The country’s first satellite was named Asterix. The series became iconic in France during his lifetime. Goscinny died too early, but not before witnessing the stupendous success of Asterix, which began as a French comic. I can bet that if Uderzo were still writing, the charmingly named coronavirus would have found its way into the comic book – as a sidekick to Impedimenta, maybe? Uderzo, who died on March 24 as the world grapples with coronavirus, cleverly put in a tribute to his late friend Goscinny (Saul ben Ephishul) as the Jew who guides Asterix and Obelix from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea. I was thrilled to discover that Asterix and the Black Gold, which was rated as Uderzo’s best writing work, had a tribute to Sean Connery’s James Bond (Dubbleosix). After Goscinny’s death in 1977, Uderzo took over the writing as well.

Of the 38 Asterix titles, 24 were written by Rene Goscinny, with Uderzo working on the art. The Fresh President made his way into the comic series disguised as a Roman economist. Goscinny mixed shrewd wordplay with razor-sharp gags and caricatures of French politicians such as Jacques Chirac. What as a schoolboy I missed out on, my Dad delighted in enlightening me. Druid Getafix, Chief Vitalstatistix, bard Cacofonix, Geriatrix, Unhygienix, Fulliautomatix, Roman Gluteus Maximus (I never saw it as a muscle again), Centurion Crismus Bonus and more were the cause of happy cheer in those long weeks of lockdown – and Dogmatix no less.Īlbert Underzo, one of the two creators of the beloved comic book character Asterix passed away on Maat the age of 92. Asterix with his winged helmet, bulbous nose, and horseshoe moustache and Obelix, a stonemason who had fallen into the cauldron when he was a baby ( Asterix lovers know it by heart) became my childhood companions when I couldn’t go out. For both of us, Asterix is right up there with all the Superhero series – with guffaws and hoots thrown in.Īs a boy, sitting in my room overlooking the Dal through Kashmir’s many lockdowns, I rolled with laughter at the wit of Rene Goscinny and the artistic genius of Alberto Uderzo. And one of the ways ‘like father, like son’ fits is here. The curiosity made me promise my Dad in all solemnity that I would take care of the comic books as well as he did if he allowed me to read them. My father has guarded his entire collection the way the sword-wielding Asterix and the roly-poly Obelix guarded their village from the Roman legionaries.Īs a teenager, I coined the word “overcare” for my Dad and his Asterix series. Given that he lovingly covered each comic with talc sheet as a teenager himself and has not allowed even a single comic book of this series to be moved from his personal library, they are in as good a condition as can be expected. My father owns all 38 titles of the Asterix comic series.