Talk:Asterix

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Contents 1 Albums? 2 "streaks of French chauvinism" 3 specific character article 4 Expansion 5 Translation of names improving on the original 6 Super-Man 7 French regional stereotypes 8 Mrs Geriatrix 9 "majority of the adult population" 10 Running Jokes: Pirates 11 Self-reference U&G 12 Abraracourcix commented out? 13 Asterix Class Act 14 "Myopia"? 15 Mrs Geriatrix (again!) 16 How Obelix Fell Into the Cauldron... 17 Asterix 33 18 Asterix 33 19 Asterix and the Laurel Wreath 20 Asterix and the falling sky 21 Recurring characters 22 My Taylor is rich ? 23 Belgian fries 24 Lost in Translation 25 Écossais 26 English translation 27 The two lifes of Asterix 28 Confusion of title character and series 29 Images 30 geriatrix - agecanonix 31 Translation Languages 32 Racism 33 Et tu Brute / Tu quoque fili mi 34 Chauvinism 35 and once again ... 36 Unmarried or gay? 37 Requested move 37.1 Survey 37.2 Discussion 38 Userbox 39 Satire 40 Split

[edit] Albums?

Why are Asterix's books called albums? KRS 12:34, 21 Feb 2004 (UTC)

I don't know how it got started (translation from the French?), but it's a reflection of the fact that the books are actually collections of stories that originally appeared serialised in some magazine or other. --Paul A 04:26, 23 Feb 2004 (UTC)

In french, most hard cover comic books are called Albums. This goes for Tintin as well as Spirou and Asterix. Ghilz 02:43, Oct 1, 2004 (UTC)

The same goes for Finnish too. 16:01, Feb 9 2005 (UTC)

And German as well. Imladros 12:20, 10 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "streaks of French chauvinism"

-- Could it be made more specific? Asterix contains lots of caricatures and stereotypes on the French as well as on other countries. David.Monniaux 09:49, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)

[edit] specific character article

I can't seem to find an article about the specific character of Asterix - this article seems to talk more about the series as a whole rather than his specific character, however we have articles on most of the other major Asterix characters (Obelix, Getafix, Vitalstatistix etc.). Should there be another article or should the information on his character be incorported into this article? --AMorris (talk)●(contribs) 12:16, 26 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Expansion

This needs to be as expansive as the Tintin article. Both are equally important comics. We definitely need pictures of the major characters: Asterix, Obelix, Abraracurcix, etc (excuse my Spanish character names; that's how I read Asterix as a child). ~Lockeownzj00 (undated, but i didnt add me username so adding it now)

Also, we need to have an article on each book, like Tintin. I can do this, but it will take awhile. Lockeownzj00 18:20, 24 Aug 2004 (UTC)

I wrote an article about Asterix and the Chieftain's Shield as a result of the discussion in Battle of Alesia. I'm planning on writing about Asterix and the Black Gold next. — JIP | Talk 05:52, 24 Apr 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Translation of names improving on the original

Is that really so? I think it's merely an attempt (and a rather good one) by english translators to create a pun where there was none. The pun in the original french is merely coming up with so many words ending with '-ix' (and, by the way, having a different suffix for each nation/ethnic group, such as '-us' for the Romans, '-on' for the Spanish, etc...

That's pretty much what the article says. Chameleon 21:51, 14 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Then maybe the article is too much 'english language transaltion of Asterix-centric'? Which may be valid, mind you. Again, just thinking outloud... --Jope 07:35, Oct 15, 2004 (UTC)

A certain emphasis on the English translations is to be expected in an article written in English. Also, I have read translations into other languages, and they were quite bland. Only the English ones improve the puns. Chameleon 08:45, 15 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Maybe a paragraph on names is needed, with the current reference to the english translations as a subparagraph?

