View source for Oumpah-pah

{{short description|1958–1962 French comic book series}}
{{other uses|Oom-Pah-Pah (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox comic book title <!-- Comics -->
|image= File:Oumpah-pah.jpg
|caption= Oumpah-pah discovers the [[wig]] of a French aristocrat whom he subsequently dubs Two-[[Scalp]].
|creators= [[René Goscinny]], [[Albert Uderzo]]
|genre= [[Humor comics|Humor]], [[historical fiction|historical]]
|date= 1958–1962
}}

'''''Oumpah-pah le Peau-Rouge''''' (''Ompa-pa the Redskin'') is a [[comics]] series created by [[comics artist]] [[Albert Uderzo]] and [[comic book creator|comics author]] [[René Goscinny]], best known as the creators of [[Asterix]]. The series first appeared in the weekly ''[[Tintin (magazine)|Tintin]]'' magazine in 1958 though it remained serialised for a relatively short time, ending in 1962. The stories were published in book form by [[Le Lombard|Lombard]] and [[Dargaud]] starting in 1961. In 1995, the series was reissued by Albert Uderzo's own publishing house, Les Éditions Albert-René.

==Characters==
The series features the adventures of Ompa-pa (Oumpah-pah in [[French language|French]] – the name referring to a [[waltz]]), a [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] of the fictional Flatfeet tribe, and his friend, the French officer Hubert Brussels Sprout (Hubert de la Pâte Feuilletée in [[French language|French]], which translates as Hubert of [[Puff pastry|Puff Pastry]]), whom Ompa-pa calls ''Two-scalp'', a reference to his [[Wig (hair)|wig]].<ref name="observer">{{cite news|last=Webster|first=Paul|publisher=The Observer|title=Astérix's creator sees off all rivals at Christmas|url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/europe/story/0,,1106920,00.html|location=London|date=December 14, 2003|access-date=May 20, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071118114424/http://observer.guardian.co.uk/europe/story/0,,1106920,00.html|archive-date=2007-11-18|url-status=live}}</ref>

The series is set in the 18th century during the age of [[French North America|French colonization in America]]. Ompa-pa is strong and quick, and loves to eat [[pemmican]]. He is an honest and trustworthy [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|brave]] whose simple heroism is comparable to that of the more famous [[Asterix]], whom Uderzo and Goscinny later created. Hubert Brussels Sprout, whom the Flatfeet initially hold as a prisoner, subsequently serves as a mediator between the Europeans and the Native Americans, and is also an ally against the tribe known as the Sockitoomee, the sworn enemies of the Flatfeet.

When Brussels Sprout introduces Ompa-pa as his [[blood brother|brother]], his commanding officer remarks: "When madam the Marquise your mother hears about this..."

The character Ompa-pa makes a cameo appearance in the 1976 ''[[Asterix]]'' film ''[[The Twelve Tasks of Asterix]]'', though this story is set in [[pre-Columbian America]].

==Publication history==
Goscinny and Uderzo met in 1951 and were seated next to each other at the Paris office of World Press, where they first began their collaboration, inventing the characters Ompa-pa, Jehan Pistolet and Luc Junior.<ref name="lambiek">{{cite web | last = Lambiek Comiclopedia | title = Goscinny | url = http://lambiek.net/artists/g/goscinny.htm | access-date = 2007-06-06 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070222205027/http://www.lambiek.net/artists/g/goscinny.htm | archive-date = 2007-02-22 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="lagardere">{{cite web | last = Lagardère | title = Release of the 33rd Asterix volume | url =http://www.lagardere.com/us/actualites/detail_actu.cfm?idt=9&idn=5994&nav=0 }}</ref> Ompa-pa was the very first character created by Uderzo and Goscinny, but initially failed to raise the interest of any publisher. While he was staying in the United States for professional reasons, Goscinny unsuccessfully tried to have the first version of the comic published in English.<ref name="granck.free.fr">{{cite web|url=http://granck.free.fr/oumpah-pah1.htm|title=Intervieuw de Astérix sur son grand frère Oumpah-Pah par Uderzo et Goscinny|publisher=Granck.free.fr|access-date=2010-12-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100831174912/http://granck.free.fr/oumpah-pah1.htm|archive-date=2010-08-31|url-status=live}}</ref> ([[Harvey Kurtzman]] may have worked on the English translation.) The idea remained shelved for several years until the concept was adapted for publication in the [[Franco-Belgian comics]] magazine ''Tintin''.<ref name="asterix int">{{cite web | last = Asterix International! | title = Albert Uderzo | url = http://www.asterix-international.de/asterix/uderzo.shtml | access-date = 2007-06-06 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20041208183211/http://www.asterix-international.de/asterix/uderzo.shtml | archive-date = 2004-12-08 | url-status = live }}</ref> The finished series made its debut on April 2, 1958.<ref name="TintinB-1958">{{cite web | last =BDoubliées | title =Tintin année 1958 | url =http://bdoubliees.com/tintinbelge/annees/1958.htm | language =fr | access-date =2007-04-28 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20170106012307/http://bdoubliees.com/tintinbelge/annees/1958.htm | archive-date =2017-01-06 | url-status =live }}</ref>

