The year is 2009 A.D. and Europe is entirely filled with US and Japanese licensed characters. Well, not entirely... Some European characters still hold out very strong - among them the classic comic strip character Asterix! Arguably the most successful European comic strip ever, Asterix debuted in the Pilote magazine on October 29, 1959, and has since then been translated into 107 languages and dialects - with comic albums sold in over 330 million copies - and during recent years also the star of new animated and live-action theatrical movies like Asterix and the Vikings in 2006 and Asterix at the Olympic Games in 2008. Plus Licens congratulates Asterix and Les Editions Albert Rene/Goscinny-Uderzo!
The brand new anniversary album L'Anniversaire d'Astérix et Obélix: Le Livre d'Or is being released worldwide from October 22, and media in Plus Licens territories has observed Asterix' 50th birthday with celebratory features in leading dailies as well as in broadcasting media. In Sweden, the Asterix anniversary is being celebrated with several events at the Culture House in Stockholm, including movie screenings and children's activities at an Asterix Birthday Party on November 21. On October 22, Asterix scholar Nicolas Rouvière held a public lecture on "Asterix the European", discussing how this very French hero has been able to grow into such international fame and fortune. The first Asterix adventure, Rouvière noted, is almost contemporary with the EEC Treaty in Rome, and to a further extent than most comic characters, Asterix is a powerful symbol of European history, identities and traditions from Roman times and onwards, always taking an anti-authoritarian stance against repression as well as barbarism.
Says Kerstin Ahlberg, Asterix brand manager at Plus Licens: !The current Asterix licensing program comprises approx. 75 merchandising and promotional partners worldwide. From cosmetix to domestix, Asterix is a powerful licensing partner with a long publishing history in the Nordix as well as in Eastern and Central Europe."
The Asterix comic albums have since long been published in large numbers in Plus Licens territories, often in several editions. The series is published in Denmark, Norway and Finland from 1969, in Sweden from 1970 and on Iceland from 1974. In Eastern Europe, Egmont has been the leading publisher with albums published in Hungary (1989-), Poland (1990-), Slovenia (1990-) Bulgaria (1992-), the Czech Republic (albums from 1992; magazine publishing already in 1977-80), Croatia (1992-), Slovakia (1992-), Lithuania (1992-), Estonia (1994-), Latvia (1994-), Romania (1994-) and Russia (1994-).
Read more about Asterix on our web site
