Asterix at the Picts

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Asterix at the Pictes (French original title: Astérix chez les Pictes ) is the 35th volume in the Asterix comic series . It is the first volume in which neither of the two creators of the series, René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo , was involved as a writer. It was written by Jean-Yves Ferri and drawn by Didier Conrad . The album was released on October 24, 2013.

action

During a winter walk on the beach, Asterix and Obelix discover a frozen man who, although red-haired, is strongly reminiscent of the Indian Umpah-Pah , a comic figure developed by Uderzo and Goscinny in 1951. The druid Miraculix finds out that it is a Pict from Caledonia , today's Scotland . Thawing at the fireplace in the Druid's house, he initially had language difficulties. Only English-language song titles from the 20th century come over his lips. So it is difficult for the villagers to find out about the background of the Caledonian guest. The women of the village like the Pict mainly because of its appearance. This means that the village - to the chagrin of the male villagers - is gradually being redesigned, for example through new fashions with tartan patterns . After the Pict in the quarry of Obelix its origin to a menhir has engraved (an allusion to the Pictish symbol stones ), it is clear from which region it comes Caledonia. Asterix and Obelix now decide to accompany the guest on their return home.

With the onset of spring, the three of them head north in a boat. On this trip the Pict regains his ability to speak in the face of an argument with the pirates known from earlier episodes, also because a recovery drink from Miraculix is ​​having an effect. He now introduces himself as Mac Aphon (a play on words made up of aphonia = voicelessness and megaphone = mouthpiece; in the French original "Mac Oloch") and tells how he got to Gaul: Between the Pictish clans have existed since the death of the last king Mac Nificense (in the French original "Mac II") discord and a power vacuum. The head of the enemy clan "on the other bank", Mac Abberh (a play on words with "macabre", in the French original "Mac Abbeh" as a play on French "abbé" for "clergyman, priest"), chained Mac Aphon to a tree trunk and threw him into " Loch Endroll" (a play on rock 'n' roll ), from where, instead of drowning, he was driven to the Gallic coast.

When they arrived in Caledonia, the Gauls first met the playful sea monster Fafnie (“Afnor” in the French original), an ancestor of the Loch Ness monster , who lived in Loch Endroll and was a friend of the Mac Aphon clan. At this encounter, Fafnie takes away the medicine bottle that Miraculix gave them for Mac Aphon. Shortly afterwards they get to know the village and the clan of their Pictish friend, including their cultural peculiarities (for example the sport of tree trunk throwing ). Smoked salmon and “ malt water ” are served at the welcome party, and a trio of bards , one of which has the features of the French singer Johnny Hallyday , plays bagpipes - rock music . The newcomers learn what has happened since Mac Aphon's absence: The rival Mac Abberh would like to be proclaimed King of the Picts by the other clan chiefs. In order to achieve this goal, he captured Camilla, the daughter of the late king ("Camomilla" in the French original) in order to make her his wife and thus to be considered a legitimate candidate for the throne. When Mac Aphon hears about it, he freezes and assumes the attitude that he had at the beginning in the ice, because he had wanted to propose to her before he disappeared. In addition, he was speechless again.

In the meantime, the Romans are on their way to Caledonia to forge an alliance with Mac Abberh. The power-hungry Pict - he has the face of the actor and well-known film villain Vincent Cassel - hopes to become King of the Picts through this alliance with Rome and to secure power in Caledonia. The Romans also want an ally in the north of the British Isles . Both parties meet and forge a pact: If the upcoming king election does not turn out to be in Mac Abberh's favor, the Roman troops are to attack the clans to secure the crown for Mac Abberh.

Asterix and Obelix want to restore Mac Aphon to old strength. That's why they go in search of the sea monster Fafnie in order to get back the medicine for Mac Aphon from him. You will enter the cave of the water creature. Passages in the cave lead them underground to the residence of Mac Abberh and the dungeon of Camilla. There they free the young Pictish princess and make their way back to the friendly clan, but without having found the medicine bottle.

