It happened for Blake & Mortimer, and it should have happened way earlier than it did when Uderzo tried to script new adventures of Asterix, after its original writer, Rene Goscinny - one of the world's greatest genius, passed away.
Well, I'm now convinced that both Luc Besson and Georges Lucas have died, and that some cheap grad student with a 1.8 GPA took over their work. Fortunately, Besson has always said he would stop after 10 movies, and the 10th is coming up in the form of a weird animation movie, adapted from his own book, "Arthur and the Minimoys". A movie that has not only the ugliest cover design ever, but also the worst title.
As for Lucas, well, rumors say he might stop too. Let us pray it's true.
I'm really really happy, on the other hand, that Stephen King (this one, not this one) didn't deliver on his promise to stop writing.
I don't know where Master King went when he was uncounscious, following the accident that almost cost his life back in 1999, but it must have been pretty scary if we are to believe the visions he shared with us in "Dreamcatcher" and "On Writing".
Once back from the dead, his work definitely took a new turn, often diving into the depth of the human mind, wondering there like it's a personal, physical cave, not unlike what Thomas Harris did in Hannibal, and the metaphor that the batcave has always stood for.
From what the awesome reviews he's already received promise, it looks like his new novel, Lisey's Story, deals with the same trips of the mind one takes when working his imagination. I can't wait to read this one, and if you know anything about great fiction, so should you.
By the way, if you still think Stephen King is only about blood and gore, please know that if he is the master of horror, it's only the horror he creates in the mind of people who haven't read his books. Because most of his work is just pure, fantastic american fiction, usually touching and surprising, and deeply intelligent.
As a reminder, you can check out this video I took of him reading in August, at Radio City Music Hall.
And don't forget to check out his bi-monthly column for Entertainment Weekly, which is an inspiration for this blog.
Here's to reading you, Master King.
