“Générations Asterix: The Tribute Album”

Welcome to the Asterix review you weren’t expecting!

Yes, the 40th book of the series, “The White Iris,” came out last week. I will definitely be reviewing it. However, because I’m a dedicated reader/collector/completist, I ordered the British edition of the book and it’s slowly making its way to me from the wilds of Canada.

This gives me time to talk about another beautiful Asterix book I recently picked up that I had been trying to get my hands on for years. Thanks, eBay, for finally coming through!

Tribute to a 60-Year-Old Gaul

“Générations Asterix: L’Album Hommage” (which I’m translating to “The Tribute Album”) is a hardcover book put together for Asterix’s 60th birthday in 2019.

It features dozens of cartoonists — mostly Europeans but with a few names familiar to North American fans — doing pin-ups and short one- or two-page stories centered on Asterix. Each creator gets a little biography and listing of career comic highlights, and most include a short write-up of their earliest Asterix memories.

The book is just short of the dimensions of a full album size, but more than makes up for that with a 140-page count. There’s a healthy white margin around every page, which does make it feel slightly smaller, but I’m really nit-picking now.

The text is entirely in French. There is no English translation. Reading through this book has been a good test of what DuoLingo has taught me for the past 1300+ days, for sure. There’s not much to review there. People love Asterix and most creators in this book fondly recall how Asterix was a part of their childhood. It’s nice to see, though as an American I started “Asterix” much later in life…

As with previous all-star tribute books, it’s fun to see everyone’s interpretations of the characters. Most stick to their style, several do a passable Uderzo imitation, and a few wind up in between. I’m most excited by the ones who drew in their own style. I know what Uderzo can do, and nobody can do it better. Even the in-between artists are interesting to watch work, just to see how their own style still peeks through the Uderzo style guide.

As someone who enjoys those “Art of” books that come out after an animated movie, if just to see the variety of styles and concepts that went into the final movie, this book appeals to me. If you’re just looking for more Asterix stuff in the classic style, this book will likely annoy you, short of a half dozen pages or so.

The Breakdown

There’s no point in reviewing all of the dozens of contributions in this book. That would be tedious. But I do want to highlight some of them from the book, so that’s what the rest of this review will be. Apologies if I didn’t highlight your favorite artist. Trust me, I had to pare down my initial list to keep from rambling on too long already.

Each section of the book is introduced with a two-page black and white spread accompanied by a short piece of text to explain what it’s about. It’s a nice way to break up the wall-to-wall tributes with just a hint of Uderzo’s original line work.

There are five of those sections, based on the kind of tribute the cartoonist is offering.

(Apologies in advance for the art reproductions in this article. I don’t have a digital copy of the book to grab screenshots from, and being such a thick hardcover book, the pages don’t lay perfectly flat.)

“Origins”

Contributors: Louis Clichy, Blutch, Al Coutelis

These are stories about Uderzo and Goscinny creating the series. There are only three contributions here.

The best is Al Coutelis, a name I didn’t know before now. He has a cute story set in 1959 where Goscinny and Uderzo discuss a new series for their upcoming Pilote Journal, and come to a surprisingly funny conclusion.

Blutch and Louis Clichy (who worked on the recent animated Asterix movies, as well as “Wall-E”), contribute a pair of pin-ups. To be honest, I’m not sure how Blutch’s piece fits in with this category at all. It’s just a pin-up of Asterix and Obelix walking towards the reader. Maybe I’m missing something in the accompanying text? I don’t know.

“The Village”

Contributors: Valérie Vernay, Fabrice Tarrin, Mikaël, Kaare Andrews, Tebo, Arthur de Pins, Pascal Rabatè, Catherine Meurisse, Pierre Alary, Lewis Trondheim, Fabrice Parme, Nob, Kim Jung Gi, Félix Meynet, Wilfrid Lupano and Paul Cauuet, Anouk Ricard, Sascha Wüstefeld, Dany, Delaf, Flix, Lolita Séchan, Bastien Vivès, Tony Valente, Milo Manara

This is, as you might expect, the longest of the sections, with an absolute killer list of contributors centering their contributions on characters in Asterix’s Village or stories set in the village.

Fabrice Terrin, who drew the comic adaptation of “Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion” contributes a two-page story. It’s a cute one where Obelix is losing his mind, possibly because of the Magic Potion he fell into as a child, and now the whole Village is suffering. It starts when he’s carrying around Roman soldiers like they’re wild boars. Getafix has to make an antidote, and Asterix has to hold Obelix down long enough to take it. It’s a very fun story.

