Asterix the Legionary - Atop the Fourth Wall

Welcome to Atop the Fourth Wall, where bad comics burn. In this Patreon-sponsored episode, Linkara looks at an Asterix comic!
atopthefourthwa...
Originally released August 8th, 2017.
ORIGINAL INFO: The story of how 5-Hour energy drinks were the true downfall of the Roman Empire.

[@Ice-Climber]

The dude who wasn't singing was the village bard. He is bad singer. There's a running joke that involves him being punched into a tree to make him stop.

[@wchan39]

Usually by the village blacksmith, too.

[@mver191]

wchan39 Who is in a non stop fight with the fish vendor

[@nakenmil]

God, this comic has so many good characters.

[@MrXemnas1992]

Apparently he's so terrible that just him singing a few notes started a thunderstorm INDOORS. That is so ludicrous it's hilarious.

[@thornangel16]

There's a reason why his name in many of the translations refer to his cacophonic singing. Oddly enough though, in the original French his name means "comprehensive insurance".

[@cinanuva3915]

I also like how this didn't go in the direction of Obelix getting together with Panacea and Tragicomix being exposed as some sort of asshole. It actually turns out he's a nice guy and Obelix isn't an ass about it; yeah his love is unrequited and yeah he's heartbroken about it, but he accepts it and even goes out of his way to help Panacea with this huge problem. It's kind of heartwarming to see something like this after so many Hollywood formulas of saving-the-girl-from-her-asshole-boyfriend.

[@jeremyadler9620]

I totally agree! It's a nice change from the conventional love story. It's very refreshing to read that. I also like it when we see the couple again in Asterix and the Actress. It's nice to see them together still and very happy together.

[@captainufo4587]

It would have never happened. Despite being a long series, all episodes are self contained. Most of the French comics of the time are like that. Status quo is God, everything must return to standard at the end of the series.

[@XanderVJ]

Yeap. And another thing is that it's 100% in-character. Obelix is a bit on the dumb side, but has a heart of pure gold. Many people like him better than Asterix, and I can totally see why.

[@alucardyoici]

Yes but that's because you're used to hollywood formula, franco belgian formula since there was a strict code on romance that thing happened all the time where the heroes is just infatuated by the girl of the album only for it to never work

[@theomiossec1482]

It's still an interesting look on an one's culture, to make sure that not every country make Hollywood formula stories.

[@MrGruzefix]

Here are a few notes to explain what's happening: Obelix fell into the pot of magic potion as a child and pretty much drank it all, so he's permanently infused with it and not allowed to drink any more. It's a long running sub-plot for him to want more, but Asterix and Miraculix (German name for Getafix) deny him :) This makes him pretty much invincible all the time, while Asterix has to drink potion to be super strong. The Pirates appear in at least every second volume and always get sunk but Asterix and Obelix, it's kind of a running joke. The Guy who complains about his house being knocked over despite not singing is the villages bard, who is such a bad singer he was forbidden to sing. (FYI If he does, it rains, animal flee in terror etc.) Thanks for covering one of my most beloved comic-series. I've been reading it for as long as I can remember :)

[@chheinrich8486]

heh, wie geht, grüße von einem asterix fan

[@videogamenetwork6728]

That first one obelix did get his wish when he drank a small amount of the potion is the movie Astrix and the mansion of the gods where he tears the whole building down while on the potion.

[@SwordmasterKane]

​@@videogamenetwork6728 That is not entirely accurate. In the comic "Asterix and Cleopatra" he was allowed to drink three drops of potion so he would get enough strength to break out from a sealed room in a pyramid.

[@SpedeVesku]

In my opinion, the reason for Asterix's long-standing popularity is that the best stories have good balance of comical shenanigans, which keep the kids entertained, and subtle historical in-jokes and political satire, which give good laugh for the adults. The major problem with later Asterix comics is that they were written by Albert Underzo (i.e. the artist) alone after the death of René Goscinny. Underzo's solo stories have more juvenile sense of humor and none of the edge (for the lack of better term) of the Goscinny's stories. He also took the fantastical elements of the universe little bit too far. In the original comics, magic potions and cartoon physics were the only overly unrealistic elements, while Underzo's solo stories have stuff like Cacofonix's bad singing making rain (which goes against the continuity of the original comics), dragons, flying cows and aliens. Although, while The Falling Sky is the most hated Asterix story to date, I actually think that Asterix and the Secret Weapon would probably give more material for you, since it tries to satire feminism and does so badly.

[@Rabbitlord108]

Aliens in an IP set in the time of Rome? Sounds like a bad modern Family Guy cutaway gag (Update. Oh great. I finished watching the review and now that I know Falling Sky has aliens. It makes me think of a crossover between Asterix and Chicken Little)

[@SchizophrenixTheGaul3478]

i was underwhelmed by the later comics, but at which issue exactly do the solo started?

[@SpedeVesku]

@@SchizophrenixTheGaul3478 Goscinny died during the making of "Asterix in Belgium", leaving Underzo to finish it alone, and "Asterix and the Great Divide" was the first Asterix story he made all the way through alone.

[@wjzav1971]

To be fair, Goscinny's writing genius was unmatched. So I can't really blame Uderzo or any other sucessors for not being able to reach the same cleverness.

[@MissWordek]

"Jokes aren't exactly sophisticated" - um, with half of them rely of the reader to have knowledge of latin quotes, ancient history and art (you didn't notice the Raft of the Medusa refrence) Asterix is prasied for it's multiply layers of satire here in Europe

[@panmilus1275]

And the chemical refrences! ;)

[@johnpotts8308]

Yeah, surprised Linkara didn't get that Vitriol is an archaic name for Sulphuric Acid (H2SO4). It's impressive that they've managed to translate so many of the puns into English equivalents, given it was originally written in French

[@Johnny-Thunder]

Yes, but the other half is usually made up of jokes about national stereotypes, which get old really fast. My favourite Astrix comics are the ones were they don't go to other countries (and also were the magic potion isn't the single answer to everything, but that doesn't happen often).

[@wjzav1971]

Yeah, you gotta give the translaters credit. They really put effort into getting the jokes into foreign languages. That was something back then.

[@windsaw151]

I basically grew up with Asterix and it's funny how I didn't get some of the rather obvious jokes back then but do now. In this particular story there is the scene where they get served really bad food. Before that, Asterix said that if the army is good the food is bad to keep the soldiers angry and agressive. Then he tasted it and said "I didn't know the roman army was THAT good"! Back then I didn't get the joke at all. Now I find it hilarious.

