THESE ROMANS ARE CRAZY!!!. Review on Asterix Series - Goscinny Uderzo

The year is 50 B.C. Gaul is entirely occupied by the Romans. Well not entirely!

of Totorum, Aquarium, Laudanum and Compendium

These opening lines of every Asterix comic make you wonder what’s in store for you. But even as you wonder about it, you can’t help but smile looking at the cover of the comic, which is invariably dominated by Asterix and his best friend Obelix (my favorite character).

One day while surfing the channels on TV, my eyes fell on the movie Asterix and Obelix on Zee Movie Zone. It took me down the memory lane as I began to recall how much I enjoyed reading Asterix comics. These Asterix comics still come as a breath of fresh air and are a good time-pass read. I can bet that if you haven’t read them already, then you have missed out on some of the most entertaining comics of all time. The Asterix series of comics is a collection of 31 albums created by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. These comics have been translated into over a hundred languages and dialects and made into many movies.

A Brief History

René Goscinny was born in Paris in 1926 and moved after 2 years to Argentina. In 1945 he moved to USA and after some initial struggle, he found a job at an art studio. There he met 2 Belgian artisits Jijé and Morris. Goscinny was interested in drawings and he drew his own hero called Dick Dicks. He later moved to Europe in 1951 and met Albert Uderzo at a news agency called ‘World Press’. Their cooperation led to the birth of many successful comics like Pistolet, Luc Junior, Benjamin and Benjamine, Bill Blanchart and Ompa-Pa. Until his death in 1977, he was the editor-in-chief of their magazine called Pilote and wrote many humorous scenarios for it.

Albert Uderzo was born in France in 1927. It is said that he had 6 fingers on both his hands. At 19 years old, he started working for magazines and made characters like Arys Buck - the invincible Gaul!, Prince Rollin and Belloy. He went on to make many caricatures with René Goscinny and their works began publishing in 1958 with Ompa-Pa. Together with Goscinny, he created a successful comic for Pilote and christened it Asterix which went on to become an instant hit.

The first Asterix album Asterix le Gaulois, was published in 1961, and only 6000 copies were printed. The story now published, was earlier running in the magazine Pilote (started in 1959). The big breakthrough came in 1965 with Asterix et Cléopatre. As early as in 1967 they passed the 1,000,000 mark. After Goscinny’s death in 1977, Uderzo took over both the drawing and the writing. Of the 31 comics of the Asterix series, 24 were created by Goscinny and Uderzo, while the remaining 7 were created by Uderzo alone. The native language is French, though it has been translated in many more languages.

The Leading characters

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Asterix

The Shrewd, cunning and big mustached little warrior of the village, all perilous missions are entrusted to him. He gets his super-human powers from the Magic Potion brewed by the druid Getafix.

Obelix

Asterix's inseparable friend. A menhir delivery-man by trade, addicted to wild boar. He is always ready to drop everything and go off on a new adventure with Asterix - so long as there's wild boar to eat, and plenty of fighting. A fatso by looks, believed to have fallen into a cauldron of magic potion when he was young, and has super human powers without the need of the magic potion.

Vitalstatistix

The chief of the village. Majestic, brave and hot-tempered, the old warrior is respected by his men and feared by his enemies. But he himself has only one fear; that the sky may fall on his head tomorrow. But as he always says, 'Tomorrow never comes.'

Getafix

The village druid. Gathers mistletoe and brews magic potions. His specialty is the potion which gives the drinker superhuman strength. But he has other recipes up his sleeves too.

Dogmatix

Obelix’s favorite dog. He always accompanies Asterix and Obelix on all of their adventures out of the village.

Caeser

The most important of all Romans. Dreaded by enemies and loved by his legions, has conquered all of Gaul except the village we know of ;-)

Cacofonix

Opinions are divided about his musical gifts. He thinks that he is a genius though others think he’s unspeakable. As long as he doesn’t speak (or sings), everyone likes him.

Cleopatra

The most famous queen of Egypt. Caesar and Getafix can’t resist her. Her? Or her nose? Hehe… A pretty nose!

There are many other characters of the village, like Panacea (Obelix’s heartthrob), Impedimenta (Vitalstatistix’s wife), Unhygenix(fish monger), Fulliautomatix (Iron Monger) and each one is as humorous as the ones above.

TRIVIA!!!

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Who or what is Poisson?

Think over it and then see the first comment to know the answer.

It is a little difficult to identify the best of all the Asterix comics. I believe that all 31 of them are equally good and engrossing. You will definitely end up reading each illustration from cover to cover. You can get more information about Asterix on https://asterix-obelix.nl