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The
Next Asterix Book? - "34"
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With the 33rd Asterix book - Asterix
and the Falling Sky released in 2005, attention turns
to a possible 34th Asterix book. Will there be another Asterix
book? What can we expect Asterix 34 to be about? This page
finds out.
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Will
there be another Asterix book?
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 In
the press conferences given for Asterix
and the Falling Sky, the news about another Asterix
book was positive.
It had been noted that the cover of the latest Asterix
book Asterix
and the Falling Sky was very similiar to the cover
of the 1st Asterix book Asterix the Gaul. Some fans
speculated the reason for this was Falling Sky was intended
to be the last Asterix book and the cover was chosen
to act as a "book end" to the series.
Uderzo confirmed the cover was deliberately modelled
on Asterix the Gaul, but emphasised this didn't make
it the last Asterix book in the following quotes:
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- "I enjoy what I'm doing despite my age and
as long as I can find a good idea I will make another
album" - Hindustan
Times
- "I don't intend to quit, the scenarios and
drafts for the albums are done by me. Then I have
someone turn it into ink, and finally colourists work
on the strips." - Hindustan
Times
- "As long as I keep having fun and more good
ideas, and as long as Toutatis grants me life, I will
keep going" - AFP
- "“No, no, no, it is not the last. Certain
journalists believed this because the cover was the
mirror image of the first Asterix album. That is indeed
the case but it was not at all my intention to suggest
it would be the last album. I can say that for one
simple reason: my life is the work that I do. The
day will never come when I will say that I have nothing
more to do with this character. I certainly hope that
I will have more ideas.”" - FT.com
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These quotes show Uderzo is keen to make a new book but doesn't
say much about whether he has any ideas or has started a new
book. However, in an interview in Munich Newspaper Süddeutsche
Zeitung Uderzo made the following comment:
SZ: You could sit at the drawing desk and
start to paint a new Asterix adventure.
Uderzo: Yes, I could. Right now I'm busy with
number 32 and 33. I try hard to finish soon. |
This interview was published May 7th, 2004, long after Asterix
and the Class Act had been printed and released. Asterix
and the Class Act was not initially regarded as No.32
until they decided Asterix and the Falling Sky would be Asterix
33 (causing much confusion - indeed in the English version
of Class Act no number is printed).
Therefore, it would seem that Uderzo was referring to two
totally new Asterix Adventires. This would mean that Uderzo
has already begun working on Asterix 34!
UPDATE!!! Uderzo
gave an interview on the ocassion of his 80th Birthday in
April this year (2007), in which he very strongly indicated
there would be a new Asterix Book!
- 'As long as I don't have a foot in the grave
I keep going. Asterix and Obelix are a part of my
life. They are my children and feed me well'
- "Uderzo, who turns 80 on April 25, already
has an idea for his next volume. 'I'm enjoying
my work and as long as my stories entertain their
readers I will continue drawing and writing,'
the son of an Italian violin maker who was born in
the French town of Fismes, said. (Source:
M&C)
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Asterix Missive No.71 also reports:
| "Emboldened, Sylvie [Uderzo's daughter]
gave the attending journalists their scoop, announcing
that her father was nearly finished writing his memoirs,
due to be published in the Autumn, in which he recounts
his childhood as the son of an Italian immigrant in the
post-war years as well as the Asterix saga with his friend
René. And then, the Director of Editions Albert
René continued, he will start on a new album…
the 34th!" |
If that isn't positive news, I don't know what
is!
UPDATE!!!
The 18th October 2007 BBC interview The Vitalstatistix
of Asterix quotes Uderzo "We are getting closer to
bringing him back to life in a new album", but...
the article then says "although he later admits that
he's still looking for an idea for the next story.".
So it looks like a new album is still an intention,
but he's taking his time to find the right story. This I welcome.
UPDATE!!! (29/12/07)
Erik Hevers reminds
me that 2009 will be the 50th Anniversary of Asterix's debut.
His prediction is that Albert Uderzo will release the next
(and probably last) Asterix book for this celebration on the
29 October 2009. This way, the Asterix comic series would
have spanned half a century!
