New Deal: Asterix to continue after Uderzo's death?

[Wenleyix3]

Hey folks, here's something to get me back to these boards!

Asterix the Gaul to outlive his creator

PARIS (AFP) – Asterix, the pint-sized Gallic warrior and comic-book hero, is to outlive his creator under a deal with the 81-year-old illustrator Albert Uderzo announced by his publisher on Friday.

Uderzo, who has created the Asterix books single-handed since the death of co-author Rene Goscinny in 1977, has given his consent for the publisher Albert-Rene to keep the character alive after his death.

"Albert Uderzo confirms that he has signed over the authorisation," the publisher said.

"It's a very good thing for Asterix," Rene Goscinny's daughter Anne, who also gave her consent for the series to carry on, told AFP.

Uderzo and Goscinny met in Brussels in the 1950s, releasing their first full album -- Asterix the Gaul -- in 1961.

Today his Roman-bashing antics have been translated into 107 languages, with more than 300 million books sold.

The Asterix stories have also been turned into two successful films and an Asterix theme park was opened in 1989 north of Paris.

Uderzo is currently working on a new Asterix album, set for release in October, to mark the 50th anniversary of the character's creation in the journal Pilote, in 1959.

Interesting indeed. Does anyone else have more info on this? Is this partly a factor in Uderzo selling his shares/falling out with his daughter?
How exactly will Asterix carry on? Will we see further Asterix albums from other writers/illustrators? Would you want to see more albums?

[Jochgem]

That is interesting news. Thanks for the tip.
I found the same story in Dutch in a Belgian newspaper online.

Jochgem

[Senilix]

The Asterix series should have been stopped after Goscinnys death! At its height, Asterix was no doubt the worlds best comic, but after that it has degenerated. The last album was, I am sorry to say, trash. But, as some has said on other foras, after last album, it can hardly get worse...

[Jochgem]

La bataille d’Astérix : une réponse d’Albert Uderzo (The Asterix battles, an answer of Albert Uderzo)
http://www.actuabd.com/La-bataille-d-As ... ert-Uderzo

Nous allons sortir un album qui va s’appeler ’Le Livre d’Or d’Astérix’, comme les noces d’or qui représentent les cinquante années d’un mariage. [...] C’est un livre hommage dans lequel il y aura tout de même des bandes dessinées nouvelles, plutôt des histoires courtes qui ont trait aux anniversaires des deux personnages.

We are going to release an album which will be called 'The Golden Book of Asterix', like a golden wedding anniversary representing the fifty years of marriage. [...] The book is a tribute in which there will still new comics, mostly short stories that relate to the anniversaries of two characters.

Better translations welcome.
Thank for the tip Liam

Jochgem

[Jochgem]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/ja ... ics-france

Daughter accuses Asterix author of betraying his hero

[..]
Writing in Le Monde yesterday, [Uderzo' s] daughter Sylvie suggests the 81-year-old illustrator has been pushed into denying "all the values" she was brought up with: "independence, fraternity, conviviality and resistance".
[..]
More than 325m copies of Asterix have been sold around the world since the beginning of the series, with film rights, merchandising and a theme park north of Paris contributing to a business worth millions of euros every year. Each new album sells around 3m copies with a new album due to be published this year, marking the characters' 50th anniversary.

Jochgem

[Furienna]

Hmmm... I have to wonder though, if a new writer/illustrator would be as good at making "Asterix" stories as Goscinny and Uderzo were. But of course, it might turn out good, if someone else just gets the chance.

[Maik]

To me Asterix series ends at "Asterix and Obelix All at Sea".
"Asterix and the Actress", "Class Act" and "Falling sky" to me are more like some extra features then honest Asterix stories.
Another reason why, is that all stories before "All at the sea" are the stories I did grow up and they have a nice retro quality to it.

But anny way - give somebody a chance to leagally write/draw his own Asterix stories? Yhe! Why, not? I actually would be interested to see some new author's atemps to do Asterix adventures, even do It just wont be the same series to me, and I will think about it as somthing separate [like the "Tweleve Task" movie or anny movie adaptation at this point].

I think they are some clever and creative people out there who could do some interesting Asterix stories if you would hive them a chance.

For example the guy who did the last "Lucky Luke" animated series, and the "Lucky Luke go west" movie, to me, trully capture what was fantastic in the Gościnny's Lucky Luke books and did a wonderfull job coming up with his own Lucky Luke adventures and humor, even do it dosen't 100% feel like the comic, it still was incredible funny and done in the spirit of the oryginal.
I think there are people up there who could be just as good with Asterix..

[Senilix]

Yes, I haven´t read any new Lucky Luke myself since I dropped out some time in the early 1990s after several terrible albums, but I have heard people saying that the last album (L'Homme de Washington) are pretty good (havent´t read it myself). The last really good LL-album I have read was Nitroglycérine. When it comes to Asterix, I think the last good album was Asterix and the Magic Carpet.