cult comic
By Teutates! Asterix special edition for the Special Olympics World Games
The Special Edition of “Asterix at the Olympic Games”
© ASTERIX®- OBELIX®- IDEFIX® / © 2023 LES EDITIONS ALBERT RENE
The comics of Asterix and Obelix have been cult for over 60 years. On the occasion of the Special Olympics World Games in Berlin, a special edition of the volume “Asterix at the Olympic Games” will be published.
“We are in the year 50 before the birth of Christ. All of Gaul is occupied by the Romans”: With these words, every issue of an Asterix comic traditionally begins, including the volume “Asterix at the Olympic Games” published in 1968. 55 years later there is now a new edition of this comic on the occasion of the Special Olympics World Games.
What’s special: The special edition of “Asterix at the Olympic Games” appears in simple language and in a limited edition of 20,000 copies. The comic is available for EUR 7.99 from the organizer’s web shop. In addition, the book will be given away to all participating athletes.
The Special Edition of “Asterix at the Olympic Games”
© ASTERIX®- OBELIX®- IDEFIX® / © 2023 LES EDITIONS ALBERT RENE
“It is a great honor for us as a publisher to be able to ‘participate’ in the Special Olympics in this way and to be able to make the wonderful world of Asterix accessible to everyone,” said Wolf Stegmaier, publishing director of Egmont Verlagsgesellschaft. The comic adventures of Asterix and Obelix appear in German-speaking countries Egmont Ehapa Media.
Asterix and Obelix travel to Athens for the Olympic Games
The story of the special edition is the same as the original: it’s about the Olympic Games in Athens, in which Asterix and Obelix are not allowed to participate as Gauls. Nevertheless, the two find a way to compete and go head-to-head with Roman legionnaire Claudius Musculus. However, the speech bubbles in the comic have a simpler sentence structure and fewer foreign words. For example, instead of “pirate galley” there is now talk of a “pirate ship”, the word “sesterce” is replaced by “coins”, and “feast” becomes “banquet”. The drawings are by Albert Uderzo, who has been creating legendary Asterix adventures together with author René Goscinny since the late 1950s.
The Special Olympics World Games are the world’s largest inclusive sporting event. Thousands of athletes with mental and multiple disabilities compete in 26 sports. The event will take place from June 17th to 25th, 2023 in Berlin.