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Asterix (, created in 1959 as the Hero of a Series Of Volumes of French Comic Book s by René Goscinny (stories) and Albert Uderzo (illustrations). Uderzo has continued the series since the death of Goscinny in 1977 . The 33 main books (1 of which is a compendium of short stories) have been translated into many languages, including dialects and even Latin and Ancient Greek . They are probably the most popular French Comic in the world, and familiar to people of all ages in most European countries. Asterix is less well known in the United States and Japan , which both have strong comic book traditions of their own. 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 can appreciate the cleverness of the allusions and Pun s that sparkle throughout the texts. Note: the names of the characters contain puns, and vary with translation into other languages. This article uses the names from the English-language translations of Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge . For the French names see Below . Several books have been made into films, mostly animated, some with live actors. See List Of Asterix Films And Videogames . MAIN CHARACTER AND BACKGROUND Asterix is a small but fearless and cunning warrior, ever eager for any new adventure. He lives around 50 BC in a fictional village in northwest Armorica (a region of ancient Gaul mostly identical to modern Brittany ). This village is celebrated as the only part of Gaul not yet conquered by Julius Caesar and his Roman Legion s. The inhabitants of the village gain superhuman strength by drinking a magic Potion prepared by the Druid Getafix (French: Panoramix). The village is surrounded by the ocean on one side, and four unlucky Roman garrisons on the other, intended to keep a watchful eye and ensure that the Gauls do not get up to mischief. Asterix is a confirmed bachelor, and one of the smartest (and sanest) members of the village (sometimes referred to as a 'village of madmen') and because of this he is usually chosen for any dangerous, important or exotic mission. Unlike most of the other villagers he does not start or join brawls for the fun of it, although he does enjoy a good fight when there's cause. He rarely resorts to weapons, preferring to rely on his wits, and when necessary his (magic potion enhanced) fists -- he is only an average swordsman. Asterix' parents are former villagers who now live in the city of Condatum ( Rennes ), and he has cousins in Britain. He shares a birthday with his clumsy, oversized, but extremely strong and good-hearted best friend, Obelix but an occasional running gag is that his age is 'indeterminate'. One of his most visually engaging features is his helmet, the wings of which mirror his expressions. HUMOUR The humour encountered in the Asterix comics is typically French, often centring on puns, caricatures, and translation, the Roman legionnaires are made to speak in 20th-century Roman slang. 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. Allegations of chauvinism are in fact ironic considering that Uderzo is of Italian descent, and Goscinny was of Ukrainian-Polish Jewish descent. Stereotypes and allusions Everywhere they visit, Asterix and Obelix encounter people and things borrowed and caricatured from 20th century real life. In the early album '' Asterix And The Goths '', for instance, the Goths are represented as Militaristic and regimented, reminiscent of late nineteenth and early twentieth century Germans . The helmets worn by these Goths even resemble the German Pickelhaube helmets worn up to World War I and one of their leaders bears an uncanny resemblance to Otto Von Bismarck . The British are shown as polite and Phlegmatic , drinking warm Beer or hot Water with a drop of milk (before the first Tea has been brought to what would become England by Asterix); they boil all their food and serve it with mint sauce, and they drive their chariots on the wrong side of the road. Spain is the cheap country down south where people from the North vacation. All the tribes represented are treated humorously as prototypes for their modern counterparts, and many aspects of them are satirised. However, the French are not exempt from satire, and almost all of the peoples Asterix meets are portrayed positively, even the Romans. The only tribe depicted completely unflatteringly is the Goths, possibly a result of the Second World War. (But in later books, just like "Asterix the Legionary" or "Asterix and Obelix All at Sea", the Goths were depicted much more friendly; possibly because the Asterix series became very popular in Germany). Some caricatures of the traits of certain French regions are also used: the people from Normandy smother their food in cream and cannot give a straight answer; the people from Marseille play Boules and exaggerate matters, and Corsica ns don't like to do any work, are easily angered and have long-standing Vendetta s that they settle violently, and make cheese that smells so bad that it actually becomes an explosive. Minor