Finland – Among the global community of Asterix enthusiasts, few names command as much respect as Ismo Porna, a Helsinki-based collector whose dedication to translation editions has resulted in one of the most comprehensive Asterix archives ever assembled. Born in September 1944, Porna spent three decades working as a cultural administrator and producer in Finland’s national public sector. Now retired for twenty years, he continues to manage a small private enterprise while pursuing personal projects—including a collecting passion that has taken him to all 197 independent countries of the world. With five children, six grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren, Porna’s family has grown up alongside his shelves of Gaulish adventures.
You can turn on English subtitles.
Discovering Asterix in 1969
Porna first encountered Asterix through Asterix and Cleopatra, the inaugural Finnish translation published in 1969. During the 1970s, he bought Finnish editions for himself and for his first daughter. The habit continued into the 1980s as more children were born. What began as family reading quickly evolved into something larger.
From Bookshop Curiosity to Full-Scale Collector
In the late 1980s, Porna started picking up foreign editions from a specialist bookshop in Finland. A breakthrough came when he found a printed list of publishers and addresses. That discovery opened the door to mail-ordering translations directly from around the world. By 1993, he owned thirty-three translations—an impressive number for the time.
Everything changed in 1995, when Porna discovered Hans Selles’s legendary website, which revealed that more than ninety translations existed. The revelation pushed him into serious collecting. Within only a few years, he had located the majority of the missing editions, establishing the foundation of the collection he maintains today.
A Collection Built on Translations—All of Them
Porna’s focus has always been singular: translation editions. No figurines, no posters, no games—only the albums themselves (and a T-shirt), published by every official publisher and including their variations. Today, his library consists of approximately 800 albums arranged on a large living-room bookshelf, supported by detailed Excel files that track every version.
His specialization is unmatched:
- All official and unofficial full-album translations: 126 + 27
- All 94 PDF short-episode translations of Album 32 created by the late Aleksandar M. Mikić
- All 67 Finno-Ugric PDF short-episode translations of Springtime in Gaul (One episode in Album 32), produced jointly by Porna and Mikić
- Official translations from all known 186 publishers
- All together there are 314 different languages and dialects including full albums and short episodes
Recently he managed to get his hand on the only two editions that still eluded him: the long-discontinued Cosmos and Joongang translations from South Korea. The only ones missing right now are four Vietnamese bootlegs that remain difficult to locate.
Treasures from Around the World
Among Porna’s most valuable finds are two especially elusive editions. The first is the Japanese translation, a rare and sought-after volume he eventually acquired through his colleague Bruno in France. The second is the Hindi translation of Asterix at the Olympic Games, which took years of searching to track down.
It is no coincidence that Asterix at the Olympic Games is also his personal favourite. With a master’s degree in Physical Education from the University of Jyväskylä and personal memories of attending the 1992 Barcelona Olympics with his children, the album holds unique significance for him. He owns all 64 translations of that particular story—plus another sixty-four editions from different publishers and formats.
Exhibitions and Public Outreach
Porna’s collecting is not confined to private shelves. Over the years, he has curated four Asterix exhibitions and one Tintin exhibition in Finland. The first Asterix exhibition was held in 2019 in the brand new and huge centrum library of Oodi in Helsinki. In summer 2024, he organized a dedicated display on Asterix at the Olympic Games at the Finnish Sports Museum in Helsinki, timed for the Paris 2024 Olympics. Recent exhibitions in Kokkola (2024) and Hyvinkää (2025) have also showcased selections from his archive, including translations in Finnish Swedish local dialects such as Grondsprååtsi.
In 1st of January 2026, a YouTube documentary Asterix and the Collectors about his Asterix collection was released—spoken in Finnish and subtitled in English. You can watch the video above.
A Collector of Tintin and Lucky Luke as Well
Although Asterix remains his primary focus, Porna is also an avid collector of Tintin and Lucky Luke. He owns all 139 Tintin translations and 93 Finnish Lucky Luke albums, completing the trio of Franco-Belgian classics that defined generations of readers.
Continued Curiosity—and Gratitude
Porna is still actively collecting, researching, and collaborating with fellow enthusiasts across Europe. He credits much of his progress to colleagues in the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Italy—above all to Hans Selles, whose early online work helped shape modern Asterix translation collecting.
For today’s fans, Porna stands as a remarkable example of what dedication to cultural heritage can achieve. His website, https://www.asterix-finnismocollections.fi, offers a window into a life spent exploring language, travel, and the enduring appeal of two indomitable Gauls.
Are you an Asterix collector too? I’d love to hear your story! If you’d like your collection to be featured on AsterixtheGaul.com, feel free to contact me—big or small, every Gaulish treasure has a tale worth sharing. Join the village!
