Asterix

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This article is about the comic book series. For the character, see Asterix (character).
Not to be confused with asterisk.
For other uses, see Asterix (disambiguation).
Asterix
Asterix - Cast.png
Most characters of Asterix
Publication information
Publisher Dargaud (France)
First appearance Pilote #1 (29 October 1959)
Created by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo
In-story information
Alter ego Astérix (French)

The Adventures of Asterix (French: Astérix or Astérix le Gaulois) is a series of French comic books written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo (Uderzo also took over the job of writing the series after the death of Goscinny in 1977). The series first appeared in French in the magazine Pilote on 29 October 1959. As of 2009, 34 comic books in the series have been released.

The series follows the exploits of a village of ancient Gauls as they resist Roman occupation. They do so by means of a magic potion, brewed by their druid, which gives the recipient superhuman strength. The protagonist, the titular character, Asterix, along with his friend Obelix have various adventures. In many cases, this leads them to travel to various countries around the world, though other books are set in and around their village. For much of the history of the series (Volumes 4 through 29), settings in Gaul and abroad alternated, with even-numbered volumes set abroad and odd-numbered volumes set in Gaul, mostly in the village.

The Asterix series is one of the most popular Franco-Belgian comics in the world, with the series being translated into over 100 languages, and it is popular in most European countries. Asterix is less well known in the United States and Japan.

The success of the series has led to the adaptation of several books into 11 films; eight animated, and three with live actors. There have also been a number of games based on the characters, and a theme park near Paris, Parc Astérix, is themed around the series. To date, 325 million copies of 34 Asterix books have been sold worldwide, making co-creators Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo France's bestselling authors abroad.[1]

Contents

[edit] History

Prior to creating the Asterix series, Goscinny and Uderzo had previously had success with their series Oumpah-pah, which was published in the Tintin magazine.

Astérix was originally serialised in the magazine Pilote, in the very first issue published on 29 October 1959.[2] In 1961 the first book was put together entitled Asterix the Gaul. From then on, books were released generally on a yearly basis.[3]

Uderzo's first sketches portrayed Asterix as a huge and strong traditional Gaulish warrior. But Goscinny had a different picture in his mind. He visualized Asterix as a shrewd small sized warrior who would prefer intelligence over strength. However, Uderzo felt that the small sized hero needed a strong but dull companion to which Goscinny agreed. Hence, Obelix was born.[4]

When Goscinny died, Uderzo continued the series alone, though on a less frequent basis. Uderzo created his own publishing company, Les Editions Albert-René, which published every album drawn and written by Uderzo alone since then. The firm was owned by Albert Uderzo and his daughter Sylvie (80%) and by the Goscinny family (20%). However, Dargaud, the initial publisher of the series, kept the publishing rights on the 24 first albums made by both Uderzo and Goscinny. In 1990, the Uderzo and Goscinny families decided to sue Dargaud to take over the rights. In 1998, after a long-time trial, Dargaud lost the rights to publish and sell the albums. Uderzo decided to buy these rights to Hachette instead of Albert-René, but the publishing rights on new albums were still owned by Albert Uderzo (40%), Sylvie Uderzo (20%) and Anne Goscinny (40%).

Although Uderzo declared he didn't want anyone to continue the series after his death, which is similar to the request Hergé made regarding his The Adventures of Tintin, his attitude changed, and in December 2008, he sold his stake to Hachette, which took over the company and now own the rights. This has provoked a family row. In a letter published in the french newspaper Le Monde, Uderzo's daughter, Sylvie, has attacked her father's decision for selling the family publishing firm and the rights to produce new Astérix adventures after his death. She is reported as saying the co-creator of Astérix, "France’s comic strip hero, has betrayed the Gaulish warrior to the modern-day Romans - the men of industry and finance”.[5][6] Anne Goscinny also gave her agreement to the continuation of the series. and sold her rights at the same time.[7] A few months later, Uderzo appointed three illustrators, who had been his assistants for many years, to continue the series.[8]

[edit] List of titles

Main article: List of Asterix volumes

Numbers 1 - 24, 32 and 34 are by both Goscinny and Uderzo. Numbers 25 - 31 and 33 are solely the work of Uderzo. Years stated are for their initial release.

