Asterix gets its first female hero in 60 years.
For the first time in his six-decade, 38-book career of battling Romans and traipsing around ancient Europe, Asterix—the diminutive Gaul warrior whose antics have amused and enchanted generations of readers—will be stepping aside to let a female hero come to the fore.
Asterix and the Chieftain’s Daughter, released across Europe this week, revolves around the adolescent rebellion of Adrenaline, the fiery, red-braided teenage daughter of a famous Gaulish king. Asterix and his good-natured, gargantuan brother-in-arms, Obelix, are tasked with protecting the Adrenaline from the bumbling-but-dastardly Romans (who have captured her father), but keeping an eye on the teen proves vastly more difficult than the duo could have anticipated. Needless to say, hijinks ensue.
The Asterix books have been a bonafide global phenomenon for over half a century, with somewhere in the region of 370 million copies sold worldwide. As well as being translated into more than 100 languages, the books have inspired a dozen movies, and still regularly top the bestseller list in France.
