Today, The Grandma has been reading some comics of Astérix le Gaulois, the comic that was first published in 1959.
Asterix or The Adventures of Asterix, in French Astérix or Astérix le Gaulois (Asterixthe Gaul) is a bande dessinée comic book series about a village of indomitable Gaulish warriors who adventure around the world and fight the Roman Republic, with the aid of a magic potion, during the era of Julius Caesar, in an ahistorical telling of the time after the Gallic Wars.
The series first appeared in the Franco-Belgian comic magazine Pilote on 29 October 1959.
It was written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo until Goscinny's death in 1977.
Uderzo then took over the writing until 2009, when he sold the rights to publishing company Hachette; he died in 2020.
In 2013, a new team consisting of Jean-Yves Ferri (script) and Didier Conrad (artwork) took over.
As of 2021, 39 volumes have been released, with the most recent released in October 2021.
The series follows the adventures of a village of Gauls as they resist Roman occupation in 50 BC. They do so using a magic potion, brewed by their druid Getafix (Panoramix in the French version), which temporarily gives the recipient superhuman strength.
The protagonists, the title character Asterix and his friend Obelix, have various adventures. The -ix ending of both names (as well as all the other pseudo-Gaulish -ix names in the series) alludes to the -rix suffix (meaning king, like -rex in Latin) present in the names of many real Gaulish chieftains such as Vercingetorix, Orgetorix, and Dumnorix.
In some of the stories, they travel to foreign countries, while other tales are set in and around their village. For much of the history of the series, settings in Gaul and abroad alternated, with even-numbered volumes set abroad and odd-numbered volumes set in Gaul, mostly in the village.
The Asterix series is one of the most popular Franco-Belgian comics in the world, with the series being translated into 111 languages as of 2009.
The humour encountered in the Asterix comics often centers around puns, caricatures, and tongue-in-cheek stereotypes of contemporary European nations and French regions.
Much of the humour in the initial Asterix books was French-specific, which delayed the translation of the books into other languages for fear of losing the jokes and the spirit of the story.
The various volumes have been translated into more than 100 languages and dialects. Besides the original French language, most albums are available in Bengali, Estonian, English, Czech, Dutch, German, Galician, Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Spanish, Catalan, Basque, Portuguese, Italian, Greek, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Turkish, Slovene, Bulgarian, Serbian, Croatian, Latvian, Welsh, as well as Latin.
Selected albums have also been translated into languages such as Esperanto, Scottish Gaelic, Irish, Scots, Indonesian, Persian, Mandarin, Korean, Japanese, Bengali, Afrikaans, Arabic, Hindi, Hebrew, Frisian, Romansch, Vietnamese, Sinhala, Ancient Greek, and Luxembourgish.
March, 24. A sad terrible day for sports, culture and citizenship. We remember Johan Cruyff, who died on a day like today four years ago, one year after the 9525 Germanwings flight. We remember and homage the victims and their families.
Today, Astérix has also lost his creator, Albert Uderzo, a genius, an artist, a wizard.
The Grandma loves comics. She consider them masterpieces and she admires artists like Albert Uderzo, Hergé, René Goscinny, Quino,Francisco Ibáñez, Jim Davis, Charles Schulz... The list is so long that it is very easy to forget a great name but she has two favourite artists, the Italian Hugo Pratt, creator of Corto Maltese and the French Albert Uderzo, creator of Astérix The Gaul.
Today, The Grandma wants to homage Albert Uderzo talking about him and his work. She likes to remember that artists never die while we remember and enjoy their works. This is the most wonderful present that artists can give to our society, the immortality of their works, the eternity of their characters.
The Grandma wants to offer to her families the Complete Works of Asterix.A great compilation of all his works in English. Download and enjoy them.
Alberto Aleandro Uderzo (25 April 1927-24 March 2020), known as AlbertUderzo, was a French comic book artist and scriptwriter. The son of Italian immigrants, he is best known as the co-founder and illustrator of the Astérix series in collaboration with René Goscinny. He also drew other comics such as Oumpah-pah, again with Goscinny.
