Permit A38? I have it – thanks to this Asterix anniversary edition

Martin Jungfer

19.10.2026

Translation: machine translated

Pictures: Martin Jungfer

50 years ago, Asterix and Obelix sent half of Rome on a quest for a form. To mark the film's anniversary, 'The Twelve Tasks of Asterix' is being released as an expanded special edition, including Permit A38 for the first time.

I am well aware that as an Asterix fan, I am being milked for money. However, Story House Egmont, the publisher behind the German-language Asterix volumes, does its job too well. The anniversary edition for the 1976 animated film «The Twelve Tasks of Asterix» is quite something. For the first time, according to the press release, it includes Permit A38, the very form that Asterix and Obelix have to track down in the «Place That Sends You Mad».

Comics + Manga

Asterix erobert Rom - Limitierte Sonderausgabe

German, Hardcover, Albert Uderzo, René Goscinny

1

What was it about again?

For those who don't remember the scene: Julius Caesar challenges the indomitable Gauls to twelve tasks. One of them is obtaining Permit A38. Asterix and Obelix are sent from office to office because every department requires a different form. The scene is still considered the epitome of bureaucratic satire today. If you have ever been stuck on hold with a government agency, you know the feeling.

A special feature of the film: It was not based on a previously published comic album. René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo developed the story of the twelve tasks specifically for the screen, from the race against the marathon runners to the crocodile pit and the permit.

What does the anniversary edition offer?

The volume contains the illustrated story of the film. Beware, it is not a classic Asterix comic with four rows of panels per page and speech bubble logic. It also includes a 16-page making-of section. It provides insights into the work of the Idéfix studios, rare sketches, original drafts by Albert Uderzo, and anecdotes about the making of the film.

I have, of course, already read through the review copy the publisher sent me. The background section offers exciting insights. For example, I learned that Goscinny and Uderzo had to found a new production company for the film. There was simply no studio in all of France that could have produced an animated film at the time. And in the details about the permit scene, I learned that the artists were inspired by M.C. Escher's lithograph of the "impossible staircase" for the stairs that Asterix and Obelix keep running up and down in the «Place That Sends You Mad».

Speaking of the permit: in the end, it is the least important reason why I would buy the album for the film. The postcard-sized item feels rather uninspired. While the SPOR eagle is printed in gold and the lettering is embossed, I somehow expected more. More text, a seal, a signature. Something like that. Asterix fans have been more creative elsewhere; for example, someone on GitHub has created the permit in the style of an official German form.

Martin Jungfer

Head of Content

Martin.Jungfer@digitecgalaxus.ch

Journalist since 1997. Stopovers in Franconia (or the Franken region), Lake Constance, Obwalden, Nidwalden and Zurich. Father since 2014. Expert in editorial organisation and motivation. Focus on sustainability, home office tools, beautiful things for the home, creative toys and sports equipment. more

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