Asterix and the Great Divide (1980)
Asterix and the Great Divide Review
Asterix and the Great Divide is the 25th volume of the Asterix comic strip series that was written and illustrated by Albert Uderzo. It was published in 1980 and it was the first volume that Uderzo wrote after Goscinny’s passing.
I did expect the quality of the series to significantly drop after the passing of Goscinny as his writing was crucial in making Asterix as funny and as sophisticated as it was. And it did happen unquestionably, but at least this story was still perfectly solid, though obviously far from great. What I noticed with Uderzo is that he overexplains stuff too much, resulting in way too many balloons that are overstuffed with dozens of words. It felt rough to look at.
But he still did create an original, full story that undeniably mostly worked. It was a different than usual story as we got the chance to visit another village in Gaul that was just as stubborn and prone to fights as our other favorite Gaulish village. This new village is divided in two due to leadership differences, which was an obvious reference to the Berlin Wall. The couple that dates from both sides was also very obviously influenced by Romeo and Juliet.
These two characters were forgettable and animated in an overly pretty and human manner, but Majestix and Cleverdix as the rival chiefs of the village were quite memorable and fun. I also really liked Codfix as this slimy, manipulative villain. He was admittedly too cartoonish in his amphibian design, but he still proved to be a perfectly competent villain.
How the pirates factored into the story was a lot of fun and it fitted the narrative quite well. The Romans were also solidly used, though how they were beaten was ridiculous with the potion that made them too small. This resulted in that very cool image of Dogmatix being massive in context, but it was still too fantastical. These comics work best with the magic potion as the sole fantasy element.
Asterix and Obelix got some fun moments and so did Getafix, but too often this volume was hurt by an overreliance on coincidences to advance the plot. Uderzo’s illustrations, on the other hand, are just as polished, detailed and beautiful as always with the darker hued panels being particularly memorable. The visual gags of the village being split in two were also wonderful.
