Asterix #1
Asterix #1 — titled Asterix der Gallier in its German edition — marks the debut of one of the most consequential Franco-Belgian comic properties ever to cross a national border: the first German-language publication of the foundational Asterix album, which introduced German readers to Asterix, Obelix, Miraculix (Getafix), Majestix, Troubadix, and the full cast of the indomitable Gaulish village. By launching the series in Germany in December 1968, Egmont Ehapa ignited what would become a publishing phenomenon, with the German edition eventually accumulating over 130 million copies sold in that country alone. The issue is also the German debut of translator Gudrun Penndorf, whose inventive, linguistically creative renderings — including the now-legendary catchphrase 'Die spinnen, die Römer!' — shaped how an entire generation of German speakers encountered Goscinny and Uderzo's satirical world. As the first volume in the Egmont Ehapa series that would run to 40 issues, it established the template for European bande dessinée in the German market and demonstrated that sophisticated, pun-laden Franco-Belgian humor could translate across cultures without losing its essential wit.
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The source material, Astérix le Gaulois, was created during a brainstorming session in the summer of 1959 by writer René Goscinny and artist Albert Uderzo as a flagship strip for the launch of the weekly magazine Pilote; it first appeared in Pilote issue #1 on 29 October 1959 and was collected into a 44-page hardcover album by Dargaud in July 1961 with an initial print run of 6,000 copies. Egmont Ehapa acquired the German publishing rights and released Asterix der Gallier on 16 December 1968 — though official Asterix sources list 15 December, a discrepancy explained by the fact that date was a Sunday — with a first print run of 50,000 copies, translated by Gudrun Penndorf, who had personally convinced Goscinny of her suitability for the job during a trip to Paris that year. The issue's indicia names Delta Verlagsgesellschaft mbH as the colophon publisher under the Dargaud brand, with Adolf Kabatek as editor and Roswith Krege-Mayer and Heidi Klauser-Hohberg handling editorial duties; Kabatek would later become a key figure in establishing comics as a literary category in Germany. Notably, the album's page 35 presented a production oddity: the original print film for that plate was lost during the 1961 French production, and Albert Uderzo's brother Marcel redrew it — a substitution that resulted in minor stylistic inconsistencies visible across various early printings.
Trivia · 8 facts
- German on-sale date: 16 December 1968 (Egmont Ehapa / Delta Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Stuttgart); the German series ran to 40 issues total.
- Story reprinted from Pilote (Dargaud, 1960 series) issues #21–37, where it originally appeared as a serial beginning 29 October 1959; first collected as a French album by Dargaud in July 1961.
- Written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo; this is the debut album of the pair's collaboration on the Asterix series, covering the first 24 volumes together until Goscinny's death in 1977.
- German translation by Gudrun Penndorf (M.A.), who translated volumes 1–29 (1968–1991); her German renditions — including coinage such as 'Die spinnen, die Römer!' — are considered landmark achievements in the art of comics translation and earned her the Bundesverdienstkreuz in 2020.
- First appearances (German editions) of the core cast: Asterix, Obelix, Miraculix (Getafix/Panoramix), Majestix (Vitalstatistix), Troubadix (Cacofonix/Assurancetourix), as well as supporting and antagonist characters Armamix, Caligula Minus, Gaius Bonus, Julius Cäsar, Julius Pompilius, Marcus Sacapus, Tullius Octopus, and Vercingetorix.
- Plot: Roman centurion Gaius Bonus dispatches the spy Caligula Minus (disguised as a Gaul under the alias Caliguliminix) to uncover the source of the villagers' superhuman strength; Caligula Minus discovers the magic potion, leading Gaius Bonus to kidnap druid Miraculix to seize the recipe and unseat Julius Caesar — a plot foiled by Asterix's cunning infiltration of the Roman camp.
- The issue exists in multiple cover-price variants (2,50 DM; 2,80 DM; 3,50 DM; 5,60 DM; 6,50 DM) plus a 20th-anniversary Jubiläumsausgabe (1968–1988), reflecting its long print run across successive editions.
- A 50th-anniversary German edition was published by Egmont Ehapa in October 2018, featuring eight additional pages of behind-the-scenes material about the album's creation.