Albert Uderzo Astérix Art Brings $579,312 at Heritage, Led by $206,250 Falbala Page

Original artwork by Astérix co-creator Albert Uderzo dominated Heritage Auctions’ latest International Comic Art sale, with seven works by the artist combining for $579,312. The group was led by a 1967 Astérix story page featuring Obélix’s awkward attempt to court Falbala, which sold for $206,250 and became the highest-priced lot in the entire $3.1 million auction.

The Astérix Légionnaire story page comes from Falbala’s debut adventure, first serialized in Pilote in 1966 before being published by Dargaud in album form in 1967. Known as Panacea in English-language editions, Falbala leaves the usually unstoppable Obélix almost completely helpless as he tries to approach her with a bouquet of flowers. The page shows Obélix seeking encouragement from Astérix, hesitating outside Falbala’s home and finally working up the courage to call her name. Heritage highlighted Uderzo’s use of facial expressions, movement and panel composition to turn Obélix’s nervousness into a visual gag, with Dogmatix joining the scene and floating hearts revealing feelings Obélix struggles to express himself.

“This is an especially desirable page from Falbala’s debut adventure, the beginning of one of the series’ most enduring character relationships,” says Olivier Delflas, Heritage’s Director of International Comic Art and Anime. “Uderzo’s incredible command of expression, movement and sequential storytelling are on full display on this page from an issue that is one of the best of the classic Goscinny-Uderzo period.”

The original artwork is ink over graphite on Bristol board and consists of two boards identified as 7a and 7b. The image area measures 15 by 18.75 inches. Heritage cataloged the page in Excellent condition, noting editorial markings and tape residue.

Another major piece of Astérix history followed close behind. Uderzo’s original cover artwork for Pilote No. 652, introducing Astérix, Le Devin, or Asterix and the Soothsayer, sold for $187,500. The cover appeared with the opening installment of Le Devin on May 4, 1972, several months before Dargaud released the story in book form. Uderzo placed the self-proclaimed soothsayer Prolix prominently in the foreground while the villagers react behind him, creating an image centered on the fear and superstition that drive the story. The original measures 11.5 by 11 inches and is signed by both Uderzo and Goscinny.

A third major Astérix work brought $106,250. The original painted map of France from Astérix le Gaulois is Uderzo’s first painted version of the familiar map that introduces readers to the world of Astérix. Created in 1967, the image shows Roman-controlled Gaul with a magnifying glass drawing attention to the small area of Armorica still resisting Roman rule. Heritage said the familiar composition existed in only two successive painted versions, making the offered work the earliest state of an image that would become closely associated with opening an Astérix album. The map was also personally connected to Uderzo. Heritage says it was signed and dedicated by the artist to his close friend, journalist Bernard Delattre. Executed in gouache and ink on board, the artwork measures 9.75 by 11.25 inches.

The fourth major Astérix piece was a production master used for the series’ back covers, which sold for $57,500. The artwork introduced the now-familiar image of Obélix climbing a ladder and carving the expanding list of Astérix adventures into his menhir. First published with La Rose et le Glaive in 1991, the composition replaced an earlier back-cover design in which Obélix simply carried the menhir. Uderzo laid out and penciled the image, with Frédéric Mébarki providing the inks. It then became the master artwork used for Astérix back covers going forward.

Heritage reported that the seven Uderzo works in the auction combined for $579,312, with the Astérix material accounting for the overwhelming majority of that total. The remaining pieces came from Uderzo’s pre-Astérix career, including two groups of pages from De Ruige Ridder, De Verwenste Baron – Belloy, Le Baron Maudit and a 1952 page from Sa Majesté mon mari.

The Uderzo results stood at the center of Heritage’s October 24-25 International Comic Art Signature Auction, which realized $3,105,825 overall. Three of the Astérix works crossed the six-figure mark, and the $206,250 Astérix Légionnaire page finished above every other piece in the sale.

Other six-figure results included Dave Stevens’ splash page from The Rocketeer Adventure Magazine No. 3 and Luis Royo’s Los Hilos de los Sueños, which each sold for $112,500. But the auction’s biggest concentration of high-end results belonged to Uderzo, with original artwork spanning several stages of Astérix history leading the $579,312 group.