http://gb.asterix.com

THE LAUNCH OF THE 33ème ASTERIXALBUM WILL TAKE PLACE IN BELGIUM

* (footnote) Bruocsela: a name that stems from both Celtic (bruoc) and Latin (sella) and which, in fact, means the "temple of the marshes". Although I’m not sure Valueaddedtax or Getafix had anything to do with it.

ore discreet than the IOC, more friendly than some G8 whowould have omitted to invite hard-headed Britons such as Sir BobGeldof (a former Boomtown Rat) and Bono (a bard who stopped wor-rying about his blacksmith a long time ago), we, the citizens of theGaulish Village, have decided to travel to the northeastof Europe to organise the launch party for the newAsterix opus.

Away from the pressure of the modern centurions whotry to enforce political correctness across the planet,our very own chief, Albert Uderzo, believed that,“Brussels, and Belgium as a whole, would be a fabulous loca-tion” in which to announce the publication of his latestwork. Had Julius, the great Julius, not already namedthis people, located north of Gaul, as the bravest of allthe Gaulish peoples ?

Indeed, to hold Albert Uderzo’s only press conference, scheduled for 22September at 11:00 am, we needed a truly international arena with thecapacity to welcome Druids and other messengers from around theknown world. In addition, we had to clearly choose what side we wereon, comrade, in this magnificent tectonix movement (I’m not really sureabout the spelling…) that is growing in amplitude in the field of comics.Is Brussels not the comic book capital of the world?

Lastly, René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo met and prospered in the fif-ties, modestly but fruitfully nonetheless, thanks to Belgium and thoseBelgians working in the industry. Just imagine! Without the Belgians,Asterix and Obelix may never have existed! And that would have been

unbearable. We really had to pay tribute to the coun-try.

t is this wealth of reasons that led us to chooseBrussels to organise the festivities and to announcethe Gaulish Village’s good news to the Global Village(the known world, that is): “Asterix 33” will see thelight of day on 14 October 2005 in all good stores,well, almost all anyway (indeed, one place has alwaysresisted the might of Asterix: the United States, who

Obelix thinks is a land of gobblers anyway).

In the land of beer, mussels, chips and multiple governments, theEditions Albert René will therefore be reminding everyone of the fla-vour of roast boar. Book your seat for the banquet!

A MAJOR EVENT IN BRUSSELS*

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EXHIBITION : «THE MIRROR WORLD OF ASTERIX»

sterix stepped outside theconfines of his genre many yearsago. And it is perhaps because hisauthors created him as a sort ofanti-hero, short, ugly and irreve-rent, that he became such a cultu-ral phenomenon as early as thesixties (last century), a symbol ofFrance’s heritage on the inter-national scene and an unlikelyhero. Asterix is the productof the counter-culture thatemerged in the fifties andsixties, and his colossalsuccess, which is unequal-led anywhere in theEuropean publishing world,has managed to obscure themain themes that under-pin the character’svalues.

Issues, values and,some might say, a philoso-phy (one that is humorous butalso serious at times), which rea-ders aged 8 to 88, in over 100 lan-guages and dialects from aroundthe world, have identified with forover forty-five years now. I remindyou that our very own chief,Albert Uderzo, carries his 78years lightly and, as he is nowexcluded from reading Tintin(ages 7 to 77), it was quite naturalfor Asterix to be given a widerreadership! Because everybody,or almost everybody, has read,reads, or will read Asterix at somepoint. I refer you to Caesar’sfamous slogan: “veni, vidi, vici”.The idea behind this exhibitionwas to share the essential oils ofthe Gaulish magic potion thanksto a totally new recipe (in anycase, Albert refuses to give me theactual recipe, so, you know how itis).