Goscinny and Uderzo ultimately decided to end the series early, in order to focus their energies on the more popular Asterix character.<ref name="granck.free.fr"/>

The series was published in [[English language|English]] under the title ''Ompa-Pa'' in the UK in 1977–78, in a translation by Nicholas Fry.

==Bibliography==

===Serialised stories===
* ''Oumpah-pah le Peau-Rouge'', 1958 (''Oumpah-pah the Redskin'')
* ''Oumpah-pah sur le sentier de la guerre'', 1958 (''Oumpah-pah on the Warpath'')
* ''Oumpah-pah et les pirates,'' 1959 (''Oumpah-pah and the Pirates'')
* ''Mission secrète'', 1960 (''Secret Mission'')
* ''Oumpah-pah contre Foie-Malade'', 1962 (''Oumpah-pah against Liver Sick'')

===Albums===
[[Image:Ompa-pa and Brother Two Scalp.jpg|200px|thumb|''Ompa-pa and Brother Two Scalp'', the first book in the series.]]
(Les Éditions du Lombard, Brussels, published simultaneously in France by Dargaud Éditeur, Paris)
# ''Oumpah-pah le Peau-Rouge'', including Oumpah-pah sur le sentier de la guerre (1961)
# ''Oumpah-pah et les pirates'', including Mission secrète (1962)
# ''Oumpah-pah contre Foie-Malade'' (1967)

Reissues by Les Éditions Albert René
# ''Oumpah-Pah le Peau-Rouge'', including an introduction and a reprint of the 1951 U.S. pilot (1995)
# Vol. 2, including Oumpah-Pah sur le sentier de la guerre and Oumpah-Pah et les pirates (1996)
# Vol. 3, including Mission secrète and Oumpah-pah contre Foie-Malade (1997)

English translation by Nicholas Fry (Egmont/Methuen, London)
# ''Ompa-Pa and Brother Two Scalp'' (1977)
# ''Ompa-Pa Saves the Day'' (1977)
# ''Ompa-Pa and the Pirates'' (1977)
# ''Ompa-Pa and the Secret Mission'' (1978)
# ''Ompa-Pa and the Prussians'' (1978)

==Footnotes==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin}}
* [http://bdoubliees.com/tintinbelge/series4/oumpahpah.htm ''Oumpah-pah'' publications in Belgian ''Tintin''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070326144923/http://bdoubliees.com/tintinbelge/series4/oumpahpah.htm |date=2007-03-26 }}, [http://bdoubliees.com/journaltintin/series5/oumpahpah.htm French ''Tintin''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930190232/http://bdoubliees.com/journaltintin/series5/oumpahpah.htm |date=2007-09-30 }} BDoubliées {{in lang|fr}}
* [http://www.bedetheque.com/serie-246-BD-Oumpah-Pah.html ''Oumpah-pah'' albums] Bedetheque {{in lang|fr}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [http://www.ypsfanpage.de/comics/umpahpah.php Umpah-Pah] on Yps Fanpage {{in lang|de}}

{{Asterix|type=skip}}

[[Category:French comics]]
[[Category:Bandes dessinées]]
[[Category:Works by René Goscinny]]
[[Category:Comics by Albert Uderzo]]
[[Category:Fictional Native American people in comics]]
[[Category:Comics set in the 18th century]]
[[Category:1958 comics debuts]]
[[Category:1962 comics endings]]
[[Category:Humor comics]]
[[Category:Satirical comics]]
[[Category:Lombard Editions titles]]
[[Category:Comics characters introduced in 1958]]
[[Category:French comics characters]]
[[Category:Male characters in comics]]
[[Category:Comics set in North America]]