Uderzo was born in Fismes in the Marne department of France on 25 April 1927 as the fourth child of Silvio Uderzo and his wife Iria Uderzo. His parents had met in 1915 in La Spezia, where Silvio Uderzo was recovering after he had been wounded in his service for the Royal Italian Army during World War I. Uderzo's mother, Iria Crestini, was working in the arsenals of La Spezia, along with many young Italian women at the time. Silvio was dismissed from military service after the conclusion of the conflict, on 19 June 1919. The two became a couple and married shortly before the birth of their first child, Bruno Uderzo (1920-2004).
Astérix created by Albert Uderzo
After Bruno, they had Rina Uderzo in 1922. They moved from Italy to France with their then two children, first settling in Chauny in the Aisne departement. Because of Silvio's occupation as a carpenter, they had to change location regularly. In Chauny, a son named AlbertUderzo was born in 1925 but died of pneumonia at the age of 8 months.
The Uderzos decided to name their next son in honor of the deceased brother, and Uderzo was registered as Alberto Aleandro Uderzo. The fact that his name, intended to just be Albert like that of his deceased brother, has been registered as the Italian Alberto is because the responsible government official misunderstood Silvio Uderzo's heavy Italian accent. The name Aleandro is in honor of Uderzo's paternal grandfather.
Uderzo was born on the morning of 25 April 1927 around 07:00. At this point, he was an Italian citizen rather than a French one. Uderzo was born with six fingers on each hand. The additional fingers were surgically removed early in childhood as a precaution, as the infant Uderzo would sometimes violently pull on them when enraged or annoyed.
In the year 1929, the Uderzos moved to Clichy-sous-Bois in the eastern suburbs of Paris, the capital city of France. Here, Uderzo experienced elements of racism against Italian immigrants during his childhood,even though he gained French citizenship in the year 1934. Clichy-sous-Bois, at the time a very politically left-leaning political district, held deep popular sentiments against Mussolini's dictatorship and its involvement in the Spanish Civil War.
Uderzo at one particular point became the target of the anger of a victim of Italian-German bombardment in the Spanish Civil War, and said man spit in his face. However, apart from the occasional ethnic resentment against Italians, Uderzo views his childhood and education in Clichy-sous-Bois fondly in retrospect. His mother gave birth to two more children: Jeanne Uderzo was born in 1932 and Marcel Uderzo in 1933.
Uderzo came in touch with the arts for the first time during kindergarten, where he was noted as talented for his age. Most of his siblings also shared certain artistic talents, and their mother used sheets of paper and pencils to give the children, especially her oldest son Bruno, something to do. Bruno became an inspiration for Albert and in turn, soon noted the younger brother's talent.
At this point, Albert did not yet aim to become a professional artist later in life and instead dreamt about a career as a clown and, after dropping that aspiration, aimed to follow Bruno into the craft of aircraft engineering. At the same time, he came in contact with the American comic and animated cartoon cultures,particularly with the early works of Walt Disney like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.
Albert Uderzo with Obélix and Astérix
The family moved to the
Rue de Montreuil in the 11th arrondissement of Paris in October 1938,
changing both schools and the social vicinity.
Although Albert,blonde
and now equipped with a Parisian accent, was no longer easily recognized
as of Italian heritage, he nonetheless had problems in school. His only
successful area in his educational pursuits was sketching and the arts. It would take him until around the age of 11 or 12 to go from sketching to painting in colors, however, which was when his parents discovered that Uderzo was color blind. From then on, Uderzo would use labels on his colors, but as he mostly stuck with black-and-white sketching, it would not make a huge impact on his artistic career either way.
In September 1939, Germany invaded Poland and France declared war on Germany in response. Albert's father Silvio, by then 51, was too old to be conscripted into the French army, whereas Albert himself was too young at 12. Bruno, however, was of military age and was called to action. He survived his military service without injury, and the Battle of France lasted between 10 May and 25 June 1940, ending in a decisive German victory and resulting in a Germanoccupation of France. Albert soon finished his basic education at the age of 13 and decided to follow Bruno into aircraft engineering.
