This is a list of all Asterix volumes, including the 40 official albums and various tie-ins.
All original French publishing dates and volume numbers are shown. Other translation publishing dates and volume numbering may differ.
# | Year | English Title | French Title | Main Setting | Plot |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1961 | Asterix the Gaul | Astérix le Gaulois | Asterix's village and Roman camp Compendium (no travel) | The Romans discover the secret of the Gauls' strength is the magic potion brewed by the druid Getafix, so they capture him and attempt to get the recipe out of him. It is up to Asterix and his wits to save Getafix. |
2 | 1962 | Asterix and the Golden Sickle | La Serpe d'or | Lutetia (Paris) | Getafix's sickle breaks, so Asterix and Obelix volunteer to go to Lutetia to buy a new one. But there is a mysterious sickle shortage our heroes must get to the bottom of. |
3 | 1963 | Asterix and the Goths | Astérix et les Goths | Germany | The druid Getafix is captured by a tribe of Goths, and Asterix and Obelix must rescue him. |
4 | 1964 | Asterix the Gladiator | Astérix gladiateur | Rome | Odius Asparagus, the prefect of Gaul, captures Cacofonix and sends him as a present to Caesar. Unimpressed by the bard, Caesar orders him to be thrown to the lions at the Circus Maximus. Asterix and Obelix hitchhike to Rome where they must become gladiators to rescue Cacofonix. |
5 | 1965 | Asterix and the Banquet | Le Tour de Gaule d'Astérix | Various French cities | Unsuccessful at conquering the village, the Romans decide to isolate it by building a stockade. To remove it, Asterix strikes a bet with the Romans that he and Obelix can travel throughout Gaul and back to the village with various Gaulish delicacies without the Romans being able to stop them. The route is a parallel to the modern Tour de France cycling event. In this adventure, Obelix gets his canine companion, Dogmatix. |
6 | 1965 | Asterix and Cleopatra | Astérix et Cléopâtre | Egypt | Caesar calls the Egyptians inferior to the Romans. Outraged, Cleopatra wagers that her people can build a grand monument in record time. Edifis, a bumbling, timid architect is asked to perform the miracle, and asks his old friend Getafix for help. Meanwhile, his rival and Caesar's agents attempt to sabotage the effort. |
7 | 1966 | Asterix and the Big Fight | Le combat des chefs | Asterix's village (no travel) | The Romans conspire with a Roman-friendly Gaulish village to declare a ritual winner-takes-all fight between village chiefs. A blow from one of Obelix's menhirs causes Getafix to lose his memory, leaving the Gauls without magic potion. The fight parodies professional boxing. |
8 | 1966 | Asterix in Britain | Astérix chez les Bretons | Britain | One small village in Britain still holds out against the Roman invaders. But with no magic potion, they need help, so Asterix's cousin Anticlimax comes to Gaul seeking aid. |
9 | 1966 | Asterix and the Normans | Astérix et les Normands | Asterix's village (no travel) | The Normans are fearless to the point of not even understanding the concept, so they travel to Gaul where they kidnap chief Vitalstatistix's cowardly visiting nephew Justforkix to teach them fear. |
10 | 1967 | Asterix the Legionary | Astérix légionnaire | North Africa | Asterix and Obelix join the Roman Legion (in a parody of the French Foreign Legion) in an attempt to find the conscripted fiancé of Panacea, a villager on whom Obelix has a big crush. With an eclectic group of foreigners, they are sent to North Africa to fight the traitor Scipio. |
11 | 1968 | Asterix and the Chieftain's Shield | Le bouclier Arverne | Cities in southern France: Acqua Calidae (Vichy), Gergovia, Nemessos (Clermont-Ferrand) | After too many banquets, chief Vitalstatistix is forced to visit a spa in the Arvernian countryside to nurse his sore liver. Meanwhile, Caesar orders his men to search the area for the shield of Vercingetorix, regarded as a patriotic symbol by the Gauls. |
12 | 1968 | Asterix at the Olympic Games | Astérix aux Jeux Olympiques | Greece | To participate in the Olympic Games in Greece, the Gauls register themselves as Romans. When the officials declare the magic potion to be a form of illegal doping, Asterix turns to his native abilities to compete. |
13 | 1969 | Asterix and the Cauldron | Astérix et le chaudron | Condatum (Rennes) | Whosemoralsarelastix, chief of a nearby village, asks Vitalstatistix to hide his village's money to prevent the Romans from taking it. When the money is stolen under his watch, Asterix is banished until he can repay the money and recover his honour. |
14 | 1969 | Asterix in Spain | Astérix en Hispanie | Spain | Pepe, the young and obstinate son of a Spanish chieftain, is kidnapped by the Romans and sent to Gaul. Asterix and Obelix rescue him and escort him back to Spain. |
15 | 1970 | Asterix and the Roman Agent | La Zizanie | Asterix's village (no travel) | A troublemaker is brought to Caesar in Rome; he was to be executed in the Circus Maximus, but is so conniving that the lions ate each other instead. Caesar sends him to the Gaulish village in an attempt to destroy unity. |
16 | 1970 | Asterix in Switzerland | Astérix chez les Helvètes | Switzerland | A poisoned Roman tax inspector is given sanctuary in the village. Asterix and Obelix are sent to Switzerland to recover edelweiss, which is needed to cure him. |
