Asterix and the Chieftain's Shield

Asterix and Obelix accompany Vitalstatistix on a journey to cure the chief of ailment. But the holiday turned to a race with the Romans for obtaining an ancient Gaulish shield, lost from the Roman loot very long ago. In a village famous for amphora, clues flowed as wine but whether Asterix can outsmart the Romans in the chase remains to be seen. An amusing twist at the end awaits as Caesar seems on the verge of once more being humbled by the tiny but wise Gaul.

The Mansions of the Gods

Caesar plans a new mode of attack on the Gauls and send the architect, Squareonthehypotenuse (mark the name) who have never tasted the Gaulish tricks to build modern flats, boastfully dubbed by Caesar as the Mansions of the Gods, near the Gaulish village of Asterix. As the forest is being cleared of the trees, much to the anxiety of Dogmatix, Getafix soon uses his magic to get new trees to go rapidly in the places of the old ones. As the Roman slaves uproot the trees at night, the druid frustrates their effort at daybreak. This continues for a while along with more other tricks on the Romans but an overconfident Getafix soon seems to bring an unwanted threat to the unity of the Gauls. Then it remains to our little friend and his chubby buddy to set the things right only at the cost of the suffering of the Roman legionaries.

Asterix and the Actress

Here comes the mission of Asterix where he, for the first time, seemed uneasy as the problem lies with the fair sex, whose acquaintance Asterix had so far avoided. The problem seemed to be brought home by the mothers of Asterix and Obelix who surprised them at their birthday (that falls on the same day) by visiting them and bringing gifts in the form of a precious sword and a helmet that actually belonged to Pompey but was swapped for a barrel of barley beer by our Gaulish heros’ fathers from a former Roman legionary who stole the same in the first place. Now the Romans at Condatum deputed an actress dressed as a Gaulish girl Panacea to recover the two and simultaneously threw Asterix’s and Obelix’s dads to gaol. Meanwhile the mothers were busy searching for a suitable bride for their sons that became a source of nuisance to our heroes. To top it off when the actress came to the village she managed to seduce Obelix, caused a strife between him and Asterix that cost the latter to have a temporary memory loss and almost stole the trophies back to Gaul. But confusion arose when on the way return, the actress conducted by Asterix and Obelix met the real Panacea and our heroes were baffled by the stunning resemblance of the two. Confusion also ran high in the Roman camp when Caesar issued directions to single out the soldiers in the pay of the traitor Pompey. Thus when Asterix and Obelix, hearing the news of their dads’ arrest, were running towards Condatum they found themselves racing with Caesar’s imperial army to the same destination. So ironically, for the time being, they seemed to be on the same side of the battle. Finally all the problems seemed to be solved satisfactorily and while the Obelix was grieving for not finding his pet Dogmatix, it is seen that the faithful dog was actually busy paring off and raising offsprings before returning again to his master.
This story was completely done by Uderzo after Goscinni’s death and was numbered 31 in the series.

Asterix and the Normans

The Normans, the most fearless of the people, due to their scientific bend of mind, wants to understand fear, the emotion that quite sadly were devoid of them. Thus they set sail for a land where they can find an expert in fear and guess what, their random selection lands them in the little village of the Gauls, where too fear is an emotion quite remote with the people. But fortune seems to be in the way with Justforkix (just watch out the pun in the name), the nephew of VItalstatistix who was sent by his father on a holiday trip to Asterix’s village with an instruction to his cousin to make a man out of him. The modern youth Justforkix never knew the strength of the Gaul and their magic potion and so when he saw the Norman ship, was visibly frightened. The Norman spy also spotted him as the only one who knew the meaning of fear and thus he was carried off by them to their chief to make them frightened. So Asterix and Obelix were automatically chosen to rescue him and Asterix tried to bargain him out with a clever suggestion. He sent Obelix to get the bard Cacofonix, whose singing, he was sure to cause panic among the Norman ranks and thus Justforkix can be rescued peacefully. But problem was that Cacofonix was off to Lutetia to try his talent there and thus Obelix had to use some intelligence, something not his cup of tea, to find the bard before the Normans execute Justforkix in their obsessive urge of knowing the meaning of fear. Again the comic is full of witty puns in the name and the Romans in this case seems to get beating from both the Gauls and the Normans and like the adventure of Asterix the Gladiator, Cacofonix seemed to take the centre stage in the showdown. And those who are thinking that in the ultimate celebration of the adventure, Cacofonix is to be found bound and gagged, think once more as it is Fulliautomatix who is on the receiving end this time.