Just wondering... --Jope 19:57, Oct 14, 2004 (UTC)

I'm just wondering about the pertinence of comparing how good the puns are in different versions. Seems pretty POV to me by essence. Say, I don't think that "Getafix" is an improvement on "Panoramix". --[[User:Valmi|Valmi ✒]] 22:49, 14 Oct 2004 (UTC)

It is a point of interest. If you don't think "Getafix" is a better pun than "Panoramix", then you don't get it. Chameleon 23:30, 14 Oct 2004 (UTC)

I think this was POV. :-) --[[User:Valmi|Valmi ✒]] 01:43, 15 Oct 2004 (UTC)

And, it's not what the original authors intended. Then again, maybe what we need is to credit the english translator by name... 8-)

There have been several translators. If you discover their names, credit them in the article. Chameleon 08:45, 15 Oct 2004 (UTC)

All Asterix material created by Goscinny and Uderzo has been translated by Derek Hockridge and Anthea Bell as a team. Their only other official acknowledged English language translator was Robert Steven Caron who provided the 5 "American" translated albums -- a project which never went anywhere further.--Invisifan 13:50, 11 March 2006 (UTC)

In any case, if everyone agrees, I may add as many suffixes as I can for the different nations. --Jope 07:35, Oct 15, 2004 (UTC)

I don't know about the translation of the names, but the English translators are really great, because of all the nifty little puns they manage to put in every album. I haven't read the French originals but I doubt they contain as many puns. 16:03, 9 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Astérix, in French, is famous for being crammed with puns. David.Monniaux 18:18, 17 Feb 2005 (UTC)

The "improving on the original" also strikes me as very non-NPOV. Ausir 09:40, 29 May 2005 (UTC)

Just describing the two names (French + explanation, English + explanation) would be great & NPOV, isnt it? I could need an explamation on the French puns, and even the English ones. Then let's leave out the "improvement"-discussion. -DePiep 5 July 2005 13:12 (UTC)

removed the NPOV-remarks in "better than french" style. -DePiep 10:47, 19 July 2005 (UTC)

Eh, should be written POV-remarks here. -DePiep 10:48, 19 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Super-Man

I heard about a Superman pastiche/homage where Super-Man went to Asterix' village, but it wasn't allowed to be reprinted, because in this comic Asterix had died, or something. Does anyone know something else about it?

That was "Action Comics" #579 ("Prisoner of Time") - a "Superman meets Asterix" tribute/parody--Invisifan 15:54, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] French regional stereotypes

"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 Corsicans don't like to do any work, are easily angered and have long-standing vendettas that they settle violently."

I've just re-read Asterix et les Normands and I can't see anything about them not giving a straight answer. (I added the bit about cream, which seems to be the only characteristic of the Normans, apart from not knowing fear, the main theme of the plot.) Is there some confusion here? Flapdragon 00:54, 30 May 2005 (UTC)

I suspect the comment about Normandy refers to the portrayal in Asterix and the Banquet, not Asterix and the Normans. It's a long, long time since I read it in French, though, so I can't be certain. 81.151.206.68 03:47, 2 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Asterix and the Normans is about Normans, not Normandians. I.e. it's about Vikings. In Finnish it's called Asterix ja normannien maihinnousu, i.e. Asterix and the Norman landing, a pun on the military operation in WWII. The French regional stereotypes described by the original writer are in Asterix and the Banquet, but the people who don't know fear are the Normans (Vikings) in Asterix and the Normans, just like Flapdragon said. It's so confusing when two peoples have so similar names. — JIP | Talk 03:58, 2 Jun 2005 (UTC)

That's true, and perhaps it's surprising they didn't translate it as Asterix and the Vikings, but of course they aren't totally different peoples. The stereotype about cream wouldn't really work if we thought of them as Vikings (Norsemen, straight from Scandinavia) as opposed to Normans like William the Conqueror. Anyway thanks both for clearing up the mystery of the other Norman stereotype. Flapdragon 03:21, 3 Jun 2005 (UTC)

For the record, they are in fact references to the same people: the Normans (ie. Norsemen aka Vikings) were in later centuries ceded the region that became Normandy (hence the name) in exchange for peace and as a buffer against further raids - while the movie has been named "Asterix and the Vikings", Normans is in the title to make the connection with the cream joke.--Invisifan 15:34, 10 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Mrs Geriatrix

I have removed a reference to Geriatrix's wife being called Myopia. To my knowledge, she has never been named in the books. Bluap 4 July 2005 15:35 (UTC)

From http://openscroll.org/asterix/characters.html, for what it's worth:

Peter Kessler says - "There is much speculation whether this is the name of Mrs. Geriatrix. Impedimenta utters it while talking to Mrs. Geriatrix. People disagree whether it is actually the name of Mrs. Geriatrix or just some kind of an oath uttered by Impedimenta. And Uderzo has said that he wanted to retain some mystery around the character as he based her in part on his wide." It seems that Mrs. Geriatrix is not named in the French edition.