17 | 1971 | The Mansions of the Gods | Le Domaine des dieux | Asterix's village (no travel) | Caesar tries to dilute solidarity and weaken local customs in Gaul by creating a vacation resort near the village. The villagers sabotage the plan, first by magically replanting trees at the building site, and by creating a slaves' union; later by being obnoxious neighbors to the resident Romans. |
18 | 1972 | Asterix and the Laurel Wreath | Les Lauriers de César | Rome | Thoroughly chagrined by his obnoxious brother-in-law, Vitalstatistix gets drunk and boasts he will create a dish seasoned with Caesar's laurel wreath. He orders Asterix and Obelix travel to Rome to retrieve it. |
19 | 1972 | Asterix and the Soothsayer | Le Devin | Asterix's village (no travel) | In the absence of Getafix, a fraudulent seer seeks shelter in the Village during a storm. Camped in the forest, he makes predictions the villagers want to hear and asks them to provide items (food, alcohol and money) from which to "read" the future. He is later captured by the Romans and ordered to convince the Gauls to abandon their village. Only Asterix remains skeptical. |
20 | 1973 | Asterix in Corsica | Astérix en Corse | Corsica | As part of celebrations of the anniversary of Vercingetorix's victory at the Battle of Gergovia, the Gauls and their friends raid one of the nearby Roman camps. A stoic and composed prisoner is discovered, who reveals himself as Boneywasawarriorwayayix, a tribal leader from Corsica. Asterix and Obelix accompany him back to Corsica, to unite the quarrelling tribes against the Romans. |
21 | 1974 | Asterix and Caesar's Gift | Le Cadeau de César | Asterix's village | At the end of their career, legionaries are granted plots of land in Roman colonies for retirement. A perpetually inebriated soldier is given the Village, by Caesar's hand, which he promptly sells to an innkeeper for wine. The innkeeper sells his property and attempts to claim the village as his own. Upon discovering his ownership is void, he is pushed by his dominant wife to campaign to be elected chief, causing rivalries throughout the village. To complicate matter, the soldier arrives and asks the local legions' aid in reclaiming his village, since he didn't get enough wine for it. |
22 | 1975 | Asterix and the Great Crossing | La Grande traversée | North America and Denmark | Brewing the magic potion requires fresh fish, and Unhygienix has none since he imports them from Lutetia (Paris) (despite living by the sea). Asterix and Obelix set sail to catch fish, but become lost and end up on the other side of the ocean, discovering a New World, where they eventually become a legend to the Native American populace. Soon afterwards, a Viking explorer discovers America, and captures the first natives he finds (i.e. Asterix and Obelix) and brings them home. A running joke in this comic is that none of the races are able to understand one another, the Vikings speaking with Scandinavian vowels that the Gauls are unable to duplicate, but that their dogs are able to communicate perfectly. |
23* | 1976 | Asterix Conquers Rome | Les 12 Travaux D'Asterix | various locations | To prove to his critics that the Gauls are mere mortals, Julius Caesar challenges the village to perform twelve tasks that only gods could perform, similar to the twelve tasks of Hercules. If they succeed, he will admit defeat and let them become the rulers of Rome, but if they fail, they will become his slaves. The challenge is accepted and Asterix and Obelix are chosen to represent the village, eventually succeeding in all tasks. (This comic book, published in 1976, is an adaptation of the animated film The Twelve Tasks of Asterix. The artwork is thought to be by Uderzo's brother Marcel. It has rarely been printed and usually excluded from the canonical list of Asterix volumes.) |
23 | 1976 | Obelix and Co. | Obélix et Compagnie | Asterix's village (no travel) | Caesar sends one of his advisors to the Gaulish village, in an effort to make them rich, decadent and utterly dependent on Rome. He starts by buying menhirs at ever-increasing prices, thus persuading most of the village to make useless menhirs, and in turn employing other villagers to hunt for their food. The plan goes awry when Caesar's treasury proves insufficient to fund the menhirs, and a campaign to sell them in Rome fails because of competition from Egyptian menhirs and slave-made Roman menhirs. |
24 | 1979 | Asterix in Belgium | Astérix chez les Belges | Belgium | When Vitalstatistix hears that Caesar has said the Belgians are the bravest of all the Gaulish peoples he heads to Belgium in a huff to show the world that his Armoricans are really the best. |
32 | 2003 | Asterix and the Class Act | Astérix et la rentrée gauloise | Most stories take place in Asterix's village | A collection of several short stories, including an experiment at different drawing and storytelling styles. Most stories are written by Goscinny. |
34 | 2009 | Asterix and Obelix's Birthday | L'Anniversaire d'Astérix et Obélix - le Livre d'Or | Several short stories, including some written by Goscinny. | |
After the death of Goscinny, Uderzo continued the series by himself, writing his own stories on subjects such as feminism and aliens, with travels to India and Atlantis.
