2000 AD Online Forum

Well it looks like CF's Hi-Ex Helltrek has inspired someone  :D

This from the BBC:
It tells the story of Asterix and Obelix's journey from ancient Gaul to Iron Age Scotland and the fearsome Pictish clans living there.
The book is being published in English, Scots and Scots Gaelic, along with many other world languages - several for the first time.Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme, Mr Yves-Ferri said: "I love the landscapes of Scotland, especially at the north, up in the Highlands. And it's the landscape for a story of Asterix - an ideal landscape.

"In my story, politics are the background. But the story - the principal story - is a kind of love story between a Pict character and a girl. And Asterix and Obelix went to Scotland to help him."

The author said Asterix and the Picts was, in true tradition, an epic journey into a land of rich traditions and history.





Full details:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-23088039 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-23088039)

Really looking forward to what the new team do. I believe this is getting an October release?

Can't wait.

as a confirmed Asterix fan anyway- SOLD!

I'm really looking forward to this. Can't wait.

I collect every book as huge fan of it, looking forward to new release!

Quote from: Proudhuff on 08 July, 2013, 04:33:11 PM
The book is being published in English, Scots and Scots Gaelic,

50 BC. The Auld Ally's fair tain ower by them Tallies; well, no a' tain ower. Wan wee toon wi' chuch sinen's still gi'en thum laldy ...

Quote from: sauchie on 08 July, 2013, 06:11:08 PM

Quote from: Proudhuff on 08 July, 2013, 04:33:11 PM
The book is being published in English, Scots and Scots Gaelic,

50 BC. The Auld Ally's fair tain ower by them Tallies; well, no a' tain ower. Wan wee toon wi' chuch sinen's still gi'en thum laldy ...

You've got a 'jaw-dropping' avatar, Sauchie!  :lol:

Quote from: sauchie on 08 July, 2013, 06:11:08 PM
50 BC. The Auld Ally's fair tain ower by them Tallies; well, no a' tain ower. Wan wee toon wi' chuch sinen's still gi'en thum laldy ...

Obar Bhrothaig

Looking good.

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/08/24/the-first-image-from-this-years-biggest-selling-graphic-novel-asterix-and-the-picts-comics-jean-yves-ferri-didier-conrad-scotland-albert-uderzo/ (http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/08/24/the-first-image-from-this-years-biggest-selling-graphic-novel-asterix-and-the-picts-comics-jean-yves-ferri-didier-conrad-scotland-albert-uderzo/)

Wow I was expecting more of an individual art style but that looks spot on. Ill be getting this.

SWEEEET!  Can't wait for this, though its such a shame it couldn't have been done by Goscinny (RIP) and Uderzo. Asterix in Britain was a bloody classic - I'll always remember the 'herbs' they had to use instead of the magic potion, thereby inventing tea, and one bloke asking for a spot of goats milk in it.

That said, I'm very curious to see what fun the new guys have with cultural references in this one!!

Anyway, yeah, instabuy! Roll on October!

Yes looks good! I think the picts could use a bit more woad though. They seem to be going the traditional kilted scotsman look going by that picture. Mind you the woad tatoo thing was often based on Roman Accounts and they had a tendency to exaggerate. That's just one pict after all and they might not all have worn the woad.

Also I think the kilt was more a Gael -i.e. Irish Scotti thing that Pictish, but I'm probably nitpicking now.

Cover, cover, cover, cover.... COVER!!!!

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/10/02/front-cover-art-to-this-years-biggest-selling-comic-revealed/ (http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/10/02/front-cover-art-to-this-years-biggest-selling-comic-revealed/)

... actually not that keen. Its rendered fine, but I do think the layout and page design is quite weak. I feel dirty saying that, but its true. Won't stop me buying this in a heart beat, but ...

For you, Colin;



That does looks nice! Will buy it too!

Now with added Puffin!

Another image from the strip - I think the interior art is more successful than the cover, which looks to me like a 'colaboration' between the old aand new artists while they should have just left it to one or the other.

must try and get my mitts on that too

Promo vid:

http://www.asterix35.com/video-teaser/ (http://www.asterix35.com/video-teaser/)

warning to our souther neebs, this contain french people!

