
Recent issues of EPPO, including the latest issue with its Asterix cover
Dutch comic magazine EPPO has landed an Asterix exclusive – a special preview of the upcoming album, Asterix and the Chieftain’s Daughter, in its latest issue, on sale now in Holland.
The launch of a new Asterix book is usually shrouded in secrecy, so this is quite a coup for the popular comics magazine, now published by The Don Lawrence Collection, run by Rob van Bavel, also publishers of high end collections of The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire, Storm and more.

EPPO Magazine – cover dated 13th June 2019
As we previously reported, 60 years after he first appeared in the pages of the French comic magazine Pilote, Asterix, the creation of René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, returns in an all-new album this October – and a new animated TV series, Dogmatix and the Indomitables, is also in the works, although the details of this remain scant so far.
If Asterix and Obelix thought they could recover from their last expedition in the tranquil setting of their beloved Armorica, they’d better think again!
A mysterious teenage girl has just arrived in the village escorted by two Arverni chiefs. Caesar and his legionaries are searching for her, and with good reason: word on the ground in the village is that the visitor’s father is none other than the great chieftain Vercingetorix, who, in the real world, was a warrior defeated at Alesia…
The new Asterix album, out in October, has already been printed at a secret location in France, and then dozens of pallets containing the complete first edition with black foil have been wrapped in the warehouses of distributor, until the day of publication.
“We are surprised and honoured that we can feature the first page in our magazine,” van Bavel told Dutch news outlet BNR in a recent radio interview.
EPPO has been working closely with Asterix publisher René Editions since the all-new stories began with Asterix and the Picts, back in 2013, which sold over two million copies in its first week of sale, in France alone. Asterix and the Chieftain’s Daughter has an initial print run of five million.
Eppo ran as a hugely popular and influential weekly magazine from 1975 to 1988, with content that mixed originated strips with reprints of stories that included Asterix. It was revived in 2009 as a fortnightly magazine. Classic strips featured include “Storm”, “Franka”, “Agent 327”, published alongside new stories such as “Elsje”, “Liberty Meadows” and “Plunk and “Ronson Inc.”.
Earlier this year, ten years after relaunching the title, Rob van Bavel successfully negotiated the purchase of the title’s brand which he had been using under license from Finnish publisher, Sanoma, for an undisclosed amount, enabling further expansion of the publication.
• You can order the new Issue of Eppo, on sale now, direct from the official web site: www.eppostripblad.nl
• Asterix and the Chieftain’s Daughter goes on sale 24th October 2019. You can pre-order it here on Amazon (Affiliate Link, help support downthetubes, thank you)
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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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