Asterix and Obeix - The Golden Book - my review!

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Maik

Asterix and Obeix - The Golden Book - my review!

Beitrag: # 25242Beitrag Maik »

My review of the new Asterix book ( Warning! SPOILERS – how ever this book has no real plot so there is not much to Spoil…) :
I finally got the Polish translation of the newest Asterix book... Well, actually it’s hard to call it this way since it’s barely a new Asterix story but simply a collection of rare pictures Uderzo put together so they would look like a story. In a way it’s like watching a clip show.
One of things I rely enjoy are the first four pages. They show village members in 50 year (aka as really, really old people) and while nothing really funny (other the fact that only character who didn’t change fiscally was Geriatrix) happens it was still amusing and interesting to see. In a way it was “The birth of Asterix and Obelix” story the other way around, and actually those first 4 pages would be fine as a “stand alone” story. What surprise me is that while Asterix was shown having a son and grandchildren, no Obelix offspring’s was shown/mentioned. Ow, well..
Moving on…
Basically the rest of the book is Vitalstatisix inviting various one-shot characters from previews Asterix stories to celebrate Asterix and Obelix birthday (Right! Because we didn’t have enough stories of Asterix and Obelix celebrating their birthday in the past…) What surprise me/was wired is that among the guest there were some villains or characters who would normally have no right to come to this occasion… But this “story” is so out off logic that I can forget them this ;)
And so Geriatrix wife talks about new cloths she made for Obelix (which lead to pictures of Obelix in various new styles ), the village postman talks about all the mail Asterix and Obelix got (which lead to the short story about Obelix getting letter from Panacea and learning how to read, a letter from the architect from “Asterix and Cleopatra” (Numernabis?) and a letter from the Pirates… Once again I’m surprise that THEY would right Asterix and Obelix birthday wishes but the picture was amusing…)
Geriastrix start complaining why Asterix and Obelix get so much attention and start talking about their physique which lead to some great (and re-used) pictures including one truly great of Obelix pose as Leonardo DaVinci of a perfect man…
As the books move on Epidemias (I’m not sure of his English name… he was the Fenician salesman who help out Asterix and Obelix in “Asterix the gladiator” and “the black gold”) show a tourist guide he got for our heroes which is few pages of text with various re-used pictures from books, non-use art, covers made for Pilote and post-carts.
Cacofonix shows pictures for his new songs (I guess he couldn’t say this are covers for his new CD albums for obvious reason) and there scene when he is testing various new bards. At the same time all the woman characters (including Bravura from the “Secret weapon”, Panacea and Zaza from the “Cesar’s gift”) start talking about fading wife’s for Asterix and Obelix which include both re-use art by Uderzo of Asterix and Obeix with women, some jokes on how married lives of A&O would look like and a great picture of Panacea as Mona Lisa.
Roman architect character from “Mansion of the Gods” show plan for Asterix and Obelix theme park… Which are guess are some re-used promotion art by Uderzo to promote the opening of “Parc Asterix” , Druid from “Asterix and Goths” show some new potions (again just a collection of re-used pictures for various covers, postcards ect.), the theater director from “Asterix and the cauldron” starts writing a play about Asterix and Obelix (which lead to references to Asterix and Obelix live action movies, alternative takes from “Asterix and the actress” and promotional art for the Asterix and Obelix movie and other not-used art) and finally Prolix the fortune teller tells he see in the future Asterix and Obelix museum… Which to be honest is the best part of the book(!!) There are some fantastic re-imaginings of various famous paintings (my personal favorite is the Delacriox one and the one by Archiboldo) The only problem with this section of the book is that instead of simply having the large pictures on the page alone, they are join by various characters commenting on them, and what they say is barely funny.
On the last few pages we see Cleopatra angry on Cesar for refusing to for A&O birthday celebration. Cesar finally agree to sent them a gift – a poison wine. There is nothing funny or amusing on those last pages, and the way Getafix tricks the Romans is far from inventive… The only part I like about those pages is seeing some old Centurions drawn again by Uderzo (including my two favorite centurions – the one from the “Olympic games” and the one from “the Soothsayer”)
The book ends with a big picture of A&O and various characters cheering for them…

Over all I can honestly say I enjoy this book. There is some great art (which previously you could only see on the official site or some articles about Asterix – like in the Lexicon which was added to Polish edition of Asterix re-publish books) including various paintings’ by Uderzo, art done for Pilote, postcards, promotional art ect. The first four pages showing old Asterix and Obelix is amusing and would be great as a solo story (as well the short story about Obelix learning to read). It’s also fun to see some on-shot characters drawn by Uderzo today (you can tell he didn’t drawn them in decades and his styles change a lot but they still look great)
While nothing funny really happens, (Unlike the “Falling sky”) there is something interesting to look at on every page of the book and it was nice “celebration” of 50 years of Asterix. Happy Birthday! Let’s hope the new generations will love you as much as we did! :)
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