 With the positive
indications for a new Asterix album there are also a few bad.
Hindustan
times reported that Uderzo admitted coming up with new
ideas was difficult.
The backlash from fans surrounding Asterix and the Falling
Sky may have made Uderzo less keen to release another book,
but the sales figures have been very healthy - people are
still buying the new books!
Uderzo is also now 80.. Although generally he appears healthy
for someone that age (and doesn't look it in photographs!)
he does "have problems with his hands" as
the article put it, so it may become increasingly difficult
for Uderzo to draw. There is no reason for us to believe though
that he won't stick around for a while yet.
 Albert
Uderzo has made it clear he does not want another author continuing
the Asterix series after his death. "I have decided
and Rene Goscinny would have agreed with me, that once I stop
working on this, Asterix will no longer come out as comic".
Asterix might carry on however in theater plays, films or
cartoons.
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When
could we expect a 34th book?
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There has generally been a break of four years in between
new Asterix adventures coming out under Uderzo:
However, the last three books have come out with a gap between
two years, so it is possible we could see Asterix 34 in two
years (2007), especially if Uderzo is already working on it.
However, Uderzo didn't have to write and illustrate a whole
album for Class Act, so the gap between Actress and Falling
Sky of four years (2009) is probably more realistic.
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What
could happen in the Book?
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For the most part, the Asterix books have followed a set
formula. If one book is set in the village and the surrounding
area then the following book will be set in a foreign country.
For example:
Following this formula, Asterix
and the Falling Sky should have been an Away adventure,
but instead the formulae was broken and it took place in the
Village. This means we are well over due for an abroad adventure,
as the last proper adventure away to another country was 1987's
Magic Carpet,
as All at Sea's
visit to Atlantis didn't last very long and its not even a
real country anyway!
And there are still so many countries that Asterix is yet
to visit which would make good stories.
(Note: It is unlikely that Asterix would
visit any countries that were not discovered
by Europeans at the time. Asterix and the Great
Crossing is the exception.)
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Kelvin
put together a nice cover for an Asterix
in Ireland adventure because he "always
wished or should I say dreamed a title like
this might appear in my twenty six years
of waiting"
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The "abroad" books are usually the most interesting
and funniest of the Asterix series. One of Uderzo's best books
in my opinion was "Asterix
and the Black Gold" where Asterix goes to Israel.
I hope Uderzo goes in the "abroad" direction and
delivers a book as good as or better than "Black
Gold", it could go some way of restoring his image
amongst fans who haven't liked his last three books.
Wussycat makes the following prediction "The
next book will probably be about Asterix going to Japan. Uderzo
unintentionally offended the Japanese with his previous book,
and this could be a good way to apologise."
Italian reader Angelo Cappelli had a good idea. Although
Asterix has been to Rome many times, we have not yet seen
an Asterix Adventure satirising the "Italians",
like the English in Asterix in Britain or Spanish in Asterix
in Spain. She suggests "It would be a good idea Asterix
and Obelix travelling around the Boot and meeting a Milanese
businnesman, a poeth and an artist from Florence, eating the
pizza in Naples, fighting the mafia in Sicilia.
Uderzo is the son of an italian, but it is unkind versus his
ancestors. His Romans are always bad and silly, while in the
last Goscinny albums there was more simpathy and chivalry
versus the traditional Asterixs enemies (in Asterix in Switzerland,
a Roman take part to the final banquet ; in Asterix ath the
Olympic games, Asterix let the laurel to his roman rival,
who, in a loyal competition, would have win it). A story settled
in Italy should be the chance for an apology."
Drawing for the cover
of TéléPoche to celebrate the publication of
'Asterix and the
Actress'. Will be seeing more of this mysterious lady
in No. 34?)
