At the centre of the second Asterix adventure to be written and illustrated by someone other than its original authors, Goscinny and Uderzo, Asterix and the Missing Scroll, is the age-old rivalry between the “crazy” Romans and “indomitable” Gauls, this time scripted by Julius Caesar’s cunning adviser, Libellus Blockbustus.
And while the artwork of the new Asterix album is, ahem, picture perfect, but read it and by Toutatis it feels like Caesar’s conquest of Gaul… incomplete!
The story
It starts off with Caesar expressing his desire to write a book about the heroic exploits of the Romans, but his publisher, Blockbustus, convinces him to omit the part about their defeat by the indomitable Gauls. Although he tries to conceal every proof of their defeat to the Gauls, a newsmonger (a modern-day roving reporter), Confoundtheirpolitix, who is always after enormous “trulla” (scoop), gets hold of one of the scribes (yes, even Caesar had ghost writers, only they were all dumb) and the scroll of the chapter “Defeats at the hands of the indomitable Gauls of Armorica”.
The journalist makes his way to our favourite village and draws our favourite hero and his (don’t call him fat!) friend into a new adventure. The rest of the story revolves around Blockbustus and his attempts at retrieving the “leaked” scroll.
Julian Assange’s baap
Newsmonger Confound-theirpolitix, who works at The Lutetian Daily Press, is yesterday’s Julian Assange, the co-founder of the controversial Wikileaks website. He risks his life to expose the lies of the mighty Romans, much like Assange did to bring out the corrupt practices of the American government. “Julian Assange was a model for this character,” writer Jean-Yves Ferri told AFP. The writer added that Confoundtheirpolitix, described as “newsmonger without borders”, was almost called Wikilix, in reference to the whistle-blowing WikiLeaks website.
What we liked…
If the new Asterix got one thing absolutely spot-on it was the names (see box). The other cool part is that modern communications technology, which here means pigeons instead of on-road post, plays a large role and is quite entertaining, at least in the beginning. There are plenty of references to modern-day tech as well. Don’t miss Druid Getafix’s Twitterati friend from college Anachronistix (keep an eye out for the tiny blue birds that look like the Twitter logo, which he uses to send instant updates), how the Romans have unlimited pigeon packs and pigeons carry (or forget to carry) attachments.
Some of the frames in the album have the magic touch of old. The fight between Fulliautomatix and Unhygienix and the “I have a plaice to replace” quip is heart-warmingly familiar, as is the sight of Obelix in the midst of a Roman rampage or Obelix turning a blind eye to a fight because of horoscope horror (more on that later). Blockbustus’s “discreet” business trip — complete with dancers, Roman soldiers and a chariot — draws a laugh. The night-time scene with the Romans seeking shelter under the same dolmen as Asterix, Obelix and Getafix and the ensuing fight is fun.
The names
- Libellus Blockbustus, a publisher
- Apollosix, a druid
- Pridanprejudis,
- Blockbustus’s personal assistant
- Confoundtheirpolitix, the journalist
- Wifix, a Gaul who passes on information
- Verigregarius, a ‘large’ Roman centurion
- Anachronistix, Getafix’s college friend
- Archaeopterix, Getafix’s teacher at druid college
... and What we didn’t
The modern-day technology gag started out fun but a significant number of “tweet tweet” and pigeon mails later became a drag. A lot of the humour seems forced. And when you have to add a note to explain a joke it completely takes the fun out of it. Example: The note explaining the joke about pirates nabbing a pigeon. Yep, pirated information, which it explains in a footnote!
The plot is weak and fails to grip the reader, even the most rabid fans, and leaves them yearning for a real adventure. And what was with the repeated reference to Obelix’s horoscope of cutting down on boars and avoiding conflict?! Just so Geriatrix could come back in the last section and say their horoscope was swapped? We get that it was a dig at people who follow horoscopes blindly, but referring to it on every other page? Not cool!
Rwitoban Deb
What did you like/not like about Asterix and the Missing Scroll. Tell t2@abp.in