Flapdragon 23:09, 14 July 2005 (UTC)

Do you want the exact quote? Impedimenta says "Oh Myopia!" while speaking. At the bottom left- hand corner of the box, it says: "REFERENCE TO THE GAULISH GODDESS". So finally, we can clear it up. APclark 12:59, 23 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] "majority of the adult population"

In most parts of Europe, a majority of the adult population has read an Asterix book at some point in their life. 200.30.133.115

Any hard evidence for this bold assertion, previously qualified with "probably"? Flapdragon 22:59, 14 July 2005 (UTC)

Went ahead and toned it down. Flapdragon 14:15, 19 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Running Jokes: Pirates

Unless I'm missing something the head of the Pirates doesn't have a peg-leg, so I deleted those words. I also added a favourate Pirate appearance from Asterix and The Cauldron.

You're right. It's his wisecracking sidekick, the one who spouts Latin proverbs, who has the wooden leg. Flapdragon 14:05, 19 July 2005 (UTC)

The pirates actually are caricatures of the heroes of another comic, 'Barbe Rouge' (Redbeard) by Charlier and Hubinon.

Does anyone know of a site, or list of some kind which collates and translates the Latin-quoting pirate's sayings. I've found various sites (like the "Annotations" linked) but if I don't have the books to hand, it's not clear at all which latin phrase is said by the pirate, and I'd like to see if there's any humour in them - like "Sic! Ad Nauseam!"... iPhil 23:05, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Self-reference U&G

Is it worth mentioning: in The Olympics, about halfway, there is a self-reference by Uderzo & Goscinny. The main gate has, in the backgroound, a work in stone that mentions U&G in writing - in the Greek script that is. They have words, engraved, saying something like Tiran and Despote (to each other?). -DePiep 20:01, 21 July 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Abraracourcix commented out?

This text is commented out: the chief is called Abraracourcix, derived from the phrase à bras racourci meaning "with arm 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, a popular kind of pastry. . Anyone knows why? -DePiep 20:02, 21 July 2005 (UTC)

I read an explanation of this joke. The villages surrounding Asterix' village are called Aquarium, Babaorum, Laudanum and Petibonum. Babaorum is named after "baba au rhum", a popular kind of pastry, Laudanum is a pharmacist's tincture and Petibonum should be read "petit bonhomme", meaning something like "petty bourgeois", and taken together should be interpreted as a joke on the conservative bourgeois population in France.

Thanks, So it should be IN. -DePiep 22:07, 20 August 2005 (UTC)

No matter what U&G have said, "Abraracourcix" can still be alternately read as 'arbre raccourci,' meaning a cut-tree or tree stump. Whether called 'un arbre raccourci' or 'une souche' in French, a tree-stump is a metaphor for a nincompoop in the language. Given how the chief is protrayed as boorish, reactionary, and indeed "ready to punch," I think there is valid argument for this second meaning within the pun. DoctorP 17:40, 3 August 2006 (UTC)DoctorP

If you distort the words enough to get arbrə out of abra, you can probably find a lot more multiple puns. —Tamfang 05:21, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Asterix Class Act

Isn't this a collection of older short stories, where several were written by Goscinny, before his death?

Correct, though I think that one of them was written especially for the collection. Bluap 08:43, 19 August 2005 (UTC)

I did a proper page for Asterix and the Class Act a while ago - including information on the original appearances/writer. Most are by Goscinny, only a couple are Uderzo alone, with one of those being original to the album.--Invisifan 15:54, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "Myopia"?

When was Geriatrix's wife ever named? — JIP | Talk 19:40, 18 August 2005 (UTC)

Likewise (and see my comment above). She famously doesn't have a name. Could someone please provide a reference (from Asterix books). Bluap 08:41, 19 August 2005 (UTC)

I can provide two references, one above and one more detailed below.

