At the Belgian Comics Art Museum From 1 June until 3 September 2017 ASTERIX IN BELGIUM A playful exhibition about the northern Gauls One fine day, at the height of their career, Goscinny and Uderzo decided to tell the story of Asterix’ adventures among the Belgians, after already putting him through some laugh-out- loud moments on his travels half-way across Europe. Without ever taking a mocking tone, the two authors take ever such a cheeky pleasure in exploring the customs and traditions of this country, for which they feel great affection. After all, they both started their career in Belgium some 25 years earlier (1951). Julius Caesar’s famous quote in ‘The Gallic Wars’, which features in the frontispiece of this album: “Of all the Gauls, the Belgians are the bravest enemies I have ever faced.” , forms the crux of the story. Of course, this statement really irritates the life out of the inhabitants of a little Gallic village in Armorica, populated by indomitable Gauls. To pay homage to this ‘historical’ work of art, in which Nervians and Menapians end up battling side by side, and in which we witness the birth of Brussels and courier services, waterzooi and French fries, the Comics Art Museum has designed a particularly playful exhibition that gives everyone the opportunity to gauge the extent of their Belgian-ness… The Belgian Comic Strip Center - Museum Brussels Rue des Sables 20 - 1000 Brussels (Belgium) Open every day from 10 am to 6 pm. Tel.: + 32 (0)2 219 19 80 – www.comicscenter.net - [email protected] Press info: Willem De Graeve: [email protected] - +32 (0)2 210 04 33 Press images: www.comicscenter.net/en/press, login: comics + password: smurfs ASTERIX IN BELGIUM A playful exhibition about the northern Gauls. An exhibition organised by the Belgian Comics Art Museum. With the assistance of the publishing house Albert-René With the support of the Brussels-Capital Region, Visit Brussels, Thalys, Léonidas and Parc Astérix. Curator: Mélanie Andrieu Texts: Mélanie Andrieu - Jean Auquier Iconography : Mélanie Andrieu and the Publishing House Albert-René Production : Les filles du bout du couloir Scenography: Jean Serneels Translations: Philotrans Proofreading: Marie-Aude Piavaux and Tine Anthoni Graphics: Pierre Saysouk Enlargements: Sadocolor Audiovisuals: Manuel Fernandez Vazquez Technical Installations: Jean Serneels and Belgian Comics Art Museum staff Communication: Willem De Graeve, Valérie Constant The Belgian Comics Art Museum expresses its sincere thanks to the Éditions Albert René team for their assistance and commitment, particularly Baptiste Cazaux, Dionen Clauteaux, Perrine Dubois, and Régis Brebent, as well as Nathanaël Arnould (INA), Carine Picaud (BNF), and everyone who has contributed to this exhibition. www.comicscenter.net www.asterix.com Press info: Willem De Graeve: [email protected] - +32 (0)2 210 04 33 Press images: www.comicscenter.net/en/press, login: comics + password: smurfs The exhibition texts (© Mélanie Andrieu and Jean Auquier 2017) 0. Introduction Given that the subject matter of the exhibition focuses more on the content rather than on the format of the story, the Comics Art Museum has decided to design an exhibition that mainly centres around facsimiles of the original artwork by Albert Uderzo rather than on the artwork itself. Most of the original drawings from this album were donated to the French National Library by the artist himself. Nevertheless, after having viewed the selection of facsimiles exhibited here, the visitors will definitely come to the conclusion that the virtuosity of the graphic artist was a perfect match for the genius of the scriptwriter. - In 1976, Goscinny intimated that “I like to parody things; to observe things as they happen, and then take a step back to see the funny side of the situation. By taking that step back, all logic becomes distorted and turns into parody.” The exhibition is a perfect example of that. By seeing the funny side of a handful of Belgian symbols that sometimes have more to do with mythology than with actual reality, the two authors are not actually making fun of them. On the contrary, they affectionately pay tribute to the inhabitants of a country that is very dear to them. In Brussels people would say: “Can we laugh at it ?” Mélanie Andrieu and Jean Auquier 1. René Goscinny With Asterix and his gang of Gauls as you could only imagine them in your dreams, and Lucky Luke and Iznogoud, Goscinny has given his heart and soul to his comic scriptwriting. However, his artistic genius has also been fully expressed in his novels and film-making. Over a period of less than 30 years, he has created a body of work like no other. Having sold five hundred million comic books, he is one of the most widely read authors throughout the whole world. All