1. Asterix the Gaul (1959)
2. Asterix and the Golden Sickle (1960)
3. Asterix and the Goths (1961-62)
4. Asterix the Gladiator (1962)
5. Asterix and the Banquet (1963)
6. Asterix and Cleopatra (1963)
7. Asterix and the Big Fight (1964)
8. Asterix in Britain (1965)
9. Asterix and the Normans (1966)
10. Asterix the Legionary (1966)
11. Asterix and the Chieftain's Shield (1967)
12. Asterix at the Olympic Games (1968)
13. Asterix and the Cauldron (1968)
14. Asterix in Spain (1969)
15. Asterix and the Roman Agent (1970)
16. Asterix in Switzerland (1970)
17. The Mansions of the Gods (1971)
18. Asterix and the Laurel Wreath (1971)
19. Asterix and the Soothsayer (1972)
20. Asterix in Corsica (1973)
21. Asterix and Caesar's Gift (1974)
22. Asterix and the Great Crossing (1975)
(non-canonical) Asterix Conquers Rome (1976)
23. Obelix and Co. (1976)
24. Asterix in Belgium (1979)
25. Asterix and the Great Divide (1980)
26. Asterix and the Black Gold (1981)
27. Asterix and Son (1983)
28. Asterix and the Magic Carpet (1987)
(non-canonical) How Obelix Fell into the Magic Potion When he was a Little Boy (1989)
29. Asterix and the Secret Weapon (1991)
30. Asterix and Obelix All at Sea (1996)
31. Asterix and the Actress (2001)
32. Asterix and the Class Act (2003)
33. Asterix and the Falling Sky (2005)
34. Asterix and Obelix's Birthday: The Golden Book (2009)[9]

Asterix Conquers Rome is a comic book adaptation of the animated film The Twelve Tasks of Asterix. It was released in 1976, making it technically the 23rd Asterix volume to be published. But it has been rarely reprinted and is not considered to be canonical to the series. The only English translation ever to be published was in the Asterix Annual 1980.

In 2007, Les Editions Albert René released a tribute volume titled Astérix et ses Amis, a 60 pages comic book made up of various short stories (from one to four strips). It was a tribute to Albert Uderzo at the occasion of his 80th birthday by 34 renown European comics artists. The volume was translated in nine languages, but not in English yet.[10]

[edit] Synopsis and characters

Main article: Characters in Asterix

The main setting for the series is an unnamed coastal village in Armorica, a province of Gaul (modern France), in the year 50 BC. Julius Caesar has conquered nearly all of Gaul for the Roman Empire, however the little Armorican village has held out because the villagers can gain temporary superhuman strength by drinking a magic potion brewed by the local village druid, Getafix.

The main protagonist, and hero of the village, is Asterix, who is usually entrusted with the most important affairs of the village, because of his shrewdness. He is aided in his adventures by his rather fat unintelligent friend Obelix, who has permanent superhuman strength, as he fell into the cauldron of the potion as a baby. Obelix is usually accompanied by Dogmatix, his little dog.

Asterix and Obelix (and sometimes other members of the village), go on various adventures both within the village, and in far away lands. Places visited in the series include parts of Gaul (Lutetia, Corsica etc), neighbouring nations (Belgium, Spain, Britain, Germany etc), and far away lands (North America, Middle East, India etc).

The series employs science-fiction and fantasy elements in the more recent books, for instance the use of extraterrestrials in Asterix and the Falling Sky and the city of Atlantis in Asterix and Obelix All at Sea.

[edit] Humour

Main article: Humour in Asterix

The humour encountered in the Asterix comics is typically French, often centering on puns, caricatures, and tongue-in-cheek stereotypes of contemporary European nations and French regions. Much of the humour in the initial Asterix books was French-specific, which delayed the translation of the books into other languages for fear of losing the jokes and the spirit of the story. Some translations have actually added local humour: in the Italian translation, the Roman legionnaires are made to speak in 20th century Roman dialect[citation needed] and Obelix's famous "Ils sont fous ces romains" is translated as "Sono pazzi questi romani", alluding to the roman abbreviation SPQR. The newer albums share a more universal humour, both written and visual.

