This remote Gaulish village is located in the middle of the Roman Empire. Along with his best friend, Obelix, Asterix also embarks on adventures to different parts of the world. Obelix had fallen into a vat of the magic potion when he was an infant. This gave him extraordinary strength.

However, he is clumsy and often the reason behind frequent accidents and injuries in the village. He doesn’t have the permission to drink the potion of strength as this might make him even more destructive. The source of many comic mishaps are his attempts to grab some of the potion.

The creators

Asterix was the creation of illustrator Albert Uderzo and writer Rene Goscinny. The duo started working together in the year 1951. While working together, they created several comic book heroes and had varying degrees of success. Asterix first appeared in a French comic magazine called Pilote in 1959. This character was an instant success.

Following its immense success, the characters became a central focus Uderzo’s and Goscinny’s careers. After Goscinny died in the middle of the production of Asterix’s 24th volume, Uderzo continued creating Asterix’s new stories. He was both the writer and illustrator of the new Asterix stories. Despite this, he kept Goscinny’s name on the cover of all the volumes.

More about Rene Goscinny

Born on the 4th of August 1926, Rene Goscinny was a French writer. He was raised and educated in the Argentinian capital, Buenos Aires. After working in New York City on children’s books, he returned to Paris in 1954. While in the French capital, he was the director of a press agency.

Later, he became the writer for a comic strip called ‘Lucky Luke’. He met Uderzo in 1957 and collaborated with him on ‘Benjamin et Benjamine’, which was a short-lived project. They again worked together on ‘Oumpah-Pah le Peau-Rouge’ a year later. They had some degree of success with this comic series.

Goscinny founded Pilote, a French humor magazine in the year 1959. At the same time he also began publishing Asterix le Gaulois in collaboration with Uderzo. It was about the adventures of a small Gallic tribesman during Caesar’s conquest of Gaul. Asterix and his friend Obelix belonged to the Gauls, the only unconquered tribe. The Romans that they opposed are generally shown as stupid and clumsy in the comics.

This comic strip coincided with the rise of Charles de Gaulle’s to power in France. Apparently, it reflected certain widespread political sentiments of the time. Both Goscinny and Uderzo enjoyed considerable success with the popularity of Asterix le Gaulois.

Goscinny also wrote scripts for many other French comic strips. Among them was Les Dingodossiers, on which, he worked with Marcel Gotlib. He was also a principal in a French publishing firm. In 1967, Goscinny had the honor of being made a Chevalier of Arts and Letters.

The Asterix comic strip was translated into several different languages. It sold over 18 million copies worldwide after appearing in the form of a book in 1959.

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In the world of comics and pop culture of Europe, this was a landmark comic series. It also had an influence on other media such as science fiction films. They included The Fifth Element and Star Wars.

About the main characters

1. Valerian

Valerian travels with Laureline through space and time in the universe. He is from the 28th century born on planet Earth in Galaxity. It is the capital of the Terran Galactic Empire. In the year 2713, he joins the Spatio-Temporal Service. A classical hero, Valerian is strong, kind, and brave.

His training leads him to think that Galaxity is always right. As a result, he follows his superiors’ orders even if they’re against his morals. He does show some reluctance while following these orders. Although the name ‘Valerian’ has a Latin origin, it is believed to have come from Eastern Europe.

This character was created more as a reaction to the popular comic book characters of those times. They were mostly fearless boy-scouts or American superheroes.

2. Laureline

Laureline has a unique sex appeal that combines determination, superior intelligence, and independence. She is a strong French peasant girl from the 11th century. In the debut release Bad Dreams, she rescues her colleague Valerian from the Arelaune forest. However, he is forced to bring Laureline back to Galaxity with him. This happens after she discovers accidentally that he is a time-traveler.

During her time in Galaxity, she receives the Spatio-Temporal Agent training. Upon the completion of this training, she becomes the partner of Valerian. She usually sat in the background in the early stories while Valerian saved the day. With the progress of the series, her position changed. Her rebellious nature came to the fore in Welcome to Alflolol.

3. Mr Albert

Mr Albert is a retired gentleman living in the suburbs of Paris. He is the contact of Galaxity on the 20th-century Earth. Mr Albert has many contacts in the scientific as well as government circles. He also maintains contacts with several individuals whose expertise lie outside the mainstream fields. Mr Albert uses his carrier pigeons for sending messages to some of his contacts.

Always preferring to take his time to act on certain things, he is quite unlike Valerian. He doesn’t get involved in the thick of the action and likes to enjoy the finer things of life. Some of these things are fine wines and gourmet cuisine. Mr Albert first made his appearance in the volume titled Metro Chatelet, Direction Cassiopeia.

4. The Shingouz

These short-furred, brown creatures are aliens. They resemble the flightless birds, but have snouts instead of beaks. Shingouz have a preference for strong alcoholic beverages owing to their high degree of alcohol tolerance. They belong to an extremely capitalist society and always seek a profit from everything they do.

