Everything about The Adventures Of Alix totally explained
Alix, or
The Adventures of Alix, is a popular
Franco-Belgian comics series drawn in the
ligne claire style, by one its masters,
Jacques Martin. The stories revolve around a young
Gallo-Roman man named Alix in the late
Roman Republic. Although the series is renowned for its historical accuracy and stunning set detail, the hero has been known to wander into anachronistic situations up to two centuries out of his era. The stories unfold throughout the reaches of the
Roman world, including the city of
Rome,
Gaul, the German frontier,
Mesopotamia,
Africa and
Asia Minor. One voyage goes as far as
China.
Alix is fearless, generous, and devoted to just causes. Born in Gaul, separated from his parents and sold into slavery, he's later adopted by a Roman noble contemporary to
Julius Caesar. This mixed background provides Alix with an identity crisis and divided loyalties, especially in the context of the founding myths of French nationalism revolving around
Vercingetorix. In the second adventure Alix is joined by Enak, a slightly younger Egyptian orphan, who remains his constant companion and sounding board. Critics have suggested that Alix and Enak are closet homosexuals, and parodies have overtly depicted them as such. Originally forbidden to have a female companion by the 1949 law governing children's literature, Alix later finds himself entangled with amorous women, but he always hesitates to commit, and the pursuit of social justice provides a pretext for moving on.
The authors
Jacques Martin created the
Alix series as one of his earliest heroes, and he continued solo conception, plot, dialogue and illustration for fifty years, even while developing other series such as
Lefranc. Due to failing eyesight and advancing age, Martin has since 1998 gradually retired from the series, turning over tasks to various assistants.
Rafael Morales became his first assistant, taking charge of the final illustrations with some assistance by Marc Henniquiau, while Martin continued writing the stories and performing the first sketches and layouts.
. In 2006, Martin turned over the final writing task to
François Maingoval, while still conceiving the main story line in rough draft form. In 2008, Maingoval shifted his attention to a spin-off series (see
Alix raconte below), while
Patrick Weber assumed the mantle of writing the main
Alix series.
Characters
- Alix: the hero of the series in the title role, pure of heart, perpetually twenty-five, and wise for his years.
- Enak: a boy of fourteen, who meets Alix in Le sphinx d'or. Not originally intended as a principal character, he becomes Alix's constant and faithful companion.
- Arbacès: sworn enemy of the heroes, this crafty and cruel Greek keeps turning up in their path.
- Julius Caesar: friend and protector of Alix, the latter nevertheless finds himself sometimes torn between just causes and the interests of the great man.
- Pompey: Caesar's rival, he repeatedly seeks to eliminate Alix, obviously without succeeding to end the series.
- Vanik: cousin of Alix.
- Astorix: Gallic chieftain, and father of Alix, not to be confused with Asterix, his burlesque counterpart who entered the world stage a little more than a decade later.
- Honorus Galla: Roman governor, friend and loyal lieutenant of Julius Caesar, who adopted Alix as his son.
The canon of Alix titles
The series first appeared as a serial in the
comics magazine Tintin, on
16 September,
1948.
Three more adventures appeared before
Les Editions du Lombard (the publishing house responsible for
Tintin) began reissuing them in hardcover book form. Lapsing in 1959, Lombard turned over rights to
Casterman (publisher of the
Tintin books) in 1965. After going out of print for several years, the earlier Lombard volumes were also reintroduced to new readers in 1969-1973. As
Tintin declined in sales and popularity,
L'enfant grec (1979) was the last
Alix story to appear in its pages. Thereafter
Alix was only published in book form.
The Adventures of Alix by Jacques Martin as sole creator
»
Alix in English
Alix has seen little translation into English. In
1971 the London publisher
Ward Lock & Co issued two titles,
The Sacred Helmet (
La tiare d'Oribal), and
The Black Claw (
La griffe noire). These books are now considered relatively rare. Two more titles,
The Lost Legions (
Les légions perdues), and
The Altar of Fire (
Le dernier Spartiate) were also projected for publication that year, but never appeared. A reviewer for the
Times Literary Supplement found
Alix singularly lacking in humour compared to
Asterix, effectively killing prospects for continued publication in a market not yet acculurated to the wider Franco-Belgian tradition.