Terrin’s artistic style is as close to Uderzo’s as they come, with an inking style that’s less smooth than Uderzo’s, but just as effective. He also did a Spirou album once, which I’ll need to check out now, too.

Oh, and I love that lettering. It looks like it’s hand-lettered to me. It has a lot of energy and a classic comics look.

We have our first North American artist of the book in this section, with Kaare Andrews making a pin-up of Asterix and Obelix that is a wildly different interpretation of the duo. Obelix is a tattooed muscle man and Asterix is a short, skinny, wildly-moustached man. Andrews goes for more human proportions in Asterix, while turning Obelix into a muscular super-warrior. (“Obelix Smash!”) I wouldn’t want to see a whole book in this style, I don’t think, but I appreciate the pin-up.

The biggest name in this section, for me, is Pierre Alary, whose single-page story is beautiful and on model yet entirely his own. I can never get enough of Alary’s work, and seeing it here is a wonderful surprise. It has his perfect line work, plus that dappled light as Asterix, Obelix, and Getafix walk through the woods.

Tebo and Nob are my other favorites in this section, just because they go so far off-model and deliver funny and punchy pages of their own.

Tebo features a Roman soldier who thinks he’s super-powered and will be reversing roles with the Gauls for their birthday. Obelix doesn’t play along with the crazy Roman. There’s a great bit of construction and comedic timing with this page. I’m not sure my description could possibly do it justice.

Nob puts Obelix through the wringer, as the hunting of boars has been forbidden to keep from destroying the entire population. Instead, Obelix and Asterix are hunting in the forest for ingredients for soup! Also, the forest has been declared a “Protected Nature Zone,” so the Romans can no longer attack!

Obelix is constantly complaining about how hungry he is, and who could blame him? The final banquet is a whole new thing.

One last artist to mention from this section, and he’s possibly the last I’d have expected to see in this book: Kim Jung Gi. It’s an intensely detailed (of course!) full page in black and white with a whole lot going on. It’s madness and glorious and wonderful, all at the same time. Obelix looks crazed with his menhir over his shoulder.

I have to stop here or I’d go on too long talking about what a great discovery Sascha Wüstefeld is, or Delaf‘s crossover with The Bellybuttons, or Tony Valente‘s more franga-inspired look at Asterix and friends. It’s just a lot of good stuff.

“First Reads”

Contributors: Julie Maroh, Philippe Depuy, Sylvain Vallée, Charlie Adlard, Béja, Cosey, Emmanuel Guibert, Didier Tronchet

Eight cartoonists contribute pieces that reflect their first experiences reading Asterix. This includes Charlie Adlard, who contributes his own mock cover to “Asterix in Britain.”

Honestly, it’s the least exciting section of the book for me, personally. I only recognize about half the names and nothing struck me as particularly strong.

I did enjoy Didier Tronchet‘s page, where he tells the story of a time he won a prize at a comics festival and it was presented to him by Albert Uderzo. It’s a very relatable story of someone meeting an idol/influence and how it reduces him to his inner ten-year-old. Also, it has a funny final panel.

“The Time That Passed”

Contributors: Philippe Bercovici, François Boucq, Chrisphe Arleston and Alessandro Barbucci, Mawil, Guy Delisle, Steve Cuzor, Frédéric Jannin, François Ravard, Johan De Moor, Charles Berberian, Éric Hérenguel, Laurent Astier, Philippe Aymond

14 more contributors offer their pieces that center on the topic of Asterix being 60 years old. The idea of converting that number into dog years turned out to be too tempting for a few of the contributors to not use. It’s good that Dogmatix didn’t get ignored, at least!

Philippe Bercovici draws Asterix and Obelix visiting a doctor and nurse, befitting for the artist of “Les Femmes En Blanc,” a Spirou series about nurses (“The Women In White”). It centers on Obelix’s monumental fall into the Magic Potion as a child, which is another facet of the series that I saw a lot of references to in this book.

Another Pipeline favorite, Alessandro Barbucci, draws a page with a script from his “Ekho” co-conspirator, Christophe Arleston. It’s not a surprise that Barbucci draws the women of the village well, but he also draws a mean house in the Village. It’s a funny page where things break down quickly enough that the whole village has one of its rolling fights.

Steve Cuzor is not a name I’d heard before, but I loved his black and white drawing of Asterix and Obelix out for a walk in the forest on a snowy day. It reminded me a lot of Thierry Martin’s recent black-and-white work.

