International influences
International influences |
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Page 5 of 17  Asterix and the Roman Agent (Hodder, 1972). Art: Albert Uderzo. Script: Rene Goscinny. The most famous Gaul in history, and the second most famous European comic. Stories mixed manic slapstick with more subtle allusions to world politics, and so appealed to all age groups: it was a trick that had been learned from Mad, but the result was quintessentially French. The character is today the star of stage, screen and theme park. Indeed, the most successful comic, in terms of influence, after Tintin came from France, and again capitalized on the album system. 'Asterix the Gaul' was the creation of the artist Albert Uderzo and the writer Rene Goscinny; the latter of whom had worked in America with Harvey Kurtzman, and had been much influenced by Mad. Concerning the adventures of a diminutive ancient Gaul with an impressive moustache, and his friends Obelix the muscle man and Getafix the Druid, and in particular their run-ins with the Romans in 50 bc, the strip was much more humorous than Tintin, with an altogether more liberal political slant (despite being very sexist). The artwork was more 'cartoony' as well, though still within the clear-line tradition. Asterix's success was modelled on the Tintin marketing formula: strips were prepublished in a magazine (Pilote, from 1959) before being collected into albums, which were then translated into different languages, and sold internationally from bookshops. In Britain, Hodder and Stoughton were responsible for publishing these from 1969 (though there had been a short-lived attempt to serialize a story in Ranger from 1965-6); again, America caught on to the albums slightly later, though they never made a particular impact. France was also the country at the centre of the next wave of international comics successes. The indigenous industry had gone from strength to strength in the 1960s, but now America became a major influence for the first time since the 1949 law. The underground, with its content of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, and its hippie vision of psychedelic peace, started to become known, and to find echoes in Europe as anti-Vietnam War sentiment grew. Robert Crumb especially became a countercultural hero, and when France erupted in near revolution in 1968, the underground comics were as much a staple of the participants' reading matter as the radical press.  Pages from The Incal (Marvel Comics, 1988). Art: Jean 'Moebius' Giraud. Script: Moebius and Alexandro Jodorowsky. A colourful science fiction thriller with New Age pretensions, from the combined talents of the grand fromage of French adult comics and the Chilean film director (El Topo). After Herge, Moebius was the creator who most influenced the history of European comics: here, his take on the clear-line tradition is shown to good effect. |