Is Asterix not first and foremost areflection of our societies, of our-selves, of our differences, ourshortcomings, our deepest aspira-

tions and our reserved sense ofhumour, behind which a spark ofcommon sense often hides? It isthis common sense that has dri-ven the world since the dawn oftime and which we would do wellto exercise now in order to pre-serve it and to prevent the skyfrom falling on our heads oneday. Asterix is all this and muchmore for every one of us, from achild’s laughter, to a grown-up’s

wink of complicity, the smell ofthe paper when you first open abook, our madeleines de Proust (afamous cake named after thenovelist and signifying a memorytrigger), the row of comic bookson the bookshelf that we wouldnever part with (unless a heftypile of sesterces was offered, andeven then, it would be hard).

he exhibition, entitled “TheMirror World of Asterix”, isintended to trigger all thesemagical feelings to enchant visi-tors in the same way as Getafixenchants for a living! The visitwill be designed for people withdifferent reading levels, tosatisfy children, collectors andfans (those already acquaintedwith our hero, and who there-fore obviously have good taste)from wherever they may come.Asterix’s guiding values will bestaged in dramatic fashion andwill be accompanied by themost beautiful and the mostunusual historic objects, booksfrom around the world (Asterixin Urdu or Mandarin, etc),documents on the Gaulish saganever before assembled toge-

ther in one place, and lastly, thepinnacle of the show: 44 origi-nal plates and covers by AlbertUderzo himself, which will beexhibited for the first time.

To reach this druidic Valhalla,visitors will pass through the“Resistance”, “Caricature”,“Fr iendship”, “Tolerance”,“Courage”, “Utopia” and“Freedom” sections, and manyothers, one after the other.

The Tour and Taxis site inBrussels will be hosting thisworld exclusive exhibition as of22 September 2005 and, if allgoes according to plan, until 15January 2006. Ask for the pro-gramme! Book your tickets! NoSir, you won’t be able to see itbefore the inauguration date of22 September, and even thenyou’ll need to be “superquix” onthat particular day! Pardon me?No, I don’t particularly like rawfish… Especially if it isn’t fresh…Slap! Actually, I love the sushixthey serve in Japanese restau-rants, no I do… but that’s whereI draw the line, yuk! No, Sir,you’ll still have to wait until 22September… are these peoplecrazy or what?

ne of the main events of this unprecedented launch will be an exhibition covering a surfacearea of almost 2,000m2. The Asterix exhibition, the largest of its kind in the Christian era, no less,is intended to update the comic book world’s usual museographic codes.

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THE GAULISH VILLAGE IN BRUSSELS WILL BE*:

n 23, 24 and 25 September,the Gauls and all the Celts willrevert to their ancient ways of lifeto experience what the Gaul’s willsoon be referring to as the “ThreeGlorious Gaulish days” (the3GG): three days of festivities topay homage to our elegant ances-tors, at the heart of the Brusselspentagon, on the Grand Place, the

market square. A village enclosedby a fence, craftsmen from 50B.C., moustachioed warriors,Roman acrobats who’ll be get-ting smacked about all day,mouth-watering stalls offeringtastings, and so on. Thus, a uni-verse that we already know andlove will be set up in front of thefamous façades that surroundthe Grand Place.

The inauguration is planned forthe early afternoon of the 23rd,the moment at which the bluestone menhir from the quarriesof Belgium will be erected and atwhich Albert Uderzo will cut itsribbon. You know, like the rib-bons Obelix usually ties aroundhis little gifts. In partnership withthe city of Brussels, this uniqueand festive event will be held sothat the great Gaulish party canbe shared with all the Belgiansand their cousins from neigh-bouring worlds.

Nearby, a little lad will be dressingup as Obelix Junior, to please hisfavourite hero. In accordancewith the great Belgian tradition,Obelix’s costume will then bemoved to the museum devoted tothe Mannekenpix… sorry, theMannekenpis. A Gaulish banquetwill then follow, to celebrate andtop off this exceptional festival.The burgomaster Thielemansand his deputy, Philippe Declouxobviously want to tinge their citywith the atmosphere of the comicbook, and they are going to proveit, throughout Brussels, with thepresence of Asterix and his frailcompanion, Obelix!

nother inauguration will alsobe taking place on this day, that of

the Asterix fresco in the Brusselspentagon. This huge drawing willdepict our Gauls, led by Asterixand Obelix, launching an assaulton the Romans, to the joy of thechildren of the school located at33, rue de la Buanderie.

Destiny had spoken, we reallycouldn’t say no to such an addressfor the festivities surrounding the33rd album.

