Legendary Asterix Creator Uderzo Dies At 92

Story By: Ernest Bio BogoreSub-EditorJoseph Golder, Agency:  Newsflash

Legendary cartoonist Albert Uderzo who created the world-famous Asterix character has died today at the age of 92 after being “very tired for several weeks.”

Bernard de Choisy, Uderzo’s son-in-law, told reporters: “Albert Uderzo died in his sleep at his home in Neuilly in the french department of Hauts-de-Seine of a heart attack unrelated to the coronavirus.

“He had been very tired for several weeks.”

Newsflash

The cartoonist’s death was confirmed by Aymar du Chatenet, President of the Rene Goscinny Institute and its former publisher Dargaud.

Asterix was written by Rene Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo until Goscinny’s death in 1977. Uderzo then continued writing until 2009, when he sold the rights to the publishing company Hachette.

The Asterix series is one of the most famous Franco-Belgian comic strips in the world, with the series translated into 111 languages and dialects as of 2009.

Newsflash

The success of the series has led to the adaptation of its books into 13 films: nine animated and four live-action, one of which, Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra, was a great success at the French box office.

There have also been a number of character-based games, and a theme park near Paris, named ‘Parc Asterix’. The very first French satellite launched in 1965, was also named after the comic book character.

In 2017, 370 million copies of Asterix books were sold worldwide, with co-creators Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo being the best-selling French authors abroad.

Reacting to Uderzo’s death, many Internet users expressed their admiration.

Writer Marc Dubuisson commented: “A small tribute, now posthumous, to Goscinny and Uderzo in my next book.

“Like many of us, Asterix was one of my first outstanding readings.”

The ViralTab page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.