characters often resemble famous people or fictional characters, usually caricatures of existing French people of the same era, particularly from television and the spectacles. In '' Obelix And Co. '', for example, the young Roman bureaucrat is a caricature of a young Jacques Chirac , and it includes two Roman legionaries drawn to the likeness of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy . In '' Asterix And The Falling Sky '', the super-clones are a caricature of Superman , and their leader, Toon , resembles Mickey Mouse . Those characters usually stick out visually, by not having the round, oversized noses otherwise typical of Uderzo's style. Other side characters allude to people related to the place Asterix is visiting. Notable examples include a very '', a Roman spy is a young Sean Connery named Dubbelosix drawn in James Bond style, and in '' Asterix And Obelix All At Sea '', the leader of the escaped slaves (named Spartakis, being Greek) is based on Kirk Douglas ' Spartacus . In '' Asterix And The Cauldron '', the head of the theatre is Laurensolivius, based on the actor Laurence Olivier . The stories also feature allusions to major artistic works (such as '' and Victor Hugo 's story of the Battle Of Waterloo from ''Les Châtiments'', in '' Asterix In Belgium ''), as well as historical personalities ( Napoleon , Louis XIV Of France ), and famous places (the Moulin Rouge , Bethlehem ) and the Statue Of Liberty (played by Asterix)). However, in many other respects the series reflects life in the and the Romans, as its Italian equivalent is "Sono pazzi questi romani", which abbreviates as " SPQR ", as does the motto of the Roman Empire. On the other hand, the presence of chimneys in the Gaulish huts is not accurate, as they used gabled openings in the roof to let smoke escape. Also, Menhir s are now believed to have been erected long before the Gauls. The text also makes relatively regular use of original Latin Phrases , and allusions to Julius Caesar's '' De Bello Gallico '', a book about the conquest of Gaul, later used as an introductory text to Latin . Some jokes are made about Caesar's use of the third person to write about himself. Such allusions were likely to be well-received by the better-educated sections of the French and Belgian public in the 1960s , when the teaching of Latin was still widespread in high schools. Puns in names
Each cultural group in Asterix has a characteristic ending for names (though there are occasionally notable exceptions). Nearly all the Gaulish characters' names end in ''-ix'' (probably a reference to the real-life Gaulish chieftain such as is Bacteria . Many names stand as solitary puns on their characters, like Getafix or Geriatrix—particularly with recurring characters, while others are simply Absurdist such as 'Spurious Brontosaurus', and some in groups play on each other, as in the example of a Roman guard talking through a closed door to another guard: "Open up, Sendervictorius! It's me, Appianglorius!" This is a pun on lines from the UK national anthem "God Save the Queen": "Send her victorious, happy and glorious, long to reign over us, God save the Queen". Names in the French version Many of these puns reflect the French original, in which, for example, the Egyptian in ''Astérix Légionnaire'' is named Courdeténis (''cour de tennis'', i.e. "tennis court") in French and Ptenisnet in English. But the translation of puns is difficult, and Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge have been widely praised for their rendition in the English language edition. For example, the translation of Ordralfabétix (referring to ''ordre alphabétique'', "alphabetical order"), is Unhygienix, given that this character is a fishmonger infamous for his rotting product. The original Panoramix, which perhaps represents the druid who sees the whole picture, is named Getafix in the English version, as "get a fix" conveys the fact he makes potent potions. Assurancetourix (''assurance tous risques'' or "comprehensive insurance"), the ear-offending Bard of the village, becomes the apt Cacofonix. Another clever translation is that of Idéfix, a dog who has very strong views on the environment (he howls whenever he sees an uprooted tree). An ''idée fixe'' is a "fixed idea", i.e. an obsession, a dogma. The translation, Dogmatix , manages to conserve the "fixed idea" meaning and also include the syllable ''dog''. Note that the American English version of the comic was done by a different translator, and tends to use different names. Since these translations were of such poor quality, many North American fans of the series seek out the British translations instead. The word ''asterix'' is also commonly mis-used by English Language speakers and writers in place of ''asterisk''. The chief is called Abraracourcix, derived from the phrase ''à bras raccourcis'' meaning "with arms shortened, ready to punch." Another series of puns, at least in the original French include the names of the four camps (castra) which surround Asterix's village, e.g. one