If you’re ever in the mood for more Franco Belgian comic books and don’t know where to start there’s always the other big title that gets a lot of attention: “The Adventures of TIntin”. It’s the same format as the Asterix books and has nearly as many titles. The difference is that Tintin is more of an action adventure story while Asterix settles for more humor and slapstick.
Anyway, onto this week’s review.
Written by Rene GoscinnyArt by Albert Uderzo
Illustrated by Albert Uderzo
This week our heroes confront the terror of urban gentrification and travel to Rome to try and steal Caesar’s crown from atop his head.
Here’s a brief rundown of the artistic styles that are prevalent throughout the Franco Belgian comic book scene. Think of it as a small collection of facts that you can whip out at a party or any social gathering in order to look smart.
The first is the “realistic” style where the artist creates highly detailed and almost photorealistic pages. You can find this in books like Blueberry by Moebius and Thorgal by Grzegorz Rosinski. The second is the famous “linge claire” or “clean line” style which is characterized by highly realistic backgrounds but simple easy to read line work. This was made most famous by the Tintin books. The final one is the “comic dynamic” style. Out of all three of the styles, it’s the most cartoonish with the most unrealistic caricatures and the most exaggerated action. This is the style where Asterix and Obelix thrive, and interestingly…the Smurfs as well.
Mansions of the Gods
“Mansions of the Gods” is the first of only two books in the entire series that doesn’t include the name of the main hero in the title. While it’s another book where Caesar attempts to conquer the Gaulish village once and for all, he goes about it in a thoroughly devious and modern way: gentrification.
The plot of “Mansions of the Gods” is pretty straightforward. Since Caesar knows he can’t defeat the Gauls in open combat, he decides to bring the village and the surrounding area into the modern age and into the fold of Roman culture and influence, whether they like it or not. This involves tearing down large chunks of the forest that the Gauls use to hunt boars, importing a bunch of slaves to build fancy new “insulae” or apartment buildings, filling the apartments with Romans, and letting the inertia of culture and commerce run its course. While there are some villagers that find newfound wealth and prosperity in selling goods to the incoming Romans, Asterix and Obelix don’t like it one bit and resolve to force the Romans out. First, they attempt to regrow the forest just as quickly as the slaves tear it down, then they persuade the slaves building the apartments to revolt, then they get rid of the tenants by unleashing their bard on the inhabitants, and they finally manage to kick the Romans out for good with old fashioned violence. The day is saved and the villagers can enjoy their way of life for another day.
“The Mansions of the Gods” is less a commentary about Rome and more of a commentary about modern French society. The book has a lot of things to say about workers rights, constant labor strikes, and the preservation of indiginous cultures which are all things that the French hold very dear to this day. With that being said, the book does draw attention to the idea that the Romans were an empire that did see itself as a modernizing force that was able and willing to share its culture and way of life with the rest of the people it conquered, whether those people liked it or not.
It probably says a lot about the way we view modern society when we can draw comparisons to people who lived hundreds of years ago. Also, for anyone who might be interested, “Mansions of the Gods” is one of the books that was turned into a movie and is available to watch on several streaming platforms like Youtube.
Asterix and the Laurel Wreath
Continued below
“Asterix and the Laurel Wreath” moves away from the conflict between the Romans and the Gauls and back into the smaller scale family oriented politics between the Gauls themselves. The chief Vitalstatistix has a brother in law named Homeopathix, a very rich Parisian buisness-man who looks down upon Vitalstatistix and the provincial village. In a fit of drunken boasting Vitalstatistix claims that he will be able to feed his brother in law a stew, spiced with the laurel wreath from the head of Julius Caesar himself! Naturally, Asterix and Obelix are dispatched to Rome itself to steal Caesar’s laurels and must navigate the complexities of Roman culture and the urban jungle to succeed. A cavalcade of errors occurs as Asterix and Obelix try and fail multiple times to gain access to Caesar’s personal quarters, including being sold into slavery, being tried as potential assassins to Caesar, navigating the Roman legal system, and attempting to provide a spectacle to the Roman crowds at the circus.
“Asterix and the Laurel Wreath” reverts back to the series teaching its readers about Roman culture and history while still providing an entertaining story. The book has a lot to say about Roman slavery, politics, law, and mass entertainment and it pullls it off quite admirably. It is worth mentioning that the book does provide a pretty weak excuse for the heroes to not use their magic potion, since if they did that the book would be over in a couple of pages, but it’s still an entertaining read.
Next week we’re kicking the reviews into overdrive with four books: “Asterix and the Soothsayer”, “Asterix in Corsica”, “Asterix and Caesar’s Gift”, and “Asterix and the Great Crossing”
