Albert Uderzo, legendary artist behind ‘Asterix and Obelix’ comics, dies aged 92
The co-creator of ‘The Adventures of Asterix’ comic book series, Albert Uderzo, has died aged 92 at his home, his family announced. He passed away from a heart attack in his sleep, after several weeks of weakness.
The death was not related to the coronavirus epidemic currently ravaging France, Uderzo’s son-in-law told AFP.
Asterix is an iconic French comic book series focused on the ancient Gauls standing up to the war machine of the Roman Empire – with a bit of magic and a lot of humor and creativity thrown in. The first strip was published in 1959, created by Uderzo in collaboration with fellow writer Rene Goscinny.
With around 380 million copies sold in over 100 languages and a string of animation and feature films produced over the years, Asterix has become one of the most internationally recognized French cultural phenomena.
Another contribution to the world of comics is the character Ompa-pa the Redskin, which was also created in collaboration with Goscinny and ran for several year in the Tintin magazine.
Uderzo also created the comic book ‘The adventures of Tanguy and Laverdure’ with Belgian writer Jean-Michel Charlier – a series about French Air Force combat pilots.
The son of Italian immigrants, Uderzo started sketching during his childhood. His stellar career in the comics industry is made all the more impressive by the fact that he was color blind. His collaboration with Goscinny was cut short by the latter’s death in 1977 at the age of 51. Uderzo started withdrawing from his work in 2009 due to progressing osteoarthritis, with writer Jean-Yves Ferri and artist Didier Conrad taking over the mantle of principal authors of the Asterix series in 2013.
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