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''Asterix'' or ''The Adventures of Asterix'' ((フランス語:Astérix'' or ''Astérix le Gaulois), ) is a series of French comics. The series first appeared in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine ''Pilote'' on 29 October 1959. It was written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo until the death of Goscinny in 1977. Uderzo then took over the writing until 2009, when he sold the rights to publishing company Hachette. As of 2015, 36 volumes have been released. The series follows the exploits of a village of indomitable Gauls as they resist Roman occupation. They do so by means of a magic potion, brewed by their druid called Getafix in the English translations, which gives the recipient superhuman strength. The protagonist, the titular character Asterix, along with his friend Obelix have various adventures. The "ix" ending of both names (as well as all the other pseudo-Gaulish "ix" names in the series) alludes to the "rix" suffix (meaning "king") present in the names of many real Gaulish chieftains such as Vercingetorix, Orgetorix, and Dumnorix. (See below for further explanations of the character names.) Many of the stories have them travel to foreign countries, though others are set in and around their village. For much of the history of the series (Volumes 4 through 29), settings in Gaul and abroad alternated, with even-numbered volumes set abroad and odd-numbered volumes set in Gaul, mostly in the village. The ''Asterix'' series is one of the most popular Franco-Belgian comics in the world, with the series being translated into over 100 languages, and it is popular in most European countries. The success of the series has led to the adaptation of several books into 13 films: nine animated, and four live action. There have also been a number of games based on the characters, and a theme park near Paris, Parc Astérix. To date, 325 million copies of 34 ''Asterix'' books have been sold worldwide, making co-creators René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo France's bestselling authors abroad. ==History== Prior to creating the ''Asterix'' series, Goscinny and Uderzo had previously had success with their series ''Oumpah-pah'', which was published in ''Tintin'' magazine. ''Astérix'' was originally serialised in ''Pilote'' magazine, in the very first issue published on 29 October 1959.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title =Pilote année 1959 )〕 In 1961 the first book was put together, titled ''Asterix the Gaul''. From then on, books were released generally on a yearly basis. Their success was exponential; the first book sold 6,000 copies in its year of publication; a year later, the second sold 20,000. In 1963, the third sold 40,000; the fourth, released in 1964, sold 150,000. A year later, the fifth sold 300,000; 1966's ''Asterix and the Big Fight'' sold 400,000 upon initial publication. The ninth ''Asterix'' volume, when first released in 1967, sold 1.2 million copies in two days. Uderzo's first sketches portrayed Asterix as a huge and strong traditional Gaulish warrior. But Goscinny had a different picture in his mind. He visualized Asterix as a shrewd small sized warrior who would prefer intelligence over strength. However, Uderzo felt that the small sized hero needed a strong but dim companion to which Goscinny agreed. Hence, Obelix was born. Despite the growing popularity of ''Asterix'' with the readers, the financial backing for ''Pilote'' ceased. ''Pilote'' was taken over by Georges Dargaud.〔 When Goscinny died in 1977, Uderzo continued the series alone on the demand of the readers who implored him to continue. He continued the series but on a less frequent basis. Most critics and fans of the series prefer Goscinny's albums.〔 Uderzo created his own publishing company, Les Editions Albert-René, which published every album drawn and written by Uderzo alone since then.〔 However, Dargaud, the initial publisher of the series, kept the publishing rights on the 24 first albums made by both Uderzo and Goscinny. In 1990, the Uderzo and Goscinny families decided to sue Dargaud to take over the rights. In 1998, after a long trial, Dargaud lost the rights to publish and sell the albums. Uderzo decided to sell these rights to Hachette instead of Albert-René, but the publishing rights on new albums were still owned by Albert Uderzo (40%), Sylvie Uderzo (20%) and Anne Goscinny (40%). Although Uderzo declared he did not want anyone to continue the series after his death, which is similar to the request Hergé made regarding his ''The Adventures of Tintin'', his attitude changed and in December 2008 he sold his stake to Hachette, which took over the company and now owns the rights. In a letter published in the French newspaper ''Le Monde'' in 2009, Uderzo's daughter, Sylvie, attacked her father's decision to sell the family publishing firm and the rights to produce new ''Astérix'' adventures after his death. She said "...the co-creator of ''Astérix'', France’s comic strip hero, has betrayed the Gaulish warrior to the modern-day Romans – the men of industry and finance”. However, René Goscinny's daughter Anne also gave her agreement to the continuation of the series and sold her rights at the same time. She is reported to have said that "''Asterix'' has already had two lives: one during my father's lifetime and one after it. Why not a third?".〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Anne Goscinny: "Astérix a eu déjà eu deux vies, du vivant de mon père et après. Pourquoi pas une troisième?" )〕 A few months later, Uderzo appointed three illustrators, who had been his assistants for many years, to continue the series. In 2011, Uderzo announced that a new ''Asterix'' album was due out in 2013, with Jean-Yves Ferri writing the story and Frédéric Mébarki drawing it. A year later, in 2012, the publisher Albert-René announced that Frédéric Mébarki had withdrawn from drawing the new album, due to the pressure he felt in following in the steps of Uderzo. Comic artist Didier Conrad was officially announced to take over drawing duties from Mébarki, with the due date of the new album in 2013 unchanged. In January 2015, after the murders of seven cartoonists at the satirical Paris weekly Charlie Hebdo, presumably for their controversial work, ''Astérix'' creator Albert Uderzo came out of retirement to draw two ''Astérix'' pictures honoring the memories of the victims. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Asterix」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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