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Topic:
Asterix: "Asterix and Obelix All At Sea"
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GreatTarzan
Registered:
Jun '05
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Date Posted:
8/25/06 5:54am
Subject:
Asterix: "Asterix and Obelix All At Sea"
- Date Edited:
11/29 1:34pm (9 edits total)
Edited By:
Zaz
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The comic book series of Asterix has always been one of my two favourites. The other spot belonging to Tintin. Recent discussion in the Tintin thread here in Amph has led us to a new place: Asterix!
If you have never heard of the fellow, or read one of his books, he is the creation of artist-writer duo Albert Uderzo and Rene Goscinny. The first of the comics was published in 1961 - and the latest in 2005. It is set during the Roman campaigns in Gaul, and usually follows the stories of the Gaul, Asterix, and his best friend Obelix. However, often the whole Gallic village is involved!
The books are a good and humorous read. Classics, if I dare say so.
There have also been some films, both animated and live-action, made from the Asterix series. I don't know much about them, nor have I seen any. But if anyone else has, feel free to talk about them as well.
Here is a list of all the official Asterix volumes:
Asterix the Gaul (1961)
Asterix and the Golden Sickle (1962)
Asterix and the Goths (1963)
Asterix the Gladiator (1964)
Asterix and the Banquet (1965)
Asterix and Cleopatra (1965)
Asterix and the Big Fight (1966)
Asterix in Britain (1966)
Asterix and the Normans (1966)
Asterix the Legionary (1967)
Asterix and the Chieftain's Shield (1968)
Asterix at the Olympic Games (1968)
Asterix and the Cauldron (1969)
Asterix in Spain (1969)
Asterix and the Roman Agent (1970)
Asterix in Switzerland (1970)
The Mansions of the Gods (1971)
Asterix and the Laurel Wreath (1972)
Asterix and the Soothsayer (1972)
Asterix in Corsica (1973)
Asterix and Caesar's Gift (1974)
Asterix and the Great Crossing (1975)
Obelix and Co. (1976)
Asterix in Belgium (1979)
Unfortunately, Goscinny (the writer) died in 1977 due to a Cardiac Arrest. Uderzo, however, continued the series and has written and drawn many more Asterix books:
Asterix and the Great Divide (1980)
Asterix and the Black Gold (1981)
Asterix and Son (1983)
Asterix and the Magic Carpet (1987)
Asterix and the Secret Weapon (1991)
Asterix and Obelix All at Sea (1996)
Asterix and the Actress (2001)
Asterix and the Class Act (2003)
Asterix and the Falling Sky (2005)
So are there any Asterix fans out there? Or Obelix fans? Or fans of Getafix, Cacofonix, Vitalstatistix, Fulliautomatix, Crismus Bonus or even Unhygienix and his wife Bacteria? Hehehe.
There you have it. All Asterix & Obelix talk and questions can come in here now. 
Also, here's a link to a massive picture of nearly the entire cast of Asterix I reckon - if anyone wanted to see them all. 
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Maybe God is the melody we all serenade.
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
8/25/06 8:29am
Subject:
RE: Astérix
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I was going to suggest that someone start an Asterix thread, as we were hijacking the Tintin thread with a discussion of it; but you were way ahead of me.
I have reserved "Asterix the Gaul" at the library, and expect to be able to contribute to this discussion soon.
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GreatTarzan
Registered:
Jun '05
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Date Posted:
8/25/06 9:00am
Subject:
RE: Astérix
- Date Edited:
8/25/06 9:01am (1 edits total)
Edited By:
GreatTarzan
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Hijacking indeed. 
Awesome. Let us know when you have it. The artwork in that first volume fluctuates a lot, Uderzo doesn't really settle on something until the second book. You might be able to see it getting there in the end of that book, too - but it's been awhile for me, so hard to remember off the top of my head. 
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Maybe God is the melody we all serenade.
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
8/25/06 9:21am
Subject:
RE: Astérix
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It was the same with Tintin; the art in "Tintin Among the Soviets" was Art Deco & very stylized compared to later.
