The comic book author Fabcaro has been appointed to write the script for the next album in the Asterix and Obelix series, which is scheduled for release in October 2023. Recognized in the world of comics, who is Fabrice Caro?
He will be the father of at least one album of the famous comic strip Asterix and Obelix. Fabcaro, Fabrice Caro, his real name, has been appointed to imagine the new adventure of the most popular of the Gauls, with a view to the 40th issue of the comic strip, which is scheduled for release in October 2023. It is a heavy task which falls to the author but Fabcaro is not at his first try and has many successes to his credit, starting with his comic strip Zai zai zai zaipublished in 2015.
We know very little about the next story of the duo of Gauls from Armorica, yet the script by Fabcaro has already been validated and the illustrations by Didier Conrad, who is already behind the boards of the last five albums ofAsterix and Obelix, is at work. The secrecy around the comic is jealously guarded and very few details are distilled by people taken into confidence. Only Céleste Surugue, managing director of Albert René editions and responsible for the most famous French comic strip, gave the Parisian a very slight taste of the story which will take place “in the village, but not completely” and in which “Bonemine and Abraracourcix have a small additional role”. If they do not betray the plot scripted by Fabcaro, all those involved in the creation of the album speak of the author’s work with satisfaction, including the daughters and heirs of the creators of Asterix, René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. So much so that Fabrice Caro could be led to work on another album retracing the adventures ofAsterix and Obelixeven if at this stage nothing is recorded.
Fabcaro, “a name in comics”
While the beneficiaries of the Asterix brand and the publishing manager Albert René were looking for an author to take the reins of the next issue of the comic strip in the absence of Jean-Yves Ferri, author of the stories of the two Gauls since 2011, Fabcaro s is imposed as the best choice. But the author, although preceded by his reputation and his successes, both in the world of comics and that of the novel, did not have a straight pass and went through the casting stage. Which, told by Anne Goscinny in the Parisian, looked like a formality. “The editions made a casting and I was made to read three synopses, blind. Immediately, there was one that seemed to me above the others and very good”, explains having right of one of the dads of the Gallic village who adds that he thought about the announcement of the names of the authors including that of Fabcaro: “Provided that it is his”. Why ? “Because he’s a name in comics and I love what he does. […] He has his very own universe, a completely quirky Mad-like humor (American and satirical magazine, editor’s note), dear to my father’s heart. I find in him something that could have really made him laugh. I find that there is a real filiation between the two”. And by a happy coincidence, Fabcaro was well behind the promising synopsis.
If in the world of comics the name of the Montpellier author is not unknown, it is because the man has been writing since 2003 and signing his own works since 2005. During his career, Fabcaro has been awarded several prizes between 2015 and 2016, including the Grand Prix de la critique for his work Zai Zai Zai Zai.
Fabcaro and a single session for Asterix?
If Fabcaro is indeed the author of the next and 40th album ofAsterix and Obelix, his participation in the series dedicated to the two Gauls is temporary for the time being. The publishers called on the author from Montpellier to maintain the publication rate of one issue every two years, which began in 2011, despite the absence of Jean-Yves Ferri. The latter wanted to put the small village of Armorique aside the time to devote himself to his own comic strip stored in the closet for ten years.
By 2025, the hypothetical date of the release of Asterix’s 41st album, Jean-Yves Ferri could be back in charge. But Fabcaro who “has lots of ideas” could work on other issues of the comic strip. In any case, this is Anne Goscinny’s wish: “I will campaign so that Fabrice can write at least a second one. It’s very difficult to make an Asterix. Fabrice cut his teeth with a lot of talent, but also a lot of angst… I felt it when I read what he sent us. He did a great job. But I think the next one will be at least as good… without the angst.” An idea that is not to displease Sylvie Uderzo, another beneficiary. The daughter of Albert Uderzo judges for her part that the change of author is not a bad idea, “it’s a way of bringing in new blood. It’s an emulation, an additional impulse”.