Alix in other languages
The strip has been translated into several other european languages, such as
German,
Dutch, etc.
Le fils de Spartacus has been published in
Latin.
Les Voyages d'Alix
This series depicts the culture and geography of antiquity with illustrations inspired by the adventures of Alix. Printed in full colour on higher quality stock than the comics series, these books aim to educate in a style identical to Jacques Martin's. Alix and Enak can frequently be seen in various settings. The series isn't available in English.
Rome 1 (illustrated by Gilles Chaillet) (1996)
L'Égypte 1 (illustrated by Rafael Moralès) (1996)
La marine antique 1 (illustrated by Marc Henniquiau) (1997)
La Grèce 1 (illustrated by Pierre de Broche) (1997)
La Grèce 2 (illustrated by Pierre de Broche) (1998)
Rome 2 (illustrated by Gilles Chaillet) (1999)
La marine antique 2 (illustrated by Marc Henniquiau) (1999)
Le costume antique 1 (illustrated by Jacques Denoël) (1999)
L'Égypte 2 (illustrated by Rafael Moralès) (2000)
Le costume antique 2 (illustrated by Jacques Denoël) (2000)
Carthage (illustrated by Vincent Hénin) (2000)
Athènes (illustrated by Laurent Bouhy) (2001)
Le costume antique 3 (illustrated by Jacques Denoël) (2002)
Jérusalem (illustrated by Vincent Hénin) (2002)
Pompéi 1 (illustrated by Marc Henniquiau) (2002)
Persépolis (illustrated by Cédric Hevan) (2003)
Pétra (illustrated by Vincent Hénin) (2003)
Les Mayas (illustrated by Jean Torton) (2004)
Les Étrusques (illustrated by Jean Torton) (2004)
Les Jeux Olympiques (illustrated by Cédric Hervan and Yves Plateau) (2004)
Les Mayas 2 (illustrated by Jean Torton) (2005)
Les Aztèques (illustrated by Jean Torton) (2005)
Lutèce (illustrated by Vincent Hénin) (2006)
Les Vikings (illustrated by Eric Lenaerts) (2006)
Les Incas (illustrated by Jean Torton) (2006)
Les Étrusques 2 (illustrated by Jacques Denoël) (2007)
Alix raconte
Each book in this series presents a somewhat fictionalized biography of a famous person of Antiquity in comic strip form. When Alix is a contemporary of the subject, he occasionally appears as a secondary character. Texts are by François Maingoval. The series isn't available in English.
Alexandre le Grand (illustrated by Jean Torton) (2008)
Cléopâtre (illustrated by Eric Leenaerts) (2008)
Néron (illustrated by Yves Plateau) (forthcoming, 2008)
Works not in series
L'odyssée d'Alix, by Jacques Martin (Casterman, 1987). ISBN 2203349026
Parodies
Alex l'Intrépide, by Dupa, in: Journal de Tintin (29 Sept. 1981)
Axile, by Roger Brunel, in: Pastiches tome 1, 1980 (Glénat)
Awards
1978: Angoulême Best French Realistic Work, for Le spectre de Carthage
1979: Prix Saint-Michel Prize (Brussels) for the three series Alix, Lefranc and Jhen
1989: BD d'Or at 1st Salon Européen de la BD (Grenoble), for Le Cheval de Troie
Sources
Alix publications in Belgian Tintin
and French Tintin BDoubliées
Alix albums Bedetheque
Thierry Groensteen, Jacques Martin. Avec Alix. Casterman, 1984.
Schtroumpf: les cahiers de la bande dessinée, no. 20, Spécial Jacques Martin (mars-avril 1973)
Footnotes
Further Information
Get more info on 'The Adventures Of Alix'.
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