I wrote about how important Mafalda was for me to start reading a few months ago but there's another comic that shares the first spot with her.
I could never get enough of Goscinny and Uderzo's Asterix series. I read them again and again, constantly, endlessly, unable to catch a breath between fits of laughter. Thankfully the Asterix comics could always be easily found at the library. They were always next to Tintin and my friends and I often discussed which was better, Asterix or Tintin. I must admit, I was always in the Asterix camp. Tintin never grabbed me.
If Mafalda taught me about the world, I think Asterix and Goscinny in particular taught me about satire and anti-imperialism. Asterix is a comic for children but the satire in its pages has a bite, which is why it's a comic that adults enjoy too. Having said that, some aspects of the comic have not aged well. Unfortunately, racist and sexist stereotypical jokes abound in its pages. It's a product of its time and it shows.
Coming back to the anti-imperialist and socio political themes. I read Asterix with an increasing awareness of my own identity as a Basque person. Even at a very young age, I started to learn of the history of my language and culture. Speaking Basque had been forbidden under Dictator Franco's regime. France, still to this day has a longstanding policy of recognising only one language in the Republic, French. Though, what we know as modern French these days was not even the most spoken language in France during the French revolution that established the republic.
In the political context of 1980s Basque Country, it was inevitable to read Asterix any other way for us it was like this...
The Basque Country, has been invaded for thousands of years. It is claimed by France and Spain. All the pre-indoeuropean languages have died but one small region of indomitable Basque still holds out against the invaders speaking a language that precedes even the Roman Empire.
My friends and I loved the laughs in Asterix but we also saw ourselves in those Gauls resisting against the empire and we were ready to resist and fight against the empire (Spain/France).
With Asterix, and my obsession with Goscinny, I also learned that I could, in fact I wanted, to read books.
I was so obsessed with Asterix that when I discovered Goscinny had published a series of books with Little Nicholas I couldn't help myself. I read them all and then read them repeatedly. Nicholas and his gang became my closest friends and I would quote the book to my parents endlessly. Thankfully, they read some of the stories with me and we were able to laugh.
So, I learned to read with Mafalda but it was Goscinny and the Asterix comics he made with Uderzo, who pushed me into reading chapter books.
If you want to read part 1 of Comic Books and I, it's here: Comic Books and I: Part 1: Mafalda
