The worst of the series to date with a sexism that spills well and truly over into misogyny. Cacofonix storms out of the village after hearing he's been replaced with a bard who is a woman. The bard sets the cat among the pigeons by - gasp - suggesting women are the equal of men, and soon the womenfolk are uprising and the woman has her eyes on the chief.Asterix comics were never a beacon of feminism -- the women of the village were almost always gossipy and bitchy though admittedly the men were as bad, but here they are given centre stage and the results are awful. The bard is a shrill nasty man hating feminist - though maybe not entirely man hating, she seems to flirt with Asterix even if motivated by political reasons - she even kisses him and Asterix hits her. He feels bad about it but its still pretty full on, a hero hitting a woman in a comic, just in response to her kissing him. (Asterix's sexuality threatened yet again? This whole book is the biggest argument to date for the Asterix-is-a-screaming-queen lobby) Gauls and Romans bashing each other = funny. Women bashing Romans = funny. Men bashing women NOT funny. At the same time, Julius Caesar decides to send in a troop of Roman female soldiers to defeat the Gauls, betting that Gaulish gallantry will stop them hitting women - which is a terrific idea. But then the Gaulish women defeat the Roman women by putting up fashion shops and displays. (Earlier they are shown to lose their heart for a fight when it rains) What possessed Uderzo to write this women-hating rubbish? Was he getting a divorce or something? He again displays his taste for the fantastical by having a dragon appear in the forest and repeating the silly thing of Cacofonix causing it to rain when he sings. (He also repeats a number of jokes and visual things from earlier entries, eg the little kids being just like their dad.)
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