Saturday, March 17, 2007

Comic review – Asterix #1 - “Asterix the Gaul”


My memories of the first instalment of the classic comic series were not that strong: I had vague recollections of too much exposition and a sub plot about hair. That’s true, but it stands up as a hilarious adventure, well-written, excellently drawn (so many magnificent faces, especially the dumb Romans), fast-paced and clever. The plot is driven by the Romans rather than the Gauls - they send a solider undercover to find out the Gaul's secret, and he does quite well, but eventually Asterix and Getafix are too smart. The series was still setting itself up at this stage: Obelix has a small role, drinking potion is a major event, they actually use Cacofonix at village functions. But the talent and energy were all there.

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