[@Scorpodael]

Vitriolix as a name for that spy actually makes perfect sense- Oil of Vitriol is an old, old name for sulfuric acid.

[@backtoklondike]

Really glad you enjoyed Asterix, Lewis. It's really fun to see the perspective of someone who is not familiar with all the running gags (Cacofonix's singing and the pirates). The thing is that is that Asterix is a satirical comic based on the politics of Charles De Gaulle, the man who gave birth to the modern stereotype of what americans think France is.The roman empire clear an allegory to the US. I'm not too familiar with De Gaulle to give a more detailed description as 1. It was long before I was born and 2. I'm not French. When the René Goscinny died the artist, Albert Uderzo, took over as an writer and the comics lost it's satirical edge and had more serious storylines which where very unfitting for the comics. Now Asterix had serious moments when Goscinny wrote the comics but not to that extent. It all culminated with Uderzos last comic before retirement, The falling sky, which was an attack on manga but screamed "old man that doesn't understand those newfangled things." You did do the right decision to not review Falling sky as, while all Asterix comics are standalone, it required some knowledge on the comics to know why it failed so miserably.

[@LetruneInedil]

Moiz Jafferji umm, the comic is mainly about stereotypes. The US only appears hinted at in Asterix in America.... And Lucky Luke, by the same authors. :3 Rome is all the stereotypes of Italy and ancient Rome lumped together. The Goths are partially German stereotypes, and every side joke is a pun or a little playful jab, when not a running gag. It helped the international spread that most of these stereotypes do exist everywhere and somewhat similar...

[@backtoklondike]

You're not wrong about it either but the there are clear comparisons to the US and the roman empire and what France (and other countries too) thought of them in the comic: A powerful state is spreading their culture and are intervening in domestic decisions without anybody asking but there are one place they can't control over and that place can get the upper hand over them. But satire was very subtle which is the reason Asterix became so popular around Europe. While there where some other types of US satire in The great crossing, it was more of stereotypes of native americans.

[@mathieuleader8601]

don't forget other Gaullist politicans like President Chirac and non-Gaullist politicans like Francois Mitterand as well as Presidents Pompidou & Sarkozy to a lesser extent who respected the gaullist political doctorine that maintained political stability in France. Other Gaullists include Prime Minister's Pierre Messmer & De Gaul's Prime Minister Michel Debré who is considered to be France's father of the constitution.

[@ShineyCrow]

The falling sky is even worse that this ... it oozes of an old fart's opinion (a sadly pretty common one in France) that American comics are a subpar artform that stole everything from French/Belgium comics ... and that Japanese are even worse since they stole everything from the Americans.

[@XanderVJ]

I think the secret is that, while it does fall into stereotypes, Goscinny was never mean spirited about it. The Gauls are the butt of the joke just as often as the Romans and the people from other countries, sometimes even more. And there're always competent characters on both sides that dignify them. In the case of the Gauls, it's usually Asterix and Getafix, while for the Romans it's usually Caesar.

[@robinisomaa]

By the way, who wants to see "All-Star Asterix & Obelix", written by Frank Miller? The Gaul village would look suspiciously like Gotham City, Panacea would be a prostitute, and the cartoony violence would instead be gritty, realistic, and featuring teeth flying out of mouths at a 90 degree angle.

[@reyonXIII]

Funny you should suggest that. In one of the later volumes, which was more of a collection of short stories and snippets, one such snippet was a variety of absurd reimaginings of Asterix, and one would've fit right in with ASBAR-era Frank Miller.

[@Ophionyx]

D: that would be terrible, don't give Frank Miller ideas!

[@sdgdhpmbp]

Ugh. This is a series that can also be read by children. Prostitutes and gritty would be fine, but you're asking them to read Frank Miller's writing. What do you think that will do to their brains? What do you think it did to OURS?

[@wchan39]

No. Just...No!

[@TheDecatonkeil]

"THESE *ROMANS* ARE *CRAZY* !!"

[@Karekristensson]

Interestingly, this comic was adapted into a full length animated movie from 1985 called Asterix Versus Caesar, but it also was mixed together with another Asterix comic called Asterix The Gladiator with the plot of that Panacea and Tragicomix being captured by the Romans. Its quite a nice movie with plenty of that humor you'd expect from the Asterix comics along with a really impressive artstyle.

[@Greil9]

Ah, the pirates. My favorite joke with them was from the movie (unless ti was adapted from a comic) Mission Cleopatra. In that one as soon as the pirates saw the Gauls on an Egyptian boat, the captain began to smack the deck with an axe and sunk their own ship, taunting Asterix and Obelix for not being able to do it themselves. And the two were pretty pissed about it, calling the captain a cheater.

[@Alejandroigarabide]

I think that originated in the comic "Astérix at the olimpic games".

[@Rgoid]

They were a parody of a comic called “Redbeard the demon of the Caribbean”

[@worthybutter2004]

@@Alejandroigarabide No, it was in the original "Asterix and Cleopatra" comic, too.

[@DoctorInk20]

Fun fact: The pirates a re a running gag in the comics AND a parody of another French comic.

[@nallenthepuh]

I knew it was a running gag but didnt know it was a parody. What other comic?

[@DoctorInk20]

@@nallenthepuh A pirate adventure series called _Barbe-Rouge_ (or Redbeard). Dates back to 1959 and very popular in France. I've never read them myself, but the stories were published in the _Pilote_ magazine alongside _Asterix._

[@nallenthepuh]

@@DoctorInk20 Read alot of francobelgian comics but that one slipped under my radar! Thanks a million! I will check them out for sure!!

[@DoctorInk20]

@@nallenthepuh You're quite welcome. However, be aware these comics have never had an English translation, so might be an opportunity to brush up on some French. 😁

[@nallenthepuh]

@@DoctorInk20 they might have a swedish translation though ;) we did get a lot of translation over here foe a while ;)

[@Croakamancer]

So.... yeah, as a fan of the series and this show, very fair shake! There were a couple of things you didn't quite pick up as backstory/recurring elements, but that hardly sank the review. I'll list them below, but nice job Linkara! The Pirates were very widely recurring; they're kinda the series' Team Rocket. They don't show up in every story, but they generally get an appearance whenever there's sea travel, and it usually goes roughly like this time. Obelix is permanently superstrong because he fell into a cauldron full of magic potion when he was a baby. Other Gauls have to drink the potion, and while it's just as good for them, the effects wear off after a time. Thus the village is really hard to defeat in battle but would have issues with trying to go too far on the offensive, since they're vulnerable if they haven't drunk the potion. Music guy is Cacophonix the village Bard. Him getting beaten up for terrible singing is another running gag.