# | Year | English Title | French Title | Setting | Plot |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
25 | 1980 | Asterix and the Great Divide | Le Grand fossé | A fictional Gaulish village | Asterix and Obelix visit a village split in half by its rival chiefs. However, one chief's son and the other's daughter are in love, and together with Asterix and Obelix, they reunite the village. The dividing chasm is an allusion to the Berlin Wall, while the star-crossed lovers plot recalls Romeo and Juliet. [1] |
26 | 1981 | Asterix and the Black Gold | L'Odyssée d'Astérix | The Middle East, Jerusalem | Getafix has run out of rock oil and sends Asterix and Obelix to Mesopotamia in search of it. They are accompanied by a Gaulish-Roman druid called Dubbelosix, who is really a double agent seeking to foul their mission. Includes a tribute to Goscinny, who was Jewish. |
27 | 1983 | Asterix and Son | Le Fils d'Astérix | Asterix's village (no travel) | A baby boy mysteriously turns up at Asterix's doorstep. No one in the village knows who he is, so Asterix is forced to be his adoptive father. Meanwhile, Roman legions led by Brutus are after the baby, who is actually Caesar's full-blooded son, Caesarion. |
28 | 1987 | Asterix and the Magic Carpet | Astérix chez Rahazade | Iran, India | A fakir from far-away India travels to Asterix's village and asks Cacofonix to save his land from drought since his singing can cause rain. Cacofonix, accompanied by Asterix and Obelix, must travel to India aboard a magic carpet to save the life of the princess Orinjade, who is to be sacrificed to stop the drought. |
29 | 1991 | Asterix and the Secret Weapon | La Rose et le glaive | Asterix's village (no travel) | A feminist satire in which a female bard called Bravura replaces Cacofonix as school teacher and "liberates" the village women, causing the men to leave and live in the forest. Caesar secretly sends a battalion of female legionaries to conquer the village, having heard the Gauls will not strike a woman. The men and woman have to settle their differences to overcome this threat. |
30 | 1996 | Asterix and Obelix All at Sea | La Galère d'Obélix | Atlantis | Left alone in Getafix's hut, Obelix drinks a cauldron of magic potion. He first turns to stone, then into a small boy. Meanwhile, a group of men have escaped from Roman slavery on board a ship. Together, they travel to Atlantis, hoping to make Obelix a grown man again. |
31 | 2001 | Asterix and the Actress | Astérix et Latraviata | Asterix's village (no travel) | A Roman actress poses as Panacea in order to steal back a fancy sword/scabbard and helmet belonging to Pompey, which Asterix and Obelix received for their shared birthday. |
33 | 2005 | Asterix and the Falling Sky | Le ciel lui tombe sur la tête | Asterix's village (no travel) | Rival aliens visit the Gaulish village in search of the Gaul's great weapon, which is "known throughout the universe". The aliens battle each other, and the magic potion later proves to have an unexpected side-effect on them. |
The series is no longer written by Albert Uderzo, but rather by Jean-Yves Ferri and illustrated by Didier Conrad – the first time the story creation has been shared between two people since Goscinny's death in 1977.
