From Gaul to Gütersloh – Mohn Media prints the new Asterix adventure

When Asterix and Obelix set off on new adventures, the whole world follows with excitement – and Mohn Media is right in the thick of it again. A considerable part of the first edition of the new volume “Asterix in Lusitania” was printed in Gütersloh and bound in Marienfeld in late summer. In doing so, Europe’s leading offset printing company is continuing its two-decade-long success story as the production partner of this cult series.

In the now 41st volume of the successful series, the two Gauls are drawn to the far southwest of the Roman Empire – to Lusitania, today’s Portugal and parts of Spain. As author Fabrice Caro (Fabcaro) explained at the presentation of the comic in Paris, he wanted “a sunny, radiant album, one that smells of holidays.” A wish that the team at Mohn Media naturally fulfilled. The new adventure was therefore produced right in the middle of the summer holidays, as Managing Director Dirk Kemmerer notes with a wink. “If the customer wants a sunny and radiant product, then that is exactly what they get from us – in the highest quality, with exact adherence to deadlines and, of course, under the strictest confidentiality,” Kemmerer continues. According to Kemmerer, the printing experts in Gütersloh had only fourteen working days available for the entire production. But thanks to the experience and professionalism of everyone involved, they once again achieved a perfect result under intense time pressure.

The production figures speak for themselves: in calendar weeks 35 and 36, almost 1.5 million copies in five language versions were printed at Mohn Media in Gütersloh and bound at Probind in Marienfeld – a logistical and technical tour de force. In total, the first print run comprises around five million copies in 19 language versions, which have been available in stores and online since October 23.

Since the first appearance of the two indomitable Gauls in 1959, 400 million Asterix albums have been sold worldwide in 120 languages and dialects, about one third of them in German. Mohn Media has produced a significant share of this total print run in Gütersloh over the past 20 years. With the new Asterix adventure, Mohn Media once again demonstrates its capabilities as one of Europe’s leading print and media service providers – and shows that global stars like Asterix and Obelix are in the best of hands in Gütersloh.