[@aarnault5297]

A bit of context for some of the jokes : - The pirates is a running gag, they appear in most of the adventures and always get beatup by Asterix and Obelix - Their raft is a reminder of "The Raft Of The Medusa" (very famous french painting) - In French "Sulfric Acid" H2SO4 is "Acide Sulfurique" which would make the spy "Acidesulfurix" so yeah, it was lost in translation. - The "Timeo Danaos Et Dona Ferentes" just is just absurd and makes no sense, which is why it's funny And Falling Sky is hated because while the other adventures are always fun, somehow lighthearted and taking a subtle jab at both the french society and the rest of the world as a whole, that one failed miserably. It is never sublte about its message, which is basically "Manga sucks, american comics are ok but traditionnal European and Disney is mighty superior". It's overall pretty clumsy, just not well written and most of all boring as hell. (Also : The Secret Weapon is worse in my opinion) The idea with Asterix has always been to make fun of history, with a rather precise setup (even though the roman legionnaires are not from the right era, since that uniform would be used 100 years later). And while the bad guys were bad, it was always lighthearted and it felt nice and sometimes they were even invited to the final Banquet (cause we're a country of loudmouth arrogant pricks, but dinner knows no conflict). The Falling sky did not, which was its worse crime in the eyes of many fans. If I had to explain it : it is to the Asterix series, what Insurrection is to the Star Trek movies. Just out of place and not at all coherent with what the message of the entire series is (there was NEVER a culture depicted the way mangas are in that book... except for feminism in The Secret Weapon, but that's another topic) (also don't know if the world "culture" is the proper one, sorry about that). Although to be fair : in 1977, the original writer René Goscinny passed away, meaning that the comic book had to be written by its artist Albert Uderzo. While the series continued pretty good (until the late 80s), it was never the same after that (not better or worse at first, just not the same). If you like the writing of Asterix, check out the rest of the work by Gosciny as he truly was a genius in that domain.

[@TheFettuck]

The evil spy's name is Vitriolix because "vitriolic" means corrosive/acidic. That is why his codename is Sulfric Acid.

[@craigknox838]

To add to the Sulfurix joke, an old name for Sulphuric acid was "Oil of Vitriol", possibly where the Vitriolix comes from?

[@MrRemicas]

Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes is a quote of the Eneide by Virgile if I'm not mistaken it means "I fear the Greeks bringing gifts".

[@roguishpaladin]

@@MrRemicas *Aeneid. And part of the reason it's funny to me is that the Aeneid is basically the #2 most common text assigned to students of Latin, right after Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic Wars. Perhaps an equivalent in English would be "T as in To be or not to be, that is the question" in a comic about Elizabethan times.

[@Ksawarrior]

Trying... so hard... not to lose it when he misses a running joke that goes through the series...

[@scissorman44]

He's a newbie. Cut him some slack

[@yugoxgc]

Ksawarrior This was the 1st comic he read. How the hell would he know about any running jokes?

[@theomiossec1482]

In fact, I think his comment on the singing make us more sense know.

[@wyrmofvt]

Well, there are parallels between Cacofonix and Harmony Smurf. I recognized the joke immediately.

[@legregio2]

4 days ago, Albert Uderzo left this world to reunite with his colleague and friend Renè Goscinny. We owe them many, many funny moments and laughters. RIP.

[@LJSLarssonX1]

As a European, it was a treat to see you read Asterix. I hope that you'll also give Lucky Luke a chance in the future, and... Oh my god, was that a Pippi Longstocking reference? *falls of chair in blissful shock*

[@Blutwind]

yeah Lucky Luke would be nice also Mort & Phil

[@HiperPivociarz]

This comic depicts a guy called Obelix tormenting everybody in his path, and yet no YuGiOh reference?! For shame, Lewis! There's even a guy from ANCIENT EGYPT in there.

[@AT4W]

End credits.

[@HiperPivociarz]

Fair enough

[@HiperPivociarz]

I know Cleopatra's and Ceasar's relationship in the comics is totally history inaccurate, but hell, do they make a great couple :3

[@autobotstarscream765]

French Paul 1988 Yo-Gi-Oh! Branched out into other civilizations and folklore early on, but occasionally returns to its Ancient Egyptian roots with themes like Hieratics, Triamids, and even Invoked/Eidolon (which are based on the works and teachings of Aleister Crowley, which in turn were heavily inspired by Ancient Egypt).

[@prismorbeflash4636]

Autobot Starscream Invoked as also inspirés by Final Fantasy no ?

[@Bobsheaux]

Holy crap, my Parisian grandmother gave me this very same comic when I was a kid!... and I couldn't read it because it was in French. I was able to interpret tiny bits of the story here and there thanks to the artwork, but otherwise, it just went completely over my head. Thank you for sharing this with us, Linkara. :)

[@Alejandroigarabide]

May I suggest checking out its animated adaptation "Asterix vs Ceasar"?

[@XanderVJ]

Glad to see you like it, Lewis! I'm from Spain, and Asterix is pretty popular there. It was one of my favorite comic book series as a child. Specially the books written by Goscinny are definitely worth anyone's time. Highly recommended.

[@mver191]

XanderVJ Same in the Netherlands! :)

[@MrSafior]

In all arund the world, except USA & Japan.

[@jonathanwright8025]

The only French language comic to catch on over here, to my knowledge, is the Smurfs.

[@shadowldrago]

These reviewers are crazy.

[@LetruneInedil]

ShadowL Drago *toctoctoc* :3

[@YoshMaster]

The pirates are a running joke in pretty much every volume. Also Vitriol is poison so it kinda fits with the chemical formula

[@Krwzprtt]

Vitriol is actually the alchemical name for sulfuric acid.

[@SsnakeBite]

Yay! So glad you liked it. Astérix is a huge part of my childhood, both the comics and the cartoons, so it's nice to see someone who didn't grow up with it and is from a completely different culture enjoy them as well. And your analysis of it at the end is pretty spot-on. Not usually subtle with it's humour, but it's fun and the characters are very likeable. Plus, it helped that they did manage to vary up the plots and could be surprisingly historically accurate.

[@Antonicane]

In case no one else has mentioned it, the joke with Vitriolix is that H2SO4 is the chemical formula for sulphuric acid, which was known as 'oil of vitriol' in medieval European times.