Asterix in Britain

Though this is labeled Book 3 but chronologically it comes as the 8th story of Asterix and his friends. Here Asterix and Obelix had to cross the channel and travel to Britain to help their counterpart in the village in Cantium that, led by Mykingdomforanos was gallantly holding up against the Roman invasion of Caesar. On the request of the Brit soldier Anticlimax, his 1st cousin once removed, Asterix talks to Vitalstatistix who agrees to send a barrel of magic potion to Britain. Asterix and Obelix become escorts for the barrel in this mission and through series of humorous incidents manage to reach the village of Cantium. But in the process the barrel changes hands quite often and it is left for the readers to find out whether the Brits could get their strength reinforced by the power of the potion.
The running gag of the pirates ship getting run down while getting caught between the confontration of the Gauls, British and the Romans appears more than once in this adventure and becomes a source of constant entertainment for everyone save the priates. Also the addiction of tea to the British folks is amusingly explained and also their fussiness to schedule is humorously portrayed.

Asterix and Cleopetra

Now is the time for Asterix to meet Cleopetra, the queen of Alexandria, also famous for her elegant nose and strangely nose seems to get the better part of the story as it offers a plausible explanation of how the nose of the Sphinx came to be broken. In this adventure Asterix and Obelix escorts Getafix to Alexandria on the request of Edifis, an architect who had been assigned the duty to build a palace for Caesar in three months. Not only is the period short but there was the added trouble of the rival architect Artifis who always creates much trouble by delaying the work. Also Caesar did not want the palace to be built in time so as to lose his bet on the building’s completion date and thus employs his army to demolish it. So it required the brain of Getafix, assisted with the muscle of Obelix and the wit of Asterix to get the job done in time and also to keep off Artifis and the Roman army from creating much trouble. It is as usual fun-filled but the comical hieroglyphics add to the humour of the texts more than many other pieces. Also this the first instance that we see Getafix allowing a few drops of magic potion to Obelix but when you consider breaking the stone walls of pyramid, this was really an emergency situation! Dogmatix also plays a good part in this adventure and he too gets the pat in the back for that.

Asterix and the Big Fight

This time it's Vitalstatistix's turn of defending the Gaulish tradition of the Big Fight. It occurred when one of the tribes wanted to take over another and its chief challenged his counter part in the fight with the winner becoming the ruler of both. This was the ploy that the Romans of Totourm now tried by employing Cassius Ceramix, a Gaulo Roman ruler of Linoleum to challenge Vitalstatistix. Problem was that Getafix, at this critical time, lost his memory, thanks to Obelix and his menhir, the knock of which was the cause for the disaster and thus the serious disadvantage of unavailability magic potion seemed to stare in the face of the Gauls, all except Obelix. As a new druid, Psychoanalytix was called in, he too lost his memory in no time, again Obelix and his menhir and also his feeble brain sharing the responsibility. Thus it remained to be seen whether Getafix could be cured and the tribe saved by Vitalstatistix. This also offers a series of clashes with the Romans and each time the hilarious situations will keep the readers smiling their heart out till the last page.

Asterix and the Banquet

This time Asterix takes a challenge with a Roman Inspector General Overanxius to tour the whole of Gaul, evading the imperial army and bringing back souvenirs from each town as a proof of their visit. Thus Asterix and Obelix tour the entire Gaul starting from Rotomagnus, then off to the crowded Lutetia, and to Camaracum, Duroccortorum, Divodurum. In Lugdunum, the locals guided them through the puzzling alleyways keeping the pursuing Romans confused in the maze. After this the couple visited Nicae from where they took the sea route to Massilia. Thereafter they toured Tolosa, Aginum, Burdigala and finally Armorica. On the way they got immense support from the Gaulish citizens of each town and though the later didn’t possess magic potion but their vigour and tricks were sufficient to side track the Romans trailing our two heroes. But they were betrayed on a couple of occasions and in one while Obelix’s innocent intelligence was enough to take care of the troubles in the other it was the wit of Asterix that saved the day. Thus finally we had the gala banquet where Asterix didn’t forget to display the souvenir from his own village too to the Inspector General and save for Cacofonix, everyone enjoyed the gala evening. Just to add as a footnote, this was the adventure where Obelix met the pet of his life, Dogmatix.
One point to note is that the naming of this 5th adventure is not so appropriate in the English version as was in the French original (Le tour de Gaul) and the original, translated in English, could have been a better choice.

