comment added 23.12.03 As you can see from the date above, this is an old page, not updated for quite some time now. I have decided to keep it alive as it documents the many questions on old editions that we were able to solve thanks to the internet, and thanks to many foreign correspondents. The Many Languages of Asterix has now moved to its own spot on the web www.asterix-obelix.nl/manylanguages/. Please visit that page to see the latest news on the international editions of Asterix. We never found any proof of a Filipino (Tagalog) translation, see below, and we leave that as our question to you!

Asterix Editions: Questions...

Spain: Edition Molino

Alfons Moliné writes:

But did you know that the very first Asterix albums in Spain were published in 1965 by Editorial Molino? Yes, they published the first 3 books, both in softcover and hardcover editions, then abandoned it until Bruguera took over in 1968 (That=B4s why Bruguera started with the 4th album and did not reprint the first three until 1973). While the translations on the albums published by Bruguera, then Grijalbo/Junior and currently Salvat (the Dargaud titles) and Planeta (the Albert-Ren=E9 titles) are all the same, the translations of the three Molino albums is different.

Filipino (Tagalog) translation

Early Turkish translation

The first Turkish edition was published by publisher Kervan Kitabçilik (1973-1984?).

Question: Can you help with the list of Kervan titles given on the main page? In particular, what are the original (French) titles of the following Turkish books: Savas,çI (1981) , Bozguncu (1983), and Yenilmez cengâver (1984) ?

Note that the Kervan books use different names for some of the leading characters, as eg. Obelix: HOPDEDiKS vs. OBURiKS, see çizgiroman (Turkish).

Solved. Solutions by Mert Cagatay Anil:

• Savas,çI [5] (1981) warrior, Asterix and the Banquet
• Bozguncu [3]
• Yenilmez cengâver [1] (1984) undefeatable hero/warrior, Asterix the Gaul

Question: ( Solved.) Is this all? Christian Koehn reports on yet another book he has found: "Asteriks ugursuz kahin / bulvar Asteriks albümü 1". It is alternating b/w and colored. The cover mentions that is is a give-away or gift to children from Akbank, a turkish bank (1985). We checked this book. Although the title differs, the translation is the same as the Kervan book Le devin (the soothsayer): S,eytan.

Telugu translation

Vietnamese translation

We have only limited information on illegal Vietnamese editions. 1999: Now there is a decent official version.

Asterix Editions: Answers...

Early American translation

Our research department is convinced there exists an early American newspaper version of Asterix, in which the druid is called Readymix. (Toronto Sun, Boston Globe?)

Here is a footnote from [1]

In a short-lived syndication for the North American market, beginning in 1978 and distributed by Field Newspaper Syndicate, Getafix was translated as Readymix (an illusion to a brand of concrete). I owe this observation to Tim Blackmore.

Solved. We have several pages with xerox-copies of this comic strip, and partial publication info:
Publication of Asterix and Cleopatra in the Toronto Sun, starting 20 February 1978, daily strip, discontinued, no reason given; Asterix the Gladiator, published in Orlando Sentinel Star, starting 27 November 1977, sunday paper.

Thanks to Gilda Blackmore, Sheila Embleton, and Gregor Mensing.

Early German translation

The first German translation featured Asterix and Obelix as Siggi and Babarras, defenders of the Western Culture against the Eastern Invaders (represented by the Goths).

This political version did not make it into a book, but was published in a journal. We would love to see a photocopy of some of the pages.

Solved. I now own a copy of the journal with the this German translation. Thank you Thomas Rust. The first stories of Asterix in Germany were published in the journals Lupo Modern (1965/66) and again in MV-Comix (1967..) Some stories have three versions, the third being the Ehapa book-edition.

Info on German publication dates, Comicographie: Asterix

request. For my documentation I am looking for xerox-copies of some Asterix related pages from Krägermans Comic Katalog: 414-421 (Asterix and three different translations), and 105-- (on Kauka, who introduced Asterix as Siggi in Germany). Danke vielmals.
Solved. I recently received copies of the Katalog pages. It tells the story of a translation that was rejected by the authors of Asterix, as it contained political messages. Thank you Andreas Gill.

Early Dutch/Flemish translation

In a contribution to a journal devoted to translation studies [2] one may read about the `conquest' of Europa by our little Gaulish hero. At that time (1970) the authors knew Italian, English and Dutch translations, whereas German, Spanish and Portuguese were announced.
In a footnote the Dutch/Flemish translations are given:

P.S. Pendent que cet article etait sous presse, Asterix et ses amis continuaient leur marche triomphale a travers l'Europe. La redaction de l'hebdomadaire flamand Zie nous communiqua la liste des albums deja parus sous forme de feuilleton au 1er aout 1969:

• De Galliër
• Asterix en de gouden sikkel vs. Het gouden snoeimes
• Asterix en de Goten vs .. en de Gothen
• Asterix gladiator
• Asterix in de ronde van Gallië
• Asterix en Cleopatra
• Asterix en de strijd tussen de opperhoofden vs. De kampioen
• Asterix bij de Britten
• Asterix en de Noormannen

Solved. Yes, the text in Zie magazine differs drastically from the final book version, but I did not yet find Obelix' motto in the Zie-version. I found an old edition of Zie with Asterix en de Goten. See the single example strip in Dossier Dutch & Flemish.

Now, I also found the dutch journal Revu from 1967 with a translation of 'de Britten' that differs from the book version. Cleopatra (1968) is the same as in the books.

[2] Jacqmain, Monique & Cole, Herman: Asterix a la conquete d l'Europe. Babel: International Journal of Translation Vol. XVI (1970) 4-12 & 20. ISSN 0521-9744

Greenlandic translation

I have seen some photocopies of the newspaper story published in [...], but I do not have a readable version of the map text. Can you help?

Solved. Hans Selles (see his Asterix Collection) found the text with the halp of the Nunatta Atuagaateqarfia, det gronlandske landsbibliotek.

Farsi translation

There are unconfirmed references to a Farsi (or Persian) translation, long out of print now. We have no idea which titles were translated. We would like to have proof of its existence in the form of some photocopies.

Solved! There is indeed a Farsi translation! At least Cleopatra has been translated. Note Farsi is written in the Arabic script. See the Farsi Asterix page of Hans Selles.

PS. Two books have been published before the revolution in Iran, around 1977. After 25 years two publishers have started new series of Asterix books in Farsi. (And also editions of Tintin and Harry Potter, good news for all collectors, see page at link above for a shop on the web.)

Hungary: Alfa

Solved.

Yann discovered the page by Achilles that suggests the existence of another Hungarian edition Alfa. This is a monthly journal, not a book series.