Throughout some more creations and travelling for the next few years, he eventually met René Goscinny in 1951. The two men quickly became good friends, and decided to work together in 1952 at the newly opened Paris office of the Belgian company, World Press. Their first creations were the characters Oumpah-pah, Jehan Pistolet and Luc Junior.
In 1958 they adapted Oumpah-pah for serial publication in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine Tintin, where it ran until 1962.
In 1959 Goscinny and Uderzo became editor and artistic director (respectively) of Pilote magazine, a new venture aimed at older children. The magazine's first issue introduced Astérix to the French world, and it was an instant hit. During this period Uderzo also collaborated with Jean-Michel Charlier on the realistic series Michel Tanguy, later named Les Aventures de Tanguy et Laverdure.
Albert Uderzo's works
Astérix was serialised in Pilote, but in 1961 the first album Astérix leGauloiswas published as an individual album. By 1967, the comic had become so popular that both decided to completely dedicate their time to the series. After Goscinny'sdeath in 1977, Uderzo continued to write and illustrate the books on his own, though at a significantly slower pace, averaging one album every three to five years compared to two albums a year when working with Goscinny. The cover credits still read Goscinny and Uderzo.
Uderzo married Ada Milani in 1953 and had one daughter Sylvie Uderzo (b. 1956). According to The Book of Asterix the Gaul, it was speculated that Uderzo had based the characters Panacea and Zaza on Ada and Sylvie respectively, though this has been denied by Uderzo.
After Uderzo fired Sylvie and her husband in 2007 as managers of his estate and agreed to sell his share of Editions Albert René to Hachette Livre, Sylvie accused him in a column in Le Monde, that with this sale to a corporation it was as if the gates of the Gaulish village had been thrown open to the Roman Empire.
Uderzo had previously stated in interviews that Astérix would end with his death; however, the terms of the sale to Hachette allowed the company to continue producing Astérix titles indefinitely with or without Uderzo'sparticipation.
Uderzo in 2013 sued his daughter and son-in-law for psychological violence. Sylvie responded with a lawsuit claiming persons unnamed had abused her father's frailty. Her case was thrown out of court in 2014 and the two reached an amicable settlement.
Since Uderzo's retirement in 2011, Astérix has been taken over by Jean-Yves Ferri (script) and Didier Conrad (art).
Sylvie owns 40% of Editions Albert René, while the remaining 60%, previously owned by Uderzo and by Goscinny's daughter, is currently owned by Hachette Livre. Uderzo's brother, Marcel, is also a cartoonist.
Asterix and the Falling Sky was dedicated to his late brother Bruno (1920–2004).
On 24 March 2020, Uderzo died in his sleep at his home in Neuilly-sur-Seine.
Today, The Jones have visited the Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts. They have discovered thousands of English Grammar Books which talk about Present Simple, Social English, Prepositions of Place and There is/There are.
It has been an intensive morning reviewing this part of the grammar, learning new prepositions and talking about places and buildings.
The family has also found a fantastic book about another famous hero: Asterix The Gaul, the brave small man who saved his town from the Roman invasion in the Gallia. They have created an interesting composition paying attention to the structure and the three most important characteristics: cohesion, coherence and adequation.
After a fantastic breakfast offered by Marta Jones, The Jones have chosen their school at Hogwarts and they have started to play different games to train their memory and vocabulary.
Finally, they have created some personal and psychologic profiles which are very useful to add in a CV.
Marta Jones and her sweet round cookies
Tomorrow, The Jones are going to create a story taking some information sources and joining them with connectors and they're going to visit some places inside Hogwarts to review some vocabulary about places and buildings. They are also going to welcome spring with a fantastic Poetry Contest where they're going to show their skills in composition, metrics and rhythm.
In Harry Potter and the Chamberof Secrets, Harry spends the summer with The Dursleys without receiving letters from his Hogwarts friends. In his room, Harry meets Dobby, a house-elf, who warns him of a peril that will take shape if he returns to Hogwarts, and reveals he intercepted his friends' letters, and destroys a cake. The Dursleys lock Harry up, but Ron, Fred and George Weasley rescue him in their father's flying car.
