Asterix and the Goths (1961)
Asterix and the Goths Review
Asterix and the Goths is the third volume of the Asterix comic strip series that was written by Rene Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo. It was published in 1961 and it is another strong entry in this series.
Asterix and Obelix go to a druid conference, but then Getafix gets abducted by the Goths, which eventually leads into an all-out war between the various Gothic tribes. This is the weakest of the three original Asterix comics due in particular to the fact that it focuses more on action than on humor. It is the largest one in scale and the most important in terms of storytelling, but I seriously missed the spontaneity and the humorous escapades.
There are those moment present here, but not in abundance. The chaos that ensues between these various tribes was a lot of fun to witness and the fact that Goths were portrayed so negatively is interesting historically speaking as WWII was close to the period when this comic was released. The eventual war that breaks out was explained in an interesting journalistic fashion and the ending implied important changes for the series, especially in regards to the Gauls and the Goths.
Obelix being forbidden to drink the strength potion is established here for the first time and he as a character was among the highlights here, especially his amusing obsession with eating boar. Asterix was also great and as smart and conniving as ever while Getafix got to shine in that beginning during the convention. It was interesting seeing the other druids for once. The illustrations vary in quality, but as the comic progresses they became better, more polished and more intricately detailed in their backgrounds. The highlight is the Gothic font used for the Goths’ dialogue, which was very clever.
