Between 2020 and 2021, Hachette launched La Collection Officielle, a premium reissue series of the Astérix albums available by subscription or through selected outlets. Each large-format volume included 18 additional pages of exclusive content: behind-the-scenes stories, original sketches, cultural background, and archival material. The series allowed readers to rediscover the adventures of Astérix and Obelix with fresh historical context and insight into the work of René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo.
A Quebec Edition for the 60th Anniversary
Less widely known is that Hachette also produced a special Quebec edition of La Collection Officielle, released in August 2019 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Astérix. Distributed by Hachette Collections, the project mirrored the French series but was adapted for the Canadian market.
In Quebec, readers could either buy the albums individually at kiosks or subscribe to receive three albums every six weeks, beginning with Asterix and Cleopatra and continuing through the entire series in order of publication. Like the French version, every volume contained 18 pages of bonus content featuring rare illustrations, storyboards, and essays that explored the historical inspirations behind each album.
Although the Quebec edition was a limited-time offer and is no longer available, it represents an important milestone in the international publishing history of Astérix. It demonstrated how Hachette extended the brand beyond France, while maintaining the same editorial quality and attention to detail that collectors value today.
The series also saw a rerelease of Hachette’s La Grande Galerie des Personnages but this time with plastic figures and a bit smaller than the originals. The booklets that came with the figures are the same, but have a blue spine instead of a red one.
The covers
Here are some of the covers of the albums I have in my collection.
The Broader Anniversary Context
The Quebec edition was part of a wider publishing campaign around the 60th anniversary of Astérix. At the same time, Hachette and Éditions Albert René published Générations Astérix, a tribute album featuring new interpretations of the Gaulish world by celebrated artists such as Régis Loisel, Lewis Trondheim, Guy Delisle, and Bastien Vivès. The tribute book was released in France and later translated into German, Dutch, Italian, and Spanish, highlighting the global influence of the series.
While La Collection Officielle is no longer available to subscribe to, it remains a highly collectible edition that captures both the creative legacy of Astérix and the dedication of publishers who continue to celebrate the heroes of the little Gaulish village that still holds out against the Romans. material, historical depth, and collector appeal makes it a highly sought-after series among fans and bibliophiles alike.