Meanwhile, the clan leaders gather to elect a king. Mac Abberh stands out among the candidates. In his application speech, however, he is interrupted by Mac Aphon. Since the majority thought it was lost, those present did not believe their eyes at first. Mac Abberh accuses Mac Aphon of fraud, but then his voice fails again. At this moment Asterix, Obelix and Camilla appear. Camilla and Mac Aphon embrace while Mac Abberh moves the Roman allies to attack. The Romans come to the meeting place in small boats and are already expected by Obelix. The other clan chiefs then allied against the Roman invaders and Mac Abberh. In the following battle, the Pictish-Gallic alliance wins against the Romans and Mac Abberh. After the battle, the clan chiefs proclaim Mac Aphon as king and Camilla as queen, who have now also become engaged. Mac Aphon conjures up the unity of the Picts in the following speech.

After the battle, the Gauls make their way back to their homeland. There they are eagerly awaited by the villagers and celebrate the obligatory big banquet. In the meantime, the village itself has incorporated further elements of the Pictish culture.

Background and origin

The Asterix series was originally written by Goscinny (copywriter) and Uderzo (draftsman) and, after Goscinny's death in 1977, was continued by Uderzo on his own, although many critics believe that the volumes written by Uderzo alone are no longer relevant in terms of plot, humor and linguistic wit the texts written by Goscinny reached. In 2008, Uderzo decided to stop writing new volumes and discontinue the series. After he had sold the rights to the publishing house Hachette together with Goscinny's daughter in the same year, the publisher began to plan a sequel. In a secret competition, Jean-Yves Ferri was chosen as the new author, while Frédéric Mébarki , who had been making the final drawings of the Asterix volumes on the basis of Uderzo's templates, was to act as draftsman. Mébarki's independent drawings, however, did not correspond to the ideas of Uderzo and Hachette, so a new draftsman was determined in another secret competition. Didier Conrad was chosen, who, together with Ferri and under the supervision of Uderzo, completed Asterix chez les Pictes within nine months .

As a marketing strategy , both PR people and booksellers were sworn to silence about the content of the volume. If they fail to comply, they face a fine of 5000  euros .

The volume was published simultaneously in 15 languages ​​in 23 countries on October 24, 2013 with a total initial circulation of 5 million copies, including editions in Gaelic and Scottish ( Scots ). The French original edition had the largest initial circulation with 2.2 million copies, followed by the German with 1.5 million copies. The French-language original edition was published by Editions Albert Rene and the German translation by Egmont Ehapa Verlag .

reception

In spite of some critical tones, the German-language press tended towards a rather positive assessment of the new author duo. In particular, in terms of pun and humor, he was certified as a clear improvement over the volumes written by Uderzo alone.

Andreas Platthaus ( Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung ) writes that Ferri revives the joy of wordplay and that the new characters are personable. He sees in Didier a successor to Uderzo, whose drawings reached the quality of Uderzo's best works from the 1960s and 1970s. Markus Lippold ( n-tv ) is of the opinion that Asterix with the Picts represents a clear improvement compared to the predecessor band Gaul in Danger from 2005 (though generally regarded as completely unsuccessful) . From his point of view, the new band skilfully builds on old traditions and represents an "extremely vital sign of life" with which the start of a new era succeeds. Matthias Heine ( Die Welt ) speaks of the best Asterix since Goscinny's death. He considers the series with a new copywriter and draftsman to be “compatible with the present” and sees it as crucial for the future that this new band has the potential to work with “eight-year-old children [...] who have never heard of an 'Asterix' before. -Heft in hand “to be able to arouse the taste of these comics. Lars von Törne ( Der Tagesspiegel ) states that it was possible to "combine pointed dialogues and comedy situations with a great arc of suspense" and writes that secondary characters also have "enough space to liven up the plot". Rupert Koppold ( Stuttgarter Zeitung ) thinks that everything is "very familiar - and yet fresh and lively". And Jens Balzer and Christian Schlueter ( Frankfurter Rundschau ) attest to Ferri and Conrad that they had "hit the right note" and judge: "An extension of the personnel table including an increased cuteness factor: that could be the future."

