Tragicomix

>> Is it time for Asterix to hang up his helmet?

by JULIET WATERS

"The year is 50 BC. Gaul is entirely occupied by the Romans. Well, not entirely.... One small village of the indomitable Gauls still holds out against the invaders. And life is not easy for the roman legionaries who garrison the fortified camps of Totorum, Aquarium, Laudanum and Compendium..."

It's been 50 BC since 1959 AD, when Asterix and his burly pal Obelix first started throwing Romans into piles on the side of the road like a year's worth of laundry. Illustrator Albert Uderzo and writer René Goscinny first met soon after Goscinny returned from the U.S. where he'd been working with Harvey Kurtzman, founder of Mad comics. In 1949 the French government, in an effort to promote more Franco superheroes, had pretty much legislated American comics out of the country. And so the ageless Asterix was born.

Combining American superhero ethos with Warner Brothers slapstick and a hint of Mad druggie humour (a druid named Getafix keeps Asterix and Obelix pumped up with magic potion) the mustached duo have since been entertaining young and aging kids in 53 languages including African, Croatian, Gaelic, Hebrew, Thai and Welsh. There's an amusement park in France, a video game, and Gerard Depardieu played Obelix in the movie a few years ago.

Just opening the most recent Asterix will induce a huge hit of nostalgia for most people. The quality of the hardcover books made them standard school-library classics. Especially because they provided a skeletal knowledge of ancient Roman history. Sure, it's unlikely that Pompey was ever presented to Caesar like a beat up Bugs Bunny character, but whatever.

Asterix and the Actress has been five years in the making and has been accompanied with enough hype to warrant printing 300 million copies. More importantly, it's sparked a reprinting of all the old Asterix titles. Uderzo's lost legal bid for royalties on back issues has kept him working long past Goscinny's death in '77. Uderzo's kooky illustrations and funky fashion sense has contributed a lot to the Asterix charm. But when it comes to writing, there's a pretty huge void.

The humour in Asterix and the Actress is about as broad as Obelix. Asterix and Obelix are visited by their mothers who have brought gifts: a sword and helmet. Turns out the armour belongs to Pompey, who's in the middle of staging a coup against Caesar. Rather than risk suspicion or being beat up, Pompey decides to send an actress to seduce the armour away from Obelix. She will dress up as Panacea, a character from a previous Asterix, who Obelix has a crush on. Of course, the real Panacea will show up, there will be the ensuing comedy of errors and, of course, those "crazy" Romans will once more end up in a huge pile by the side of the road.

I wouldn't hesitate to recommend passing on the latest Asterix and taking advantage of the reprint to stock up on some Asterix classics like Asterix and Cleopatra or Asterix in Spain. But there is one interesting subplot that may open up some future complexities. Seems like Asterix is getting restless with the celibate life of an ageless warrior. Even Obelix's canine sidekick, Dogmatix, is moving on with his life. He finds a cute poodle and disappears for most of the story returning in one of the final frames with a litter of puppymatixes. It's about time, given that if Dogmatix was a puppy in 1959, he'd now be close to 300 dog years.

There's a hint that Asterix may be looking to settle down, perhaps spawn a few indomitable Gauls himself, which might allow Uderzo, age 73, to pass the pen and franchise over to someone else.

Asterix and The Actress by Albert Uderzo, Orion, hc, 48pp, $24.99