Asterix comic co-creator, Albert Uderzo, dies aged 92

Asterix comic co-creator, Albert Uderzo, who teamed with Rene Goscinny to create Gaul Asterix (the character with the moustache), died in Paris on Tuesday 24 March 2020, aged 92.

Dargaud, the former publisher of the Asterix comic books, announced Uderzo’s death from heart failure.

Albert Uderzo was born on 25 April 1927 in Fismes, in eastern France. He was born with 12 fingers, but had an operation to remove two of them. He grew up in Paris with his Italian parents.

Albert Uderzo and Rene Goscinny created the Asterix comic series in 1959—60 years ago. Asterix tells of the adventures of an ancient Gaul named Asterix resisting the Romans in 50 BC using a magic potion that gives him superhuman strength. Asterix is described as a weakling who defeats the strong. His friends include Obelix and Dogmatrix.

Uderzo’s partner Rene Goscinny died in 1977, and Uderzo continued the series alone until 2011. Uderzo created Les Editions Albert Rene in 1979, splitting from the publishing house Dargaud. The Asterix series is now written by Jean-Yves Ferri, and drawn by Didier Conrad.

The series is translated into more than 100 languages and there is even a theme park dedicated to Asterix. Les Editions Albert Rene (owned by Hachette) is the company that now owns the rights to the series. In 1966, France’s first space satellite was named Asterix.

Goscinny’s daughter, Anne Goscinny, told Le Parisien on 25 March 2020 that the two men were like brothers, but were as different as ‘fire and water.’

Last year, in 2019, the comic series introduced its first female heroine, Adrenaline, the teenage daughter of Vercingetorix, the chieftain who led the Gauls to rebel against Julius Caesar.

So Asterix the comic series lives on.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of: Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

Comments

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. That

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing

FEAST OR FAMINE

Search This Blog