Sunday, 13 April 2014

Asterix and the Banquet by Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo


This is the fifth Asterix adventure. Roman General Overanxious is on a special mission from Caesar. "All Gaul is at peace with the liberating Roman Army, except this one little village of dissidents."

After he fails to battle them into submission he has another idea. "We shall isolate the Gaulish village from the outside world. You'll have to be self-sufficient and live on the produce of your own village! The outside world will forget you."

Asterix has other ideas though and makes a bet that he and Obelix will be able to escape, go on a tour of Gaul and return with all the local food specialties from all over Gaul as prove, serving them in a big banquet. 

"And this is the start of the famous tour of Gaul."

The plot is a bit busy I feel and would be most appreciated if you knew France and the stereotypes of its people. However there are still some good jokes in here, mainly relating to Obelix's weight and some of the character names, such as a guy they meet who betrays them called Unpatriotix, and two highwaymen they encounter, Villanus and Unscrupulus. The pirates feature again, and Dogmatix is introduced, although not by name.

Overall maybe not the best Asterix but that is because of the high standards of the other ones.

Original release date: Feb 7th 1963

Amazon UK link: Asterix and the Banquet

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