[@asalways1504]

About Obelix's pants, that style of pants was common with Celtic peoples during that time period.

[@urbanhribar8693]

The H2SO4 / Vitriolix joke works because vitriol is an old term for sulfuric acid.

[@HORRIOR1]

17:32 Did you not read the character bios at the beginning of the comic? It is always stated that Obelix fell into a cauldron of magic potion as a baby, and because of it doesn't need to drink any to keep his powers.

[@ViscidJustique]

also as a side note i forgot the exact but the potion has a time limit, so they cant just drink and invade rome. pluss as the comic establish they somewhat for a lack of term pacifist, they rather have fun beting up the rom staged outside, and just have fun in their village then doing anything warfare then invading others.

[@Aqua-Marine-UK_1991]

Obelix keeps asking for some before their adventures lol

[@Lightice1]

Basically, only their druid, Getafix, knows the recipe, and he only provides the stuff to repel Roman invaders, and help in an occasional good deed on the side. Also, the magic potion doesn't make you invulnerable, and although the comic never shows it, the characters repeatedly claim that a sufficiently disciplined legion could still cut them to ribbons, even if they took heavy casualties in the process, so they don't want to push their luck.

[@mathieuleader8601]

like Achilles

[@chazz30000]

Also, he would turn to stone now would he ever taste the potion. Doesn't stop him from trying to get some since he believes it tastes delicious. And the guy whose tree house Obelix crushed is the village Bard, and the running gag is that he is a terrible singer and people in the village always beat him and tie him up if he tries to sing during the feast that ends most comics.

[@scorchx3000]

The pirate thing is a great running joke, in France it's a bigger joke because Redbeard and his crew were from a rival comic made as a little joke. The creator of Redbeard loved the joke appearance and said he didn't object to it, so the pirates became permanent characters in the Asterix world.

[@Xerxes2005]

It helped that the two comics were published in the same magazine, Pilote.

[@FuelDropforthewin]

I love vintage Asterix. I have read more Asterix than Superman, sad as that may seem.

[@otakon17]

Ben Colecliffe that ain't sad, Asterix is hella fun.

[@MrGruzefix]

Same here :)

[@thunderguyer]

Ben Colecliffe But unlike Superman,Asterix is consistently good

[@BlackINKim]

+Cursedwind Hum.... Huuuuuuuum... You may not want to look at "Asterix and the falling sky" or "Asterix and the secret weapon". Because those issues are garbage tier. And also quite racist.

[@Dragnay]

Eh, maybe my criteria for the garbage tier are stricter than yours, but I'd say the Asterix albums as a whole avoid them; even the not-so-good stories have redeeming qualities. "Falling Sky" was saved by really good artwork and a number of decent jokes; the premise was outlandish but no more so than in some of the short stories. I'd say the main problem with "Falling sky" is that it should have been a short story and not an entire forty-page album... this did become a very common problem for Uderzo's solo comics; he just couldn't do full-length stories anymore.

[@sebastianrochefort6763]

Sulphuric acid used to be called Oil of Vitriol, hence Vitriolix is codenamed H2SO4 Chemistry humour!

[@BigSwede7403]

On a note, Obelix fell in the cauldron making the magic potion when he was a baby and drank it all, so he is _always_ superstrong. In fact, he does not get any more potion because of it. (Stingy druids.)

[@gothnerd887]

It's for the safety of everyone

[@jackstamper893]

Awesome review, and I love your (mostly) blind look at it. Some explanations though The tree they knocked over belongs to the town bard. This person plays so bad, he'll always get punched for it. That's why he yells at being punished, even though he didn't do anything. The pirates were actually parodies of another french comic, and where thrown in at an earlier issue as a joke. And since it was such a memorable scene, they pretty much always appear, when the group travels over the sea. I don't think it's ever really explained why the town doesn't go on the offensive, but there are a few reasons. One is simply the supply: Only Getafix can make the potion, and he can only make so much over time. Even if every member of the town goes to another place to liberate, they would run out of magic potion quite quickly. And they did show once or twice, that without the potion, the roman legionaries actually are superior to them in strength and organization. Obelix meanwhile doesn't get magic potion anymore. He fell into the pot of potion as a baby, and drank so much it still makes him super-strong. He's really disappointed he's not allowed to drink anymore though (even though one story goes into the explanation, what happens, when he does it anyway) As for Asterix and the Falling Sky...well, some backstory. The comic was originally written by Rene Goscinny and drawn by Albert Uderzo. Goscinny was known for writing social commentary into his stories, usually depicting current developments as if they happened back in that time period. Sadly, Goscinny passed away some time ago, as Uderzo was currently drawing "Asterix in Belgium (you can pinpoint the exact moment, as Uderzo decided to have the skies darken from that point on). Franco-Belgian comics work a bit different, and so Goscinny couldn't be replaced by outsiders, Only Uderzo could decide, what happens now...and he decided, to write the stories now as well. And while people sy, the quality went down, it wasn't really that bad. What really did go down was the amount of social commentary, something Uderzo had to hear basically all the time. Well, then he got to write Asterix and the Falling Sky. And he went all out on the commentary about a topic very dear to his heart. Plus, he designed the cover to be a mirrored variant of the cover from the very first colume, making it appear like this was meant as a bookend and conclusion to the entire series. I will not spoil the topic inside, but...yeah, it's really bad, and actually, the commentary is about something very dear to YOUR heart as well. And I'm pretty sure you disagree with what he is basically saying about it. Uderzo didn't make any real stories afterwords, only two books collecting a few small stories and gags, and one book depicting how Obelix fell into the potion, written in text with full-page illustrations. Afterwards he finally caved in and gave the story to a new duo, who by now made two new books, which were sorta okay.

[@adamgoss3638]

Vitriolix gets his name from vitriol,which is an old alchemy name for sulfuric acid,and is used today to refer to "cruel and bitter criticism"

[@Mtonazzi]

Some things about Asterix that may or may not be mentioned in different comments here: - The magic potion has a very limited time effect, and Asterix takes small drops each time. Not too sound for overtaking the Empire (though, if you feel inclined to, could watch the canon animated movie "The 12 tasks of Asterix"). Obelix fell on a cauldron with potion when a kid, so the effects are permanent. - Obelix is, for the previous reasons, forever denied to drink the magic potions for it could have disastrous effects on him. He still tries to, though. - The bard is horrible, to the point that when he sings sometimes he causes storms, animal stampedes (they flee from him) or other disasters. Usually it's the local smith that punchs him into unconsciousness. - Those particular pirates are a running gag. - The spy's name Vitriolix comes from vitriol, the ancient name of sulfuric acid. Noooooooow, as for the Falling Sky... it's just anti-manga propaganda... in fact two alien races appear, the good ones (I forget their name) look like western archetypical super heroes and the bad guys are named "Namgas" (really subtle, huh?) which look like archetypical manga characters according to western stereotypes.