Valerian and Laureline strike up a relationship with three Shingouz. These three alien creatures are especially fond of Laureline. She uses this for her own benefit and strikes some favorable deals with them. The Shingouz made their first appearance in Ambassador of the Shadows.

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The charm of some among them faded away over the years. However, a few others were able to withstand the test of time. These are the superheroes that are still revered in the popular culture. Here are the most popular superheroes who continue to entertain their fans worldwide:

1. Superman

There are very few who possess the admirable qualities of Superman. He stands up for everything that’s right and is unwavering in his conviction. Superman is a perfect example of everything that’s good in this world. He also reminds you that good always prevails over evil.

This fascinating comic book character is certainly the most influential among all the superheroes. There’s hardly any place in the world where people don’t know who Superman is. The Superman fans know that as long as he’s there, the evil forces won’t rear their ugly heads.

2. Spider-Man

Spider-Man is the most important hero of Marvel. Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, this superhero is someone whom the readers can relate to. He faces the same mundane problems that the common people face. This is something extraordinary and is probably one of the biggest reasons behind Spider-Man’s success.

When he’s not in the superhero costume, he is Peter Parker, an orphan raised by his uncle and aunt. He is not born with spider-related abilities. He gets them owing to a bite that he gets from a radioactive spider.

3. Batman

From the fictional city of Gotham comes the most loved and respected superhero. This legendary character was the creation of writer Bill Finger and artist Bob Kane. Just like Superman, Batman pursues justice and fights the toughest guys for it. Despite this similarity, he’s quite different from Superman. He is not afraid to push the boundaries to ensure justice, while Superman goes ‘by the book’.

This would make everyone form certain opinions about Batman. What they must know is that this superhero does have a moral compass. He won’t go on killing those who come in the way of justice just to prove his point. When he’s not Batman, he is Bruce Wayne, a wealthy philanthropist and playboy.

4. Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman entered the comic book landscape when it was dominated by the male superheroes. She went on to become the third of the ‘big three’ in DC Comics. Thus, she proved to the readers of comics all over the world that girls can be heroes too. This American comic book superheroine was the creation of artist Harry G Peter and writer William Moulton Marston.

The story of Wonder Woman’s origin relates that Queen Hippolyta, her mother, had sculpted her from clay. The Greek gods gifted Wonder Woman her superhuman powers. She has fought alongside Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, and a few other superheroes of DC Comics. While doing so, she proved that she’s more valuable among the lot.

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It would be helpful if you give the other popular French comics a try. Besides providing you with a fascinating story, these comics help you know more about the typical French life. They’ll also help you make significant improvements in your French language:

1. Valerian et Laureline

This is one of the most renowned science fiction comic series in the French language. The comic series had a considerable influence on the Star Wars series. You’ll be treated to some action-packed adventures of Valerian, who is a spatio-temporal agent with dark hair.

He has traveled through space and time from the 28th century with Laureline, his red-headed female colleague. Together, they battle the rogue time travelers in order to protect time from them.

2. Les schtroumpfs

Les Schtroumps (the smurfs) comic books tell the tale of blue humanoids. They live in an enchanted forest inside mushroom-shaped homes. While living in the forest, they fight the evil Gargamel and Azrael, his cat. If you feel like studying French adjectives, this would be an excellent comic book series to read.

In these comic books, all the Schtroumps have names that match their personality. For instance, a DIY schtroump is called Schtroumpf bricoleur while a peasant schtroump is called Schtroumpf paysan.

3. Melusine

This French comic narrates the life of the kind-hearted Melusine, a red-haired witch. It tells you about her au pair experience during her time spent in a castle. Her life in the castle is all about doing boring alchemy work and mindless chores. This is not the kind of exciting and magical life that she had expected.

The young witch gets lucky as she also has the chance to attend a magic school. While she’s there, Melusine often interrupts the classes with accidents that are quite embarrassing. She also overdelivers regularly while attending her classes.

4. Becassine

This French comic came out many years before the popular comic, Tintin. It started off as a filler in a magazine for a blank page. Over a period of time, it became extremely popular. As a result, it became a complete comic series and a TV show later on. It was also the subject of a song by the French singer, Chantal Goya.

This comic tells the story of Becassine, a young housemaid who is from Brittany. In order to please the Parisian readers, her portrayal was of a typical naive girl from the province. When the comic became extremely popular, she was portrayed more favorably.

5. Largo Winch

This comic book series will make you wonder what might happen next as you hold your breath. Largo becomes the head of W group after the murder of his father Nerio. While heading the gigantic company, he discovers large-scale corruption in the world of finance.

The story has been published in two separate volumes. In the first, Largo always has a disaster awaiting him as someone seeks to take control of his company. In the next, Largo solves the problem and temporarily eliminates his opponent.

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