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English Title: Asterix in Corsica French Title: Asterix en Corse Asterix Book Number: 20 First Published: 1973 First Published in English: 1979 Written by: Rene Goscinny Illustrated by: Albert Uderzo Translated By: Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge

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If you open Asterix in Corsica for the first time, you may get a little surprise - instead of the traditional map of Gaul is a map of Corsica. Do take a closer look at the map, the many Roman camps on the Island have quite a few humourous names.

Albert Uderzo went on a special trip to Corsica to research the countryside, which he fell in love with and tried to reproduce in the book. Unfortunately, Uderzo says "there wasn't enough time to do it justice".

Asterix in Corsica was the last Asterix adventure that was first printed in installments in the French magazine Pilote before being published in book form. For this reason, many of the characters that had helped Asterix and Obelix in previous stories were bought back in a reunion to celebrate the anniversary of the battle of Gergovia.

"Vendettas, fierce family pride, resistance fighters dodging the enemy in the maquis - we're in Corisca 50 BC. Asterix and Obelix help Chief Boneywasawarriorwayix to foil the evil designs of Praetor Perfidius and oppose Julius Caesar's army. For the only emperor the proud Corsicans will ever accept, so they say, must be Corsican himself. "

• What it means: Craig from South Africa writes "The meaning of the name makes reference to Napoleon Bonaparte who was Corsican born. Boney is often used as slang or short for Bonaparte - hence Boney was a warrior. Also, there is a famous British Military song actually called 'Boney was a warrior'. The first line reads - ' Boney was a warrior away , a-yah!' Cacofonix mentions the song in the first frame of page 15 as well). On page 14 Obelix incorrectly refers to him as Wellingtonwasa (a reference to the Duke of Wellington)."
• About: A proud Corsican chief, he is captured and exiled to Gaul. When he returns to Corsica he unites the Corsican tribes and leads and uprising against the Romans. All Corsican tribes though? A long standing feud between him and Olabellamargaritix sees him reduced to petty arguments.

• What it means: Perfidious (evil)
• About: A real Asterix villian, Perfidus was sent to Corsica in order to get lots of loot for Caesar, because if he didn't he'd be sent near a particular Gaulish village. When he catches wind of trouble, he gets his ship loaded up at night to escape. But the Corsican slaves that are supposed to do the loading are so slow...

• Name: Seniorservix
• Appears In: Asterix and the Banquet
• Invitation for: Transporting Asterix and Obelix back to Amorica on his ship and trying to ensure their safety by having them unloaded in bags.

Who wasn't invited but possibly should have been?

• Metallurgix from Asterix and the Golden Sickle
• Justforkix from Asterix and the Normans
• Panacea and Tragicomix from Asterix the Legionary

• The explosive taste of Corsican cheese
• The Four old men
• A Pierre Tchernia appearance
• The Asterix and the Laurel Wreath mistakes

Asterix in Corsica is the best selling of all the Asterix books in France. However, it is one of the worst selling books in english. The reason? It doesn't translate very well at all. English readers have no idea about who the Corsicans are and their quirks, which much of the humour in this books relies on.

The book doesn't have much of a plot either, there never really was a good reason why Asterix and Obelix go to Corsica with Boneywasawarriorwayayix which makes the whole story somewhat pointless.

A dissapointment.