Order of the Asterix books (which don't count?)

[1010]

Hi,

I was wondering if someone would list the OFFICIAL order (UK editions) of the Asterix comics.  Are there any that don't count, such as Asterix Vs Caesar, Twelve Tasks, How Obelix fell into the Magic Potion, etc.  I would VERY much appreciate this, as I can't find it anywhere online - asterix-obelix.nl only has the French order.

Some more questions:

Are the Orion reprints really that bad?

Does anyone know where I can get the Asterix Omnibus 6 Adventure Book which has the stories:

   * Asterix at the Olympic Games
   * Asterix and the Laurel Wreath
   * Asterix the Gladiator
   * Asterix and the Big Fight
   * Asterix and Cleopatra
   * Asterix and the Roman Agent

You can see a picture of it at http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... RK:MEDW:IT - I was bidding on it but forgot about the time and didn't win :(  I have the Asterix the Warrior omnibus and would like to add this to my collection.

EDIT: Also, were ALL of the books printed in small (A5) format, including books such as Asterix Vs Caesar, How Obelix Fell into the Magic Potion etc.?

Thanks,

Zak

[Sukisuix]

Firstly the French order is the order in which they were written.  Are you wanting the order in which the English editions were printed?  If so, I can provide this in a couple of days.
Secondly, the Orion reprints.  I personally think the colouring is better, but the printing of the text is not as clear.
Thirdly the A5 books, from what I can make out, only the comic style books were printed in A5.

[1010]

Yes, the order in which the English editions were printed, please.

Thanks.

[Coriza]

Hi Zak!
I think that on asterix-obelix.nl you find the order of appearance in any language you want: Go to "100+ translations" and click on the translation - English, in your case - and you find the books listed in that order, with the original French number after the title of the book.

Coriza

[Sukisuix]

List of English editions in the order they were printed.  The ones that do not count such as, books of films and game books are in Bold

Asterix the Gaul
Asterix in Spain
Asterix in Britain
Asterix and Cleopatra
Asterix the Goths
Asterix the Gladiator
Asterix the Legionary
Asterix in Switzerland
Asterix and the Big Fight
Asterix and the Roman Agent
The Mansions of the Gods
Asterix at the Olympic Games
Asterix and the Laurel Wreath
Asterix and the Soothsayer
Asterix and the Golden Sickle
Asterix and the Great Crossing
Asterix and Cauldron
asterix and the Chieftain's Shield
Asterix and Caesar's Gift
Asterix and the Normans
The Twelve Tasks of Asterix
Obelix and Co.
Asterix and the Banquet
Asterix in Corsica
Asterix in Belgium
Asterix and the Great Divide
The First Asterix Frieze
The Poster Book
Asterix to the Rescue (Game Book)
Asterix Operation Britain (Game Book)
Asterix and the Black Gold
Asterix and Son
Asterix Verses Caesar
Asterix and the Magic Carpet
Operation Getafix
How Obelix Fell into the Magic Potion
Asterix the Meeting of the Chieftains (Game Book)
Asterix the Idol of the Gauls (Game Book)
Asterix the Roman Conspiracy (Game Book)
Asterix and the Secret Weapon
Asterix Against All Odds (Game Book)
Asterix Conquers America
Asterix and Obelix All at Sea
Find Asterix
Asterix and the Actress
Asterix and the Class Act



Hope this is of some use to you and any others who are interested :)  If you need any other information, just ask :)

[invisifan]

List of English editions in the order they were printed.  The ones that do not count such as, books of films and game books are in Bold

...
Asterix and the Magic Carpet
Operation Getafix
Asterix the Meeting of the Chieftains (Game Book)
Asterix the Idol of the Gauls (Game Book)
Asterix the Roman Conspiracy (Game Book)
Asterix and the Secret Weapon
Asterix Against All Odds (Game Book)
How Obelix Fell into the Magic Potion
...

Problem with this list - "Asterix and the Magic Carpet" is ©1988 (English), "Asterix and the Secret Weapon" is ©1991, but "How Obelix Fell into the Magic Potion" is ©1989 (and yes I remember getting it before Secret Weapon came out which is why I went back & checked) ...

It's also open to debate whether that item falls into the canon or not??? (along with the Dogmatix books & the other 8 illustrated stories not done as standard albums, though since only a bunch of the Dx books were apparently ever translated into english that's not so relevant here) ...

[Sukisuix]

Problem with this list - "Asterix and the Magic Carpet" is ©1988 (English), "Asterix and the Secret Weapon" is ©1991, but "How Obelix Fell into the Magic Potion" is ©1989 (and yes I remember getting it before Secret Weapon came out which is why I went back & checked) ...

Thanks invisifan, I will now modify the list, I wasn't exactly sure when it was printed.

[1010]

Thanks so much, it is REALLY appreciated :)

Am I correct in believing  Asterix and the Actress and Asterix and the Class Act were never published in the small (A5) format?  I know All at Sea is available in the small format, but in the the style of the later published A5 books (it has a postcard sized image on the front cover and a big border on the top and going down the side (of the cover) which says Asterix.  Does anyone know if it was ever printed in the old style format of A5 books, as in the whole front cover being taken up by the actual picture?  Also, how many small books are there altogether, of the actual comics?

By the way, there are a set of small offshoot books of Twelve Tasks, they are in A5 format and each book has a few pages, there are 12 books I believe, based on each task.  These have one or two lines of text but mainly images.  It looks like it is aimed at kids, because there is a picture to colour in at the end.  I have The Chef task book.

I will be writing to Orion Books soon to see if they will ever consider doing the Asterix books in A5 format.

[falling angel]

I have the full set of the Twelve Tasks that you were enquiring about. I've been looking for information on them myself, as to be honest, I was going to post them on e-bay. After some trawling on the internet, I have concluded that they may be very rare. I have even searched through the ISBN database and found nothing on some of them. The odd one I have seen for sale, but not as a whole set.
Not wanting to sound mercenary, but would appreciate any info on how much they would go for?

[Gast]

Are the Orion reprints really that bad?

This suprises me. Some of the recolouring on the early volumes may be controversial, but only to purists - on the whole, I think they did a good job. But that aside, the Orion editions (especially the hardbacks) are easily the best editions of Asterix produced in the UK. They've made a real effort to match the standards of the continental volumes and should be congratulated for doing so. Before Orion, Asterix was out of print for a long time, and before that they were available only in the shoddy Hodder editions which blocked the covers out with primary colour bands and printed the stories on cheap paper.

[SingingGandalf]

It's also open to debate whether that item falls into the canon or not??? (along with the Dogmatix books & the other 8 illustrated stories not done as standard albums, though since only a bunch of the Dx books were apparently ever translated into english that's not so relevant here) ...

Could someone please tell me more about these 8 other illustrated stories as I have never seen them elsewhere?

[invisifan]

Could someone please tell me more about these 8 other illustrated stories as I have never seen them elsewhere?

There's more information here. I've read one, and found cover images for a couple more, but that's all - I'd be quite interested in anything else anyone knows about them.