# | Year | English Title | French Title | Setting | Plot |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
35 | 2013 | Asterix and the Picts | Astérix chez les Pictes | Caledonia | When Asterix and Obelix rescue a mysterious Pict named MacAroon, they must journey to Caledonia, to return him to his lady love, Camomilla, the adopted daughter of the old king. However, the treacherous chieftain MacCabeus – with the help of the Romans – plans to marry her and claim the throne. |
36 | 2015 | Asterix and the Missing Scroll | Le Papyrus de César | Asterix's village (no travel) | Julius Caesar has written a history of his campaigns in Gaul. His publisher, Libellus Blockbustus, advises him to cut a chapter detailing his defeats by the indomitable Gauls. A stolen copy of the censored chapter ends up with the Gauls, who take measures to ensure it will be remembered for future generations. |
37 | 2017 [2] | Asterix and the Chariot Race | Astérix et la Transitalique | Italy | Obelix decides to join a chariot race across the homeland of the Romans, Italy, accompanied by Asterix and Dogmatix. The race takes them to Venexia, Florencia, Neapolis, Sena Julia and other locations. |
38 | 2019 | Asterix and the Chieftain's Daughter | La Fille De Vercingétorix | Asterix's Village (no travel) | Escorted by two Arvernes chiefs, a mysterious teenager has just arrived at the village. Caesar and his legionaries seek her, and for good reason. In the village, it is rumored that the father of the visitor is no other than the great Vercingétorix himself. |
39 | 2021 | Asterix and the Griffin | Asterix et le Griffon | ±Barbarikon | When Julius Caesar launches an expedition to capture a griffin, Sarmatian shaman Fanciacuppov, to whom griffins are holy, asks Getafix for help. The Gaulish druid brings Asterix and Obelix, who team up with a band of female warriors to fight the Romans. Meanwhile, Dogmatix befriends a pack of wolves. |
Fabcaro replaces Jean-Yves Ferri as the writer of the series with Didier Conrad continuing to draw the comics.
# | Year | English Title | French Title | Setting | Plot |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
40 | 2023 | Asterix and the White Iris | L'Iris blanc | Asterix's village, Lutetia | The morale among the Roman legions is low and the legionnaires are on the brink of mutiny. Chief medical officer Isivertuus has a plan to boost the morale using his "White Iris" doctrine. Isivertuus manages to almost completely placate the Gaulish village and seduces Impedimenta to travel to Lutetia with him, where he plans to give her to Caesar as a gift. Isivertuus's plan backfires when Vitalstatistix, longing after his wife, travels to Lutetia with Asterix and Obelix to rescue her. |
The storyline in a volume is typically 44 pages long; the exceptions are Asterix and the Golden Sickle , which is 42 pages, Asterix and the Goths , which is 43 pages, Asterix Conquers Rome , which is 28 pages, Asterix and the Chariot Race , which is 45 pages; and Asterix and the Class Act and Asterix and Obelix's Birthday: The Golden Book, both of which are collections of short stories. [3]
In 1967, Goscinny and Uderzo produced a narrated adventure Le menhir d'or on vinyl, accompanied by an illustrated storybook to be read along with the record. The book was reprinted without the recording in 2020.
In the mid-1980s a series of illustrated text stories appeared, with some original art, but mostly taken and modified from existing albums. These were 26 pages in a smaller format than the normal albums with large print. They are aimed at a younger audience and were not enthusiastically received; translation into other languages was spotty. Unofficial fan translations to English of a few of these titles exist.
In 1989 a final illustrated story appeared. The story was by Goscinny (in 1965) with new, original art by Uderzo. It was 32 pages and appeared in the larger format used for the regular albums. It was the only one that was published in English:
Also in 1989–90 the first eight illustrated stories were reprinted in some locales as four books, each containing two of the original stories.
In 2007, Editions Albert René published Astérix et ses Amis (Asterix and friends), a collection of short Asterix stories written and drawn by, and in the distinctive styles of, a number of cartoonists other than Uderzo. The book was dedicated to Uderzo on the occasion of his 80th birthday and carries a foreword by Sylvie, his daughter.
Asterix films not based closely on a single book have had film books released in a format similar to the original albums, but with scenes from the films and a written story.
Asterix or The Adventures of Asterix is a bande dessinée comic book series about a village of indomitable Gaulish warriors who adventure around the world and fight the Roman Republic, with the aid of a magic potion, during the era of Julius Caesar, in an ahistorical telling of the time after the Gallic Wars.
René Goscinny was a French comic editor and writer, who created the Astérix comic book series with illustrator Albert Uderzo. He was raised primarily in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he attended French schools, as well as lived in the United States for a short period of time. There he met Belgian cartoonist Morris. After his return to France, they collaborated for more than 20 years on the comic series Lucky Luke.
