Asterix - the French comic not the punctuation mark...

[Colin YNWA]

... which I do know is spelt differently, but given my track record I couldn't know that you'd know that I knew... if you know what I mean... annnnnyyyyyyyway

I've taken a rather scatter gun approach to my love of Asterix on this board over the years and when thinking about where to post a linkie to a preview of the new volume, which I'm unreasonably excited about given how average the last one was, I decided to hell with it Asterix deserves his own thread and decided to create one to see how it flies.

So yeah since established that Asterix is better than Tintin, as fact, in a past thread (http://forums.2000adonline.com/index.php?topic=39896.0) there's no need to go back down that route, so instead lets celebrate the most popular comic in the world (or so Rich Johnson keeps telling me) and begin with a preview (in French which rubbish at but still tells me all I need to know) of the new volume Asterix and the Missing Scroll which comes out in less than 2 weeks (22nd October).

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2015/10/13/julian-assange-inspired-character-in-new-asterix-was-called-wikilix-3-page-preview/

[shaolin_monkey]

Was the last one Asterix and the Picts?  I quite enjoyed it, but nothing compares to Asterix and Cleopatra ('What a nose!') which is my gold standard.

I wait with bated breath for reviews of this one!

[Colin YNWA]

Yeah 'and the Picts' was the last one and I thought it was okay. I've always enjoyed stories centered around the village more and I think that's where this one sits and the art looks great, so fingers crossed this will be a real return to form?

Oh I'll review, I'll review...

[von Boom]

I still have to watch the films.

[Timothy]

Better than Tintin!!? Do you have a dance to back up all your foolish conceits or just the Sinister Dexter one?

[Colin YNWA]

Better than Tintin!!? Do you have a dance to back up all your foolish conceits or just the Sinister Dexter one?

No, no dance for Asterix better than Tintin, that is clearly just a Sinister Dexter thing. However if you'll allow to clear my throat, I do have a song...

[Hawkmumbler]

Why not both.

Yup, another big Asterix fan here. Own the first six books (in Omnibi) and I'll add another fan to the list of folk who quite liked The Picts.

[TordelBack]

How I loved Asterix as a kid, despite not getting 90% of the jokes, but probably laughing at inappropriate things.  Cacafonix? Getafix?  What's funny about that? Oh look, there's an hilarious negro!   Cleopatra I found 'sexy' (whatever that meant), the Soothsayer genuinely terrifying, the orgies and fondue game simply perplexing, the British and their breaks for boiling water was the funniest thing ever.  But the truth is almost all the cultural humour and wordplay went completely over my head. Matters weren't helped by a half-Swiss kid who insisted I couldn't possibly grasp how funny it was in French (which is probably true).

As with most things in my childhood, including 2000ad, my main pleasure was in taking it a bit too seriously. It was the plight of that lone Gaulish village, and the menace of the Romans, their giant SPQR standard rammed into France, and their wonderful testudo, the danger that Asterix would run of potion at a critical momentor that something horrible might happen to Dogmatix, that really thrilled me.  As far as I was concerned, it was all about the heroic adventures of Asterix.

Well, that and Cleopatra.

[Mister Pops]

I only learned recently that Obelix's common refrain of "These Romans are crazy" translates into a Latin phrase which has the acronym of SPQR. Sonno Pazzi que Romani or something

[Dark Jimbo]

As with most things in my childhood, including 2000ad, my main pleasure was in taking it a bit too seriously. It was the plight of that lone Gaulish village, and the menace of the Romans, their giant SPQR standard rammed into France, and their wonderful testudo, the danger that Asterix would run of potion at a critical momentor that something horrible might happen to Dogmatix, that really thrilled me.  As far as I was concerned, it was all about the heroic adventures of Asterix.

Aye, me too. To my shame I've never revisited Asterix since reading those dog-eared books in the Primary School library!

[CrazyFoxMachine]

My lady Geoffery owns a substantial chunk of the Asterix books so thankfully I get to re-read them now and again - used to adore them as a kid and get one out of the library every week Thought (and still think) Uderzo's art was stunning, that wonderful mix between dynamic characters and beautiful backgrounds.

Can't find a picture but in Asterix in Switzerland I think there's a scenic mountain drawing that I remember spending hours staring out. Beautiful.

[ThryllSeekyr]

Know of them, but never delved anywhere too deep into any of the graphic novels I was able to find in the school and town libraries when I was younger. I think one of my old friend's used to have some of them along with Tin-Tin gn's.

I played some of the old on a friend's game-machine. I think it was a Sega. Just few simple 2D-Scrollers.

When I heard about the films being made and went to a bit of trouble look for more and more information about them on line. I think saw the first one on video or DvD and the later ones on cable. Each film was better than the last, I think. I do recall the last one being more interesting.

They were a little disappointing to me, because it's hard to accurately catch the atmosphere of this comic book character and the way he was drawn along with his companions, adversary's and the back drops of early Gaul and Rome.