As night falls, Gauls will comefrom every part of Brussels dres-sed up in plaits, helmets and bree-ches for the very first Gaulish

Roller ParadeË in history, on thestreets of the comic book capitalof the world!

irst thing on Saturday morning,giant characters – 3 metres tall inthe case of Asterix and 4.5 metrestall in the case of Obelix – willcome and dance to CelticGalician melodies on the GrandPlace, and will spend a large partof the day there. Most exciting,though, will be the dishing out ofa magic potion (!) in the after-noon, but only to the bravestGauls. Made according to anancestral recipe of the Celticdruids on the other side of thePyrenees, and known as que-mada, this authentically magicalpotion is said to have propertiesthat is sure to warm the cockles ofthe Belgians and their guests.

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1 - THE GAULISH VILLAGE ON THE GRAND PLACE SET UP WILL BE 2 - A MENHIR IN HONOUR OF OBELIX THERE WILL BE 3 - THE MANNEKENPIS AS OBELIX DRESSED UP WILL BE 4 - A FRESCO OF ASTERIX UNVEILED WILL BE 5 - ON THE GRAND PLACE GIANT GAULS WILL DANCE6 - FINALLY, THE MAGIC POTION DISHED OUT WILL BE7 - A “GAULISH ROLLER PARADEË ” IN TOWN THERE WILL BE

* Clip from an audio recording of a Jedix, a small Druid with pointed ears

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AN ASTERIX STAMP AND A HOST OF EXCEPTIONAL BOOKS FROM THE CBBD

ASTERIX AND OBELIX PLANES IN EUROPEAN AIRSPACE !

he Belgian Postal Service isto produce a series of magnificentAsterix stamps, with which thecountry’s citizens and guests willbe able to adorn their envelopes.The Belgian messenger-druids arecurrently designing a set ofstamps in the utmost secrecy.Advance sales will take place atthe Belgian Comic Book Centre(CBBD), with a special postmarkthat will make even the mostardent collectors green with envy.Several million Asterix stamps willbe enhancing Belgian envelopesover the year 2005/2006.

Not to be outdone, the CBBDwill be making the most of thisinitiative to publish a range of itsexceptional mini books, in whichunique treasures and documentsare compiled. In total, over 8,000of these will be produced in severaldifferent editions and languages,expanding the already superb col-lection held in this Comic BookCentre, for which Belgium isenvied the world over!

ncredible! Only Getafix couldhave foreseen it. Not only hasthe sky not fallen on the headsof our favourite Gauls, but theywill now be gliding among theclouds and probably a (Roman)cumulus or two, in the skies ofEurope! No, you’re not drea-ming! It’s going to happen, myfriend! Thanks to the greatenthusiasm of those crazy Celtswho run SN Brussels Airlines,the impossible will take placeduring the Three GloriousGaulish Days (3GG). Today, thedebate revolves around the loca-tions set aside for the drawingsof the famous Gauls created byRené Goscinny and AlbertUderzo in 1959. To the left ofthe door, or to the right? Abovethe windows, or below? Druids with diplomas from thePolytecnix are devoting all theirspare time to the project. And allthis makes Albert Uderzo chuckle.Flattered but slightly mocking atthe same time – our very ownchief!

plane in honour of Asterixand another in honour of Obelixwill therefore be gracing our skiesas of 25 September 2005, to pro-tect European airspace fromRoman invasions. These will begreeted with official receptions inseven of the main European capi-tals before the end of 2005! Arethese Belgians crazy or what? Infact, after an in-depth personaland non-representative study, buta study nevertheless, our neigh-bours appear to be greedy, butalso extremely cunning. An exam-ple that is to be followed, reckonsGetafix!

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IBut an internal debate is raging atthe Editions Albert René, the Village’slegal institution! Indeed, our lovelymanageress, Sylvie Uderzo, reallyhates taking the plane. However,each of the trips (of which there willbe at least seven) will require ourchief or his descendants to lead theceremonies somewhat. And, whilewe await these planes, the fish, atleast, will continue to fly around theVillage, as Albert 1er and Sylvie haveno intention of letting its supply offish run dry! Whatever happens, the GaulishVillage will never forget that itbecame part of the global village viathe capital of Belgium! “The festivitiesin Brussels could well be one of the grea-test moments of our lives”, Anticlimaxwas heard saying to Valueaddedtax,the famous Belgian Druid, during arecent congress devoted to the ori-gins of the magic potion. But is itmade from brewer’s yeast or cherryliqueur, hiccup!?

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