While purchasing school supplies, Harry and the Weasley family encounter Rubeus Hagrid and Hermione Granger, and they attend a book-signing by celebrity wizard Gilderoy Lockhart, who announces that he will be the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. During a small confrontation with Draco Malfoy, Harry meets his father, Lucius, who slips a book in Ginny Weasley's belongings.
Rubeus Hagrid
When Harry and Ron are blocked from entering Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, they fly to Hogwarts in the flying car, crashing into the Whomping Willow upon arrival. Ron's wand is damaged, and the car ejects them before driving off. Both boys narrowly avoid expulsion when Professor McGonagall gives them detention.
While serving detention with Lockhart, Harry hears strange voices and later finds caretaker Argus Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, petrified, along with a message written in blood announcing the Chamber of Secrets has been opened.
Minerva McGonagall explains that one of Hogwarts' founders, Salazar Slytherin, supposedly constructed a secret Chamber and placed a monster that only his Heir can control inside it, to purge the school of impure-blooded wizards and witches. Harry and Ron suspect Malfoy is the Heir, so Hermione suggests that they question him while disguised using polyjuice potion. They utilise a disused bathroom haunted by a ghost, Moaning Myrtle, as their makeshift laboratory to brew the potion.
When Harry communicates with a snake, the school believes he is the Heir. On Christmas Day, Harry and Ron learn that Malfoy is not the Heir, but he mentions that a girl died when the Chamber was last opened fifty years ago. Harry finds an enchanted diary, owned by a former student named Tom Marvolo Riddle, which shows him a flashback to fifty years before, where Riddle accused Hagrid, then a student, of opening the Chamber. When the diary is stolen and Hermione is petrified, Harry and Ron question Hagrid.
Professor Albus Dumbledore, Cornelius Fudge, and Lucius Malfoy, come to take Hagrid to Azkaban, but he discreetly tells the boys to follow the spiders. In the Forbidden Forest, Harry and Ron meet Hagrid's giant pet spider Aragog, who tells them that Hagrid was innocent and provides them with a small clue about the Chamber's resident monster. Aragog then sets his colony of Acromantula on the boys, but the now-wild flying car saves them.
A book page in Hermione's hand identifies the monster as a basilisk, a giant serpent that instantly kills those that make direct eye contact with it; the petrified victims only saw it indirectly. The school staff learn that Ginny was taken into the Chamber, and convince Lockhart to save her.
Minerva McGonagall
Harry and Ron find Lockhart, exposed as a fraud, planning to flee; knowing Myrtle was the girl the Basilisk killed, they take him to her bathroom and find the Chamber's entrance. Once inside, Lockhart uses Ron's damaged wand against them, but it backfires, wiping his memory, and causes a cave-in.
Harry enters the Chamber alone and finds Ginny unconscious, guarded by Tom Riddle. Riddle reveals that he used the diary to manipulate Ginny and reopen the Chamber. When Riddle creates the anagram for his future new identity, "I am Lord Voldemort" from his full name, Harry realises that Riddle himself is Slytherin's heir and Voldemort was only a pseudonym. After Harry expresses support for Dumbledore, Dumbledore's Fawkes flies in with the Sorting Hat, and Riddle summons the Basilisk. Fawkes blinds the Basilisk, and the Sorting Hat eventually produces a sword with which Harry battles and slays the Basilisk, but he is injured by its fangs.
Harry defeats Riddle and revives Ginny by stabbing the diary with a basilisk fang. Fawkes's tears heal him, and he returns to Hogwarts with his friends and a baffled Lockhart. Dumbledore praises them and orders for Hagrid's release. Dumbledore shows Harry the sword he wielded was Godric Gryffindor's own sword, and says he is different from Voldemort, because he chose Gryffindor House instead of Slytherin House. Harry accuses Lucius, Dobby's master, of planting the diary in Ginny's cauldron and tricks him into freeing Dobby. The Basilisk's victims are healed, Hermione reunites with Harry and Ron, and Hagrid returns.
In a post-credits scene, Lockhart has published a new autobiography, Who Am I?
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