fbpx
Comics

Asterix artist Albert Uderzo passes away of old age (news).

Asterix artist Albert Uderzo has passed away today, Tuesday 29th March 2020, at the grand old age of 92, his son-in-law tells us.

The French comic book illustrator behind the Asterix comics (first created in 1959) joins his co-creator, author René Goscinny, in the pantheon of great graphic novel legends in the sky.

Uderzo’s son-in-law, Bernard de Choisy, said Albert Uderzo, “has died in his sleep at his home in Neuilly from a heart attack unrelated to the coronavirus. He had been very tired for several weeks.”

Albert met René Goscinny in 1951 and they quickly became fast chums, working together in 1952 at the Paris office of Belgian company World Press.

Their initital works were the characters Oumpah-pah, Jehan Pistolet and Luc Junior. In 1958 they adapted Oumpah-pah for serial publication in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine Tintin, where it ran until 1962.

In 1959 Goscinny and Uderzo became editor and artistic director (respectively) of Pilote magazine, a new book aimed at older children. The magazine’s first issue introduced Astérix to the French world. Astérix was serialised in Pilote, but in 1961 the first album Astérix le Gaulois (Asterix the Gaul) was published as an individual album.

By 1967, the comic had become so popular that both decided to completely dedicate their time to the series.

After Goscinny’s death in 1977, Uderzo continued to write and illustrate the books on his own, though at a significantly slower pace (averaging one album every three to five years compared to two albums a year when working with Goscinny). The cover credits read Goscinny and Uderzo until the end.

Asterix artist Albert Uderzo passes away of old age
Asterix artist Albert Uderzo passes away of old age

ColonelFrog

Colonel Frog is a long time science fiction and fantasy fan. He loves reading novels in the field, and he also enjoys watching movies (as well as reading lots of other genre books).

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.