At 52, Zep is the father of "Titeuf" whose adventures have passed over 23 million copies. He had a filial relationship with Albert Uderzo, who died on Tuesday of a heart attack.
Were you very close to Albert Uderzo? ZEP. He was my adoptive dad. A bit like Gotlib, they are authors whom I have read a great deal as a child and with whom I learned the trade. I have lived with him for 50 years and although I am very sad today, he will always be there. I had the chance to meet him and spend time with him.
When was it? I had sent him one of my albums in the early 2000s. Not only did he answer me with a very nice letter, but he invited me to come see him. I spent a day with him in his house in Neuilly and since then we have been in touch. We called each other, we saw each other and it lasted ten years. Afterwards, he was very tired. He was my dad's age and I asked him for a lot of advice.
What were you talking about We talked a lot about how to work, how to draw, about the success that, like the sky, fell on our heads. He was very grateful to the public and for him, faced with success, we had to shut up and not bring it back because many designers had not had our chance. We also talked about how to live a career behind a character. I was going through this with Titeuf, like him with Asterix. Never had he imagined such a fate for his character. For decades, he found himself animating it, he drew until he could no longer, after his 80 years. It was really exciting to talk about it all with him.
How was he ? He was adorable, so modest. He was extremely benevolent and he did not like that we, the designers, consider ourselves artists. For him, we were craftsmen. He felt closer to a baker than a painter when he had an extremely high artistic requirement. He was not at all jaded about drawing or talking about his work. He also had a kind look on the new generations and he was very open.
Was he funny like his comics? He had a lot of humor. He lived inwardly the characters created with Goscinny. He didn't take himself seriously
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What look did the old man have on "Titeuf". Didn't he find him too "daring"? Not at all (laughs). I even remember sending him my adult album "Happy Sex" and he sent me back a magnificent drawing of Asterix naked!
What kind of designer was he? He had a unique staging science, inspired by Disney and American designers. His technique was incredible, he was as strong in realistic drawing as in humor. With people like Hergé and Franquin, he is one of those who made European comics, who created his codes. Uderzo was close to Raimu and Funès in this way of playing his characters. Each with a very particular game, each had its character, moved in a certain way. This is why his characters are inimitable.
In addition to the very beautiful tribute to Uderzo that you addressed to us, you could draw today? I’m on Titeuf’s next album in the country. Today I am drawing a party scene where all the children dance under the stars in the forest. I hadn't realized but this scene, it really looks like the final banquet of Asterix…
