Asterix at the Olympic Games (1968)
Asterix at the Olympic Games Review
Asterix at the Olympic Games is the twelfth volume of the Asterix comic strip series that was written by Rene Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo. It was published in 1968 and it is an immensely entertaining, lightweight chapter.
Asterix and Obelix enter into the Olympics, but the rules state that all potions are prohibited. Eventually, Asterix wins against Romans, but due to some hilarious and unexpected twists. First off, this is a semi-travelogue in a way. Yes, they travel to a different country, Ancient Greece, but then we only meet the place to a degree as the vast part of the plot is devoted to the games. This worked in my opinion as I prefer smaller over bigger stories in this series. The mixture of both a more confined, comedic story and an adventurous travelogue is the way to go for this franchise.
Obelix fearing that the potion is being stolen but getting ignored was a great hook. Of course, eventually we realize that Getafix knew about it all along and he tricked the Romans, thus Asterix wins by default. The magic potion storyline here clearly stands as a metaphor for steroid usage in sports, which was quite clever. Although their insistence on using the potion made them definite cheaters, this was still grounded in reality in the context of the series as Asterix could never win without the potion. The ending did feel rushed a bit, but it was so unexpected and so funny that it worked nonetheless.
Asterix was at his prime in this story. He was so likable. He has an admirable quality of not being a sore loser. It was also very funny seeing his small stature fighting against these much larger dudes. Obelix was as funny as always and Dogmatix stood out in a couple of very amusing frames. Caesar getting sort of a win at the end was very memorable and so was the different banquet than usual in the last frame.
The differences between the Romans and the Greeks are very well established here and the Gauls being these patriotic misfits was so funny. The humor here is some of the best in the series so far due to amazing dialogue while the scenery is also gorgeous. A couple of illustrations focusing on Greek architecture were stunning to behold, though of course the comic could have used even more of those.