[edit] Mrs Geriatrix (again!)

Once again, I've had to remove a name for Geriatrix's wife. (This time, is was Panacea - who is a completely different character.) If anyone can provide a reference (in the books) for her name, then please do so in this talk page. Otherwise, I will continue to revert these unsupported changes - Bluap 08:28, 26 August 2005 (UTC)

Yes, I saw that too. What was funny was that the article already mentions who Panacea is - she's Tragicomix's wife, apparently younger than Mrs. Geriatrix, and doesn't live in the village. Obelix has a crush on Panacea, but not on Mrs. Geriatrix. (If I remember right, he did once display some sort of affection towards her, but only because someone else said she might like men with pigtails. The "crush" lasted all of one panel, AFAICR.) — JIP | Talk 14:30, 27 August 2005 (UTC)

There's also a mini-strip in 'Asterix and the Class Act', with Obelix trying to catch Panacea under the mistletoe. I'll have to admit that Panacea looks 'slightly' like Mrs Geriatrix, but they're definitely different characters. Bluap 01:23, 28 August 2005 (UTC)

The confusion seems to come from the fact that in one book, Impedimenta mutters "Myopia" while speaking to Mrs. Geriatrix, but Uderzo has apparently said he wanted to retain mystery about the character as she is partly based on his wife... See the annotations as Asterix Central for details, though I'll add this as a note to the article. -- Guybrush 19:09, 31 August 2005 (UTC)

I will quote (in possibly more detail) for the second time. Impedimenta is speaking to Mrs. Geriatrix. She says "Oh Myopia*!" (Please note the asterisk* next to the word Myopia). In a box in the bottom left-hand corner it says *Reference to the Gaulish Goddess, invoking short-sightedness. If you want to know, I think this is in either Asterix and the Soothsayer or Asterix and the Roman Agent. I can't remember which one. APclark 12:59, 23 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] How Obelix Fell Into the Cauldron...

I noticed this book, whose full title I think is How Obelix Fell Into the Cauldron of Magic Potion When He Was a Baby or something equally long, isn't listed. It's not a comic album like the others but a story book, with prose and accompanying illustrations much like the book versions of Asterix Versus Caesar and The Twelve Tasks of Asterix (which, come to mention it, aren't listed either). I'm not sure it was even written by Uderzo, but does anyone have details of this book so we can add them? I'm not making it up, I saw it many times in bookshops around the time of its release here in Australia, which was sometime in the mid to late 1990s. -- Guybrush 18:58, 31 August 2005 (UTC)

How Obelix fell into the Magic Potion when he was a little boy: from the preface:

"This text was written by Rene Goscinny for Pilote number 291. It appeared the 20th of May 1965. Goscinny wrote a text describing how the little Obelix fell into the druid's cauldron of Magic Potion for which I [= Uderzo] made three small drawings. Asterix was in it's sixth year, and that is also approximately how old Obelix is in this story. Because so many readers never had the chance to read this earlier, we decided to republish the story in the form of an album with a few more illustrations."

FWIW, there are many more non-album releases. A fairly complete list is to be found here. Jordi·✆ 21:36, 31 August 2005 (UTC)

The others mentioned there are not stories however (movie adaptions aside) - I added a section to th List of Asterix volumes called "In Addition" to cover the stories like this that appeared outside the normal albums (there are eight others as well)--Invisifan 15:52, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Asterix 33

Asterix 33 will be called The falling sky and seems to be about the weather itself threatening the Gaulish village (this is speculation from the cover art). When it is released in Finland I will add an article about it, unless someone else beats me to it. — JIP | Talk 07:06, 23 September 2005 (UTC)

I'll race you :-) To my knowledge, the English title hasn't been confirmed. The French title is "Le ciel lui tombe sur la tête" (literally "The sky, he falls on the head") - a clear reference to the only thing which Gauls are afraid of Bluap 08:22, 23 September 2005 (UTC)

slight correction: The sky falls on his head (literally: the sky falls him on the head)- the 'lui' does not refer to the sky213.197.247.241 13:59, 3 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Asterix 33

The new Asterix album is complete crap. It is absolutely horrible. It's the only album in the entire series that I don't like at all. I actually had trouble even reading it.

