With an expected print run of five million copies, this will be the 41st album of one of the best-known and best-selling comic book series, originally written by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, and currently continued by authors Fabcaro, artistic name of Fabrice Caro (script), and Didider Conrad (artist).

For the first time, the story set in Roman times will place the two intrepid Gauls in ancient Lusitania and will make several references to the history, culture and “archetypes” of Portugal, said scriptwriter Fabcaro, quoted by RTL radio.

A provisional cover of the new album, entitled “Astérix en Lusitanie”, was released in the French press, with the pair of characters walking on a typical Portuguese sidewalk.

In a statement sent today to the Lusa news agency, the publisher Asa, from the LeYa publishing group, revealed that the book will also be released in Portugal on October 23, with the title “Astérix na Lusitânia”, and that the story will include a character that had already appeared in the comic “O Domínio dos Deuses” (1971).

“All I can say is that a former Lusitanian slave we met in 'The Domain of the Gods' will come to ask our friends for help”, explains screenwriter Fabcaro, quoted by the LeYa group, adding that for this new story, he wanted “a sunny, bright album, in a Mediterranean country that would remind us of a holiday”.

Based on a “super photographic report by Fabrice Caro” about Portugal, the artist Didier Conrad wanted to “pay homage to the formidable work of the artisans” who make Portuguese pavement, one of the references that will appear in the book.

The Portuguese pavement design reproduced on the cover is “of an emblematic fish of the country: the famous cod”, revealed Didier Conrad, also quoted by Asa.

Last December, the publisher Éditions Albert René, which owns the rights to the comic strip, had already announced that, in the 41st album, Asterix and Obelix would leave the irrepressible Gaulish village for a journey.

“I looked for a destination where our friends had never been, but also a place where I wanted to immerse myself while writing,” said screenwriter FabCaro at the time, quoted by the publisher.

The Portuguese ambassador to France, José Augusto Duarte, said, also quoted in the statement, that “just like the Gauls, the courageous Lusitanians, led by the brave Viriathus, fought against the Roman Empire, defending their values, traditions and freedom. The alliance with Asterix and Obelix in this fight is welcome”.

René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo introduced the universe of Astérix on 29 October 1959, in the pages of the French magazine Pilote, and the partnership lasted until 1977, the year of the screenwriter's death. Uderzo passed away in 2020.

The first volume, entitled “Asterix, the Gaul” and published in 1961, featured a small Gaul with a bushy moustache who had as his great friend Obelix, a clumsy character with excessive strength, who carried menhirs and loved to eat wild boar.

Both are inhabitants of an invincible village that resists the military attacks of the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, thanks to a secret magic potion invented by the druid Panoramix.

According to Asa, 400 million copies of the previously published Astérix and Obélix albums have already been sold worldwide.

“Asterix in Lusitania” will be published simultaneously in 19 languages ​​and dialects.