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darkmole
Registered:
Jul '00
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Date Posted:
8/25/06 10:19am
Subject:
RE: Astérix
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Fantastic. If I may, I'll repost one of my comments from the Tintin thread:
darkmole posted:
Asterix could be surprisingly thought-provoking. Some of Goscinny's later albums were very satirical and much more political than Herge ever dared to be, e.g. his brilliant send-up of cultural imperialism in The Mansions of the Gods, when the Romans pull down the forest around the Gaulish village in an effort to assimiliate the Gauls into Roman culture, or his superb satire on consumer capitalism in Obelix & Co, when the Romans corrupt the Gauls by buying menhirs and then, to make their money back, they flog them in Rome. The only problem is, no one knows what menhirs are for. Uderzo did a brilliant panel showing a menhir marketing presentation to an increasingly befuddled Caesar. In Asterix and Caesar's gift, G&U send up party politics. Asterix and the Laurel Wreath is a very sharp satire about domestic city life (in one of my favourite scenes, Asterix takes on the job of counsel for the prosecution in his own trial). I could go on. Since this is a Tintin thread, I must mention Asterix in Belgium because the Thompson twins have a cameo in it (Herge includes Asterix in the street parade in the Picaros).
A couple of words of caution about Asterix though. Goscinny wrote the stories and Uderzo drew them. When Goscinny died, Uderzo carried on writing the books but the quality declined sharply and the most recent Asterix volumes have been pretty dire. For English readers, avoid the American translations and try to get hold of the British ones. And on no account go to see any of the films as they are all pretty poor.
The essential Asterix albums are probably: Asterix and Cleopatra, Asterix in Britain, Asterix the Gladiator, Asterix the Legionary.
Since writing that I've been rightly criticised for being too harsh on the post-Goscinny books. That's a fair point. Though the Great Divide is a bit of a mash-up between Legionnary and Caesar's Gift and has a talking fish as its principal villain, it's not without merit. Asterix & Son is excellent, as is Black Gold. Things get ropey with Magic Carpet and then the quality really slides: Secret Weapon is a crude attempt to tackle feminism 30 years too late, Asterix & Obelix All At Sea is just plain bad. I quite like Asterix & the Actress, though it is horrendously plotted. Asterix and the Falling Sky is where Asterix finally jumps the shark and has an adventure with cute aliens and a clone army of superheroes.
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darth_frared
Registered:
Jun '05
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Date Posted:
8/25/06 10:53am
Subject:
RE: Astérix
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that's a good idea here
i didn't know anyone outside europe actually knew these guys!
i'm a big fan, i love obelix and the gang to bits, don't like the animated movies too much, loathe the idea of live action movies and would like to know which character name belongs to what character, as they were translated differently into german.
i can do a bit of a rundown myself and explain the german names if you like, so could someone do the english ones? please?
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Kyptastic
Title: Manager Emeritus
SWD Co-Commish
Registered:
Sep '05
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Date Posted:
8/25/06 2:48pm
Subject:
RE: Astérix
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Something I also posted in the Tintin thread...
Kyptastic posted:
For Asterix, the essentials (in my view) would be...
Asterix the Gaul (1961) - The first one, introduces the main characters, but most of them change from this representation, especially Obelix and Vitalstatistix. Introduces the concept of the Druid Getafix's magic potion, but also shows that Asterix does not need to rely on it to beat the romans.
Asterix and the Banquet (1965) - Asterix and Obelix head on a tour around France (the Tour de France) to pick up regional foods to serve at a banquet to win a bet with an evil Roman governor. First introduction of Dogmatix.
Asterix and Cleopatra (1965) - One of the best in terms of storyline (IMO) in which Asterix, Obelix, Getafix and Dogmatix help Cleopatra win a bet with Caesar, showing that the Egyptians aren't weak. Probably the first to show Caesar in a humouress light.
Asterix and the Cauldron (1969) - Asterix is banished from the village for losing another village's money. Obelix goes with him and their attempts to earn/gamble/steal the money back show that the heroes are not infallible.
The Mansions of the Gods (1971) - It's already been said above about the intricasies of this edition.
Obelix and Co. (1976) - A lesson on economics and capitalism, it always manages to maintain a sense of fun, especially watching the entire village get sucked in by the 'evils' of money and greed.
Most of the collabarative works between Goscinny and Uderzo are good reads though
The only one of the Uderzo only works I think is worth reading is Asterix and Son (1983) - It would have been the perfect finale for the series, with Caesar and the Village allied in the end...
