more of them if you're a little familiar with the material. A personal favourite for example is the one with the Goths, and a lot of the jokes there allude to the actual history of the Gothic tribes. If you're interested in any of the titular places, that's as good a place to start as any.

Re: Albert Uderzo has died

#24

Post by markvdb »

shaneos wrote: post #11

I 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

Some of the original French ones are hilariously funny. Have a look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Asterix_characters for their meaning.

I especially like "Abraracourcix" and "Assurancetourix".

Re: Albert Uderzo has died

#25

Post by DanBC »

tombert wrote: post #8

The 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?

Start with the first one.

Have a read of this thread to get other suggestions, but also to see how important a good translation is: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18255513

Re: Albert Uderzo has died

#26

Post by irrational »

I'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.

Re: Albert Uderzo has died

#27

Post by zouhair »

jacquesm wrote: post #6

Uderzo (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

M'enfin

:(

Re: Albert Uderzo has died

#28

Post by cuspycode »

jacquesm wrote: post #6

Uderzo (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

As 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.

Re: Albert Uderzo has died

#29

Post by zouhair »

bvandewalle wrote: post #19

I 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)

Le Journal de Spirou et Le Journal de Tintin were my whole childhood.

Re: Albert Uderzo has died

#30

Post by bryanrasmussen »

tombert wrote: post #8

The 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?

The best ones are:

Asterix and Cleopatra

Asterix The Legionary

Asterix in Britain

I really wouldn't rate any of those three higher than the others, although Cleopatra the art is probably the best (also I believe in the opinion of people with more developed aesthetic sense than mine). The Britain one might be slightly colored by my nostalgia in that case, it was a favorite from my youth.

There are some others that are I think great but slightly not as great

Asterix and the Big Fight

Asterix in Switzerland (another youthful favorite)

The Mansions of The Gods

Asterix_the_Gladiator

You could of course start with the first one Asterix The Gaul, but it is noticeably not as great as many later ones. But on the other hand it is probably greater than most comics ever.

on edit: fixed formatting.

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