Sure to be one of the top-selling comics of the year, Asterix and the Missing Scroll will debut next week, returning the protagonists to Gaul, and introducing a character inspired by WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange.

Confoundtheirpolitix is a journalist working for the Condatum Echo, although writer Jean-Yves Ferri reveals to Agence France-Presse that he was almost named Wikilix, in a nod to the website.

The 36th volume of Asterix -- but only the second by Ferri and artist Didier Conrad -- centers on Julius Caesar's use of propaganda in an effort to finally conquer a small village in Gaul after decades of debates. He's aided by the deceitful Libellus Blockbustus, whom Ferri said is inspired by advisers who worked for former French leader Nicolas Sarkozy.

Ferri and Conrad made their Asterix debut in 2013 with Asterix and the Picts, the first volume in the wildly popular series to be written by someone other than creators René Goscinny or Albert Uderzo (Goscinny passed away in 1977, but Uderzo continued until his retirement in 2011).

The book, which brought Asterix and Obelix to Scotland for the first time, sold more than 5.4 million copies in 15 countries. The series has sold an estimated 365 million copies worldwide.

Asterix and the Missing Scroll goes on sale Oct. 22.