Alberto Aleandro Uderzo, better known as Albert Uderzo, was a French comic book artist and scriptwriter. He is best known as the co-creator and illustrator of the Astérix series in collaboration with René Goscinny. He also drew other comics such as Oumpah-pah, again with Goscinny. Uderzo retired in September 2011.
Asterix the Gaul is the first volume of the Asterix comic strip series, by René Goscinny (stories) and Albert Uderzo (illustrations). In Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century, a 1999 poll conducted by the French retailer Fnac and the Paris newspaper Le Monde, Asterix the Gaul was listed as the 23rd greatest book of the 20th century.
Asterix and the Banquet is the fifth volume of the Asterix comic book series, by René Goscinny (stories) and Albert Uderzo (illustrations). It was first serialized in Pilote magazine, issues 172–213, in 1963.
Asterix and Cleopatra is the sixth book in the Asterix album series by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. It was first published in serial form in Pilote magazine, issues 215–257, in 1963.
The Twelve Tasks of Asterix is a 1976 English/French animated feature film based on the Asterix comic book series, and the third in the animated franchise. René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, the creators of the series, wrote the story and directed the film themselves; with co-direction by Pierre Watrin and the screenplay co-written by Pierre Tchernia, a friend of Goscinny and Uderzo. The film was directed, produced and animated at Goscinny and Uderzo's own animation studio, Studios Idéfix, and is the only Asterix animated film that used the xerography process. At the time of its release, the film received mixed reviews since its tone is more cartoony and frequently breaks the fourth wall. Nowadays its reception is more favorable, with it often being cited as one of the best Astérix films, even reaching the status of a cult classic.
Obelix and Co. is the twenty-third volume of the Asterix comic book series, by René Goscinny (stories) and Albert Uderzo (illustrations). The book's main focus is on the attempts by the Gaul-occupying Romans to corrupt the one remaining village that still holds out against them by instilling capitalism. It is also the penultimate volume written by Goscinny before his death in 1977; his final volume, Asterix in Belgium, was released after his death in 1979.
Asterix and the Actress is the 31st volume of the Asterix comic book series, written and illustrated by Albert Uderzo.
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 and the Falling Sky is the thirty-third volume of the Asterix comic book series, the ninth solely written and illustrated by Albert Uderzo and the only volume to introduce science fiction elements into the otherwise historical comedy series. The book was intended as a tribute to Walt Disney and a satire on the state of the French comics industry. It was released on October 14, 2005 to commercial success, but was panned by the critics. This was the final volume produced by Uderzo before handing over the series to a new creative team.
Asterix and Obelix is a French live-action film franchise, based on the comic book series of the same name by French comic book artists Albert Uderzo and Rene Goscinny. The series includes five theatrically released films. Just like the comic books, the films focus on the adventures of Asterix and Obelix, two Gauls in Roman-occupied Europe. With the help of a magic potion which causes superhuman strength, the Gaul's tiny village manages to resist Rome.
All the Asterix stories, created by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, have been translated into English. The vast majority of the albums were translated by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge. Their first volume, Asterix the Gaul, was published by Brockhampton Press in 1969. Bell retired in 2016 due to ill health and died in 2018; Hockridge died in 2013. Adriana Hunter currently serves as translator, with Asterix and the Chariot Race being her debut.
Asterix and the Picts is the 35th book in the Asterix series, and is the first book to be written by someone other than René Goscinny or Albert Uderzo. It was written by Jean-Yves Ferri and illustrated by Didier Conrad. The English-language version was translated by Anthea Bell.
Jean-Yves Ferri is a French writer, designer, and colourist of comics.
Asterix and the Missing Scroll is the 36th book in the Asterix comics series, and the second written by Jean-Yves Ferri and illustrated by Didier Conrad. A central theme is censorship and the battle over information. The title alludes to Julius Caesar's classic book, Commentarii de Bello Gallico. The comic adds a fictitious Chapter 24 titled "Defeats at the Hands of the Indomitable Gauls of Armorica".
Didier Conrad is a French comics artist and writer. Since 2012, he has been the artist of the popular Asterix series.
Asterix and the Chariot Race is the 37th book in the Asterix series, and the third to be written by Jean-Yves Ferri and illustrated by Didier Conrad. The book was released worldwide in more than 20 languages on 19 October 2017 with an initial print run of 5 million copies.
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.