It squirts out a bit too sugary-coated when they try to imitate the original look of it all and I suppose these things shouldn't be made as live action because the transition just doesn't carry over that well. To speak of  the actual cartoons that have ben transformed into live action on the big screen.

Scooby-Doo, and it's name sake dog was the only character, along with Shaggy that turned out convincing enough. The other three were poorly cast and realised and the movies them selves were just a lot of what I already said about the Asterix movies.

Along with the live-action straight to television movies I have seen on the cable-cartoon network channels.

Jinky's they got the short pudgy girl all wrong and made her kind of hot and less nerdy.  Then again, who would audition for that role if she wasn't. Fred was too short to be a jock (Not that I doubt Freddie Prinze's sportz prowess!) or dark haired to be the blonde jock and his sometime love interest or real life wife (Sarah Michelle Gellar!) wasn't nearly curvy enough.

Speed-Racer might have been better with out the unesessary hippy-trippy lights and back drops along with hi-tech upgrades that definitely weren't part of the original cartoon This is diabetics night night-mare. Along with the poo throwing on bad guys face. I don't care if any of that stuff was cannon.   

The Flintones was so spot on, then the sequel was okay, but without Alan's well known larger brother from Home Improvement. Anyway, speaking the first one, where they even copies the introduction where Fred slides down the neck of the earth-moving Bronto, going home  in his floorless conveyance on rollars being locked out of stone slab house after the cat swaps places with him and they all go to the drive in and order a side -ribs of dinosaur that tips the family rollar on it's side.   

One of four isn't good enough and I wonder what if they took a more serious approach to these films with the exception of one about the stone-age family.

What if Scooby-Doo was more like CSI-Miami, Burn-Notice, or Criminal Minds?

What if Speed Racer was more like those racing films that starred Tom Cruise (Days of Thunde[/b]) or Will Farrell (Teladaega-Nights and I understand this wasn't that serious either, but possibly hilariously close to the truth!) 

What if Asterix was giving the same design as Peter Jackson's work on the works of Tolkien.   What if Martin Freeman was cast as the Gaulish-Berzerker, and the fellow who was Beorn as Obelix and Ian MacCallen as Getafix the Druid. (At a guess!) Just imagine that!

Lastly, what about Grue?

[TordelBack]

If this wasn't an Asterix thread I might comment that SMG and FPJr appeared together as live action versions of a cartoon  series in the (rather good) Scooby Doos, and now they are appearing together in a cartoon version of a live action movie series in the (very good) Rebels. It's a funny old game. But this is an Asterix thread, and who knows what kind of wicked tarantella CYNWA will employ against us if we divert off into the sychronised filmographies of Hollywood c-list couples.

ObAsterix: I still rate the conviction factor of Julius Caesars in all media (including contemporary busts) against Uderzo's version. Ciaran Hindes is obviously a 21st C contender, but even he lacks the wry gauntness of the one true depiction of Caesar.

[James Stacey]

Looking forward to this one. I assume its a village set book as they alternate between travel and the village I think ? The last book was a good un and the new team certainly seem to get what Asterix is about. Certainly better than that one with aliens .. it still hurts.
As for Asterix V Tintin, SinDex dance or not, there is no comparison. Asterix wins hands down.

[ThryllSeekyr]

If this wasn't an Asterix thread I might comment that SMG and FPJr appeared together as live action versions of a cartoon  series in the (rather good) Scooby Doos, and now they are appearing together in a cartoon version of a live action movie series in the (very good) Rebels. It's a funny old game. But this is an Asterix thread, and who knows what kind of wicked tarantella CYNWA will employ against us if we divert off into the sychronised filmographies of Hollywood c-list couples.

Got nothing against SMG and her hubby personally. Absolutely loved watching her in her debut series (Or the one that made her very well known!) Buffy the Vampire Slayer and was very attentive towards  reruns of this show only few years earlier before it got pulled.

The thing about her not being curvy enough for the red haired Scooby, but she certainly seemed to very slimmed down there. Not that I have ever seen over weight or size SMG and as her husband. I really meant her was too short to be Fred and not a jock. Yet, Fred (Fred the cartoon character and not the actor!)  is a typical Jock, who is tall, and broad shouldered and Freddie does give me the impression of more ordinary proportions. Yet, I just had a look at his bio, (Just now!) and found the guy's taller than me. Being at least over 180 cm (My apologies to FPJNR there!) and his dad was famous as well. (Although, I don't recall knowing about him otherwise!) Otherwise, I found them both entertaining in those roles and I guess the film's more accurate than I remembered, but I wouldn't have minded seeing something  cartoon become something darker! (Not partically coloured!) Like, what if it was done by that Mexican director who did the Hellboy movies, along with Pan's Labrynth, and now Crimson Peak. The one who might have made Mountains of Madness, but I think that last one was kind of it, and heavily influenced by some important woman in his life, perhaps! 

Anyway....to make up for my diversion from topic here.....

I found this trailer for computer generated Asterix film.

Plus...three must have made a heap of Asterix cartoon's that seem to be direct adaption from their papery origins.