Back before Asterix
and the Actress was published, much of the speculation
regarding the book was that it would see Asterix (and possibly
Obelix) being married off. Although this didn't eventuate,
the book still dealt with the subject. Asterix's mother invites
all of the "neighboring young ladies" to tea with
her and Asterix. After incessant, small talk, Asterix storms
out saying "No!! I'm not yet ready for the
responsibility of marriage yet!!!". It is interesting
that he says not that he doesn't want to be married but that
he is not ready.
At the end of the book, when he is kissed
by Latraviata it is obvious that Asterix is contemplating
what it would be like to have a girl of his own.
Perhaps the most telling clue about this subject
in Asterix and the Actress is the end panel when Dogmatix
returns with a wife and kids. If Dogmatix has succumbed to
woman it will only be a matter of time before Asterix and
Obelix do...
Speculation continued that Asterix 33 would
see Asterix and Obelix married off, but didn't of course eventuate.
Whether this will happen in 34 depends on whether Uderzo wants
it to be the last book of the series.
Uderzo in one interview prior to the publishing
of Asterix and the Actress explained the perils of marrying
off his heroes:
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"I have often explained that
comics are a bit like classic television series. The
main character meets a pretty girl, and the story usually
ends with the boy and the girl falling in love and getting
married. But then suddenly, the girl disappears in a
terrible accident and the boy is sad and alone again
at the end of the series. Why? It's very simple: when
a hero is going to live through incredible adventures
in realistic or humorous stories, he must be totally
free of mind and movement to be able to travel without
having to answer to a family that he has left behind.
This is a constraint that an author must live with,
unless he wishes the opposite, but that's rare. I don't
think this happens very often in comics, but there is
one example that I often recall: the American comic
artist Chic Young created the character "Blondie".
At first, Blondie was a bachelor living with his parents,
but the readers started asking, "What is this!
This man is not going to be a bachelor all his life!
He has to get engaged, get married!" And Chic Young
did what his readers wanted by having Blondie get engaged,
and then get married. When you're married, you start
a family and you have children, and these children grow
up. I think Chic Young is no longer with us today, but
the series has probably been picked up by another artist,
as that often happens in the United States, and it is
Blondie's son who has become the star.
You see, this is all very logical. There's no way that
I could have Asterix get married now! He is not a character
who could easily find the right woman, given his size
and his physique, this would be quite strange! And then,
for the reasons I mentioned before, this would make
a constraint for me as an author. I clearly don't mean
by this that one shouldn't get married, and that married
people shouldn't remain married. Not at all! But fiction
is fiction, and must remain that way to give pleasure
to your readers, or to your spectators if it's a film."
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I would more than welcome YOUR predictions
and analysis about what the next Asterix book will be about.
Please send your thoughts and comments to wenleyix3@yahoo.co.nz
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How
to end the series?
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If Asterix 34 is intended to be the last book
of the series (#35 would seem a better number to end it at)
there are two options:
- Uderzo gives closure to Asterix adventures
- Uderzo provides no definite ending, leaving the
fans to imagine more Asterix adventures
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As mentioned, marrying Asterix and Obelix
off would be a good away of ending the series and providing
closure, however, there is a more intriguing option.
Asterix has often incoparated real Historical
Events into the storylines, and the most famous historical
event of that time period would be the assasination of Julius
Caesar. I think it would be fascinating if Asterix somehow
gets caught up in the after effects, possibly helping Octavius
Caesar and making permanent peace with the Romans (much to
the chagrin of Obelix?). Its a suggestion, but these events
would make for a fascinating story.
But do we want closure? Wouldn't it be better
to leave the stories open-ended, so the fans can imagine many
more adventures for Asterix. His colleague Tintin didn't ever
get any closure, and the series hasn't been any worse as a
result.
I'd be interested in your thoughts if you'd
want closure, how you'd like to see this, or whether you want
an open-ended book for the last adventure. Send comments to
wenleyix3@yahoo.co.nz.
Phumla sent in this comment: "I
don't think Asterix & Obelix should end their adventures
by being married, not that i don't want them to be married
but I just can't picture them in that kind of life...it would
be boring for them!!! I want an open ended book just like
Tintin, that way, some day someone might carry on where Uderzo
left off (Probably his grandchildren)."
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