Asterix and the Magic Carpet
by Albert Uderzo; trans. Anthea Bell & Derek Hockridge (Hodder, 1988)
A breezy if inconsequential adventure. Uderzo sends his heroes on a tour of the ancient world and depicts India for the first time, his illustrations proving less cluttered and less exotically Eastern than those of Jean Tabary’s Iznogoud (which gets a shout-out).
Asterix & Obelix’s Birthday
by Albert Uderzo (Orion, 2009)
An exuberant but indulgent celebration of Asterix’s 50th anniversary, longer than other albums and yet overburdened with filler. Though Uderzo has clearly enjoyed himself drawing a mélange of vignettes and objets d’art, these pieces mostly emphasise the dearth of storytelling sans Goscinny.
Asterix and Obelix All At Sea
by Albert Uderzo (Orion, 2002)
Harmless fun, though there’s an overabundance of punning and without Goscinny the story lacks any real direction. That said, Uderzo’s illustrations remain exemplary. Along with the familiar Asterix motifs, we are presented with a whimsical Atlantis and see Obelix revert to childhood.
Asterix and the Picts
by Jean-Yves Ferri & Didier Conrad; trans. Anthea Bell (Orion, 2013)
With Albert Uderzo’s retirement after fifty-four years of drawing Asterix, the illustration of this new adventure (to a rather endearing Scotland) is… perfect; nigh on indistinguishable, by Toutatis! The writing, however, continues to lag behind that of co-creator René Goscinny (died 1977).