QUIZ!

http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/quiz/2013/oct/24/quiz-all-things-asterix (http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/quiz/2013/oct/24/quiz-all-things-asterix)


9/10   :D no bad!

7/10 and I've not read one since childhood!

Uh fun, and what a curious mixed bag of questions. Still 10 out of 10 for me, mind two were educated guesses and I actually only got 9 out of ten as I seemed to have not click the 'Drink magic potion' button and so left that question blank, but come on we all trust that I meant to right?

To much detail?

8/10 for me, and only because I made a silly mistake on question 7.  I had no idea what paper it was first published in.

8 of 10!

8 out of 10! Surprised myself.

That Today programme (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03dvbyh) dedicated the last ten minutes of the show to discussion of the new Asterix book (02:52:50). Apparently, Asterix supports Scottish independence, and - ASTONISHINGLY - one heroic and very nice old lady (Anthea Bell (http://www.connexionfrance.com/asterix-english-translator-anthea-bell-interview-10695-news-article.html)) is responsible for translating every single Asterix book into English since Asterix The Gaul was first published in 1969.

I'd wondered since I was a wee boy how difficult it must have been for the translators to come up with English language puns which matched the sight gags in the strip (i.e. guy with fish in ear, dialogue says "I didn't know he had a herring aid") , and now - thanks to that one bit of information - I have my answer:

QuoteThe jokes would sometimes come overnight. You puzzle away thinking of references and allusions - and you've got to fit the length of the speech bubbles and it must fit the expressions on the characters' faces and if there is a pun or an extended passage of wordplay it's no good doing it literally because then it's not funny anymore.

Some of the later ones by Goscinny have long passages of extended literary allusions. In Le Cadeau de César [Caesar's Gift] Asterix duels with a Roman soldier and he does it in the character of Cyrano de Bergerac, it's wonderful, it goes on for almost a page. I sat looking at that and thought "the most famous swordfight in English literature is probably Hamlet and Laertes," and the whole thing was done with quotations from Hamlet in the end.

The druid Panoramix could have been kept as Panoramix in English, but the name Getafix presented itself as if on a plate. Some people say they are shocked, but I have a perfectly good explanation, which is that there is a theory that the ancient peoples used standing stones as an astronomical observatory to "get a fix" on the stars. In a way I regretted losing the dog's name Idéfix [idée fixe - an obsession], which could have been understood in some circles in England, but not universally and there again Dogmatix presented itself on a plate. There are many English words ending in "ous" and those come in handy for the Romans - we had two soldiers called Sendervictorius and Appianglorius.

8 out of 10!


Cheers

Chi

Yeah the extent to which my love of Asterix is based on Goscinny and how much is down to Derek Hockridge and Anthea Bell I've never known. Uderzo genius is universal however!

Quote from: sauchie on 24 October, 2013, 05:36:02 PM

That Today programme (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03dvbyh) dedicated the last ten minutes of the show to discussion of the new Asterix book (02:52:50). Apparently, Asterix supports Scottish independence, and - ASTONISHINGLY - one heroic and very nice old lady (Anthea Bell (http://www.connexionfrance.com/asterix-english-translator-anthea-bell-interview-10695-news-article.html)) is responsible for translating every single Asterix book into English since Asterix The Gaul was first published in 1969.

I'd wondered since I was a wee boy how difficult it must have been for the translators to come up with English language puns which matched the sight gags in the strip (i.e. guy with fish in ear, dialogue says "I didn't know he had a herring aid") , and now - thanks to that one bit of information - I have my answer:

QuoteThe jokes would sometimes come overnight. You puzzle away thinking of references and allusions - and you've got to fit the length of the speech bubbles and it must fit the expressions on the characters' faces and if there is a pun or an extended passage of wordplay it's no good doing it literally because then it's not funny anymore.

Some of the later ones by Goscinny have long passages of extended literary allusions. In Le Cadeau de César [Caesar's Gift] Asterix duels with a Roman soldier and he does it in the character of Cyrano de Bergerac, it's wonderful, it goes on for almost a page. I sat looking at that and thought "the most famous swordfight in English literature is probably Hamlet and Laertes," and the whole thing was done with quotations from Hamlet in the end.

