Asterix goes to an Agecanonix. In 2024, the comic book hero celebrates his 65th birthday. The festivities begin on January 17 with the release of an enriched and limited edition version of the very first of his adventures, Asterix the gallicwhich began its pre-publication in October 1969 in the magazine Pilot. Since then, Asterix has had a total of forty comic book adventures, and each of the readers who responded to our call has their favorite.
The albums that come up most often are “those from the great Goscinny-Uderzo era”, as Valérie says. His top 3 consists ofAsterix in Corsica, Asterix among the Belgians And Asterix and Cleopatra, titles that come up often. The ingredients for a successful Asterix story seem simple: “Goscinny’s scenarios are ingenious with a plethora of puns, situations, and cameos from stars of the time,” explains Nicolas; “a reading on several levels, whatever the age”, believes Bruno; “a few puns in the spirit of the times, comic repetitions, a background of social satire, a dilemma which leads to the questioning of the protagonists, a touch of parody, something new and above all a real danger for the village », adds Clément.
Top 1: The Tour of Gaul
According to the thirty opinions examined, the best, cited by a third of the contributors, remains The Tour of Gaul (that’s good, it’s also the favorite of the journalist who writes this article). “He really represents France, and above all he introduces Idéfix (a dog that everyone wants to have),” says Thibaut. It is also “a journey through France full of cultural and gastronomic references”, insists Franck. Fabien also appreciates the “road movie side” of this adventure in the big cities of France. The jokes ofAsterix Legionnairethe adventure ofAsterix and Cleopatra (and its adaptations) or even the satirical humor ofAsterix among the Corsicans also come back regularly.
If the albums where the trio of Gauls go on an adventure are often cited as the best, the albums which take place in the village also have their quality. Among them, Discord is a favorite. “I find the humor very present in this album despite a serious situation, generated by the most formidable enemy (Détritus), believes Xavier. This is the album where I find the village is closest to falling. » “Detritus is a particularly threatening and dangerous antagonist, and the psychological warfare taught by Savancosinus is the source of a large number of situational comics and repetition,” adds Clément.
New albums that divide
Some, however, regret a gradual decline in quality of the saga. After the death of author René Goscinny in 1977, designer Albert Uderzo initially took over the queens of the series alone. Before in turn giving way to others: Jean-Yves Ferri, Didier Conrad and Fabcaro. “The quality of the albums started to decline following the disappearance of Goscinny and has become particularly bad since The Rose and the Sword », judges David. “As for the most recent albums, I admit that they are disappointing,” continues Valérie. The humor of the franchise seems to have died with its two creators. » “The more recent volumes only try to respect the spirit and are too academic, without any real novelties,” Nicolas still believes.
But not everything has to be thrown away. “Last album not great, the previous two excellent,” replies Yves. “They’re pretty good, Transitalic And the Picts are a notch below. The last, The white Iris is perhaps the one that comes closest to the spirit of Goscinny, which makes it a very good opus,” contradicts Fabien.
It’s more than comics
Asterix stories sometimes go beyond comic book boxes. That wasn’t the question, so we won’t blame anyone for not having cited the cult Cleopatra Mission. But Clément was particularly won over by The Menhir Blow, which adapts Le Combat des chefs and Le Devin into an animated film. “Another example, video games Asterix & Obelix XXL, XXL 2 And at the Olympic games offer a story where the Romans would have shown much more ingenuity than usual, enough to make us feel a whole range of emotions before the outcome,” he also adds.
Finally, at 65 years old, Asterix remains timeless. And if the first albums are often cited, it is surely because they marked the childhood of their readers. “Today it’s me who is introducing my 6-year-old son to this fascinating world,” confides Florian. By Jupiter, the Gauls still have resources.