Art from Asterix and the Missing Scroll, which will be published next month.
Since 1959, when Asterix was created by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, he has gone from success to success – continuously attracting fans from all ages and from all around the world.
In the publishing field, it is a very unique phenomenon with 35 albums now translated in more than 110 languages and more than 360 million copies sold internationally, making it the highest selling book series ever. Five million copies were sold worldwide for the last comic album Asterix and the Picts released in 2013.
But Asterix is not only a book wonder… It is a 360 degree media property.
Very quickly after his creation, Asterix was adapted into animated movies – all of them over the decades were hugely popular worldwide. There was also success for the four live action movies which had been released since the nineties. Overall, more than 100 million people have seen Asterix at the cinema.
This year, The Mansions of the Gods, the first CGI movie took Asterix into a new dimension. Highly acclaimed, it was among the very top ranking animated movies in most of the 40 countries where it was released.
And because Asterix is a very good friend of the whole family, “Le Parc Asterix”, the Leisure Park in the suburbs of Paris, has been for 25 years the second most-visited park in France after Disneyland Paris.
So the secret of the Magic Potion is based on a famous long established Property and internationally appealing new events almost every year – and this year not only saw the UK release of the CGI movie but on 22nd October, a new album will be released, just two years after the last one, Asterix and the Picts.
Asterix and the Missing Scroll (titled Le Papyrus de Cesar in France) will be no doubt one of the international best sellers, with an amazing initial print run of five million copies, supported by strong PR and media campaigns.
An evergreen character who’s got such an appeal to appeal to millions and who’s got strong news regularly to create the buzz is an obvious licensing partner for leading licensees, and a large range of companies from diverse sectors are very active with Asterix, generating estimated revenues of more than 100 million Euros annually.
Not only are the established markets of France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK very strong for the property, but the dimminutive hero and his friends have seen expansion continue in other markets, especially Poland, India, the USA and in South America. The property’s success is built on solid foundations of publishing combined with other media activity.
The new Asterix Deutsche Post Stamp
Recently, leading brands including Canon, Quick Restaurants, Panini, Volvic, Total and DHL were among the brands joining the Asterix Village, along with Deutsche Post which has just released two official Asterix and Obelix stamps. Literally Millions of stamps and other limited edition products have been launched in the German market.
This summer, very quickly, the Total gas-stations were short of the premiums they had ordered for their annual Loyalty programme featuring Asterix.
With the benefit of the release a new album at the end of this year, 2016 can only be a great year to be with Asterixand there are already a lot of positive developments are in the pipeline, including a new version of the famous album Asterix at the Olympic Games which has prompted the creation of a new style guide for licensors, full of images dedicated to sports and supporter values will be available to create products and promotions with a different and humorous tone to stand out from the competition.
• The countdown has begun for Asterix and the Missing Scroll. For the latest news, book mark http://www.asterix.com
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
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