Guy Delisle is a Canadian cartoonist best known for his comics journalism in books like “Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City,” which covered such timely issues in 2012 as the Gaza War. (“plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose“)

The page he draws in this book cracked me up, as Asterix and Obelix talk about a menhir standing alone in a flat, almost desert-like region. Obelix speaks in a very high-minded, theoretical, artistic way about the legacy of such a piece of art and whether it will stand the test of time or, as Asterix argues, be more transient.

It’s a heady piece, but also hilarious in how out of character their conversation is in the best deadpan way. If Goscinny and Uderzo had written this page, it would have ended with Obelix grabbing a boar or knocking out a Roman soldier hiding just off panel.

Philippe Aymond draws his Lady S. character wearing a dress with a repeated pattern of a stock image of Asterix’s head. He saves it with the caption: “Asterix, 60 years old… and always in fashion.”

“The Banquet”

Contributors: Serge Clerc, Ian Churchill, Derib, Frank Margerin, Ralph Meyer, Midam, Margaux Motin, Frank Cho, Florence Cestac, Terry Moore, Peyo (Alain Péral), Alain Ayroles and Juanjo Guarnido, Mathieu Sapin, Jean-Yves Ferri, Didier Conrad

The final section is a catch-all. It’s not contributions centered on the book-ending banquets. That might have been too much to draw. Not that it stopped Didier Conrad, who finishes the book with a celebratory image that includes a dozen characters dancing around a giant “60”.

The description given for this section talks about a hunger for adventure, friendship, reading, and wild boars. Feel free to “consume [Asterix] without moderation.”

I’d say that’s pretty good advice.

But, wait! There’s a lot of great art here!

Let’s start with another creator familiar to readers of this blog: Florence Cestac. If anyone can compete in the Big Nose style with Uderzo, it’s Cestac. And her piece here trades on that. I literally laughed out loud on this page.

I’ve never read a book by Margaux Motin, but I’ve followed her work on Instagram for years now. I don’t think any of her books have been translated into English and made available digitally, but I like her art style and sense of humor that I see online. I don’t think anyone else in this book could have pulled this one off, bringing our two favorite Gauls into the world of social media. I love that big goofy grin on Obelix’s face.

“Undertaker” artist Ralph Meyer gets a spot in the book and plays to his strengths. Rather than drawing a big-nosed cartoon character, he goes for a more realistic Roman warrior at a bar. It fits in perfectly with his current Western style. (Oh, and the Roman soldier says that they’re crazy, these Gauls. Nice reversal there.)

The two-page story from Alan Ayroles and Juanjo (“Blacksad“) Guarnido, “Afterix”, might be the best thing in the book, overall. It’s a sweet story that’s basically what happens after the end of an adventure. The banquet is coming to a close, the women are reminding the men to help clean up, and Asterix feels his age. He wonders if someday he’ll be too old to keep having these amazing travels.

Obelix senses his sadness and brings him more food, which always cures his own sadness. But a pep talk from Cacofonix and a cut to the next morning brings everything back into focus. Asterix’s adventures will never end. There’s always something to wake up to!

Guarnido works at full size here, with each half-page done on a new art board. He draws all four tiers of panels on the final printed page, with no shortcuts. He paints it all and it looks great. Turns out, he can draw more than just animal noir, after all! He sticks to Uderzo’s designs, but you can see his style coming through, as well, particularly in the color palette he chooses.

Peyo is namechecked in the book, mostly because he created The Smurfs a year before Asterix. Peyo Studios artist, Alain Péral, is the real artist here. He doesn’t draw any Asterix character (except in silhouette), but he creates a quick, cute story from the point of view of Chef Smurf as he serves a book-ending banquet. This is a great case of incorporating a creator’s character with the Asterix universe in a way that makes sense and doesn’t look like self-promotion.

Though, truth be told, I think most of the time people complain about that, they’re being irrational. It makes sense to join a different creator’s characters with the one you’re homaging. It gives readers the best of both worlds.

Also:

This is from a previous section of the book, but I can’t let this review go without showing it. This is from a one-page story written and drawn by the creators of “The Old Geezers,” casting the leads in an Asterix story in a very funny way.

It’s a great use of a creator’s characters inside a tribute story to a completely unrelated character.

Recommended?

If you’re not a wider comics fan, there’s probably little point in buying this one.

If you’re an Asterix fan who is familiar with a lot of the names on the back cover of this book, though, you’re in for a treat. Yes, it’s the usual mix of good and not great contributions that any anthology or tribute album will have. But the highs outnumber the lows, and just seeing all the different styles in one place is a lot of fun.

It’s out of print and not translated, so you’ll have to hunt it down. It’s not terribly difficult to find online these days, but the cost (especially shipping overseas) might be an issue.