In spite of (or perhaps because of) this stereotyping and notwithstanding some alleged streaks of French chauvinism, it has been very well received by European and Francophone cultures around the world.

[edit] Translations

The 34 books or albums (one of which is a compendium of short stories) in the series have been translated into more than 100 languages and dialects. Besides the original French, most albums are available in Estonian, English, Czech, Dutch, German, Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Spanish, Catalan, Basque, Portuguese (and Brazilian Portuguese), Italian, modern Greek, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Turkish, Slovene, Bulgarian, Serbian and Croatian. Beyond modern Europe, some albums have also been translated into languages as diverse as Esperanto, Indonesian, Mandarin, Korean, Japanese, Bengali, Afrikaans, Arabic, Hindi, Hebrew, Frisian, Latin, Romansch, Vietnamese (mainly in the South pre-Communist April 30, 1975), and Ancient Greek.

In France, in Finland, Poland and especially in Germany, several volumes were translated into a variety of regional languages and dialects, such as Alsatian, Breton, Chtimi (Picard) and Corsican in France, Swabian and Low German in Germany, Kashubian[citation needed] and Silesian[citation needed] in Poland and Savo, Karelia, Rauma and Helsinki slang dialects in Finland. Also, in Portugal, a special edition of the first volume, Asterix the Gaul, was translated into local language Mirandese.

In the Netherlands several volumes were translated into Frisian, a language related to Old English spoken in the province of Friesland. Also in the Netherlands two volumes were translated into Limburgish, a regional language spoken not only in Dutch Limburg but also in Belgian Limburg and North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Hungarian-language books have been issued in Yugoslavia for the Hungarian minority living in Serbia. Although not a fully autonomic dialect, it slightly differs from the language of the books issued in Hungary. In Greece, a number of volumes have appeared in the Cretan Greek, Cypriot Greek and Pontic Greek dialects and in Ancient Greek.[11] In Sri Lanka, the cartoon series was adapted into Sinhala as Sura Pappa.

[edit] English translation

Main article: English translations of Asterix

The translation of the books into English has been done by Derek Hockridge and Anthea Bell.

[edit] Adaptations

The series has been adapted into various media.

[edit] Films

Main article: List of Asterix films

Various motion pictures based upon the series have been made.

[edit] Games

Main article: List of Asterix games

Many gamebooks, boardgames and video games are based upon the Asterix series.

In particular, many video games were released by various computer game publishers:

Title Year Platform
Atari 2600 C64 ZX Spectrum Amstrad CPC Atari ST Amiga PC Master System Arcade NES SNES Game Boy Game Gear Mega Drive CD-i PS GBC PS2 GC GBA NDS Wii
Asterix 1983 X
Obelix 1983 X
Asterix and the Magic Cauldron 1986 X X X
Asterix and the Magic Carpet 1987 X X X X X
Asterix: Operation Getafix 1989 X X X
Asterix 1991 X
Asterix in Morgenland 1992 X
Asterix 1992 X
Asterix 1993 X X X
Asterix and the Secret Mission 1993 X X
Asterix and the Great Rescue 1993 X X X
Asterix and the Power of the Gods 1995 X
Asterix: Caesar's Challenge 1995 X X
Asterix & Obelix 1995 X X X X
Asterix 1996 X
Asterix: Search For Dogmatix 2000 X
Asterix & Obelix Take on Caesar 2000 X X
Asterix: The Gallic War 2000 X
Asterix: Mega Madness 2001 X X
Asterix & Obelix XXL 2004 X X X
Asterix & Obelix XXL 2: Mission Las Vegum 2005 X X
Asterix at the Olympic Games 2008 X X X X
Asterix Brain Trainer 2008 X

[edit] Theme park

Main article: Parc Astérix

Parc Asterix, a theme park based upon the series, was opened near Paris in 1989. It is one of the most visited sites in France, with around 1.6 million visitors per year.

