Asterix the Gaul (Astérix le Gaulois) | |
---|---|
Date | 1961 |
Main characters | Asterix and Obelix |
Series | Asterix |
Creative team | |
Writer | René Goscinny |
Artist | Albert Uderzo |
Original publication | |
Published in | Pilote magazine |
Issues | 1–38 |
Date of publication | 29 October 1959 – 14 July 1960 |
Language | French |
Translation | |
Publisher | Brockhampton Press |
Date | 1969 |
Translator | |
Chronology | |
Followed by | Asterix and the Golden Sickle |
Asterix the Gaul ( French : Astérix le Gaulois) is a French comic story, written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo. [1] [2] First published by Dargaud as a serial for Pilote magazine in October 1959, it was later released as a comic album in 1961. The story focuses on a Gaul named Asterix, whose village resists Roman rule, as he attempts to rescue his village's druid from a Roman garrison when its commander seeks to secure the secret of the village's superhuman strength.
The story proved hugely popular with French readers, leading to Goscinny and Uderzo writing further stories that would go on to form the Asterix comic strip series, with international versions of the comic helping to broaden its appeal outside of France. Dargaud later developed an animated adaptation of the comic for theatrical release in 1967 with its own production company, though Goscinny and Uderzo disapproved of the poor animation quality; they later blocked a sequel based on their next story. Alongside the film, an audiobook adaptation was created by EMI Records.
In 1999 Asterix the Gaul was voted as the 23rd greatest book of the 20th century, in a poll conducted across France by French retailer Fnac and the Paris newspaper Le Monde for Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century. [3]
In 50 B.C., all of Gaul is under the control of the Romans, except for a small village in Armorica (present-day Brittany), whose inhabitants constantly hold back their forces through superhuman strength. Determined to uncover their secret, Centurion Crismus Bonus, commander of the camp of Compendium, sends a spy into the village. His spy soon reveals that the village's druid, Getafix, periodically supplies the villagers with a magic potion that is the source of their strength. Amazed by this, Crismus Bonus orders Getafix to be captured, in order to gain control over the magic potion.
Asterix, a warrior from the village, learns of Getafix's kidnapping from a cart-seller and decides to infiltrate the Roman camp to rescue him. Once inside the camp that evening, Asterix overhears Crismus Bonus talking with his second-in-command, Marcus Ginandtonicus, about his plans to use the magic potion to initiate a rebellion against Rome that will overthrow Julius Caesar. When Asterix finds Getafix, he informs him of what he learnt and comes up with a plan to prevent this from happening.
The following morning Asterix lets himself be captured and pretends to give in to torture, whereupon Getafix pretends to give in and agree to make the potion. After securing the ingredients he needs, Getafix tricks Crismus Bonus that he needs strawberries, only for him and Asterix to consume them all once the Romans find some. Eventually, Getafix uses the ingredients he collected to brew a potion which he tricks Crismus Bonus and the Romans to drink, unaware it will cause their hair and beards to grow at an accelerated rate.
After tricking Crismus Bonus to let them gather ingredients for an "antidote" (despite the effects of the lotion wearing off after a day), Getafix supplies the camp with vegetable soup. However, he secretly collects the ingredients needed for the magic potion, which Asterix uses to help them escape from their captors. Before they make for their village, the pair discover Roman reinforcements have arrived, led by Caesar, who becomes suspicious about what has recently occurred in Compendium. Asterix soon exposes Crismus Bonus' intentions, prompting Caesar to exile him and his men to Outer Mongolia for their treachery, while allowing the Gauls to leave on the grounds of a truce. Asterix and Getafix eventually return to their village, which celebrates by holding a banquet for their success.
The story was first published as a serial in Pilote magazine, a Franco-Belgian comics magazine founded by Goscinny and a few other comic artists. [4]
The first page appeared in the promotional issue #0, distributed on 1 June 1959, and the story was serially published in the magazine from issue #1 (29 October 1959) until issue #38 (14 July 1960). A small head of Asterix first appeared on the cover of #9 (24 December 1959), and a full Asterix cover was used on #21 (17 March 1960).
The next story, Asterix and the Golden Sickle , started in issue #42 (11 August 1960).
Asterix le Gaulois was published in July 1961 by Dargaud in the so-called "Pilote collection" with a print of 6000 copies. A Dutch translation followed in 1966, and other languages followed soon after.
The English translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge was first published in 1969 by Brockhampton Press.
The plate for page 35 was redrawn by Albert Uderzo's brother Marcel in 1970 because the original was lost. This is why there are some slight differences in the drawing style. All English versions from Hodder & Stoughton (Hodder Dargaud) use the original illustrations, which were made from a copy of an actual printed page, hence the blurriness. The 2004 release from Orion Books uses the redone illustrations from the French editions. [5] [6]
An audiobook of Asterix the Gaul adapted by Anthea Bell and narrated by Willie Rushton was released on EMI Records Listen for Pleasure label in 1990.
On 29 October 2009, Google prominently featured an integration of Asterix and Obelix in its mast head, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first publication.
The 2019 American Papercutz edition presents a few changes:
In 1967, Dargaud released an animated adaptation of the novel, under the same name, for theatrical release - though originally, the company planned for it to air on French television. However, the film was made without consultation with Goscinny and Uderzo, who were unaware of its production until a few months before its release date. Neither approved of the quality of the animation by the team Dargaud employed, and later blocked the company from making a planned adaptation of Asterix and the Golden Sickle , only allowing for further adaptations on the grounds that they had involvement in future animated films for Dargaud.
