Opinion | Asterix in America (original) (raw)

https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/24/opinion/l-asterix-in-america-950513.html

Oct. 24, 1996

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October 24, 1996

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To the Editor:

Your Oct. 15 Arts pages article ''Asterix, France's Superman and Ego'' is incorrect in reporting that the comic strip character ''has never been published in the United States.''

The gutsy little Gaul did make it to these shores in 1970, when William Morrow & Company published three Asterix titles. Sales were modest, with the third title selling half the number of the first.

I was publisher at the time, and Bill Cosby tried to buy film and television rights. When that fell through, we gave up the series.

We never urged, as the author, Albert Uderzo, is reported to have said, that the series should be set in the United States. But we did change the names of some characters.

I have concluded that although almost every European has studied Roman history and knows that ''Gaul is divided into three parts,'' most Americans, when they think of Rome, think of ''three coins in the fountain.''

LAWRENCE HUGHES

New York, Oct. 22, 1996

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