The reason for this is the ludicrous plot. Outer space aliens? In an Asterix album? Please! I originally felt disgusted at the "magic of Atlantis" thing in Asterix and Obelix all at sea, but got over it, as it was only a minor part of this plot. In this album, OTOH, the entire plot is based on things that don't have the faintest to do with ancient Gaulish times! The Gauls and Romans seem to be in background roles in their own album!

I have read this will probably be the last Asterix album ever. I sincerely hope it won't - the magnificent series can't end in garbage such as this. — JIP | Talk 16:46, 14 October 2005 (UTC)

Be careful what you wish for. Basically every solo Uderzo album has been worse than the former, and the artist's writing imagination seems to be on an ever-escalating downhill decline... The artwork still seemed okay, even if Uderzo allegedly needed some help to complete this last album... 81.232.72.148 02:58, 1 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Asterix and the Laurel Wreath

"Needless to say, Caesar isn't very cooperative." I think this phrase is very misleading (you could probably say it's outright incorrect), since Ceaser appears minimally in the book (if I'm not mistaken, only a few panels right at the end) and, in any case, it mainly revolves the attempts of Asterix and Obelix to get access to Ceaser's house, becoming willful slaves.

Also, "With Asterix and Obelix, he travels to Rome to retrieve it." Vitalstatistix does not travel to Rome with Obelix and Asterix, he assigns the task to them and leaves it at that (probably returning to the village). So, unless someone can explain to me why, I'm going to change these phrases to something more adequate.--Vertigo200 17:37, 22 October 2005 (UTC)

• Please change the phrases. They're obviously false. Caesar doesn't even know of the Gauls' plan to switch his wreath, or notice he is wearing a wreath of parsley instead of laurel. The Gauls don't even meet Caesar, it is the Roman official's chief slave who does the actual "dirty work". How can Caesar be "cooperative" or "non-cooperative" in something he never knows of or notices in the first place? And Vitalstatistix doesn't travel to Rome, he travels back home to his village with his wife after the visit in Parisium. — JIP | Talk 07:33, 25 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Asterix and the falling sky

There is a claim in that section that it is 'generally not well liked by fans' however according to the french wikipedia, the book has sold 800,000 copies in three days. --AMorris (talk)●(contribs) 11:13, 26 October 2005 (UTC)

• Liking something and buying it don't necessarily have anything to do with each other. I personally bought a copy straight away, being a devoted Asterix fan, and when I actually read it I found it to be complete rubbish. Conversely, there might be Asterix fans who read Asterix books at a library or at a friend's house but never buy any of their own. As much as I'd like to enter into a rant about the difference between just any random bloke who buys Asterix books and a "true fan" of Asterix, I'll just say that the general reaction to this book was significantly worse than the reaction to most of the previous books, so it warrants a mention in the article. — JIP | Talk 12:24, 26 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Recurring characters

Looking through the pages of the listed recurring characters, I found them all to be stubs, and generally they are mostly stereotypes who don't really merrit a full article about them.. I was thinking of merging the pages into a Recurring characters in Asterix list, similar in design to Minor characters in Tintin - what do you think?

• That seems like a good idea, but maybe the article should be titled Asterix characters, as per the article Dilbert characters that I created to keep Dilbert under 30 kilobytes. Asterix and Obelix might deserve their own articles but everyone else could be merged into the same article. — JIP | Talk 11:28, 4 December 2005 (UTC)
  • Minor comment: I do think that the name should indicate that only characters seen multiple times are included, or else every odd character they've encountered will be eligible. Poulsen 15:17, 4 December 2005 (UTC)
    • I'm not too sure about that. Is there anything in Dilbert characters that would make people think anyone who has been mentioned in a single Dilbert panel can be included there? Dilbert is almost as popular in the USA as Asterix is pretty much everywhere else, so I think this can be used as a comparison. — JIP | Talk 15:30, 4 December 2005 (UTC)
      • "This is a list of characters from the comic strip Dilbert" indicates that any character from the cartoon is allowed to be put in, yes. A quick estimate would say 30 characters are in the Dilbert article, while there are 33 Asterix albums each featuring several new characters. I think the only characters interesting enough to be put in the proposed article would be the 25 or so listed recurrent Asterix characters in the main Asterix article. Poulsen 15:50, 4 December 2005 (UTC)
        • I have now created a merged article for most of the recurring characters. — JIP | Talk 17:32, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] My Taylor is rich ?

