A good example occurs in Asterix and the Chieftain's Shield when Obelix redistributes the water in the spa pools by diving in, the other guests complain and the druid in charge arrives asking Vitalstatistix, "Where are your Gauls?"
Instead the translated reply is "Pooling your resources" (the water), a clever double entendre on a common phrase even though the original pun is lost.
In Asterix in Britain, there is a scene in Londinium where a greengrocer argues with a buyer; in the next panel, Obelix says (in French), "Why is that man wearing a melon?"
This relies on the fact that the French word for melon is also the name for the iconic British bowler hat; with no way to convey this in the English translation, in the British edition Obelix says, "I say, Asterix, I think this bridge is falling down" (a reference to the children's rhyme "London Bridge Is Falling Down"), leaving the original joke incomplete.
This, of course, is totally lost by re-translation into English, but compensated for by making the British characters speak in an antiquated, early-twentieth-century style.
In the original, the Goth chief says "Faut pas chercher à comprendre", meaning "We shouldn't try to understand", a common French phrase with no particular pun attached.
An edited-down version of Asterix the Gaul appeared in Valiant, a boys' comic published by Fleetway Publications, beginning in the issue dated 16 November 1963.
Little Fred and stonemason Big Ed lived in the village of Nevergivup which was surrounded by eight Roman camps: Harmonium, Cranium, Pandemonium, Premium, Rostrum, Aquarium, Maximum and Laudanum.
As the story progresses and Obelix is absent from the action, the strip was renamed Little Fred, the Ancient Brit with Bags of Grit.
The first combined issue, number 232, saw the beginning of a version of Asterix and Cleopatra called In the Days of Good Queen Cleo.
In 1970, William Morrow published English translations (by Bell and Hockridge)[4] in hardback of three Asterix albums for the American market.
The article featured a section called Vive Les Celts devoted to Asterix with a comic strip exclusively drawn for the magazine.
In addition, a number of names, jokes, and pieces of art were further changed to be more politically correct or idiomatic for the newspapers' family-oriented audience.
[9] The Papercutz editions refer to the village druid by his original French name of Panoramix, and various other minor characters have been renamed as well.