Various writers and artists
Publisher: Les Editions Albert René
Goscinny and Uderzo's Asterix can probably compete with Hergé's Tintin for the title of most famous European cartoon strip character. The plucky Gaul has PAF!-ed his way through 33 separate albums since his inception almost half a century ago, but with Uderzo's recent admission that he's having trouble coming up with new ideas for the character, it doesn't seem likely that we'll see many more stories from his original creators in future.
Whilst this hardback volume doesn't contain a new Asterix story, it does offer numerous writers and artists the chance to pay tribute to the character and his creators on the occasion of Albert Uderzo's 80th birthday. The book takes the form of an anthology of short stories, each no more than 2 or 3 pages long, and it forces the creators to be economical and efficient in their storytelling--to pack each page with as many jokes as possible, and to get to the point quickly.
It also makes the book a fun volume to dip into from time to time, rather than to attempt to read it from cover to cover in one sitting. If you're at all aware of the European comics scene, you'll probably be surprised to see so many familiar faces, and the book features guest-appearances from characters as varied as Spirou, Lucky Luke, Titeuf, XIII, and Marsupilani, (and there's even a story featuring Scrooge McDuck and his nephews).
There are some names here that will be familiar to readers of American comic, too (Milo Manara contributes a couple of pages, and Kathryn and Stuart Immonen provide a story), but don't let the lack of familiarity with these creators and characters put you off. Whilst part of the attraction of the book is in seeing some rare work from these established creators, far more enjoyment can be derived from seeing exactly how they choose to play around with the characters that inhabit Asterix's world.
Astérix et ses Amis offers its contributors the opportunity to take the world of Asterix and Obelix and do whatever they like with it, making each story essentially a blank canvas for its creators. Whilst many play it safe and attempt to ape Uderzo's art style, others are more adventurous in their tributes.
Particularly notable are the stories by Baru (which sees Asterix and Obelix re-imagined as unruly teenagers who fight the police in the riot-prone estates of the Paris banlieux), Bouch (which casts Asterix as the life model of an art class that is presided over by Leonardo Da Vinci), Henk Kuijpers (in which a young woman begins to see the characters of Asterix's village appearing everywhere in her seaside fishing town) and Turf (which tells the “untold story” of Obelix's weak, soft-natured twin brother). All of these show a knack for maintaining the essence of the original characters whilst doing something innovative with them, and it's this kind of fresh spin that makes it so much fun to see other creators tackle such an established property.
However, as with all anthologies, there's a hit-and-miss quality that makes it impossible to outright recommend the book. In amongst the inventive new takes, there are several repeated ideas (with so many inclusions of Uderzo himself as a character in the story that it becomes tiresome rather than charming), and there are some creative styles that will doubtless turn readers off altogether. The story by Spanish artist Forges is a good example, featuring as it does artwork that looks like it was put together by an 8-year-old using Microsoft Paint.
That said, even the most unsatisfying stories in the collection show such an obvious love and affection for the characters that it's difficult to completely berate them, and there are plenty of touches of reverential detail that show just how pervasive an influence the Asterix books have been on the creators involved.
As a new release, Astérix et ses Amis is still only available in its original-language edition, but even those readers who don't speak French might be interested in tracking it down since much of its appeal is visual and the stories aren’t complicated. Despite the patchiness, it's a fun exercise in the reinterpretation of a classic character, and an opportunity to see an impressive collection of creators riff on a common theme. If nothing else, casual readers will appreciate the exposure to such a wide variety of styles--and fans of Asterix are bound to love it.
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