This section gives a detailed & accurate explanation of the original French joke, however it doesn't match the actual English translation... rather than the concoversation being the direct translation: "Is it expensive", "My taylor is rich", the actual translation is: "*Slurp!* *Slurp!* Does it cost a lot to make up?", "Rather! My tailor makes a good thing out of it" ... This of course loses the intended joke altogether, but then not many native English speakers would get the joke as is. And where did the image come from? So should this be here? or in 'Asterix in Britain'? or maybe a "Lost in Translation' section (easily populated and interesting perhaps)? or not at all ...? opinions?

[edit] Belgian fries

In French, fried potatoes are called pommes frites, fried apples, because potatoes are pommes de terre, earth-apples. In Astérix chez les Belges the Belgian chief is inspired to ask his wife, "Have you ever thought of frying apples?" ... I don't know how this comes over in English, but in French it doesn't depend on the anachronism of a New World crop. —Tamfang 02:49, 25 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Lost in Translation

Excellent section - I'm glad it's been added. Jamestaylor 09:29, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Écossais

In the French Astérix chez les Bretons, the bartender asks whether they are "Calédoniens" — there are plenty of anachronisms in Astérix, that's part of the humour, but ethnonyms are always of the period. Was Calédoniens really rendered by the translator as Ecossais?! They usually come up with something better than that for jokes that do not survive translation. —Tamfang 05:56, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

In the British edition the footnote for "Caledonians" was the untranslated French (Écossais) ... in the American Translation it does say Scottish.--Invisifan 10:05, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

I see. Looks like negligence from here. —Tamfang 18:53, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

as a farther note, obviously this joke would have survived translation since the Scottish are stereotypically considered ... excessively frugal ^_^;; ... so the question is were the English translators being overly sensitive to Scottish sensibilities? ... --Invisifan 10:11, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

The word is thrrrifty. ;) I agree — I meant that the translators could have done the same thing with the offensive joke that they do with untranslatables, i.e. fill the balloon with a line of their own invention. —Tamfang 18:53, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

I can't say I see it as any more offencive than the "warm beer & horrible cuisine of the English" jokes (and btw my mother inherited that style of cooking & it IS horrible -- I'm still recovering ;) ... but then the translators may have felt they could make fun of their own nationality (and those at arm's length on the continent) but not their touchy island-mate (so to speak) ... of course if you know French at all or have any knowledge of British stereotypes & the faintest capacity for logic it's plainly obvious anyway - so perhaps they felt only the ignorant and/or unsophisticated would be offended (but then they'd be unlikely to read the book in the first place); overall I personally find the lack of translation in that instance bizarre. --Invisifan 02:25, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] English translation

Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge are linguistic geniuses. Every English Asterix album I have read, I have appreciated the sheer number of puns they have managed to put on every single page. This makes the English translations even more fun than my native Finnish translations. JIP | Talk 21:15, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The two lifes of Asterix

What about mentioning that after Goscinny died Uderzo failed to maintain the quality of the scenarios and dialogues?

Ynot en 10:57, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

it's touched on briefly in the List of Asterix volumes but going any further is rather PoV ... we can't really comment on the dialog since we (in English) don't get to read what he wrote. As for the scenarios - it's not so much quality as direction ... Uderzo's solo Asterix stories (including those from before Goscinny's death) are decidedly more fantasy-oriented, and while there has always been an element of that (eg. the magic potion, etc.) it was rarely noticeable in Goscinny's stories, but a dominant element of nearly all of Uderzo's.--Invisifan 11:08, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Confusion of title character and series

This article seems to be both about Asterix, the character, and the series of books in which he appears (which I thought were called "The adventures of Asterix and Obelix". Is there some reason this is the case? Stevage 13:29, 23 June 2006 (UTC)

Well, a large fraction of the books have Astérix in the title but only one (as of when I lost track) has Obélix. —Tamfang 05:45, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

