Asterix and the Griffin

Writer: Jean-Yves Ferri – Illustrator: Didier Conrad
Publisher: Les Éditions Albert René
Publication date: 21 October 2021

On 21st October 2021, Asterix, Obelix and Dogmatix return in their 39th graphic adventure, Asterix and the Griffin. Accompanied by Getafix, they’re about to set out on a long and mysterious journey in search of strange and terrifying creature…

But what is this creature?

Didier Conrad sent a drawing to Éditions Albert René. A strange and mysterious drawing…  It features our two heroes – created more than 60 years ago by the genius of René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo – scaling a huge tree trunk in an attempt to reach Dogmatix who seems to be trying to get away from them… Is the little Gaulish canine making a bid for freedom?

What the druids have to say about the album

But what is this creature?

Jean-Yves Ferri tells us more “For me it all started with a sculpture of the Tarasque, a terrifying creature from Celtic legends … Did our ancestors really believe that these peculiar monsters actually existed?

It’s worth mentioning that in Roman times there weren’t many explorers, so the terra was mostly incognita. Even so, extraordinary animals such as elephants and rhinoceroses had already been exhibited in Rome. Having seen them, why would Romans have any reason to doubt the existence of equally improbable creatures? And hadn’t some of them (medusas, centaurs, gorgons…) been described very seriously before their time by the ancient Greeks?

Now it was time look at this bestiary and choose the animal that would be at the centre of the intrigue. Half-eagle, half-lion, with horse’s ears and appropriately enigmatic – I opted for a Griffin!

The Romans were bound to go for it. But what about the Gauls? How would Asterix, Obelix and Dogmatix, along with the Druid Getafix, get drawn into the epic, perilous quest to find this fantastical animal?

That’s what you’ll find out in the new album. And I’m not going to do what Wikipedia does and tell you EVERYTHING about it…”

Save the date: 21st October 2021! 

Character profiles of the album