Asterix the Gaul

Asterix the Gaul (Astérix le Gaulois)
Cover of the English edition
Date	1961
Main characters	Asterix and Obelix
Series	Asterix
Publisher	Dargaud
Creative team
Writer	René Goscinny
Artist	Albert Uderzo
Original publication
Published in	Pilote magazine
Issues	1–38
Date of publication	29 October 1959 – 14 July 1960
Language	French
Translation
Publisher	Brockhampton Press
Date	1969
Translator	Anthea Bell Derek Hockridge
Chronology
Followed by	Asterix and the Golden Sickle

Asterix the Gaul (French: Astérix le Gaulois) is a French comic book story, written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo, and published by Dargaud. The story focues on Asterix attempting to prevent a Roman garrison from securing the source of his village's invulerabity that has thwarted their efforts to conquer their village.

The story was first published in October 1959 as a serial for Pilote magazine, before being later re-released as a comic book in multiple languages, including English. The story proved hugely popular, going on to form the foundations as the first in the Asterix comic strip series that Goscinny and Uderzo would work on, with a 1999 poll of French readers by retailer Fnac and the Paris newspaper Le Monde listing Asterix the Gaul as the 23rd greatest book of the 20th century by its participants, according to Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century.

An animated film adaptation of the novel was made in 1967 by Darguand, though was not well received by Goscinny and Uderzo due to the poor quality of its animation.

Plot

In 50 B.C., all of Gaul is under the control of the Romans, except for a small village in Armorica (present-day Brittany), whose inhabitants constantly hold back their forces through superhuman strength. Determined to uncover their secret, Centurion Crismus Bonus, commander of the camp of Compendium, sends a spy into the village. His spy soon reveals that the village's druid, Getafix, periodically supplies the villagers with a magic potion that is the source of their strength. Amazed by this, Crismus Bonus orders Getafix to be captured, in order to gain control over the magic potion.

Asterix, a warrior from the village, learns of Getafix's kidnapping from a cart-seller and decides to infiltrate the Roman camp to rescue him. Once inside the camp that evening, Asterix overhears Crismus Bonus talking with his second-in-command, Marcus Ginandtonicus, about his plans to use the magic potion to initiate a rebellion against Rome that will overthrow Julius Caesar. When Asterix finds Getafix, he informs him of what he learnt and comes up with a plan to prevent this from happening.

The following morning Asterix lets himself be captured and pretends to give in to torture, whereupon Getafix pretends to give in and agree to make the potion. After securing the ingredients he needs, Getafix tricks Crismus Bonus that he needs strawberries, only for him and Asterix to consume them all once the Romans find some. Eventually, Getafix uses the ingredients he collected to brew a potion which he tricks Crismus Bonus and the Romans to drink, unaware it will cause their hair and beards to grow at an accelerated rate.

After tricking Crismus Bonus to let them gather ingredients for an "antidote" (despite the effects of the lotion wearing off after a day), Getafix supplies the camp with vegetable soup. However, he secretly collects the ingredients needed for the magic potion, which Asterix uses to help them escape from their captors. Before they make for their village, the pair discover Roman reinforcements have arrived, led by Caesar, who becomes suspicious about what has recently occurred in Compendium. Asterix soon exposes Crismus Bonus' intentions, prompting Caesar to exile him and his men to Outer Mongolia for their treachery, while allowing the Gauls to leave on the grounds of a truce. Asterix and Getafix eventually return to their village, which celebrates by holding a banquet for their success.

Characters

• Asterix – Gaulish warrior, and the main protagonist of the story.
• Obelix – Gaulish menhir delivery man and warrior, and a close friend of Asterix. Although having a minor role in this story, the character would later gain more prominence in the comic series.
• Getafix – Gaulish druid. Several aspects of the character, such as his appearance as a sterotupical caveman, were later changed by Goscinny and Uderzo for subsequent novels.
• Vitalstatistix – Chief of the Gaulish village, with a great fear of the sky falling on his head - a notion conceived by Goscinny and Uderzo through real-life historical account of an interview of Gallic chieftains by the Romans.
• Cacofonix – Gaulish bard of the village.
• Fulliautomatix – Gaulish blacksmith. His initial appearance was later changed for subsequent novels, along with a correction to his role by Goscinny and Uderzo.
• Julius Caesar – Leader of Rome in 50 B.C. (based upon the historical version of the real-life Roman figure). Following the novel, the character's appearance was changed to better reflect his historical counterpart.
• Crismus Bonus  – Roman Centurion in charge of Camp Compendium.
• Marcus Ginandtonicus  - Second-in-command at Compendium. The character's design was oddly altered a few pages after they first appear in the novel.
• Caligula Minus  - A Roman soldier at Compendium, assigned to spy on the Gaulish village.

Publishing history

The story was first published as a serial in Pilote magazine, a Franco-Belgian comics magazine founded by Goscinny and a few other comic artists.

The first page appeared in the promotional issue #0, distributed on 1 June 1959, and the story was serially published in the magazine from issue #1 (29 October 1959) until issue #38 (14 July 1960). A small head of Asterix first appeared on the cover of #9 (24 December 1959), and a full Asterix cover was used on #21 (17 March 1960).

The next story, Asterix and the Golden Sickle, started in issue #42 (11 August 1960).

Asterix le Gaulois was published in July 1961 by Dargaud in the so-called "Pilote collection" with a print of 6000 copies. A Dutch translation followed in 1966, and other languages followed soon after.

The English translation by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge was first published in 1969 by Brockhampton Press.

The plate for page 35 was redrawn by Albert Uderzo's brother Marcel in 1970 because the original was lost. This is why there are some slight differences in the drawing style. All English versions from Hodder & Stoughton (Hodder Dargaud) use the original illustrations, which were made from a copy of an actual printed page, hence the blurriness. The 2004 release from Orion Books uses the redone illustrations from the French editions.

An audiobook of Asterix the Gaul adapted by Anthea Bell and narrated by Willie Rushton was released on EMI Records Listen for Pleasure label in 1990.

On 29 October 2009, Google prominently featured an integration of Asterix and Obelix in its mast head, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first publication.

The 2019 American Papercutz edition presents a few changes:

• Getafix is named Panoramix, the same name used in the original French edition.
• The Roman Camps of Totorum and Compendium are renamed to Butterdrum and Lilchum, respectively.
• The original decurion's name is changed from Julius Pompus to Julius Pompilius.
• It changes all references to the Circus Maximus to the Colosseum, even though in the timeline it wouldn't be built for another 120 years.

Film adaptation

In 1967, Dargaud released an animated adaptation of the novel, under the same name, for theatrical release - though originally, the company planned for it to air on French television. However, the film was made without consultation with Goscinny and Uderzo, who were unaware of its production until a few months before its release date. Neither approved of the quality of the animation by the team Dargaud employed, and later blocked the company from making a planned adaptation of Asterix and the Golden Sickle, only allowing for further adaptations on the grounds that they had involvement in future animated films for Dargaud.

See also

• Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century