Asterix and the Banquet (1963)
Asterix and the Banquet Review
Asterix and the Banquet is the fifth volume of the Asterix comic strip series that was written by Rene Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo. It was published in 1963 and it was the weakest installment up to this point.
Asterix and Obelix bet that they can go on a tour of Gaul and collect regional culinary specialties for a banquet afterward. This slim plot was just an excuse to have what is basically a travelogue. The duo travel around the area through all these different and colorful regions and they have multiple adventures. The main issue here is that the comic got repetitive in its second half.
There is only so much that you can do with this premise ripe for repetition, which is exactly what happened toward the end. It is too episodic in its structure and ultimately lacking a more cohesive and elaborate story. With that being said, the places that they visit are uniformly fun and charming with the only problem being that the comic is littered with references that the French would get, but all of us who aren’t in the know about France as much would get lost.
Still, where the comic shines is in the humor and in the visuals. This is the first truly polished Asterix comic and the results are glorious. The colors are vivid, the backgrounds are meticulously detailed and the character designs are top-notch. It’s a beautifully drawn comic that is lived-in and exciting in its each frame. The story is also quite humorous with Obelix for the first time being all furious when called fat. Those moments were hilarious. Asterix is also a lot of fun here and the dog named Dogmatix is introduced here for the first time and it was hilarious how he was in the background throughout.
