Asterix and the Picts, the plucky Gaul's first album in eight years, is published today. It's the first by a new writer-illustrator team – Jean-Yves Ferri and Didier Conrad, overseen by original creator Albert Uderzo. Michelle Pauli travelled to Paris to find out more
How does it feel to step into such huge shoes as Goscinny and Uderzo's?
Didier Conrad: It's impressive, of course. Obviously we're honoured we've been chosen to do this but, at the same time, we're also intimidated because it's a huge responsibility to live up to the memory we had as young readers of Asterix.
Jean-Yves Ferri: Usually, takeovers don't happen like this. Usually, with something this size, entire studios take over. But in this particular case, Uderzo wanted to find two individuals. So it's a bit like when you're used to driving a small car and all of a sudden you're told to drive a massive train – the proportion is very different to what we're used to. So we can do the work, definitely, and we're getting our heads around the volume and the size of it all, so we're working on it and we're learning … we're still learning now which is why we're a bit shaky!
Did you ever feel, having accepted it, that you simply couldn't do it?
DC: All the time! During the whole process. As I was drawing I felt I wouldn't be able to make it because we had very tight deadlines and there was no leniency, it had to be perfect. So I had to re-do it until it was perfect. We got no extension, the deadline was the deadline.
J-YF: For me, it was the same thing with the script because I come from comedy scripts but it's a very different humour to that of Asterix so I had to get to grips with that particular humour and that took a lot of work.
Were you ever concerned that it was going to be too constraining for you and that there would not be enough room for your own creativity because you had to follow the Asterix formula? And how did you bring in your own creativity within those constraints?
J-YF: That's the name of the game when you choose to work on something like this and I think there is still room for creativity, you just need to find a way to insert it into the format.
How did you find that way in?
J-YF: Usually when I work on a comic book, I like to play on classical codes of comic books and that's what I did with Asterix as well. I liked the idea of playing with already established codes and inserting them into the comic book. It's very specific but there is room for creativity, definitely.
DC: For me, there were constraints and not just with the format but also style and time. When Jean-Yves wrote his script he didn't have Goscinny to check it and say that it was OK. Whereas I had Uderzo – which was great, it was great to have his support – but I also had to get his approval, which was quite scary. I managed because Uderzo has a way of working that's quite intuitive and I decided to do the same thing so I took what I liked the most from his illustrations and then I turned it into drawings that I liked. That's how I managed. It was a bit like judo, I flipped the whole thing around and it worked, but it was difficult at first.
J-YF: For me, I had Goscinny's photo stuck on my wall above my desk.
How involved was Uderzo?
DC: Well, he checked every page as I drew. Yes, it was very scary. Then he would comment – "there is some work to do" or...[laughs] "it will be better next time" [laughs]. Yeah … Like a kind teacher.
Did you ever disagree?
DC: The last word went to Albert.
Why Scotland?
J-YF: Because England was already taken! [laughs] Because Asterix had never been to Scotland. At the time it was the Picts and there is very little left from their time, just perhaps some stones, so we could imagine a lot. And I decided to make the Picts the ancestors of the Scots. Scotland was the first idea I had – I wanted to make this a "travel album" so I started to think about places I could send them to and I like Scotland. And I came across the Picts so that worked well. The landscape is really good. In fact, comic books have often used Scotland as a setting.
Why did you decide to include the Scottish referendum debate?
J-YF: It's a rumour but it's not true! When went to Scotland, for some reason everyone thought that we'd chosen Scotland because of the referendum. I kept saying "no, that's not necessarily why I chose Scotland" but they kept on insisting so I ended up saying yes …
But is there a reference to it?
J-YF: The only reference is that as a background you have clans that remind you of potential political situations. But there is nothing political in the album. That just shows you that you have to be careful with Asterix – it's a symbol of France's international relations.
But the Loch Ness Monster must be in it?
J-YF: It's a possibility...
What's your favourite Asterix album (both as a child and as an adult, if different)?
DC: Asterix and Cleopatra
J-YF: Asterix and the Legionary
And your favourite characters?
J-YF: Obelix. Not for his size but his character. He's very lively and unpredictable, always living in the moment.
DC: Cleopatra, for her very strong personality. And Panacea! That's her English name [in French, the character is called Falbala] – the English translator is a star. Getafix!
And your favourite to draw?
DC: The dog was fairly difficult to draw. I'd never drawn dogs before because I don't actually like them. I prefer cats. And as for my favourite … I don't know or I'm not allowed to say (because it's a new character I created)
Asterix and the Picts is going to introduce Asterix to a new generation of British children. Asterix is not quite as big in Britain as in France. Why should British children read Asterix?
J-YF: That's a difficult question to answer. Even in France we don't know which books chilldren read the most or why they read them. Generally, it's just a series that's available at home, parents have their collection and it's passed down from generation to generation.
Whereas in Britain children have to choose to read Asterix as it's not necessarily automaticaly there. Why should they choose to read Asterix? Why would you suggest a child reads it?
DC/J-YF: I think the reason why they should read Asterix is because it talks about a common cultural heritage, in a way. We all had the Roman invasion – in England, Denmark, Spain – so we have the same history of the Roman empire and even you were invaded at some point! I think the only place where Asterix can't mean anything is the US, which is the only great empire left today, because they can only relate to the Romans and not the small village. That's probably why it's not read out there. But elsewhere it should be read, it can be understood, it means something. Even though Asterix may look like a very French concept it is read, for instance, in Germany. It's quite popular there, which just goes to show …
Do you even see them as children's books?
DC/J-YF: Yes, they are for children, they are accessible to children, that's the idea. It's the first Franco-Belgian series aimed at all age groups so we tried to do the same thing in this latest book. It's very rare to find a series that all age groups will like or enjoy reading. It's a tradition that has been lost and in France you now have very few series that all ages read. Asterix is inclusive, it wants to include all age groups and also different cultures, different nationalities. It's always done in a very welcoming way. It's never mean or trying to diminish other cultures and that's probably why people enjoy reading it – it includes other cultures and all age groups (well, all cultures except the US, I don't know why!)
You're known as a writer and an illustrator in your own right. Did you or do you ever worry that being associated with such a huge phenomenon as Asterix would have an impact, would overshadow your own work or make it difficult?
J-YF: No. It's not a bad thing. We're old so we've already done quite a lot. What we've wanted to do we've already done, at least largely. In terms of the public, that's completely different. Yes, everything is overshadowed by Asterix – the only exception would be Tintin – but that's not a bad thing as it's only going to make us better known and people who read our Asterix may be curious about our other work, which can only be a good thing. And if they're not it won't change anything anyway.
DC: The same for me. And it's also a new experience for us, which is a good thing. We've had series in the past that have worked well, of course, but never this level. This goes beyond the comic world. In France when a comic works there may be 100,000 copies sold. This is two million, so it's completely different. Usually it takes 20 years to sell two million copies of a book.
What next – for you and for Asterix?
J-YF: We're already thinking about the next album and we're talking about it but we're waiting to see how this one is welcomed by the public to see whether we're going to gain their confidence or not. We also have our other work that's waiting for us and we'll continue with that. We're looking at publishing an album every two or three years, it's good in terms of rhythm, it gives us time to see what happens, to work on our other projects. The idea is also that Asterix has to be great quality otherwise it will just be commonplace … We want to keep up the good work.
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