There's no official title for the series in English (or French afaik) ... Obelix' name has appeared in 2 albums (Obelix and Co. and Asterix and Obelix All at Sea, the latter of which was in French La Galère d'Obélix — ie. Obelix' Galley). Aside from Obelix and Co., Asterix' name also did not appear on The Mansions of the Gods , but "Asterix and ..." is an English convention — many of the French titles do not have his name in the title either. Some at one time included a banner on the cover stating "An Asterix Adventure", however that was publisher specific (in fact in other languages that do have series titles they change when the series changes publishers)... so any differentiation we made (should we choose to do so) would be entirely arbitrary. --Invisifan 10:55, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Images

Can someone please move the images to the commons so we can use them in our wiki without making copies? Is there a way of using the images right from the English wiki? --Rathne 06:02, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] geriatrix - agecanonix

"Geriatrix (French: Agecanonix — canonical age — when French clergy are allowed to keep female servants)"

Well, "âge canonique" for the average French guy simply means : "very old".

Indeed, struck me too, so I fixed it. Ghilz 18:38, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

Certainly it only means very old to the average reader in French - nonetheless, as "canonique" indicates, the expression did originate with the clergy... note that Goscinny was not an "average reader" but rather an accomplished and intelligent punster who knew precisely what he was implying; most Asterix characters' French names are hilariously spurious but in the case of Agecanonix that is not the case — it's not even funny beyond being descriptive — or is it? In the first volume in which his name is used he is also first shown as someone with an eye for the young ladies, and it is that in conjunction with the historical meaning that makes up the full original pun.--Invisifan

[edit] Translation Languages

When I added the list of "major translations" my criteria was: at least 30 of the 33 (90%) albums translated to the language...

• I didn't put in Serbo-Croatian, but looking at it — if you combine the many publishers' editions they do cover 31 ...
• Galician is a bit problematic — only 18 different albums translated, BUT it is essentially Portuguese-spoken-in-Spain (Portuguese translates all 33 — plus 32 separate translations in Brazil), so I won't argue ...
• Finland is a Scandinavian country, but Finnish is not a Scandinavian (ie. North-Germanic) language — Danish, Norwegian & Swedish are relatively interchangeable but Finnish is closer to Magyar (Hungarian) etymologically (hence I am reverting the change that lumped it in with them - the separation is calculated & deliberate)
• For reference, the number of actual translations:
  • (all 33) — English, Dutch, German, the Scandinavian languages (Danish, Norwegian and Swedish), Finnish, Italian, modern Greek, Portuguese, some languages of Spain (Castilian and Catalan) and Polish
  • (90% or more) — Brazilian Portuguese (32), Serbo-Croatian and Basque (31), Turkish and Indonesian (30)
  • (66%+ ie. 22 or more, for future reference) — Czech (27), Hungarian (25), Korean (24) and Latin (!) (22).

--Invisifan 23:06, 24 July 2006 (UTC)

When I added today information about German translations, my intention was that France still is a neighbour country to Germany, so I don't quite understand why my entry has been removed. Especially my link to the Germen Asterix fan site www.comedix.de should be restored; otherwise the link to a Newzealandish website should also be removed. ALthough this is a site in English language, you should pay due respect to the fact that Asterix is a European comic series, and be a little bit aware of European geography. --alwin.ertl 05:32, 01-Oct-2006 (CET)

I am aware of European geography, thank you. So you mean that we should add info on the Dutch, Letzebuergisch, German, Italian, English and Spanish translations, and not for other languages? I don't get your point here. This is the English language version of Wikipedia, so we should have info on the original version, and on the translation. Adding info on all translations would make the article way too long, and only adding info on neighbouring languages is a bizarre criterium and still adds too much info. As for the external links: see WP:EL, section "Links normally to be avoided", point 7: foreign-language sites should normally be avoided. The Newzealandish website is in English. It may be that it has to go as well, I only removed the obvious candidates, but you can't claim that we must have either both or none of those two, as there are good reasons to delete the German one which do not apply to the English langauge one. Fram 12:34, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Racism

...some even into Latin, Arabic, Ancient Greek and Esperanto.

Why "even" in to Arabic? Why not "even" into Indonesian? "Even" is justifiable with ancient languages or artificial ones like esperanto. However, to use this word with connection to a living language (especially one against which there is an astonishing amount of French racism) is not acceptable. Change it. Fast. Stinks of POV, and a racist agenda, and wikinazis.