Fritz Göttler ( Süddeutsche Zeitung ) thinks that the new Asterix is ​​based on old strengths from Goscinny's time, but sees more of a perfect imitation than a real novelty, which is why he does not see the necessary balancing act between tradition and innovation as really successful. Ralf Trommer ( the daily newspaper ) considers the new volume to be a technically solid work that clearly tries to tie in with Goscinny's tradition with a fine sense of humor. However, he believes that the quality of the Goscinny volumes from the 1960s and 1970s, both in terms of the drawings and the texts, is not achieved, and blames the high time pressure on production for this. Marc Krebs ( TagesWoche ) thinks that the new volume is a clear improvement over the volumes written by Uderzo alone. However, he also thinks that the quality of the volumes created with Goscinny's participation is clearly lacking. Eric Facon ( SRF ) also sees this in a similar way and finds that despite a few successful gags, the new authors do not have Goscinny's eye for the zeitgeist and timing and do not achieve its abundance and subtleties of allusions. Christian Bos ( Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger ) is of the opinion that the band is "rock solid" and that Ferri and Didier managed to match the "tone, look and spirit of the series", while at the same time missing "the sharpness of the early adventures".

Ralf Döhring ( Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung ), who compares Asterix in the Picts with Asterix in the British , finds him significantly worse and speaks of a disappointment overall, is much more negative . In drawing, however, he sees Conrad as a reasonably worthy successor to Uderzo; the drawings are "acceptable", albeit "coarse". Sebastian Hammelehle ( Spiegel Online ) complains about the "flat punchlines" and finds that the "uncomplicated" humor is primarily aimed at children. He also expresses the hope that the two authors will in future be able to completely free themselves from “unfortunate references to the present” such as Mac Aphon's lyrics variations. These allusions that run through the album are referred to by Hammelehle as the “pop-cultural Tourette syndrome ” of the Picts.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b The strictest secrecy about the new Asterix band on kurier.at, October 13, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Astérix chez les Pictes" un irréductible suspense. In: La Dépêche du Midi of October 23, 2013 ( online , accessed October 25, 2013).
  3. ^ Wolfram Ax : Asterix chez les Pictes / Asterix at the Picts. Comments on the new Asterix by Jean-Yves Ferri and Didier Conrad. In: Pegasus online magazine. Volume 14, Issue 1, 2014, pp. 1–17, here p. 16 ( online ).
  4. ^ A b Margaret Alvan: Astérix: Johnny Hallyday et Vincent Cassel entrent dans la légende . In Le Figaro on October 24, 2013 ( online , accessed October 25, 2013).
  5. ↑ a b c Andreas Platthaus: The avant-garde of antiquity . Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, October 24, 2013.
  6. ↑ Horst Berner: Asterix at the Picts. Ferri & Conrad are not stingy with Scottish charms. In: Alfonz - Der Comicreporter 4/2013, Edition Alfons , Verlag Volker Hamann, Barmstedt October 2013, pp. 6-11.
  7. ↑ Alain Beuve-Méry: Asterix, la potion magique d'Hachette . Le Monde, October 24, 2013.
  8. ↑ A new Asterix adventure, by Toutatis! . The Star (AFP), October 11, 2013.
  9. ^ A b Sebastian Hammelehle: Scots adventure from "Asterix": Sunk in Loch Ness . Spiegel Online, October 24, 2013.
  10. ↑ Markus Lippold: Asterix and Obelix are sailing to Scotland . NTV website, October 24, 2013.
  11. ↑ Matthias Heine: The best new "Asterix" for 35 years. www.welt.de, October 24, 2013.
  12. ^ Lars von Törne: Liberation for Asterix www.tagesspiegel.de, October 24, 2013.
  13. ↑ Rupert Koppold: The Gauls are back. www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de, October 24, 2013.
  14. ↑ Jens Balzer, Christian Schlueter: Worthy heirs. www.fr-online.de, October 24, 2013.
  15. ↑ Fritz Göttler At the Teutates, they clean up! . Süddeutsche Zeitung, October 24, 2013.
  16. ↑ Ralph Trommer: Pop, Tattoos and Kilts . TAZ, October 27, 2013.
  17. ↑ Marc Krebs: Scots, Rock and Giant Otters . TagesWoche, October 24, 2013.
  18. ↑ Eric Facon: Unfortunately only almost a comeback for Asterix . SRF website, October 25, 2013.
  19. ↑ Christian Bos: The best "Asterix" band since 1980. www.ksta.de, October 24, 2013.
  20. ↑ Ralf Döhring Disappointing: "Asterix at the Picts" . Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, October 24, 2013.