Asterix and the Cauldron (1969)
Asterix and the Cauldron Review
Asterix and the Cauldron is the thirteenth volume of the Asterix comic strip series that was written by Rene Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo. It was published in 1969 and it is one of the greatest entries in the series.
When local Chief Whosemoralsarelastix wants a cauldron full of money kept out of Roman hands, the cash disappears while Asterix is guarding it. He and Obelix must earn enough to repay it through many different means, each funnier than the last. This story isn’t a travelogue, but a situational comedy, which I always prefer. It differentiates itself from many others with the addition of economy, which obviously our heroes fail to grasp the meaning of.
Yes, this comic is very episodic in nature, but unlike ‘Asterix and the Banquet’, each adventure and mishap serve the function of the overall story and every single one of them is at least quite amusing, though most are even hilarious. They try to sell boars, but price them at a ridiculously low price as they don’t know anything about trade. The acting bit is also a lot of fun, though it could have been longer. The gambling sequence was very funny too and the highlight is robbing the bank section, which was superbly executed throughout.
Undoubtedly, Asterix and the Cauldron paints the heroes in a very bad light. Not only are they inherently dumb and naïve to know anything about how real life and economy work, but they were also genuinely willing to steal toward the end. However, this works in the context of this story and every single action that they took was in-character. Their friendship was wonderfully endearing as always and the chief character was very well written and quite conniving.
That mid section with the comedic bits was superb, but the ending is another highlight. It is rare for Goscinny to not rush the ending, but here he never did that. In fact, it’s expertly paced while still being eventful and important. The stakes were higher than ever as Asterix for the first time in the series had to resort to sword fighting. The action was incredibly entertaining here and the end twist with the pirates was just delightful and pleasingly unexpected.
Another standout here is the visual style. Uderzo outdid himself here, resulting in so many absolutely gorgeous frames where the highlights are the gorgeous use of coloring with the bluish night scenes being especially effective. The backgrounds are detailed and every single strip in this book looked absolutely mesmerizing.