[@SasoriTheOverlord]

They had super powered baby once. Too much trouble and high risk of turning into stone. You turn into stone if you take the potion while under effect of potion.

[@alucardyoici]

Well you don't want more than one obelix like before the cauldron accident he was a meek and sensitive kid now he is a boisterous manchild, the normal gauls are already crazy enough

[@L0stLP]

Obelix fell into magic potion pot when he was a kid so the effect is permanent , he does not need to drink it.

[@Landibert]

Just for people interested, these Franco-Belgian comics and stories are pretty huge in western Europe (no idea about the east) together with other classics like Lucky Luke, Marsupilami, Tintin, The Smurfs and I personally would also count Iznogoud.

[@ChouanB]

The sad part is that a lot of americans thinks the smurfs is an american Hannah Barbera production..

[@commanderkruge]

Oooooohgoodiegoodiegoodie! I always wonder what Linkara would have to say about the "Euro-comics" I grew up with here in Germany! And Asterix and "Tim und Struppi" (Tintin by Hèrgé) are my personal favourites to this day, since I read them first back in the 70s. I'm old. :(... Oh - when I say "Euro-comix", "Euro" stands for "France/Belgium", because that's where all the best comics made in Europe in the last century came from. The Smurfs, Lucky Luke, Valerian, Tintin, Asterix, Blueberry, the Incal, Spirou & Fantasio, Metal Hurlante/Heavy Metal (the magazine, not the movie that came from it) and... and... and... And many of the creators of those comics actually were a pretty tight community too. And they started and moved so much for this art form. Take alone "Moebius" (Jean Giraud) who created loads of his own original stuff, was hired by Marvel and there did a highly respected Silver Surfer book, he designed much of the human, non-Giger-made, technology and look for Alien (like the spacesuits), he was involved in the look of Tron and the whole movie The Fifth Element is pretty much a hommage to his original works, mainly the Incal series. Where was I? Oh yeah - Asterix rocks! XD Now I have to watch the video! ;)

[@malcolmferguson4869]

Asterix was a huge part of my childhood, so I love that you reviewed one! I actually really enjoyed hearing a non-fan's perspective.

[@noravivert5616]

as a French guy, fan of linkara and of astérix, seing a review of linkara of asterix the legionary was very nice ! It's was pertinent and fun and linkara makes goods deductions about the story even when he don't know. Only one point he didn't know : when he was a little kid, Obelix had fallen into the cooking pot of magic potion, giving him permanently the potion's effect. Execpt that, it was a really cool vidéo !

[@Zivillyn]

In case someone hasn't already explained it, the reason Vitriolix's code name is the chemical formula for Sulfuric Acid lies in alchemy. The substance used to purify base metals to gold (unsuccessfully obviously) was sulfuric acid, known at the time as vitriol.

[@AB-xd8hm]

In the mid-20th century, the French and the Belgians had a great run of adventure-comedy comics like The Adventures of Tintin (the globetrotting Indiana Jones-lite journalist-adventurer, not Rintintin the dog), or period adventure-comedies like Lucky Luke (the lucky cowboy who always keeps cool while roaming the Wild West with his pet horse and getting into adventures, frequently involving historical characters) and Asterix and Obelix. Similarly, around the same time, the Italians had a great run of adult-oriented horror and adventure comics like Dylan Dog (handsome supernatural private detective whose butler is an overzealous Groucho Marx impersonator and whose adventures usually end similarly to the X-Files downer endings), Zagor (the badass woodsman adventurer who befriends animals and defends his forest from intruders) or Allan Ford (a b&w comic book set in Manhattan that satirizes the worst aspects of modern day world by following a group of poor good-hearted mercenary secret agents, who are treated like dirt by their wicked and charismatic wheelchair-bound greedy boss known as No.1, and go on dark, funny and always crazy adventures in a way that Bond would if directed by Terry Gilliam, and these usually involve sexy enemy spies, madman who want to rule the world, weird super villains like Superhik, the guy who is powered by booze and steals from the poor to give to the rich because "they're nicer than the poor" and vampires, and most episodes actually turn into long story arcs that last for years). Anyway, if you like animated movies, check out The Twelve Tasks of Asterix (1976), an original animated movie not based on any previous Asterix comic and a sort of "Elseworlds" tale where the Gauls and the Romans make one final deal - if Asterix and Obelix can pull off 12 Herculean tasks that Caesar gives them (like trying to get the right form from the Roman bureaucracy, eating enough to bust a restaurant where there's near-infinite food for the guests, or beating the fastest man alive), they win his title and the ancient Rome surrenders to the Gauls. It's a fantastic and imaginative little adventure movie that later got its own comic issue, but the movie is better.

[@MrSafior]

Linkara should really read "foreigner comics", just only for the cultural aspect.

[@docette2015]

Heh -- always nice to have a bit of goofy fun for a change. And I like that Obelix is a decent person even after being heartbroken from hearing Pancea has a fiance, though he flirts with the dark side a bit in the camp. Ah well, that's life, huh Obs? I don't know anything about Asterix myself, but this makes it look like something I wouldn't mind reading, so that's good, at least. :)

[@Vikumax]

Boy, this takes me back. I remember my dad having a big collection of Asterix comics I used to read.

[@Inlelendri]

Even as I was watching the review, lines from the movie Asterix versus Caesar (and yeah, I know that one 'merges' two comics into one and isn't too well-liked but I still love it) ran in the back of my mind whenever a particular scene was onscreen, especially the politeness argument that ended in the roman guy being punched twice. Thank you for finally doing this, Linkara, and I really liked that you didn't know anything much about the story. Led to some jokes that made me smile and chuckle :)

[@or_gluzman561Peace_IL_PS]

Obelix: These reviews are Crazy!

[@ZeddtheVHSotaku]

And now we wait for Linkara to review a Tintin comic.