Arabic was added August 26 by anonymous user:67.33.201.58 to the main list of translations. There are 6 albums translated to Arabic; as explained above, the criteria for inclusion in the main list is 90% translation (30 albums or more -- Indonesian translates 30). Options: delete it, or move it to "even", or list all 100+ languages & dialects any album has ever been translated to ... since it shows a diversity from the otherwise largely Euro-centric "main" translations, and to not summarily dismiss a good-faith edit, I chose at the time to move it to "even". If you (or any other editor reading this) feel this seems racist, by all means remove it.--Invisifan 20:58, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Et tu Brute / Tu quoque fili mi

If Cesar keeps on saying to Brutus, in the French original, “Toi aussi mon fils” (you also my son), it is indeed because of some historian's allegations over Brutus identity, especially Suetonius who shows Cesar at his death surprised to see Brutus among his murderers and saying to him in greek : "Kai su teknon" (You also my son). True or not, the fact is famous in France because of Abbot Lhomond’s De viris illustribus (Rome’s great men), a popular beginners latin book written in the late 18th century. Lhomond says : “Quum Marcum Brutum, quem loco filii habebat, in se irruentem vidisset, dixit : Tu quoque fili mi” (You also my son). This last sentence is in France a good translation of Shakespeare’s “Et tu Brute”, mostly notorious among English speakers, and vice versa.

[edit] Chauvinism

Indeed, Asterix cannot be chauvinistic. But the main reason is not the authors origin – the intagration system, which was working well then, was theoretically open to all (“French universalism”). The main reason is that Asterix plays with nationalistic codes that where very known after 30 years of general de Gaulle’s presence in the country. Contemponary comic movies with Louis de Funès shows in the same way the gap beetween an idealistic exaltation of the nation, and the reality of the basic citizen life. The funny thing, in Asterix, is that the average villager (including the chief himself, but not Asterix or Panoramix) is a chauvinist who thinks that the best in the world is what he knows. But his illusion is so evidently selfish, and so little dangerous (himself being a good nice guy living in a hut) that it can’t be taken seriously. Asterix isn't, of course, French Bashing. But it is a good example of this mischievious spirit that Frenchies often develop over themselves, to counterbalance their penchant for nationalism.

[edit] and once again ...

Another two languages have been added to the "main" translations list ... Hindi this time (6 translations) and Hebrew (9) ... Having been accused or racism the last time I recategorized new language additions I've changed the wording a bit - if anyone has any suggestions PLEASE speak up.

[edit] Unmarried or gay?

The article states that Asterix is a "confirmed bachelor". Are the writers aware that this phrase is a code-word for a homosexual? I never noticed such a theme in the books when I read them as a child, but it would certainly put a curious spin on his relationship with Obelix. If the intent of the article writers is to convey that he is unmarried, I would suggest replacing "confirmed bachelor" with "unmarried".

"confirmed bachelor" is also (and in older usage) a "code-word" for a playboy ... but then Asterix isn't really that either ... so point taken (I never personally liked that phrasing anyway).--Invisifan 11:09, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Requested move

[edit] Userbox

For you Asterix fans, here is a userbox to set up for placement on your userpage.

{{Template:User Asterix}}

This user reads Asterix comics.

--PremKudva^Talk 05:11, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

Currently I have used a PD image I found in the commons. That is the best I could find that of a loaf of bread and a wine glass, I thought this image most appropriate since the our Gauls love to eat and drink. If you have come across a better looking image or a non copyrighted image from a Asterix comic to point me towards it.

Be nice if someone made a winged helmet :-P That'd look like Asterix. Or a crushed roman helmet Ghilz 06:30, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

A winged helmet would surely look super.--PremKudva^Talk 04:45, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Satire

A long time ago (not quite 50BC but close) I read that Asterix started as a satire of a French political party (the Gaullists I think). Is this true? I hope so because I've been telling people it for 20 years... Totnesmartin 01:42, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Split

Reasoning for split: see Invisifan under Discussion section of the flopped move. Simply south 21:20, 8 December 2006 (UTC)