Albert Uderzo has died • Hacker News Board

Re: Albert Uderzo has died

#91

Post by antod » Wed, Mar 25, 2020, 1:40 AM UTC

Baeocystin wrote: post #7

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

I 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.

Yes. I always marvelled at the translators ability to recreate the wordplay jokes (eg names) in another language

Re: Albert Uderzo has died

#92

Post by jordigh » Wed, Mar 25, 2020, 1:50 AM UTC

copperx wrote: post #90

jordigh wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to read them in Spanish in Mexico, and I'm sad to say the early Spanish translations were pretty awful. A lot of them were done by Spaniards that apparently did not understand the puns, so they would just repeat the French names without offering any kind of translation. A lot of other jokes were translated without being apparently understood to the point where it was completely nonsensical in Spanish. It wasn'…

I have the entire Asterix collection in Spanish (perhaps the most prized inheritance my mother left me), and I don't think the translations are as bad as you say they are. Do you have an example of a French or English pun or a name that got lost in the Spanish translation?

Abraracurcix, Asuranceturix... As I recall, those are the Spanish names, which make no sense. The Roman camps were called Petibonum or sometimes Hombrecitum depending on the book (inconsistent). I remember it was also always Babaorum, which makes no sense either. Just so many missed opportunities to actually bring the jokes into Spanish.

There are a lot of examples that you wouldn't even realise are wrong because you wouldn't even notice that there was supposed to be a joke there.

Re: Albert Uderzo has died

#93

Post by bvandewalle » Wed, Mar 25, 2020, 1:50 AM UTC

andrepd wrote: post #86

phtrivier wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ever 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-l...

They were different times. Tintin is rather fascinating in that regard, in that the first 3 albums at least are egregiously incorrect caricatures of russia/africa/america with a decidedly colonialist, white supermacist, paternalist bent (very real, inarguably so, take a read yourself). A product of being literally ordered by an ultraconservative catholic priest. At a certain point in his life, Hergé (the author) met…

It is also a good reminder that the moral standards back in those days were completely different and I think we cannot judge those books with the moral standards of today.

Re: Albert Uderzo has died

#94

Post by nevster » Wed, Mar 25, 2020, 2:00 AM UTC

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?

What's amazing is how fully formed everything is right from the first book.

From my goodreads review:

The first Asterix book is really quite remarkable, it deserves 5 stars. So much of what I associate with Asterix is already fully formed and developed straight out of the gate including the humour, style, characters, situations and some of the funniest bits out of all the Asterix books. Memorable stuff like the strawberries and the hair-growing potion.

Also be sure to check out the annotations: http://asterix.openscroll.org/books/asterix_the_gaul.html

Re: Albert Uderzo has died

#95

Post by lonelappde » Wed, Mar 25, 2020, 2:00 AM UTC

205guy wrote: post #76

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)

Gaston is one of my favorites, laugh-out-loud funny as a kid and adult. Such great set-ups, visual gags, and word-play. For adventure, sci-fi, and incredible art, Yoko Tsuno was another great one that has stood the test of time. Oddly, I don't like Tintin as an adult, it's too whiz-bang and bumbling. After growing up on European comics, the ones in the US were bland, just plain crude (Garfield), or overtly political…

Peanuts?

The Far Side?

Family Circle (sometimes, and before the original author died)

Re: Albert Uderzo has died

#96

Post by nevster » Wed, Mar 25, 2020, 2:02 AM UTC

Great bunch of annotations that help explain some of the more subtle references: http://asterix.openscroll.org/book-annotations.html

Re: Albert Uderzo has died

#97

Post by dwd » Wed, Mar 25, 2020, 2:02 AM UTC

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

Cacofonix the singer

Impedimenta, Vitalstatistix's wife

The list goes on...

I recently gave away all of my scifi/fantasy novels to my nieces/nephews (my boys had read them all). The only books I now own are technical and my Asterix collection.

Re: Albert Uderzo has died

#98

Post by lonelappde » Wed, Mar 25, 2020, 2:03 AM UTC

bvandewalle wrote: post #93

andrepd wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They were different times. Tintin is rather fascinating in that regard, in that the first 3 albums at least are egregiously incorrect caricatures of russia/africa/america with a decidedly colonialist, white supermacist, paternalist bent (very real, inarguably so, take a read yourself). A product of being literally ordered by an ultraconservative catholic priest. At a certain point in his life, Hergé (the author) met…

It is also a good reminder that the moral standards back in those days were completely different and I think we cannot judge those books with the moral standards of today.

But it also makes them dated products of their times.

Re: Albert Uderzo has died

#99

Post by lonelappde » Wed, Mar 25, 2020, 2:06 AM UTC

coldtea wrote: post #71

jordigh wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not everyone loved it. Astérix and the Goths was an early and very unfavourable depiction of the Germans as militaristic and ruthless, written with WW2 still fresh in mind. The Germans did not like this early strip. Goscinny and Uderzo seemed to regret this early portrayal, as Goths in latter Astérix strips were depicted more sympathetically. My point here is that "political correctness" has a point. Of course most E…

> Astérix and the Goths was an early and very unfavourable depiction of the Germans as militaristic and ruthless As opposed to the real life French experience of them? > My point here is that "political correctness" has a point. That we should ignore historical experience and portray peoples and cultures as totally the same and interchangeable except in purely decorative areas (e.g. cuisine, music)? Because a Germany…

The English genocided southeast Asia contemporaneously but I'm not sure that was part of their characterization in the comics.

Re: Albert Uderzo has died

#100

Post by frandroid » Wed, Mar 25, 2020, 2:08 AM UTC

205guy wrote: post #76

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)

Gaston is one of my favorites, laugh-out-loud funny as a kid and adult. Such great set-ups, visual gags, and word-play. For adventure, sci-fi, and incredible art, Yoko Tsuno was another great one that has stood the test of time. Oddly, I don't like Tintin as an adult, it's too whiz-bang and bumbling. After growing up on European comics, the ones in the US were bland, just plain crude (Garfield), or overtly political…

Speaking of crudeness, Hergé's worldview was pretty racist... Those first 9 albums or so are pretty cringeworthy. Especially considering that they've been rewritten a couple times to adapt to changing times.

(I say that as a huge Tintin fan growing up.)