A Pointless Competition
21 November 2018 - Adelaide
Well, it seems that we have now reached a point in the series where the original creators only appear as names on the album, since the illustrator and author are completely different people. Sure, one of the original two is dead, and the other has retired (though I have since discovered that Goscinny died around 1977, and was the author, though Uderzo, the illustrator, retired from drawing back in 2011). So, what we have now is basically the adventures continuing, but with no real input from the original creators.
Honestly, I’m not really sure how to take this one. I guess it also doubles for those written after Goscinny’s death, which are namely those written in the 1980s and beyond. I guess I somehow preferred the way Herge set up his albums, and how the estate has refused to allow any further Tintin albums to be produced. Year, some have appeared on the black market, but in the end there is a set canon when it comes to the Tintin stories, and we know what they are and there is going to be no attempt to change them – they were Herge’s babies, and that is what they will remain.
I guess it is different here when it comes to Asterix. Take this story for example. I suspect it is supposed to be making fun of a real road race – the Transitalia? I’m not sure, though a quick search on the internet doesn’t reveal all that much. Anyway, the Roman roads are falling into a state of disrepair, and instead of actually doing anything about them, the Senator in charge of the roads declares a road race to prove that they are fine. Honestly, that set up doesn’t really sit well with me.
Then we have the means through which we introduce Asterix and Obelix to the race. Basically they are at a market, Obelix meets a sybil, and she reads his palm and tells him that he will win a chariot race, so he basically heads off and buys himself a chariot, though the chariot dealer, just like everybody else in this world, seem to have an unending need for menhirs (I guess that is a part of the joke though).
Yeah, it seems that they are really attempting to clutch at straws when it comes to creating the plots these days. Actually, if the Simpsons had last as long as it has lasted for, then I’m pretty sure that they can still come up with stories and adventures for Asterix. Well, maybe I’m stretching it a bit too far there, because I really did get put off by the Simpsons after a certain point, namely because the whole show ceased being funny. That was the case with this particular album, and with Asterix in general – they have ceased to be funny. While it looks as if I have borrowed some of the stories, it looks like I have ended up letting the whole attempt fall to the way side. Still, maybe I should try to at least finish off as much of the albums that I can, but I guess I need to wait until I am back in Melbourne for the long term.