Asterix and Tintin are such an integral part of (continental?) European childhoods it feels so strange to me when I meet North Americans who grew up without them. Then again, I never read Nancy Drew, for example...

As for Asterix, if you're introducing someone to them or reading them for the first time, it pays to read them in the order of publication for several reasons; one, Uderzo's drawing style changes after the first book (Asterix the Gaul); two, continuity! while any book can be read on its own, characters recur, past events are remembered; three, after Goscinny died (his last was Asterix in Belgium) Uderzo continued alone, and those books never reach the perfection of the older ones (and there have been harsher judgments), so it would be a pity if those were somebody's first intro to Asterix.

If anyone's reading them in French, I'd love to hear if they, like me, (almost) prefer the English translation! Especially where names are concerned, after the in-built jokes of the English versions, which refer to the actual characteristics of the personnage, the French ones are so often dull and uninventive.

Compare the druid--Getafix vs. Panoramix, the bard--Cacofonix vs. Assurancetourix, the village chief--Vitalstatistix vs. Abraracourcix, his wife--Impedimenta vs. Bonemine, the fishmonger--Unhygenix vs. Ordralfabétix, the fishmonger's wife--Bacteria vs. Iélosubmarine, and many, many others. In Asterix at the Olympic Games, the Roman champion's name is Claudius Cornedurus in the French original, and Gluteus Maximus in the English translation. No contest!

I've read some of the A&O in French, but since some of the English puns flew over my head at the time, there's no way, even now, I'd expect to feel the full weight of the French, so I can't even compare. A completely bilingual (but French-first) friend I had in university swore by the French ones.

Some of it is the imprinting.

True, but I doubt kids get all the jokes in either French or English. One of the delights of Asterix--it renews itself as one grows up.

You know, looking back, Rose's storyline didn't seem to serve a larger purpose, especially because the whole thing with Desire leaving her realm was never explained.

I wasn't aware it needed explaining, unless I'm forgetting some detail of it. Likewise about the significance of Rose's story; I don't think it was meant to serve a larger purpose, as such. It was more that she, like so many others, became swept up in the eddies of Dream's wake. Rose gives us the perspective of a regular-but-not-too-regular person. She has contact with the Endless in her life and lot of what you'd call supernatural crap happening to her, but she either doesn't think of it that way or doesn't think of it at all.

What exactly do you mean about Desire leaving its realm? Which time?

Compare the druid--Getafix vs. Panoramix, the bard--Cacofonix vs. Assurancetourix, the village chief--Vitalstatistix vs. Abraracourcix, his wife--Impedimenta vs. Bonemine, the fishmonger--Unhygenix vs. Ordralfabétix, the fishmonger's wife--Bacteria vs. Iélosubmarine, and many, many others. In Asterix at the Olympic Games, the Roman champion's name is Claudius Cornedurus in the French original, and Gluteus Maximus in the English translation. No contest!

Thanks for that; I knew the names were different but I didn't know the French names lacked the pithy humor of the English versions.

I started reading Asterix when I was 10. Most of my collection is waiting for me in storage back in Britain. I'm still known to occasionally say "Zigackly! Ferpectly True!"

As for IC#7, I enjoyed it. I knew it wasn't going to be much more than a slug-fest, but I found it entertaining within that limited expectation.

What exactly do you mean about Desire leaving its realm? Which time?

During the interjection in Death's meeting with Hob:

It was then that Desire closed off its realm. The silver heart in its sibling's galleries was replaced by a dark void, signifying Desire's unwillingness to give or receive communication of any kind.

The Threshold, Desire's home, a flesh and blood citadel higher than mountains, closed its eyes; and Desire wandered the pathways of its body, in the darkness, alone.

It seemed like a pretty big deal, but I didn't get it. I know she went down to meet Rose, but even that was a bit strange and random.

Also, it wasn't until the first issue of The Wake that I realized that Alex was Alexander Burgess, which makes that whole thing make so much more sense. "Sins of the fathers." Duh.

Ah, that. I assumed when Desire closed off its realm it was to avoid contact with the rest of the Endless. Seemed it knew there was something serious brewing and didn't want to have a direct hand in it (or be under suspicion of such--if it was aware that Bad Things were going to happen to Dream, then it would make sense for Desire to avoid suspicion, given its intentions in the past in this regard). Its fairly perfunctory contact with Rose seems to bear out this theory, though I'm open to others.

Asterix and Tintin are such an integral part of (continental?) European childhoods it feels so strange to me when I meet North Americans who grew up without them. Then again, I never read Nancy Drew, for example...

Asterix was an afterthought - there were a few floating around among friends, but they were definitely secondary to the Tintins. Tintin, much, like Monty Python (and the Prisoner) was something I stumbled on at much a younger age (that is to say, grade school going into junior high) than in retrospect I would have expected - at least growing up in Maine. The funny thing was, other than the Prisoner (which was my personal PBS discovery, or at least it felt that way) is that so many other kids I knew, some friends I still have to this day, some kids I'd loved to have locked in Holland Manners' wine cellar, were also into Tintin, Python, etc. I've gotta assume college town has some part to play in this (since most of the kids in question had connections either as faculty kids or alumni of Bowdoin college).

I still have incredibly beat up (Little, Brown did not build the paperbacks to last) copies of 75-85% of the Tintin books in my stacks.

The funny thing was, other than the Prisoner (which was my personal PBS discovery, or at least it felt that way)

The funny thing about that is that the original showing of the Prisoner in the US was on CBS.

The funny thing about that is that the original showing of the Prisoner in the US was on CBS.

Wow, talk about a strange landing ground for that. I found it as one of those random shows PBS revived on Saturday afternoons (we never got Dr. Who up in Maine that I know of for instance, despite it being a big PBS staple in the NH/MA area - I know either WGBH in Boston or the NH station revived the Prisoner when I was in college, which is when I got a bunch of friends hooked on it then).