[@MJFERMEZLA]

It's nice to see an american reviewer got a shot to one of our beloved franchise (Well, I'm from france and the comic is Belgium, but we king of appropriate it) I'm curious to see you reviewing others comics, or why not, one of the movie. They are not all good, the first animated movie is even incredibly boring because of a shot for shot adaptation in a 1 hour movie, and as you can see, this comics are not that long. But their is other that are really good, the 12 task is one of the funniest and was even made by the creators of the comics Asterix in britain is pretty funny too and a better faithfull adaptation than the first movie. Asterix and Cleopatra is funny despise an very old animation. Asterix versus caesar is nice too. Asterix and the big fight is my favorite because it's like it was directed by Don Bluth (the 80's one) so it's a really dark and emotion driving movie despite being adapted from a comedic comic. The 2 CGI one are great, both in animation and humor, but also in action and inteligent satyre. You can skip "conquers america" and "the vikings", those one are failling attente to make disney like movie (Viking even got a celine dion song) and they really downsize the humoristic style of the comic for a kindergard humor. And... the live action one... there is only one of them worth checking out and it's "mission cleopatra", the rest is a gallery of french celebrities who just do their usual thing, some really shitty usual thing, the worst being "god save britannia" who's got really bad performance, bad joke (they do the "I am your father" vader thing... in 20freacking12... hell, even for the 90's it one of the worst star wars joke) and got to the point where the movie is just racist (one of the characters is black face... yeah... it's that kind of shit) sexist and homophobic (too many joke about a supposed homosexualy of or protagonist, wich pissed of Asterix so much that he trying to get a girlfriend in the all movie just to proove he is not gay... yep...) The other 2 are not that bad but still bad, they just don't have plot and just go to one situation to another without concret narrative. Ho, and do you like the fact that Obelix accept that Falbala love someone else and even help this guy ? Well in the first live action movie, he get obsessed about her, tries everything to make her love him, despite her having a fiancé, argue and even hit Asterix for saying that she don't love him, and even make a clone of her to him WHICH DIDN'T BOTHER HER AT ALL !!! Asterix is a great franchise that can be epic and emotion driven even, but it's too easy to failed it. Many of the comics are about satyrical representation of certains country or region of france, goths, britain, normans, spain, corsica (witch I'm from) etc... But never to the point to being racist, it's stereotype that are funny and who's the concerned are kind of proud (for the corsica one, the corsican love it so much they translated to their original language, because it get the corsican humor and kind of characters we love) and sometine make some great touristic commercial. Thanks to talent and love for the subject... so when untalented people took it just for money, they easily make it REALLY wrong. Ho, and for the falling sky comic... the joke are too obvious and stupid, the story episodique and whithout clear narrative, the alien thing is mostly an excuse of bad Disney satyre and awfully racist manga satyre, and the characters forget everything at the end, making it useless. I was king of open about Asterix meeting alien, I even like Indy 4, but here, the execution is shit. Well, I can't wait to see wich asterix one will be the next.

[@becca545]

Asterix is definitely French- it began in Pilote Magazine- a French publication- in 1959. Goscinny and Uderzo did do separate work for le Journal de Tintin around that time though (writing and illustrating Oumpah-pah). And Tintin is definitely Belgian. So that might have been why there was some confusion. You're right about the live action movies: Mission Cleopatra is an absolute gem! Also, as it predates Marvels Journey into Mystery issue with his debut, this also means that Linkara got it the wrong way round- Thor has been cosplaying as Asterix this whole time!

[@MrSafior]

Il y à Jeffrey Kitsch qui est un youtuber anglais qui est un gros fan d'Astérix et Lucky Luke, qui de temps en temps fait des comparaisons entre les albums et leur adaptation animé: kzbin.info

[@thornangel16]

Glad to see Linkara enjoyed the comic! Even when dealing with good comics, he can do a pretty decent job of making it entertaining sometimes!

[@vampman87]

When I was in college, I went to France for a study abroad program in the summer of 2009. When my class went to Nimes, I went to a tourist shop and Asterix comics in the native French language were ALL over the place. Looking back, I kind of wish I bought one of those comics... I had no idea the comic was so popular in that country.

[@MrSafior]

Well this is the country when Astérix came from.

[@TheLadySilverMoon]

I love Asterix! I live in Scandinavia so my experience with comics are the exact opposite of Linkara. I grew up reading French/Belgien comic books like Asterix, Tintin, Lucky Luke and Yoko Tsuno, but Asterix was always my favorite. I've read all the albums and watched all the animated movies (and the first two live action movies).

[@robinschicha4712]

„Asterix“ + Linkara = a Couple made in Heaven!! 👶

[@HORRIOR1]

13:37 Wouldn't have made a difference with Obelix. He has thrown a pilum LITERALLY hard enough, that it flew around the world TWICE. That spear would have just gone through the door XD

[@eventyraren]

7:36 to anyone Who want to understand That joke in context. He is a Bard That is so bad at singing that it start raining every time he sings. One story line has him go to egypt (I think) and help with a drought, but losing his voice when he gets there.

[@mickbrown7793]

Thank you for this Linkara! It's very timely as I'm just going back through Amazon to pick out volumes I didn't have. I suspect the latin jokes are because when the series started, education including the latin classics was a LOT more common than it is now.

[@Rgoid]

17:43 About that . . . Obelix fell into a cauldron of magic potion when he was a baby and it made him permanently super strong. Getafix thinks it’s dangerous for Obelix to have any magic potion.

[@lorenzg5912]

I love Asterix. They were the first comics I read as a kid. ahhh, the memories

[@colestrawn4304]

Lincara, just thought id clear something up. The reason obilix is basically the hulk minus the green skill and attitude problem is because acording to the lore, he supposedly fell into a cauldron of the magic potion as a baby.

[@TroetenUdo]

Vitriol is an name for salts of sulfiric acid, the joke is much more obvious in german, where the spy is known as HCL and Acidix Hydrocloridix and in french, where he is also called HCL but is real name is Acidcloridrix. I don`t know why they changed it for the english version.

[@BronyDanProductions]

‘But I wasn’t even singing!’ Yeah but Cacofonix, your very presence is enough to make people want to cause physical harm to you, regardless if you sing or not.

[@Xerxes2005]

"Philistines! They don't know real talent..."

[@Unotuchable]

Obelix drank an entire cauldron of the potion as a baby, it's why he's so strong.

[@Majokodomo]

Actually, he fell in the cauldron! ^-^

[@thunderguyer]

Getafixs original name is Panoramix,I am pretty sure.

[@MrGruzefix]

In Germany its Miraculix :P

[@davidparkison95]

Cursedwind it is

[@LetruneInedil]

Hungarian is either Panoramix or Vitafix... How the others are named there? :3

[@thunderguyer]

We call the village leader "Magestix"

[@RedHatMeg]

It's Paronamix also in Poland.

