"Back from the dead" Topic

I see the Asterix series is being jump started, with new writer & illustrator.

I've just finished Robert Parker's "latest" that was written by a family-approved stand-in after the late author's death in 2010.

What is your opinion of such zombie-authorship?

Usually dilutes the value of the series

I like a good Conan pastiche, but I usually figure that zombie-authored books are weak sauce.

The main difference between US and European comics is that European comics tend to be author-owned, while US are publisher owned, which means that if the author wishes to end the series when he/she passes, nobody will take over as opposed to the publisher-owned characters who will use a pool of artists to manage their portfolio.

It's not uncommon for many European artists to have a studio and other artists that work on separate titles. Willy Vandersteen of Spike and Suzy fame had a whole range published under his name, but only one or two were actually done by him. In his will he made some specifics that the characters should not grow up, marry each other or any other drastic changes were prohibited. The studio respected his wishes for a few decades until somebody worked out a loophole and did a "Young Adult" version of Spike & Suzy with actual death, violence etc …

As for Asterix, Uderzo ended on the worst possible note, writing a story that sounded like the ramblings of a tired old man ranting against a world he barely understood. It was a horrible mess.

I'm relatively confident that the new team will carry on the tradition of Uderzo and Goscinny, if you are asked to take over a prestigious series like Asterix, people tend to be respectful and try to preserve the spirit of the old. There is much less urge to reboot, retcon, revision and reimagine a comic than in the US.

ochoinlite how was the "Parker" book? Was that the western?

No, a Spenser novel. I've now read both that the new guy (Ace someone) wrote.

Bill's correct in thinking that such books usually lose something of the original: zip? It would be a hard job, as if you started getting all creative & original, the fans would scream that you're insulting the original.

However, I like Spenser ( & Robert Parker ) so I'll cheerfully read them as a reasonable substitute.

I wish someone would continue the Aubrey-Maturin series too.

For me Asterix ended with Goscinny's death. The stories and humor never recovered.