Joetheeskimo Posted August 4, 2006 Share Posted August 4, 2006 Although it's existed practically longer than I've lived, I thought I'd post a thread about Asterix the Gaul. I'm obsessed with it, so I wanted to know if there are any other Asterix fans residing in the Swamp. For those who have never heard of it, Asterix the Gaul is a comic book series by two French-speaking authors named Rene Goscinny (the writer) and Albert Uderzo (the artist). Goscinny passed away more than 20 years ago, but Uderzo has continued the series alone as both writer and illustrator. It's about a village of indomitable Gauls living during the conquests of Julius Caesar. Caesar has conquered all Gaul, except for this one village -- because their druid ('Getafix' in English - 'Panoramix' in French) makes a secret magic potion that gives them superhuman strength. It makes for some clever and funny stories. One funny thing about the stories is that the people of each culture all have names ending with the same two letters: The Gauls' names end with 'ix'. The Romans' names end with 'us'. The Normans' names end with 'af'. ("Telegraf! Photograf!" ) ...and so on. Asterix is the main character: a short man with a yellow moustache who is always going on adventures with his friend, Obelix. I own about 12 different albums, and buy them in groups of three every few months. They're really worth the money, and only about $10 each ($5 if you buy them used). So, any other Asterix fans here? I know it's very popular in Europe; I don't know about anywhere else; and here in the U.S. people are like, "Asterix? Huh? You mean, like that star symbol thingy?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toms Posted August 4, 2006 Share Posted August 4, 2006 I used to love the asterix books.. though i tried reading them in the original french once and they didn't seem half as clever.. but maybe my french wasn't up to picking the jokes. The names were the best bit. Do yourself a favour and avoid the cartoons and movies though.. they all suck. http://isidesktop.galerie.free.fr/toons-bd/asterix%20&%20obelix/asterix%2001.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Knight of Keno Posted August 4, 2006 Share Posted August 4, 2006 Asterix r0x0rz. 'nuf said Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coupes. Posted August 4, 2006 Share Posted August 4, 2006 I think you got your names mixed up a bit Joe... Idefix is Obelix's dog, not the druid. The druid's name in french is Panoramix. I used to read the comics, but I mostly watched the cartoons, they showed thme on TV every year around christmas. The movies aren't alright, the second one is much much better than the first, but I haven't seen them in english, so I can't say how it turns out. Humor doesn't always translate all that well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joetheeskimo Posted August 4, 2006 Author Share Posted August 4, 2006 Do yourself a favour and avoid the cartoons and movies though.. they all suck. I gathered that much. I think you got your names mixed up a bit Joe... Idefix is Obelix's dog, not the druid. The druid's name in french is Panoramix. Eh..heh heh. Edited. I know two people in the U.S. who have heard of Asterix: a family who knows French, has French heritage and visits France all the time, and a friend of mine who is Belgian and whose entire family speaks French. It makes me wish I was European Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pho3nix Posted August 4, 2006 Share Posted August 4, 2006 Asterix ****ing rocks. My father has lots of the albums possibly all of them (!) could probably make some good dough from them but I think i'll keep em'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joetheeskimo Posted August 4, 2006 Author Share Posted August 4, 2006 Asterix ****ing rocks. My father has lots of the albums possibly all of them (!) could probably make some good dough from them but I think i'll keep em'. If you didn't live in Finland I would ask to borrow some. There are 33 in the series right now, I believe, so if you count your dad's books you'll see if he has all of them. What language are they in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pho3nix Posted August 4, 2006 Share Posted August 4, 2006 Mostly english but a few finnish ones also, and one in french. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Knight of Keno Posted August 4, 2006 Share Posted August 4, 2006 Finnish bookstores and libraries hold Asterix books in Swedish, Finnish and Latin. The Latin ones are quite rare thought, as they don't probably have much buyers. I haven't found any French or English ones, but there might be those too somewhere lurking around. Probably when looking at statistics, the Finnish ones are the best-selling... No honest Finnish-born man or woman can ever say that they dont hate Swedish as both people and as a language Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joetheeskimo Posted August 4, 2006 Author Share Posted August 4, 2006 I'd like to check out a Latin translation to see how much I could figure out....I take Latin at school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon_hill987 Posted August 4, 2006 Share Posted August 4, 2006 I loved the Astrix books. The cartoons were no where near as good and the film, well best not talk about that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edlib Posted August 4, 2006 Share Posted August 4, 2006 I remember a friend of mine had a bunch of them when I was a kid, and I read a little. I didn't really get a whole lot of it,.. but then I was only about 10 at the time, and I was largely ignorant about ancient European history at the time (which, I'm sure could have helped a lot...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTV2 Posted August 4, 2006 Share Posted August 4, 2006 aw man, i loved asterix soo much. my dad got me hooked when i was little since he used to buy all the albums and read them. he has about 20 of them...but theyre all in german :/. i have one in french and about 5 others. evry time i see one that i havent got i get it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toms Posted August 4, 2006 Share Posted August 4, 2006 See, idefix and panoramix... doesn't seem to work like dogmatix and getafix... unless panoramix means something medical in french that i don't get. What does idefix refer to?? Asterix in spain was always one of my faves, with little Pepe who kept holding his breath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joetheeskimo Posted August 4, 2006 Author Share Posted August 4, 2006 Asterix in spain was always one of my faves, with little Pepe who kept holding his breath. Really? I thought that was the worst one in the series... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toms Posted August 4, 2006 Share Posted August 4, 2006 well, i haven't read them for ten years... so my tastes might not have been that great back then... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joetheeskimo Posted August 4, 2006 Author Share Posted August 4, 2006 Yeah, I guess a younger person could relate to Pepe. But seriously, I didn't like it because of two reasons: 1) Pepe is annoying, and 2) I really got sick of the way they portrayed the Hispanics. They made them all act like gypsies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coupes. Posted August 4, 2006 Share Posted August 4, 2006 See, idefix and panoramix... doesn't seem to work like dogmatix and getafix... unless panoramix means something medical in french that i don't get. What does idefix refer to?? Asterix in spain was always one of my faves, with little Pepe who kept holding his breath. Idéfix refers to a French expression, idée fixe (fixed idea), which is used to describe a recurring theme. And Panoramix refers to panoramique (panoramic). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toms Posted August 5, 2006 Share Posted August 5, 2006 When i was twele i thought gypsies were the coolest thing ever! (except maybe pirates and dinosaurs) so i guess i wouldn't have minded. What about the one where they go to england? Where the british are defeating the romans in battle, but keep stopping at 11 for tea.. so the romans decide to only fight at 11. I think everyone was pretty stereotyped in those ones.. Idéfix refers to a French expression, idée fixe (fixed idea), which is used to describe a recurring theme. And Panoramix refers to panoramique (panoramic). Hmm.. but they dont strike me as as clever as the english names, which actually refer to the character. eg: carcophanix is the bad singer, getafix provides the drugs, etc.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joetheeskimo Posted August 5, 2006 Author Share Posted August 5, 2006 carcophanix is the bad singer, Cacofonix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coupes. Posted August 5, 2006 Share Posted August 5, 2006 In French he's called Assurancetourix (Assurance tout risque, All risk insurance). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Jimmy Posted August 5, 2006 Share Posted August 5, 2006 In Australia the dog's called Dogmatix. And the Druid's called Gatafix. Asterix Rawks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coupes. Posted August 5, 2006 Share Posted August 5, 2006 Thanks for the info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joetheeskimo Posted August 5, 2006 Author Share Posted August 5, 2006 In Australia the dog's called Dogmatix. And the Druid's called Gatafix. Asterix Rawks Why "Gat"afix? Why not "Get"? Today I bought Asterix and the Class Act. I'm very excited to read it. It sound like the most interesting album yet, since it doesn't just have one ongoing storyline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Jimmy Posted August 6, 2006 Share Posted August 6, 2006 Oh, sorry. It is GEtafix. Yeah, I got heaps of Asterix books. Read them over and over and over and... They're cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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