Asterix and Caesar’s Gift (1974)
Asterix and Caesar’s Gift Review
Asterix and Caesar’s Gift is the 21st volume of the Asterix comic strip series that was written by Rene Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo. It was published in 1974 and it is one of the weakest entries up to this point in the series’ run.
Caesar plays a practical joke on one of his soldiers and he sends him with his wife to Gaul. But when they arrive there, an initial misunderstanding quickly morphs into an all-out political war with the chief’s position being in risk for the first time. This volume is very problematic on multiple fronts. It has its strengths, but there are signs here that the series was leaving its Golden Age as the humor was simply not as strong as it was before and the storytelling was quite slight.
There are, though, some highlights here. Vitalstatistix is terrific and it was interesting seeing him finally get challenged for his position. Geriatrix was also superb and this is one of his best stories. His line about strangers made me laugh out loud how hilarious and clever it was. There is some fun situational comedy present here, but for the most part it ended up being a disappointing village-centric story.
The whole section set in Rome did not quite work. Those Romans weren’t all that memorable or fun to begin with. Asterix and Obelix themselves were very underused and forgettable here. There is a distinct lack of themes, messaging and interesting mythology and storytelling here that bothered me. Uderzo also wasn’t up to the task as his illustrations felt overly simplistic at times with the colors being particularly muted. The dialogue was only okay while the plot felt repetitious in the second half.