of them is called "Babaorum", a pun on ''baba au rhum'' or Rum Baba , a popular kind of pastry, similiarly in English, this camp is called Totorum (Tot o' rum, colloquial English for shot of rum) Running gags A number of running gags recur in various albums. One of these is that the bard Cacofonix wants to create a spontaneous song whenever Asterix and Obelix leave or come back for a grand journey, but is usually prevented from doing so by Fulliautomatix (the blacksmith). At the end of most adventures (most notable exceptions in '' Asterix And The Normans '', '' Asterix And The Magic Carpet '' and '' Asterix And The Falling Sky ''), he ends up not attending the final banquet which usually marks the end of an episode; instead he is seen tied up and gagged up in his tree-house in the same panel in which the feast takes place, so as not to disrupt the festivities. Another running gag is a group of Pirate s that tend to get caught in the middle of conflict and have their ship sunk, resembling the painting The Raft Of The Medusa by Théodore Géricault , most notably in '' Asterix The Legionary ''. The ship is often sunk for a variety of reasons, such as a stray thrown menhir, though usually through Asterix and Obelix boarding them. In one episode, they attack a ship carrying a Roman agent, who points at a random crew member and states he gave him a bagful of gold if he would not attack the agent. In the ensuing battle over the nonexistent bag of gold, the pirates sink their own ship. In another, tired of being sunk, they give up pirating completely and open a ship-themed restaurant. Asterix and Obelix arrive and the restaurant is soon smashed to pieces. Sometimes the pirates scuttle the ship themselves rather than be attacked by the Gauls again. Those pirates—most notably the red-bearded captain, the constantly Latin-quoting peg-legged second-in-command, and the African lookout—are caricatures of the characters of "Barbe Rouge, Le Démon des Caraïbes", a pirate series that was published at the same time in Pilote , the weekly comics magazine in which Asterix appeared, and which Goscinny also edited. "My tailor is rich" A famous example of Goscinny's subtle Franco-French humor can be found in '' countries and other European states such as Spain, in the 1960s. Today this English phrase is still used by the French as a title referring to a British matter, or sometimes referring to a bad English speaking person, in medias and Internet forums. It has been said that "My tailor is rich" was the very first spoken phrase said in the first Assimil "English without Pain" (''Anglais sans Peine'') English learning Vinyl record volume released circa 1960, the second phrase being "My cigarette is finished." Later there's another gag with the same basic premise, when Asterix remarks that his cousin's boat is small, he replies nonsenically "It's smaller then the garden of of my uncle, but it's larger then the nose of my aunt." Revisionist explanations In the albums, some historical facts are retold, and attributed to Asterix & Obelix.
ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS All Asterix stories by Goscinny and Uderzo which have been officially translated into English have been done by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge. However there have been some additional translations done in an attempt to enter the American market. American Newspaper Syndication From November 1977 until early 1979 five albums were serialized in syndicated form in a number of North American newspapers. Since these were printed as part of the standard daily comics, and were broken into separately licenced, but concurrent daily and Sunday strips, the art needed considerable reworking which required re-editing of much of the dialog. In addition, a number of names, jokes and pieces of art were further changed to be more politically correct or idiomatic for the newspapers' family-oriented comics audience. The results were very different from the original translations, and less than engaging. The stories printed appeared in essentially random order as well,and the experiment came to a mercifully swift demise. The stories which appeared were
The Sunday colour comic between stories contained the end of one story and the start of the next, each as a half page. American Albums Five volumes were also translated into American English by Robert Steven Caron. These are ' Asterix And The Great Crossing ' in 1984, ' Asterix The Legionary ' and ' Asterix At The Olympic Games ' in 1992, and ' Asterix In Britain ' and ' Asterix And Cleopatra ' in 1995. For copyright purposes most characters names were changed. With Asterix never achieving great popularity in the United States this series of retranslations was halted after these albums, leading to some confusion among the few American fans of the series (the other volumes were issued with the British translation in the same market). Comparison of names of major characters See Also: Recurring characters in Asterix INFLUENCES
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