[edit] Influence in popular culture

Asterix ham and cheese-flavored potato chips
  • The first French satellite, which was launched in 1965, was named Astérix-1 in honour of Asterix. Asteroid 29401 Asterix was also named in honor of the character. Ironically, the word Asterix/Asterisk originates from the Greek for Little Star.
  • During the campaign for Paris to host the 1992 Summer Olympics Asterix appeared in many posters over the Eiffel Tower.
  • The French company Belin introduced a series of "Asterix" potato chips shaped in the forms of Roman shields, gourds, wild boar, and bones.
  • Asterix and Obelix appeared on the cover of Time Magazine for a special edition about France. In a 2009 issue of the same magazine, Asterix is described as being seen by some as a symbol for France's independence, and defiance of globalisation.[12]
  • The animated series Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears also concerns an oppressed group in possession of a magic potion capable of conferring superhuman strength and agility.
  • The 2006 FIFA World Cup final between France and Italy was depicted as a fight between Roman legions and Gaulish villagers in newspapers.
  • Version 4.0 of the operating system OpenBSD features a parody of an Asterix story.[13]
  • Action Comics Number 579, published by DC Comics in 1986, Written by Lofficier and Illustrated by Keith Giffen featured a homage to Asterix where Superman and Jimmy Olsen are drawn back in time to a small village of indomitable Gauls.
  • Lisa Simpson is delighted at the sight of a rack with Tintin and Asterix comics in a comic book store, depicted in The Simpsons episode "Husbands and Knives".
  • Obelix made an appearance as one of several imaginary characters in the South Park episode "Imaginationland III".[14]
  • Obelix is referenced in The King Blues' 2008 single "My Boulder." The song features the lyrics, "If I'm Obelix, You are my boulder".
  • In 2009 the Google homepage of a great number of countries displayed a logo commemorating 50 years of Asterix on October 29. [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]

[edit] See also

Bande dessinée portal

[edit] References

  1. ^ volumes-sold. "Asterix the Gaul rises sky high". http://in.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idINIndia-43015020091008. 
  2. ^ BDoubliées. "Pilote année 1959" (in French). http://bdoubliees.com/journalpilote/series1/asterix.htm. 
  3. ^ The Complete Guide To Asterix, Peter Kessler, Chaper I, page 16
  4. ^ The Complete Guide To Asterix, Peter Kessler
  5. ^ Shirbon, Estelle (14 January 2009). "Asterix battles new Romans in publishing dispute". Reuters. http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSTRE50D46K20090114. Retrieved 16 January 2009. 
  6. ^ "Divisions emerge in Asterix camp". BBC News Online. 15 January 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7831375.stm. Retrieved 16 January 2009. 
  7. ^ "Anne Goscinny: «Astérix a eu déjà eu deux vies, du vivant de mon père et après. Pourquoi pas une troisième?»" (in French). Bodoï. http://www.bodoi.info/magazine/2009-01-20/anne-goscinny-%C2%ABasterix-a-eu-deja-eu-deux-vies-du-vivant-de-mon-pere-et-apres-pourquoi-pas-une-troisieme%C2%BB/10581. 
  8. ^ Hugh Schofield (22 october 2009). "Should Asterix hang up his sword ?". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8319196.stm. 
  9. ^ OCTOBER 2009 IS ASTERIX’S 50th BIRTHDAY
  10. ^ Les albums hors collection - Astérix et ses Amis - Hommage à Albert Uderzo
  11. ^ "List of Asterix comics published in Greece by Mamouth Comix" (in Greek). http://www.mamouthcomix.gr/asterix/index.html. 
  12. ^ "Asterix at 50: The Comic Hero Conquers the World". TIME. October 21, 2009. http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1931169,00.html. Retrieved 2009-10-21. 
  13. ^ OpenBSD 4.0 homepage
  14. ^ Picture 51 on page http://www.spscriptorium.com/Season11/ImaginationlandGuests.html

[edit] Sources

[edit] External links

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