The druid Panoramix could have been kept as Panoramix in English, but the name Getafix presented itself as if on a plate. Some people say they are shocked, but I have a perfectly good explanation, which is that there is a theory that the ancient peoples used standing stones as an astronomical observatory to "get a fix" on the stars. In a way I regretted losing the dog's name Idéfix [idée fixe - an obsession], which could have been understood in some circles in England, but not universally and there again Dogmatix presented itself on a plate. There are many English words ending in "ous" and those come in handy for the Romans - we had two soldiers called Sendervictorius and Appianglorius.

That is absolutely amazing!!  the kids and I have spent hours discussing the names, and what they mean/why they are funny.  I had no idea it was down to one person!!  Genius!

Speaking of which, being French, I have always wonder how the puns concerning the English language has been adapted in English in Asterix in Britain. Mostly, Goscinny has used literal translation ("..and all this sort of things" becoming "... et toutes ces sortes de choses"), and switched the adjectives (there is an inn in Britain named "le rieur sanglier" which is the literal translation of "the laughing boar" but in French the right order is "le sanglier rieur").

By the way if you read Asterix in French, Hachette has also published a "deluxe" edition of Asterix Chez les pictes" (A3 oversized, thick paper, with numerous extra including the entirety of the story in layouts). It is not very expensive for this kind of limited books (35 €), but it's starting to be hard to find it. A description here: http://www.asterix.com/la-collection/les-albums-hors-collection/asterix-chez-les-pictes-luxe.html (http://www.asterix.com/la-collection/les-albums-hors-collection/asterix-chez-les-pictes-luxe.html), and it is still in stock here http://livre.fnac.com/a6084969/Asterix-Edition-luxe-Tome-35-Asterix-chez-les-Pictes-Rene-Goscinny (http://livre.fnac.com/a6084969/Asterix-Edition-luxe-Tome-35-Asterix-chez-les-Pictes-Rene-Goscinny)

You know when you really want to love something, I mean you reeeaaaalllyyyy hope its going to be great, or if not want to hate it, for it to go wrong and in missing the target at least have gone for it. You want something to be one thing or another, black or white, clearly defined so you get closure on whether its good or bad... but you get neither... and its just not quite there, its really deflating that's how I felt about Asterix and the Picts.

In the cold light of day and given time I think it'll stand up just fine. Its certainly better than the recent(ish) Uderzo solo efforts. It looks fantastic and at times its laugh out loud funny (Vitalstatistix getting around on his shield in the snow is golden) ... its just not great and its certainly not terrible. The puns aren't quite at their finest... that might be down to translation not being quite as strong as normal, who knows. The story feels a bit flabby and drifting, it lacks focus, though not terrible it feels a little inconsequential, a little loose. Its as though Jean-Yves Ferri want to pack in as many Asterix tropes in as possible and had to cobble a story around that, rather than the story leading naturally to the tropes.

One thing I will say is that Didier Conrad does a fine job, it does look superb. It could be said that he honours Uderzo a little too much and it apes his style a little too closely, but then when you're aping Uderzo this well you can't go too wrong.

I think overall I wish they'd been a little bolder, respected the past but pushed the story forward and maybe over time they will be able to do this. For now it all felt a little too safe. As it is we have another middle road Asterix book. That's better than 80% of comics BUT maybe if they'd have gone for it we'd have had a great Asterix Book and there better than 99.9% of comics, or been terrible and we'd have all settled down and reflected that we'd just have to be happy with the early books. At least we'd get closure. As it is when the next album is annouced I'll be just as nervous about it as this one, still wondering if carrying on the series is a good thing.

Still at least we have hope.

Edited to add: Oh but it smells bloody lovely. It really does... okay so not the most important aspect of a comic but really get ya nose around that one!

It felt to me as if there were jokes which didn't make it through the translation process... what exactly was happening every time the main Pict character 'lost his voice' seemed unclear to me - I imagined he was speaking Robbie Burns' poetry, though it was portrayed as a curse rather than a moment of inspiration.

The hardback is currently on Amazon for £6.46.  Bargain!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1444011677/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1383055605&sr=1-1&pi=AC_SX110_SY165