A first album of content appeared in 1961 with 6,000 copies for the initial printing.Astérix first appeared in 1959 in a magazine called Pilote.We say watch out America, Astérix’s magic potion is coming for you next.”Īnd if you’re just catching up to the power of one short Gaul with gall, a few notes: “After 60 years, the little Gaul Astérix is an ongoing mighty hit in most countries and languages and thus has proven himself to cross borders very successfully. “Asterix became a beacon showing comics could be so much more than people had believed.
Goscinny once described the evolution of Asterix’s appeal in a telling way: at signings, first it was the kids claiming autographs, then it became parents asking for their children, then the adults asking for themselves. “As I got older, I started to appreciate the less-obvious humor: the satire of our ways the cameo appearances of famous people, beautifully caricatured by Uderzo the spoof of the ways of different countries Astérix and Obelix would visit.
In looking ahead to the coming July release of the first content in the new series, Papercutz publisher Terry Nantier is quoted talking about his own regard for the Astérix legacy, saying, “I grew up reading Astérix, among many other great European comics, and it grew with me. ‘Famous People, Beautifully Charicatured’
#ASTERIX FILMS SERIES#
The founding writer of the series was René Goscinny, whose own American connection included work in New York City where he knew the team behind Mad Magazine. Ironically for the new US-based evocation of the series, Uderzo is said to have been inspired by American comics and the Disney work. The original writer and illustrator duo of the series featured the work of the late artist Ablert Uderzo, who died on March 24 at age 92 in Neuilly-sur-Seine. He has worked with Jean-Yves Ferri, the current writer of the series since Volume 35 appeared in 2013. The current illustrator for one of the world’s best-known and longest running comics properties is Didier Conrad, who worked on Spirou before moving to Astérix. The publisher is working in a format of 7.5 by 9.5 inches for the North American market.The Chieftain’s Daughter will be released in full-color hardcover ($9.99) Volume 1 and Volume 2 will be released in full-color hardcover at US$22.99 and full-color paperback at US$14.99.Papercutz will release four revised omnibus volumes, with three albums each, every year until the entire series is complete.There’s a focus in Johnson’s work, we’re told, on making the French puns work for an American audience, and making the Ancient European and Latin references understandable.These are new translations by Florida-based Joe Johnson, a professor of French and Spanish at Atlanta’s Clayton State University.Quick details about the new Papercutz Astérix project: Parc Astérix currently is offering “exceptional sanitary procedures,” its site tells us, in light of the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. The rights for all this are held by Hachette’s lucky Éditions Albert René in the Paris suburb Vanves, and when it comes to licensing?-there’s the Astérix theme park, now past its 25th anniversary. 38, The Chieftain’s Daughter, which was released in October-to a quick sale of more than 5 million copies. There are 38 books about Astérix and Obelix, the grinning Gauls who always elude capture by the Roman army in BC 50, and Papercutz’s plan is to start not only with the two omnibus editions, but also with a standalone new volume, No. As Keslassy notes, that’s an “exceptionally high budget by French standards” for a film, but then Astérix is an exceptionally successful rights juggernaut.Īnd Americans who know and love the 60-year-old French comic series will be pleased to know that New York City-based Papercutz Publishing-a house that specializes in graphic novels for younger readers-will on Bastille Day (July 14) release two omnibus volumes of three Astérix stories each. Image: Papercutzīy Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | A Bastille Day Release of Three Titles As Elsa Keslassy reported Thursday (June 18) in an exclusive at Variety, Alain Attal’s Tresor Films in Paris has announced a US$72.4 million film project, Astérix & Obelix: The Silk Road. Only the voice actors for Asterix, Obelix, Getafix, Julius Caesar, Lucullus and the narrator are credited, while all of the supporting actors in the film were uncredited.Panels from a ‘sneak peek’ advance look at the new US editions scheduled for release by Papercutz in New York City on Bastille Day, July 14.