[@Artista_Frustrado]

im glad you reviewed an Asterix comic I'm surprised the Patreon guy decided to go with The Legionary instead of The Gaul which is where most of the running jokes get set-up

[@xtoadsannom6704]

I don't know, Uderzo's style evolved a lot after that first volume, enough that people might wonder who these people are. Obelix in particular went through a big redesign.

[@Lukethefox]

So awesome you're reviewing this Mr. Linkara. I grew up with Asterix & Tintin comics as a kid. I think I read all of the classic ones. The Animated movies were great too with Asterix in Britain & Asterix Conquers America being my faves. The Pirates were a running joke in the series where they always sink everytime the Gauls travel abroad. In one story The captain sank his whole ship even though Asterix & Obelix weren't interested in them at the time.

[@godforothchannel4272]

Oh Hi mister Fox! Glad to see you there! :3

[@DrGregoryHouseIT]

15:33 Yes, they are. In fact, it's another running gag, which once culminated in the pirates sinking themselves before Asterix and Obelix could do it.

[@kingoftherain]

This series has a lot of running jokes. The pirates having their ship sunk by the gauls, Obelix returning with a stack of helmets after a boar hunt, the bard being tied up at the feast at the end of the story, Obelix being refused to drink of the magic potion because he fell in a cauldron filled with the stuff as a kid, all the names and loads more. Being from The Netherlands, this comic is everywhere, love it!

[@cameronpearce5943]

man, all your reviews have me in stitches, but you pulled out your A+ material for this one. 100% On Point.

[@Harlequin19]

Me and my brother have been fans of Asterix for as long as we can remember. While he is the bigger Asteix fan and I am a bigger Tintin fan, we both love each series. It was one of the first, if not the first, non-superhero comic series we read. I'm happy to see you enjoyed it.

[@Arthus850]

About your comment on getting no indication that Obélix was taking any potion, he wasn't because he doesn't need to. In fact taking any potion at this point would be a bad thing. The potion is normally supposed to be taken in short doses and gives you about five minutes of super strength, enough time to take down an entire battalion of Romans by yourself. Obélix however accidentally fell into a cauldron of potion when he was just a baby, causing the effect to be permanent. He is very lucky that this was all that happened, because a few seconds longer in the cauldron, and if he takes a single sip more of the potion now, and he would get turned to stone, which is very hard for him because he still remembers the potion being the most delicious thing he's ever tasted and wants some more of it. So no, Obélix wasn't chugging any potions, because he doesn't need to. But nobody else is that strong unless they drink the potion. Though I understand that you didn't know that since you said you're not a fan.

[@HiperPivociarz]

You know, funny thing is, we Polish have our own version of Asterix and Obelix, called Kajko and Kokosz. They were created after Asterix and Obelix, but actually they are just medieval version of previously existing Kajtek and Koko, who live in modern day communist Poland. I don't know how that works

[@ptcarbonproductions2013]

CookieMastah I would discuss if they are Polish Asterix & Obelix. They use similar concept, but number of differences is huge.

[@JohnnyElRed]

The thing about Obelix is that when he was a kid, he fell into the pot where the potion was being made, and since then, his superstrength is permanent, so he doesn't need to drink the potion anymore.

[@BramBalk]

I read this comic as a kid. They greatly helped me learn how to read. Thanks for reviewing this classic!

[@TeryJones]

And now I'm imagining a Yu-Gi-Oh parody where "Obelisk" is summoned and he ends up causing the holo-projectors to explode due to slipping on a banana peel or something.......I need to write this down for later....

[@jaredsamples6969]

XD Agreed

[@domidextrus]

This is amongst my most favorite of your reviews. Sure, me being Belgian and having grown up with Asterix may have had something to do with it, but another big reason is because, the moment you announced this one, I was really excited to see an American comic book geek's perspective on it. Despite you not having the same familiarity with French-grown comic series such as Asterix as I did, your commentary was pretty clever and your jokes got a lot of chuckles out of me. Kudos!

[@nifralo2752]

Dots Salchow I'm guessing your Walloon not Flemish but nevertheless do you know if the Flemish Asterix has the same translation problem the English version dose? Flemish is more different from French than English is.

[@domidextrus]

@@nifralo2752 Funny you should ask, since I'm actually Flemish. xD From what I can tell from my own experience with the comics, the Dutch translations (or at least the ones published in Flanders) keep the original names. Most grown-up Flemish comic readers don't seem to mind if certain punny names are left untranslated, as the majority of them already know some rudimentary French, either because they picked it up in their school years or were exposed to it otherwise on the regular. This is a common practice with Franco-Belgian comics translated for the Flemish comic-reading audience, though there always are a few exceptions. I doubt that this is also the case with, say, readers in the Netherlands, but nonetheless I hope this satisfied your curiosity. EDIT: I should also add that the Flemish language has its fair share of French loan words, and certain dialects add a bunch more on top of that.

[@LetruneInedil]

The pirates are recurring characters, and are a shoutout to another Francobelgian comic, Red Beard. :3

[@DarkwyndPT]

As an European, I grew up reading Franco-Belgian comics (or bande dessiné, like they're called back here) and Astérix is one of my favourite series along with Spirou, Gaston Lagaffe and Tintin. The humour is hilarious! But I think the true beauty is in its sci-fi and fantasy titles where the artwork is simply gorgeous (even if the story isn't).

[@MacBamboocha]

It's a weird chapter to start the series seeing how the first thirty books or so actually have a continuity, not to mention the running jokes. Obelix for instance doesn't need the potion anymore because he fell into the pot where the druid was making it, hence why he's so strong. But you couldn't know that obviously! Still, glad you liked it. In Germany, Italy and France Asterix & Obelix is a classic, as well as my very first comic book series I've ever read as a kid!^^ ...second one being The New Teen Titans. Who else is exited about the upcoming live action TV series?! 😀

[@sarasamaletdin4574]

Did you read Asterix books in order then? Everyone I know reads them out if order and there is some reference about Obelix’s strength in each one including here. You can see the moment in this video too.

[@Minish23]

It's not your usual thing but it's still really nice to see you reviewing something good every once in a while. I like seeing you enjoy a comic ha ha

[@Nenilein]

Ahhhhh, those comics were my childhood! Thanks for this blast from the past! :-)

[@Trismegustis]

Hey, Linkara, fun sidenote: Asterix stories are noted for having TONS of puns in their character names, as you noticed. These can often get mangled by the translation, but there is at least one instance where a character's name became BETTER in translaton. There's a character that's a small dog who's obsessed with trees, named "Idefix," from "Idée Fixe" or "Fixed Idea," a french concept meaning "a preoccupation of mind believed to be firmly resistant to any attempt to modify it, a fixation." And in English, they call him "Dogmatix." Eh? Ehh??