Asterix is a French comic album series about a Gaulish village which, thanks to a magic potion that enhances strength, resists the forces of Julius Caesar's Roman Republic Army in a nonhistorical telling of the time after the Gallic Wars. Many adventures take the titular hero Asterix and his friend Obelix to Rome and beyond.
Asterix at the Olympic Games is the 12th comic book album in the Asterix series. Serialized in Pilote issues 434–455 in 1968, it was translated into English in 1972. The story satirizes performance-enhancing drug usage in sports.
Asterix and the Big Fight is a French comic book story, written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo. It is the seventh story in the Asterix comic book series, and was originally published by Dargaud as a serial for Pilote magazine in 1964, before later being released as a comic album in 1966
Asterix and the Golden Sickle is a French comic story, written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo. It is the second story in the Asterix comic book series, and was originally published by Dargaud as a serial for Pilote magazine in 1960, before being later being published as a comic album in 1962.
Asterix and the Goths is a French comic story, written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo. It is the third story in the Asterix comic book series, and was originally published by Dargaud as a serial for Pilote magazine in 1962, before being later released as a comic album in 1963.
Asterix and the Banquet is a French comic book story, written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo. It is the fifth story in the Asterix comic book series, and was originally published by Dargaud as a serial for Pilote magazine in 1963, before later being released as a comic album in 1965.
Asterix and the Black Gold is the twenty-sixth volume of Asterix comic book series, originally published in 1981. It is the second book to be both written and drawn by Albert Uderzo.
Asterix the Gladiator is a French comic story, written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo. It is the fourth story in the Asterix comic book series, and was originally published by Dargaud as a serial for Pilote magazine in 1962, before later being released as a comic album in 1964.
Asterix and Cleopatra is a French comic book story, written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo. It is the sixth story in the Asterix comic book series, and was originally published by Dargaud as a serial for Pilote magazine in 1963, before later being released as a comic album in 1965.
Asterix and Caesar's Gift is the twenty-first volume of the Asterix comic book series, by René Goscinny (stories) and Albert Uderzo (illustrations). It was the first Asterix adventure that was not published in serial form in Pilote magazine prior to its publication as a book.
Asterix and the Soothsayer is the nineteenth volume of the Asterix comic book series, by René Goscinny (stories) and Albert Uderzo (illustrations). It was originally serialized in Pilote issues 652-673 in 1972.
Asterix in Switzerland is the sixteenth volume of the Asterix comic book series, by René Goscinny (stories) and Albert Uderzo (illustrations). It was originally serialized in Pilote magazine issues 557–578 in 1970 and translated into English in 1973.
Asterix and the Roman Agent is the fifteenth volume of the Asterix comic book series, by René Goscinny (stories) and Albert Uderzo (illustrations). It first appeared as a serial in Pilote magazine issues 531–552 in 1970 and was translated into English in 1972.
Asterix and the Class Act is officially the thirty-second album of the Asterix comic book series, by René Goscinny (stories) and Albert Uderzo, published in 2003. Unlike the other Asterix books, it is a compilation of short stories, rather than one long story. Each story has an introductory page giving some of its original history.
Asterix the Gaul is a 1967 Belgian/French animated film, the first in a franchise, based on the comic book of the same name, which was the first book in the highly popular comic series Asterix by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. The film closely follows the book's plot.
Asterix in Britain is a French-Danish animated film, directed by Pino van Lamsweerde, written by Pierre Tchernia, produced by Dargaud Films and Les Productions René Goscinny, and released in December 1986. The film is the fifth adaptation of a story from the Asterix comic series, and is based upon the plot from the graphic novel of the same name by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. The film's plot focuses on Asterix and Obelix transporting a barrel of Magic Potion to a rebel village of Britons, as they attempt to hold out against the Romans. The original French release starred Roger Carel and Pierre Tornade in the lead roles, while the English release starred Jack Beaber and Billy Kearns.
Asterix is a fictional character and the titular hero of the French comic book series Asterix.
Asterix and Obelix vs. Caesar is a 1999 French-Italian-German comedy fantasy adventure film directed by Claude Zidi, the first installment in the Asterix film series based on Goscinny and Uderzo's Astérix comics. The film combines plots of several Astérix stories, mostly Asterix the Gaul, Asterix and the Soothsayer, Asterix and the Goths, Asterix the Legionary and Asterix the Gladiator but jokes and references from many other albums abound, including a humorous exchange between Caesar and Brutus taken from Asterix and Cleopatra, and the villain Lucius Detritus is based on Tullius Detritus, the main antagonist of Asterix and the Roman Agent.
Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion is a 2018 French animated adventure family comedy film co-directed by Alexandre Astier and Louis Clichy. A sequel to 2014's Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods, the screenplay by Astier is based on the Asterix comic book characters created by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. This is the first Asterix production not to feature Roger Carel as the voice of Asterix, due to his retirement and later death. Asterix is instead voiced by Christian Clavier, who previously played the character in Asterix and Obelix vs. Caesar and Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra.
Asterix and the Griffin is the 39th book in the Asterix series, and the fifth to be written by Jean-Yves Ferri and illustrated by Didier Conrad. The book was released worldwide in more than 20 languages on 21 October 2021 with an initial print run of over 5 million copies. It is the first Asterix book to be released since the death of the series' co-creator Albert Uderzo, and the last to be penned by Ferri before his replacement with Fabrice Caro the following year.