Asterix the Gladiator

Yes, this time we find our friend with the winged helmet with Obelix in the Roman Circus in the role of a gladiator, all for rescuing the kidnapped Cacofonix, a prize to Caesar by one of his subordinates. The kidnap had hurt the Gaulish pride and so Asterix sets up on the mission of rescuing the bard and as usual Obelix, smelling a lot of Romans on the way, pairs up with his best friend. But it seemed that Cacofonix required little help as his singing was enough to put the guards on his mercy and scare off the lions who were brought to eat him up alive, much to the chagrin of Caesar. To add insult to injury, that gladiators were found to play fun quizzes in the arena. Thus as the entire circus seemed to be at the point of a disappointing finish, the Gaulic heroes challenged the legionaries for a fight that again enlivened the crowd. Thus the day is saved and our heroes return happy.

Asterix and the Goths

This time our little wise Gaul Asterix stepped in Germania encountering the barbaric Goths (Germans) to release the kidnapped Getafix following the annual druid Conference in which that later was awarded the trophy of the champion. The Goths wanted Getafix to prepare magic potions for them so that their invincible army can invade the rest of the world. In this they were united at first but the cunning of Getafix ultimately got the better of them and while Asteric and Obelix rescued him from the clutches of the barbaric hordes, Getafix himself caused the Goths to turn against each other. Thus the Goths were for several years kept in the confines of their own boundary and the Gauls were once again seen living peacefully with the closing of the adventure.

Asterix and the Golden Sickle

The 2nd of Asterix’s adventure begins with Getafix breaking his Golden sickle which was essential for the magic potion to be properly prepared and was also required by Getafix for the upcoming annual druid conference. So Asterix and Obelix set for Lutetia to purchase a sickle from the best manufacturer Metalurgix, a distant cousin of Obelix. But our heroes, as they reach Lutetia, find that Metallurgix is kidnapped and they get misled by the sickle-traffickers, who taking advantage of the demand for sickles as the conference date approaches near, raised their price. Also as usual the Romans got involved in the the happenings and we find the Gauls visiting and breaking the gaols more than once. The running gag of Obelix’s irritation on him not being allowed to have a drop of the potion and Cacofonix bound and gagged at the end of the book leaves the readers smiling still even at the final pages of this laugh riot.

Asterix the Gaul

Ever seen the little warrior with golden whiskers and winged helmet, always with a menhir-delivery man with a large tummy and red whiskers at his side? I think you have. But if u haven’t then you are missing two of the most famous and lovable comic book character duos by the name of Asterix and Obelisk. These were created by Goscinny and Uderzo who wrote the text and made the drawings respectively. The originals were in French and I don’t think I’ll ever manage to read them but the English translations were sufficient to make me a fan of these mighty but simple Gauls powered by the magic potion prepared by their druid Getafix. Surrounded by the Romans on all sides but the coast, these indomitable Gauls led by their chief Vitalstatistix won’t succumb to the Roman legionaries and is a constant headache to their all-in-all emperor Caesar.
In this 1st adventure of Asterix and his friends we are introduced to the inhabitants of this village and how the cunning of Asterix and a little help from Providence saves the Gaulish community evade the Roman espionage bent on getting the secret of the magic potion. At one point of time Getafix is captured by the Romans stationed at Compendium and Asterix, without the help of the potion, braves the enemy and rescues the druid. The hilarious dialogues and brilliant depictions have made these comic books a classic of all times for both the young and old and comedy lovers won’t find many books matching the witty texts. Finally the readers will not fail to notice the puns in the names of each character that succinctly describes the person and the beauty is that these have been suitably metamorphosed to fit the nationality of the characters.