Albert Uderzo, 1927-2020

My favourite Uderzo image, here as redrawn in Asterix and the Chieftain’s Shield (an earlier version was in Asterix the Gaul). It parodies Royer’s ‘Vercingetorix Throws Down His Arms at the Feet of Julius Caesar’

Albert Uderzo, who died of a heart attack on March 24, was, of course, co-creator and artist for over fifty years on Astérix the Gaul, along with writer René Goscinny. A Gallic resistor against imperial conquest, Astérix obviously had resonance for a nation where the German occupation was in living memory for almost all adults (which explains the very hostile portrayal of the Goths/Germans in early volumes). For Uderzo, whose parents had left Italy at the moment that Mussolini gained power, making fun of the Romans probably had further echoes. Later on, the Romans would be stand-ins for the cultural imperialism of America, or the attitudes of French politicians towards their people.

Astérix was popular from his first appearance in Pilote magazine in 1959, and that popularity grew enormously in the 1960s. He became one of the best-loved comics characters across Europe, and one of few European characters to cross over into the Anglophone world – the only comparable example that comes to mind is Tintin. (Much of the appeal in the English-speaking world must be attributed to the superb translations by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge, which achieved what Eric Thompson managed with The Magic Roundabout, and captured the spirit of the French original whilst making it resonate with British audiences.)

When Goscinny died in 1977, Uderzo took over writing the stories, until he retired in 2011. By all accounts he was not as good a writer as Goscinny, but the artwork remained impressive.