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"It is your choice," Saba said ."This one does not think it will interfere with our peace deal. We have plenty of Moffz. Blast two."
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Princess_Tina
Registered:
May '01
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Date Posted:
8/25/06 6:18pm
Subject:
RE: Astérix
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I'm a big Asterix fan... it's a shame Asterix comics aren't better known in the U.S. But, then again, the storylines are so deeply European that perhaps it should come as no surprise.
Also hate the fact that the Asterix live-action movies have never been released in America, either theatrically or on video. 
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darth_boy
Registered:
Apr '01
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Date Posted:
8/25/06 6:59pm
Subject:
RE: Astérix
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Princess_Tina posted:
Also hate the fact that the Asterix live-action movies have never been released in America, either theatrically or on video.
they are a bit rubbish
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I am now a mod favourite & allowed to post hateful messages This Post was Brought to you by the U Mad? Society of the JC (UM?SJC)...you lost darth_boy love you long time Dodi/Diana '08 
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Gobi-1
Title: Manager: LFL Projects / Indiana Jones 4
Registered:
Dec '02
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Date Posted:
8/25/06 7:21pm
Subject:
RE: Astérix
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I can recall the Disney channel airing some of the Asterix cartoons in the 1980s.
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In 1977 George Lucas created the Star Wars Trilogy and changed the way we look at movies.
In 1999 George Lucas created the Prequel Trilogy and changed the way we look at Star Wars.
Frasier, Lost, and Whose Line Is It Anyway? are the best tv shows ever.
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TheBoogieMan
Title: Manager Emeritus
Registered:
Nov '01
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Date Posted:
8/25/06 11:19pm
Subject:
RE: Astérix
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I've seen one of the animated films. It was average; nowhere near as good as the Tintin adapatations. I've never caught a live-action film, though.
I love the Asterix books. Not quite as much as Tintin, and I think that the sprawling body of work might have something to do with it. There's just a little too much to take it.
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darkmole
Registered:
Jul '00
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Date Posted:
8/26/06 1:18am
Subject:
RE: Astérix
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The English names are:
Chief -- Vitalstatistix
Chief's Wife -- Impedimenta
Fishmonger -- Unhygenix
Blacksmith -- Fulliautomatix
Old Man -- Geriatrix
Bard -- Cacofonix
Obelix's girlfriend (he wishes) -- Pandora
Her real fiance -- Tragicomix
and most controversially,
Druid -- Getafix
Let me know if I've missed any out.
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darth_frared
Registered:
Jun '05
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Date Posted:
8/26/06 1:43am
Subject:
RE: Astérix
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they are good
obelix' love interest is falbala (pandora is a bit too evocative i should think)
for her fiance i think they kept tragicomix
chief is majestix
his wife: gutemine (meaning she who smiles at tragedy)
bard: troubadix
blacksmith: automatix
fishmonger: verleihnix (no lending)
old man: methusalix (which i think is self-explanatory)
funny how they gave them different names in different countries.
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TheBoogieMan
Title: Manager Emeritus
Registered:
Nov '01
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Date Posted:
8/26/06 1:46am
Subject:
RE: Astérix
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Weird. I didn't know there were different names in different languages.
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darth_frared
Registered:
Jun '05
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Date Posted:
8/26/06 1:58am
Subject:
RE: Astérix
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some of them we wouldn't understand.
gutemine is bonemine in french wiki says. automatix is cetautomatix (what's the difference?)
what's the doggie named in english? we call him idefix.
majestix/vitalstatistix is Abraracourcix in french (my french isn't good enough to know what that means)
methusalix/geriatrix is agécanonix.
miraculix (the druid) is panoramix (which doesn't make for a teribly funny name, if you ask me)
the bard troubadix/cacofonix is assurancetourix in french (it means confidence. is it just me or do these french names make no sense?)
fishmonger: Ordralfabétix
i'm glad they kept asterix everywhere even though in german you cannot tell what the name means.
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TheBoogieMan
Title: Manager Emeritus
Registered:
Nov '01
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Date Posted:
8/26/06 2:57am
Subject:
RE: Astérix
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darth_frared posted:
what's the doggie named in english? we call him idefix.
Dogmatix.
darth_frared posted:
i'm glad they kept asterix everywhere even though in german you cannot tell what the name means.
Me too. Doesn't Asterix = *
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