different genres combined. René Goscinny was born in Paris in 1926. He grew up in Argentina where he first came to realise that he had a passion for drawing. At the age of 20, he left home to go and take New York by storm. That is where it first hit him that life as an immigrant is not at all cushy. However, he was soon joined by Morris, the Belgian artist who created Lucky Luke. It was Jijé (Joseph Gillain), the nurturing father of European comic strip art, who put them in touch with each other (1950). At the latter’s house, he was introduced to yet another Belgian celebrity of the world of comic strip art: Georges Troisfontaines. He managed the Brussels-based agency World Press that supplied cartoons to the newspapers. This tycoon suggested that René come and see him in Brussels. Upon arrival at World Press’ modest offices, Goscinny received a warm welcome from Liège-born Jean- Michel Charlier, who suggested to him to give up drawing in favour of scriptwriting. He also persuaded the boss to recruit this extremely gifted American. There was yet one more encounter to come; one that would change his life forever. In the tiny Paris subsidiary of World Press, he finally met Albert Uderzo. The two of them joined forces, and together they created the character of Jehan Pistolet (1952) for the daily newspaper La Libre Belgique. The character’s name Pistolet is derived from the crunchy bread rolls, which the Belgians so like to tuck into on Sunday mornings. Later they also created Luc Junior. At the time, comic artists were living an extremely hectic pace of life, so they decided it was high time to get organised. Between Paris and Brussels, meetings were held, and they were putting down the foundations for a trade union. Troisfontaines found out, and the latter promptly sacked the presumed leader, René Goscinny (1956). Uderzo and Charlier promptly slammed the door behind them in solidarity. The weekly magazine Tintin then asked Goscinny to join them, and he worked at the magazine as the ‘all-terrain’ scriptwriter. The list of his collaborations and his creations is impressive: Attanasio (‘Spaghetti’), Berck (‘Strapontin’), Tibet (‘Alphonse’), Maréchal (‘Prudence Petitpas’ [Littlestep]), etc. Goscinny was certainly meticulous by nature. Panel by panel, everything was carefully planned and organised. After all, a person can still have fun without being hare-brained! Uderzo then joined him at the Tintin magazine, and together they created the adventures of Oumpah-Pah and Double Scalp, also known as the very clumsy Marquis Hubert de la Pâte Feuilletée [Marquis Hubert of Flaky Pastry]. In Paris, the date of 29 October 1959 signalled a major event, that of the birth of a new weekly magazine for youngsters, Pilote. Goscinny, Charlier and Uderzo were soon at the helm of this magazine. In this busy publishing adventure, which led him to create much more than just Asterix, Goscinny had the opportunity to develop a whole string of new talents that would later result in some of the most memorable moments in French comic strip art. Comic strip art slowly but surely matured into an original, adult and credible art form. It is also thanks to Goscinny that scriptwriters and illustrators now have equal status. He wrote ‘Dingodossiers’ (1965) for Gotlib, who saw him as a spiritual father, and for Tabary, he wrote ‘Valentin le Vagabond’. With the latter illustrator, this time for the new comic magazine Record (1962), he again pulled out a rabbit out of his hat in the form of the adventures of the Grand Vizier Iznogoud [vizier; high-ranking political advisor or minister to the Sultan – Iznogoud; pronounced ‘He is no good’, but with a French accent], who dreams of becoming a caliph and to take the place of the existing caliph, ruling Baghdad and his kingdom of One Thousand and One Nights. René Goscinny suffered a heart attack during an endurance test, and passed away on 5 November 1977. His death threw his profession into disarray; a profession, which jointly with him, had gained major acclaim… with its millions of readers who will be forever sad to have lost him. At 51 years of age, the one who said ‘Me, I am the other one’, gave life to 387 Gauls and Romans, 654 cowboys and Indians, 309 princesses and geniuses. Genius? Did I hear you right? Did you say genius? 2. Albert Uderzo The very first illustration drawn by Albert Uderzo (1927) was passed around his nursery school in Clichy-sous-Bois. Later, his drawings found themselves being passed around publishing houses, and much later still, his comic books ended up travelling to the four corners of the world. At the tender age of 14, armed with immense promising talent and a will of steel, this son of an Italian immigrant who came to France, published a first illustration in the magazine Junior.