Asterix

Asterix
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This article is about the comic book series. For the character, see Asterix (character).
For other uses, see Asterix (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with the Asterisk (typographical mark).
Asterix

Asterix the Gaul rendered by Albert Uderzo (book 11, Asterix and the Oympic Games)
Publisher Dargaud (France)
First appearance Pilote #1 (1959)
Created by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo
Characteristics
Team affiliations The small Gaulish village.
Abilities Superhuman strength after drinking magic potion made by the druid Getafix.

The Adventures of Asterix (French: Astérix or Astérix le Gaulois) is a series of French comic books by René Goscinny (stories) and Albert Uderzo (illustrations). Uderzo has continued the series since the death of Goscinny in 1977. 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. This is often used for comic effect, as in a recurring sequence where the villagers sally forth from their village to rout the attacking Romans so easily as to consider it great sport. In many cases, this resistance leads the main characters to travel to various European countries (but also Egypt, America, India and other non-European locations) in every other book, while the remaining are set in and around their village.

The 33 main books or albums (one of which is a compendium of short stories) have been translated into more than 100 languages and dialects. Besides the original French, most albums are available in English, Dutch, German, Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Spanish, Catalan, Basque, Portuguese (and Brazilian Portuguese), Italian, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, modern Greek, Turkish, Slovenian, Bulgarian, Croatian and Serbian. Beyond modern Europe, some albums have also been translated into languages as diverse as Esperanto, Indonesian, Mandarin, Korean, Bengali, Afrikaans, Arabic, Hindi, Hebrew, Frisian, Latin and Ancient Greek.

In France, in Finland, Poland and especially in Germany, several volumes were translated into a variety of regional dialects, such as Alsatian in France, Swabian and Low German in Germany, Kashubian and Silesian 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. 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 and Pontic Greek dialects and in Ancient Greek.[citation needed]

The Asterix series is one of the most popular French comics in the world, and familiar to people of all ages in most European countries, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and parts of South America, Africa and Asia particularly, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay, South Africa, Kenya, Philippines, Singapore, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Malaysia. Asterix is less well known in the United States and Japan. In its early years the Disney Channel aired the British-produced English translations of the Asterix films; it received modest success in establishing foothold with American audiences.[citation needed]

The key to the success of the series is that it contains comic elements for all ages: young children like the fist-fights and other visual gags, while adults appreciate the cleverness of the allusions, the satire and puns that sparkle throughout the texts.[citation needed]

The names of the characters contain puns, and vary with translation into other languages. This article uses the names from the English-language translations by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge. For the French names see a separate section.

Apart from the 33 main comics, other Asterix books and film books have been made. See List of Asterix volumes.

Several books have been made into films, eight animated, and three with live actors. There have also been a number of games.