Some very good points Delstar. Asterix can be very good, at its best even, when making political points, but it takes a sure-touch to turn something like Asterix to deal with modern issues. Goscinny had that touch, Uderzo is simply not as good a writer. Flaturtha from Mansions is a great example - I take all your points about how Uderzo draws him and I've always been uncomfortable about this. Yet the character himself, in Goscinny's script. is a good one and provokes one of the series' more enlightened and interesting scenes when he visits the village and eloquently demands that they stop replanting the trees so that he and the other slaves can be free. Without Goscinny, Uderzo should stay clear of politics especially racism and feminism. His worst moment, in my view, was the end of Asterix and the Secret Weapon, when an army of women are defeated by turning the village into an ancient shopping mall.
One thing I found very revealing about Uderzo's defence of the Falling Sky was his very odd claim that Asterix has never before been political. Obelix&Co, Mansions of the Gods, Caesar's Gift are all witty and very political stories, but obviously Uderzo missed the subtle ironies in Goscinny's writing if he thinks the Falling Sky is breaking new ground.
The falling sky of racism
Moderator: Jochgem