Asterix Omnibus

Asterix Omnibus
Publication information
Publisher	Papercutz
Format	Hardcover Softcover Digital comic
Genre	Historical fiction Humor
Publication date	July 2020 -
No. of issues	2 to date
Main character(s)	Asterix Obelix Dogmatix
Creative team
Written by	René Goscinny
Artist(s)	Albert Uderzo

Asterix Omnibus is a book series collecting the complete run of the Franco-Belgian (also known as bande desinée), comic title Asterix, created by Albert Uderzo and René Goscinny. The series is available in both softcover trade paperbacks and in hardcover volumes, in conjunction with digital distribution. The publisher behind the project is Papercutz, the first volume of the series was released in July 2020.

Background

In November 2019 it was announced that the american publisher Papercutz would take over the american licence for the comic title Asterix and begin to reprint all of its stories in an Omnibus series begining in 2020. Future volumes was said to be planned to get released at a pace of four volumes per year. The series was initially planned to launch with its first two volumes concurrent on May 19, 2020. However due to the 2020 pandemic their release date was pushed forward til July the same year. The first volume Asterix Omnibus Vol. 1 was finally launched to the US market on July 14, 2020 with a print run of 20,000 hardcover copies plus an additional 50,000 softcover copies.

Format

This Omnibus series are available in two versions, one hardcover and one softcover edition, both identical to oneanother except for the binding. Each volume feature three original Asterix stories, Each Omnibus contain three original Asterix albums (bande dessinée), a choice made due to publisher of Papercutz, Terry Nantier the fact that the european original format of 48 pages per Asterix album would not work very good in United States, since the US audience is used to the graphic novel format usually containing hundreds of pages per volume each.The volumes are printed in full color throughout. The volumes of this reprint series have compared to earlier versions been redesigned with new covers as well as a new format dimensionwize, which is smaller than the previous editions at the american market. The page count per volume are approximatly 160 pages.

Design & sizing

Design

The two versions of the Omnibus volumes (hardcover and softcover) in the series are almost identical, except for:

• Different cover art for the two versions
• Different title headers used on cover pages
• Binding type

Sizing

Hardcover

Cover page has the head of Asterix in the title header on the cover. Hardcover, 7.5 inches × 9.5 inches (191 mm × 242 mm), full color. MSRP $22.99 per volume.

Softcover

Cover page title header has just the "Asterix" text in the title header on the cover. Softcover (trade paperback), 7.5 inches × 9.5 inches (191 mm × 242 mm), full color. MSRP $14.99 per volume.

Reproduction

Hachette, the rightsholder to Asterix has over all been against that any changes would be made to the artwork especially for this Papercutz reprint, however some character portrayals have been toned down and recolored to a smaller degree. Therefore the artwork has at large but not at whole been untouched by american editing for this Omnibus series.

Translation

The text for all the stories have been newly translated to American English by Joe Johnson, professor of French and Spanish at Clayton State University, Georgia, US directly from the original French source material for this Papercutz's Omnibus series, in order to make it more appropriate for an American audience. Previous versions of Asterix which have been distributed in US by Orion Books (imprint of Hachette) were in British English translated done by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge from the series first premiere in the English language in 1969 onwards, and later continued by Andrea Hunter.

The new translation by Johnson has been said to be more streamlined and therefore more accessible than the previous translations. Simplifications like changing the older phrase: "And now I declare the revels open!"; to the new line: "Let the party begin!" havve been put in place. Many of the puns so characteristic for the comic has also been retouched during the translation in order to reach a contemoprary audience with their true meanings albeit now in a more modern phrasing. Even sound effects have been redone to the more current ones: the previous "Kerplonk!", used when a rock landed hard on the ground has been replaced with the nowadays in comics more common: "Thuddd". An effort to make many of the European and Latin references more understandable for american readers has also been made. Expressions and phrases in latin are left untouched and now also completed with separate translations to be found in the page margins of the volumes next to or in bottom of each page to which they appear.

Some characters during the translation had their names changed: the most apparent one is the druid Getafix which now is named Panoramix. Minor characters, such as the odd roman och other ones with lesser parts of the stories have also been subjects to change mainly due to updates on the names in regards of getting their puns to fit better to modern american readers.

Terry Nantier, publisher of Papercutz, is of the opinion that the new americanized translation of the works will help to attract new readers, especially younger ones.

Volumes

Volumes

Volume	Release date	Title	Original publication years	Collected albums	Writer	Artist	Page count	ISBN Hardcover	ISBN Softcover
1	2020-07-14	Asterix Omnibus Vol. 1	x	Asterix the Gaul Asterix and the Golden Sickle Asterix and the Goths	z	y	160	978-1-54580-565-7	978-1-54580-566-4
2	2020-07-14	Asterix Omnibus Vol. 2	x	Asterix the Gladiator Asterix and the Banquet Asterix and Cleopatra	z	y	160	978-1-54580-567-1	978-1-54580-568-8
3	2020-10-20	Asterix Omnibus Vol. 3	x	Asterix and the Big Fight Asterix in Britain Asterix and the Normans	z	y	160	978-1-54580-570-1	978-1-54580-571-8
4	2021-02-01	Asterix Omnibus Vol. 4	x	Asterix the Legionary Asterix and the Chieftain's Shield Asterix at the Olympic Games	z	y	151	978-1-54580-628-9
5	2021-06-01	Asterix Omnibus Vol. 5	x	Asterix and the Cauldron Asterix in Spain Asterix and the Roman Agent	z	y	152	978-1-54580-693-7
6	2021-08-01	Asterix Omnibus Vol. 6	x	Asterix in Switzerland The Mansions of the Gods Asterix and the Laurel Wreath	z	y	152	978-1-54580-703-3

Related

Free Comic Book Day 2020

Papercutz did in conjunction wih the reprint series' premiere participate in the Free Comic Book Day 2020 promotional campaign with an free comic issue titled: Asterix Free Comic Book Day Special. Due to the 2020 pandemic this issue was released on July 15, 2020; since the date of the FCBD was changed to take place during the course of the summer instead of the usual single day in May.

External links

• Official website

This article "Asterix Omnibus" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical. Articles taken from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be accessed on Wikipedia's Draft Namespace.