Comics In Motion

Indie Comics Spotlight: Asterix

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Episode notes

Asterix or The Adventures of Asterix (French: Astérix or Astérix le Gaulois, IPA: [aste?iks  l? ?olwa]) 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. The “ix” suffix of both names echoes the  name of Vercingetorix,  a historical Gaul chieftain. In many cases, the  stories have them  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 René Goscinny and  Albert Uderzo France’s bestselling  authors abroad

You can read them online from Hoopla Digital or at the Read Asterix Comics online page. 

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