Asterix in Italy

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Asterix in Italy ( French original title: Astérix et la Transitalique ) is the 37th volume of the Asterix comic series , published in October 2017 . As with the previous two volumes, Jean-Yves Ferri was the author and Didier Conrad the draftsman. The title of the volume was announced by the two creators on April 5, 2017 at the children's book fair in Bologna . In it the heroes Asterix and Obelix take part for Gaul in a chariot race organized by the Romans across the entire Italian peninsula .

action

The corrupt Roman senator Lactus Bifidus organized a chariot race across Italy from Modicia, today's Monza , to Naples . He wants to divert attention from the fact that he has embezzled the money to repair the roads in Italy. Representatives of many peoples should take part. Also Obelix , the teller of a win as a chariot ( Aurigius has been predicted) participates; Asterix is ​​only a companion and cue-maker in this episode. According to Caesar's will , the winner is the always masked Roman Caligarius , who is supported by his companion Bleifus. After an initially inexplicable accumulation of accidents and the elimination of several teams, the Gauls have discovered that the race has been manipulated, Caligarius withdraws. The Gauls continue the race, in which teams of Lusitans , Sarmatians , Greeks and two Cushites now take part. Surprisingly, they are overtaken by Caligarius shortly before the finish, until he drives into a pothole and is eliminated. It turns out that even under the mask of Caligarius, Caesar tried to save the honor of Rome. Obelix wins the trophy, but passes it on, so that the Lusitans who - the running gag of the band - were constantly busy repairing their car, got it after another pass .

It is also mentioned how Obelix, angry about a large rock that Vesuvius hurled right in front of his wagon team shortly before the end of the race, throws the stone back on its summit and, with this clogging of the region's volcanic vent, represents a "not insignificant delay" granted, " until about AD 79 "

publication

The first edition in German was published by Egmont Ehapa Media with 1.4 million copies in softcover and 350,000 copies with hardcover. The translator was Klaus Jöken . The total circulation in all the different languages ​​in Europe was around 5 million copies.

Allusions

As in many other Asterix volumes, several celebrities appear in supporting roles. The Garum producer Croesus Lupus, who sponsors the race, is a caricature of Silvio Berlusconi . Luciano Pavarotti appears as a singing innkeeper in Parma , and Caligarius, after taking off his mask, wears the features of the racing driver Alain Prost . Furthermore, Sophia Loren brings the food to the table in a hostel, and Leonardo da Vinci (as the creator of mosaics ) can be recognized in a group of spectators . Roberto Benigni is a Roman scribe, Bud Spencer is close by.

Furthermore, numerous Italian peculiarities and sights are presented, such as the Leaning Tower of Pisa , the Palio of Siena , the Mona Lisa and Italian specialties such as Parma ham and pizza . The statue of Hercules Farnese is also shown.

reception

Timur Vermes (who admits that he has not read the two previous volumes) speaks in Spiegel of a “mummy of an Asterix tape” and of a “path of listless warming up” and misses the richness of detail in earlier volumes in words and pictures. Marc Reichwein in der Welt , on the other hand, judges that Ferri and Conrad are in top form in this new volume “in terms of plot, irony and innovation”. Oliver Grimm praises the “exciting story, the numerous original supporting characters, the clever allusions” and the “sparkling puns” in the press . This volume comes close to the masterpieces of René Goscinnys and Albert Uderzo . Didier Conrad has “Uderzo's style perfectly on it”, says Nadine Lange in the Tagesspiegel , the mix is ​​right again this time, but this time the plot seems a bit “rushed and frayed”; she wishes that the next volume would be "a bit more snappy again". Axel Veiel from the Frankfurter Rundschau emphasizes the “fireworks of ideas” and sees the message of the new volume that “friendship, loyalty and generosity” pay off and “the small can defeat the big”. In the taz , Ralph Trommer praises Conrad's “bulging panels” and the dynamism of his drawings, but the story itself rushes from episode to episode and despite some pretty ideas “a lot of potential is wasted”.

Others

The Roman racing driver, who bears the name Caligarius in the German volumes , is called Coronavirus in the French-language original (from Corona for the victory wreath and vir for man ), which is why the Asterix volume, published in 2017, with the outbreak and worldwide spread of the virus of the same name in early 2020 attracted international attention. This is due to the widespread inaccurate use of the term coronavirus for the new SARS-CoV-2. The class of coronaviruses also surrounds the already 2002/2003 with the SARS epidemic occurred SARS coronavirus .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Asterix in Italy - Volume XXXVII. www.comedix.de, 2017, accessed on October 19, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Aurigius. www.comedix.de, October 31, 2017, accessed on March 7, 2019 .
  3. ↑ a b Ralph Trommer: Manipulation in ancient racing. In: taz of October 25, 2017, p. 16.
  4. ↑ Timur Vermes : Jokes that fall like horse droppings. www.spiegel.de, October 19, 2017.
  5. ↑ Marc Reichwein: Why Volume 37 is the best Asterix of the new duo so far. www.welt.de, October 19, 2017.
  6. ↑ Oliver Grimm: Two Gauls in the fast lane. diepresse.com, October 19, 2017.
  7. ↑ Nadine Lange: Obelix, start the car. www.tagesspiegel.de, October 19, 2017.
  8. ↑ Axel Veiel: New Asterix volume: “Everyone loves Obelix.” Www.fr.de, October 19, 2017.
  9. ↑ Asterix 'fight against coronavirus , Die Rheinpfalz # 50/2020, Current Affairs , February 28, 2020.