The Complete Guide to Asterix

by Peter Kessler

This is a guide to the comic strip character Asterix and his adventures. It contains information about the books, from the challenge of translating them to the history of Dogmatix.

Genres: Comics, Nonfiction, Graphic Novels, Reference, Humor, Historical, Cartoon

105 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1997

Reviews

[Nandakishore Mridula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book and required reading for all Asterix fans.

[Maria Carmo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a complete guide not only to Asterix books, the way the Authors came to create their characters and inspire themselves throughout more than 30 years, but also a very interesting explanation of the English translations - including data on both translators, curious details about the translation of the names of the characters (something quite relevant as a part of the character's personality is rendered through the name).

Loved reading this and recognized some parts of the Asterix books I have already read. Made me feel wishful about reading the other ones as well!

Maria Carmo,

Lisbon, 25 March 2015.

[Susetyo Priyojati · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was directed toward English-speaking readers of the cartoon, but I'd recommend it for the fans of Asterix and Obelix of all languages of translation.
Note:
This book was actually written by Peter Kessler, though with contributions from Uderzo in form of writing the foreword and supplying insights through interviews. Goscinny had already passed away at the time.

[Crzy D · Rating 3 out of 5]

While there were titbits which as an ardent fan I was totally tickled by, on the whole it was not as immersive as I expected it to be. The part where they discuss translations is a total delight. The list of latin translations is Toutais sent but the rest of the book was more or less a rehash of what I already knew. It is an interesting guide but far from complete if you ask me!

[Namitha Varma · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting read for true Asterix fans. It's a mine of trivia and an excellent analysis of the humour and artistic/literary allusions.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

I grew up on Asterix albums in the 1970s, mostly in English, but sometimes had to settle for French -- they (and Tintin) were the ubiquitous reading of my youth. I've been trying to find a reasonably priced copy of this guide to the series for more than a decade, so I was super-excited when I finally found one and cracked it open. I suppose, then, the first word that came to mind is "underwhelming."

First of all, the design of the book is not great. When I think of an Asterix album, I think of a glorious full-color feast, and so I just wasn't prepared for this almost entirely black and white book (there's a tiny color insert in the middle). Once I got past that, the clunky layout and poor typography bothered me throughout. It's got huge margins and large text throughout, and it's just not very elegantly designed (unlike the various similar Tintin books that have come out over the years.)

The content is a pretty mixed grab bag. There's a nice short history of how Goscinny and Uderzo's creative partnership came to be, and the origins of Asterix. The author had ample access to Uderzo, and so there is plenty of straight-from-the-horse's-mouth stuff here, and the book is especially strong in points in explaining how the humor of the stories worked. There's a reasonably interesting section about the English translator team, and how they had to rework all the regional jokes and French wordplay into something with a similar flavor and cadence in English. The book-by-book summaries aren't that interesting, although I hadn't known that the English translations came out in a different order than the original French.

All in all, if you're an Asterix completist, it's probably got enough tidbits to make it worth reading, but I wouldn't go to huge lengths to track it down. If you're a casual Asterix fan, it's definitely not worth it.

[Ella · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for Asterix fans. Just great! I can't believe I hadn't already gotten my hands on it! The translations of all the Latin phrases is very useful too. I think I'll have to go through all the books again with this by my side (well, most of them, since there have been multiple new books since it was published)!!

[whynnot · Rating 5 out of 5]

if you loved the books you will love this, behind the scenes, story

[Stephen Chase · Rating 5 out of 5]

Featuring Asterix's greatest history!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mark Clarkson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story behind the stories. A great read.

[The Jesus Fandom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was super interesting, and it really makes you understand and appreciate the comics and the underlying culture and references even more.

[Lindsay John Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delight to read. Given that it’s from the 90s, it’s hardly complete. I’d be happier if it was thrice as long.

[Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

This guide covers the origins and development of the series, translation of the series with a focus on the original English translators Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge, and looks into comedy in the series. It also provides brief commentary on all adventures up to and including Asterix and the Secret Weapon.

A lot of things have happened since the publication of this guide (most significantly the passing of the last original creator) so it is a bit dated but it's still a great resource for anyone interested in Asterix and wanting to know more.

[Buggz79]

Brilliant book.

I never quite realised how many chickens littered the Asterix stories. And best of all, I finally got a translation guide for all those Latin quips that old pirate keeps spouting.

I really enjoyed this read.

[Jane]

The latin translations are especially good. I usually have this open to them when I'm reading an Asterix book.

[Irwan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shrewd and hillarious!

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book, vital to any asterix fan to tie together the story lines and revel certain things you may not know, or had not noticed. A definate favourite of mine.

[Fannylin · Rating 5 out of 5]

keren banget....

[Messy Lorea · Rating 3 out of 5]

<3

[itchy · Rating 4 out of 5]

very nice information for fans, indeed, sic ad nauseam (kidding)

quid novi?

[Pradeep · Rating 5 out of 5]

superb