Panini Reveals New Asterix Comic

Maurizio Distefano Licensing, which manages licensing for the Asterix brand in Italy, has announced the arrival of an Asterix comic book story in October this year. Asterix and the Griffin will be published by Panini Comics, a division of Panini, on October 28.

This will be the 39th Asterix comic to date. In the new issue, Asterix, Obelix and Idefix (known as Dogmatix in the U.K.), accompanied by the druid Panoramix (Getafix in the U.K.), become involved in a search for the mythological creature the Griffin.

"When I had to find a fantastical animal to be at the center of the story from the rich archive of ancient mythology, I chose the Griffin – half eagle, and half-lion with horse ears," says Jean-Yves Ferri, author, Asterix and the Griffin. "It doesn't get much more fantastical than that."

The comic book will be published in Italian and will appear in 17 different languages.

"We are thrilled to have Asterix in our licensing portfolio," says Maurizio Distefano, president, Maurizio Distefano Licensing. "The continuing creation of high-quality and popular content for millions of fans is a major boost for any property, and this makes Asterix a real winner both as a comic book character and as a major property in the licensing market."