The man who gave life to Asterix

The world’s most famous French warrior nearly had his career cut short when his writer died midway through one of his adventures but fans of Asterix the Gaul have much to thank the artist for ensuring the popular series (111 translations and 11 films of the 34 stories) carries on well into the 21st century.

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Albert Uderzo, whose 90th birthday it is on Tuesday, was not only a co-creator of the Asterix but eventually emerged as its saviour after his partner and author Rene Goscinny’s untimely death in 1977.

The duo was then a little over half-way through the 24th adventure—Asterix in Belgium, when Goscinny died and Uderzo had to shoulder both the roles. An artist at heart, he also commemorated the loss of his partner memorably - from the point in the story, the sky is always shown dark and overcast. And in the final scene - the banquet in the Gaullish village - the foreground has a most dejected-looking rabbit (Bunny was the nickname of Goscinny’s wife Gilberte).  

Born to Italian immigrants to France, Uderzo showed a marked and totally self-taught ability to draw from his nursery school days. As per the official Asterix website, from the age of 10, he began to sketch characters with big noses. 

However he only tried his hand at cartooning after the Second World War, which put an end to his dreams of becoming an aircraft mechanic. Uderzo spent a part of the war in a farm in Brittany where his brother was working - this stint would go on to play a major role in Asterix. 

The series, coming out prolifically - one or two per year - grew so popular that in 1967, both dropped all their other work for it. Even after 1977, Uderzo managed to carry on alone - and magnificently too, though a little less regularly.

The first album he did solely was “Asterix and the Great Divide” (1980) which made full use of the Romeo and Juliet motif and the Berlin Wall. Subsequent adventures went on to take our heroes, whose exploits so far were confined to Europe save one (“The Big Crossing”). 

“Asterix and the Black Gold” (1981) takes the characters into the Holy Land and the Oily Land, makes innovative use of the Bible and James Bond (as played by Sean Connery) while satirising the current need for petroleum, the internecine conflicts of the Middle East - and in one memorable panel, environmental pollution. “Asterix and the Magic Carpet” (1987) even brings them to India - to tackle a deficient monsoon. In all, Uderzo was responsible for another eight Asterix adventures between 1980 and 2005, before announcing his retirement in 2011. —IANS