Someone in an Asterix forums recently complained that Obelix never got a proper love interest, and it got me thinking... I mean, it seems that across Asterix, Lucky Luke, Tintin and probably many other popular series, very few (or outright none?) of the main characters discovered a bona fide romantic partner, and I suspect that the difficulties of mixing romance with a humor format was one of the biggest reasons why.
That, and the fact that adding a love interest would generally mean that such a character would become part of the ensemble, which means another mouth to feed, so to speak. (more storyline & panels for them, etc)
This is kinda why I'm re-reading Henk Kuijpers' Franka series, tomes 14 & 15, in which Franka has a pretty exhilarating love / adversarial relationship with "Rix," an art thief she initially sets out to capture. It's sort of in the style of James Bond films like From Russia with Love and The Spy Who Loved Me, and I thought author Kuijpers brought it with a lot of style and interest:
Now, I suppose that the difference in Franka (compared to more directly humorous series) is that such a series only lightly relies on humor, and maybe has greater license to muddy the waters without getting bogged down. For example, "Rix" could easily have been killed off either immediately or down the road, with the spirit of the series suffering little or no detriment. (much like a Van Hamme series for example, such as Largo Winch and Lady S.)
Compare that to Asterix, Lucky Luke or Tintin, in which it would have been a notably tragic event, doubtlessly shifting the tenor of the series. For Asterix in particular it could have been plainly disastrous, offending readers along the lines of how Simpsons viewers were outraged by the episode which revealed that Principal Skinner was in fact a fraudster.
All that said-- I'm hardly some 'know-it-all BD/Euro person.' So maybe in some other series, particularly humorous ones, romance can work perfectly well..?
I really like this query... It's something I never even considered withing the context of Franco comics. I do agree that tone Is probably a part of it, although I also feel that comedy can leave plenty of space for love interest. (It does n't always have to be dark, mysterious and full of tensions. Look at Gaston's M'oiselle Jeanne for example)
I think more than tone, function is reason to include someone or rather not include them. M'oiselle Jeanne for example, really only is dragged out when certain sides of Gaston's character need highlighting. As well as to complement the offices reactions to his inventions, being a lot more unconditional in her admiration than for example Lebrac.
So no matter how adorable Obelix gets when he has a crush, something Underzo does grant him on occasion, what would really be the point of him having a girlfriend from a narrative perspective? What kind of girlfriend could even survive being with this bachelor-type force of nature without just becoming another face in the village that gets to whoop his ass at the beginning of the book for leaving his menhirs all over the house, and kiss him on the nose when he gets back? It would be adorable, but I'm not sure if there'd be a point to it other than fan service.
Now I don't know a bunch about Tintin or lucky Luke. But what I do know about lucky is 2 things;
A poor lonesome couple doesn't quite have the same ring to it...
Edit; I've yet to give Franka a serious chance... After this, I might just do that
M'oiselle Jeanne is a solid example, altho only kind of scratches the surface, I think. From what I've seen, she and Gaston are stuck in a schoolboy - schoolgirl admiration stage without it ever becoming anything more serious. This allows the series to relegate her to the status of being just another office character who Gaston occasionally interacts with a little more closely, as you mention.
Yeah, I agree. It works for the chief's wife "Impedimentia" in English, but she's also a nagging, generally unlikeable character. It would be too disrespectful I think for Obelix' wife to be anything like that, and OTOH if she resembled Geriatrix' nameless bombshell of a wife, it wouldn't really make sense, either. Both Asterix and Obelix work best as free-spirits I think.
I really like how you describe that... schoolboy-schoolgirl admiration stage! Although I'd say its rather one sided for Geanny, as Gaston seems more occupied with himself.... But maby that is typical for that fase/age as well...
And again well put; being a free spirit is too much of a character trait for both Asterix and Obelix to take it away.