[@Isaac-gh5ku]

I'm glad you finally review an Asterix comic. One of my childhood favorites.

[@grandiflora8479]

I had quit a bit of this growing up, Asterix and TinTin are among the only comics i could even get my hands on where i live and they are AWESOME, also Obelisk fell into the cauldro nso he doesnt need to potion... (he does use it at least once though and i understand how a non-fan could get it wrong)

[@grandiflora8479]

really fun video as always though! keep up the good work!

[@GreycatRademenes]

This story is classic. Also a part of the enjoyment of this episode was watching your legit reaction to an unfamiliar thing, like the pirates or not knowing that Obelix doesn't get to drink the magic potion. Plus your regular brand of humor. I should try to Patreon you a polish comic ^^

[@Rgoid]

How about Kayko & Kokosz?

[@GreycatRademenes]

Possibly, or Tytus, Romek & Atomek@@Rgoid

[@Nairot]

It's faszinating to hear you talk about it and explain it like it is something strange, while in europe Asterix is known by everyone.

[@ninjagregshow9423]

I keep coming back to this one, it makes me want to read Asterix, my own personal library could use more comedic material

[@blaed6649]

Great comic! I remember reading it a lot as a kid. The art was amazing! I hope to see Linkara do a review for Bone one day.

[@grayscribe2125]

I've heard that some schools have used this comic for history class. The cartoony style aside it seems it is better researched than one might think.

[@alucardyoici]

One comic is actually use in economic since it was so well research and explained how menhirs business was doomed to fail

[@CheshireNoNeko]

well, if you are going with euro comics, you should do PK or any italian Disney

[@captainufo4587]

The first PK series can actually be a very good choice, as the authors themselves said they "were trying to do Marvel in Disney form" (actual quote). And also, except for Paperinik's origins (which are never referred to in the books as it was a regular character in the standard Italian Disney comics), the whole series has no connections with the standard Disney duck universe, so, assuming that he reviews the first few issues, no continuity burden to be concerned of. It would be especially interesting given Linkara's knowledge and passion for American superheroes series.

[@38procentkrytyk]

Oh boy PKNA 1 and 2 had some really awesome stuff in it. Sadly PKNA2 never concluded by original plan.

[@Raximus3000]

I can't belive it he had that many times the word "form" and he didn't make a Voltron joke.

[@thomaskirkness-little5809]

Is Falling Sky the alien one? Because the alien one is god awful.

[@MrSafior]

Yes.

[@38procentkrytyk]

The one with supermen and Mickey Mouse?

[@Cationna]

The WHAT I'm so glad I chose not to bother reading it, my goodness.

[@thomaskirkness-little5809]

This is what happens when the writer dies and the artist carries on without him.

[@drakkenmensch]

Falling Sky is the Crystal Skull of the Asterix series.

[@Ophionyx]

It's so cool to hear you talk about a comic that's been a big part of my childhood. This is probably my favourite album in the series, it's among the funniest. I really didn't care for Asterix and the falling sky because it strode so far away from what the series had established. A story with aliens might have worked, but in this one it's all of a sudden about a war between American comics and cartoons and manga. While the comics have always been highly satirical they were still self contained stories you could enjoy without that context and this one feels very out of place in that regard. Though I feel the series went downhill after Goscinny passed away either way, from the albums I've read.

[@Polycomical]

Parc Asterix is a fantastic theme park. Also I recommend the audio stories narrated by the late Willie Rushton.

[@steelytemplar]

I read this book as a kid and it has always been my favorite Asterix. It's a true classic!

[@nicodemusedwards6931]

2:00 yeah well... the spacetime continuum is constructed out of cobwebs, faith, and Peter Parker's luck anyway.

[@Xerxes2005]

Vitriol is the common name for sulfuric acid. In French though, the guy is called HCl, for Acidcloridrix (acide chlorhydrique or hydrochloric acid in English).

[@cg-rf7lo]

If that guy injured any more people, they'd have to call him Obelix the Tormentor.

[@wchan39]

Funny you should say that...let's just say throughout the Asterix series, Obelix has beaten up his fair share of Romans.

[@Cationna]

So happy about this review! Linkara giving his take on the line of comics I actually grew up with! If only he'd do some classic Duckberg one day, my life would be complete lol Loved the video! So interesting to see Linkara's point of view and to look at the comic on its own without the backdrop of all the others - very interesting. With an added weirdness and fun of seeing an English translation with the story I know almost by heart in my own native language.

[@LeHobbitFan]

I've been waiting so long for this... Linkara VS Asterix. MY BODY IS READY !

[@Channelthatprovidesplaylists]

Linkara thanks for asterix iv been a fan of the comic for ages

[@jeremyadler9620]

Great review! I LOVE Asterix and have read them ever since I was a little kid. Him and Tintin were my go to comics to read back then, and I still read them today sometimes. I thought you did a great job with the comic, especially as you're not a fan of them. I laughed all the way through! Personally, one Asterix comic that I've always wanted you to review is Asterix and the Cauldron. While it isn't bad necessarily, it's a bit problematic to read when all grown up. In that book, our "heroes", who are looking to get money they were looking after for another chief back, manage to ruin a few businesses, try to rob a bank, justifying it as since the Romans take their money for tax purposes, it's fine for them to do that in return and steal the tax money back from the tax collector. Simply put, it doesn't put our heroes in a good light, IMHO. I'm also a bit confused about the villain's plan in the book. Does anyone know what the point of it was? Keep up the great reviews :)

[@Wright805]

+Jeremy Adler The villain's plan was to ask Asterix's village to guard his money so he could then steal it from them and use it to pay the Roman tax collectors. Since the "stolen" money was under his watch Asterix would be duty-bound to pay it back. Thus the bad guy pays his taxes and so stays in the Romans' good books and gets paid back so it hasn't cost him a thing.

[@ericemigh3869]

Believe it or not, I've actually got almost all the Asterix comics, but in German. I grew up bilingual, the German side of my family using the comics to help teach me how to read the language. Been a fan ever since.

[@WikiPeraX]

9:57 - Pompeii (pom-PAY) is the city; Pompey (pom-PEA) is the consul and general. No power on earth could have stopped me from saying that.