I never was a big lover of comic books, although I think I would've enjoyed the humour and play on words more as a child. I've heard a lot about Asterix and it's nice to finally get some sense of what it's about.

A day after his KDP forum nemesis sizzles up a second genre, this petty little man (I won't make any jokes about what he's NOT packing) decided to carpet bomb her books. Yes, jealousy between indie authors is alive and well and Grampa Peake is the green-eyed poster asshat.

 

Ask not what Caesar can do for you, rather ask what Caesar will do TO you when he gets back to Rome with an army behind him that has spent the last 8 years beating back hairy barbarians...

Caesar's well written notes on his encounters with Gauls, Germans and Britons during 58 to 51 BC, partly for the sake of history, partly to buy influence from supporters back in Rome, and partly to say how good the Roman army was and get them behind him.

This is a very good and readable translation by S.A. Handford, with an overview of Roman politics, the army, the situation in Gaul, and notes on Caesar before the book starts. The notes at the back bring certain parts of each chapter under the spotlight and there's a handy glossary of people and place names.

Ask not what Caesar can do for you, rather ask what Caesar will do TO you when he gets back to Rome with an army behind him that has spent the last 8 years beating back hairy barbarians...

Caesar's well written notes on his encounters with Gauls, Germans and Britons during 58 to 51 BC, partly for the sake of history, partly to buy influence from supporters back in Rome, and partly to say how good the Roman army was and get them behind him.

This is a very good and readable translation by S.A. Handford, with an overview of Roman politics, the army, the situation in Gaul, and notes on Caesar before the book starts. The notes at the back bring certain parts of each chapter under the spotlight and there's a handy glossary of people and place names.

Poor Obelix, he meets a girl with whom he falls in love only to discover that she has been engaged to somebody else and he has been drafted into the Roman Army to go and fight Ceaser's civil war against Pompey. Well, any love sick individual would probably sit back, wait until he is killed, and then make his move, but not Asterix and Obelix – they are too noble and honourable to do that, so they do what any good and noble person would do in such a situation – they join the Roman army to go off and rescue him.

Like the Asterix books before this one, I was in in stitches, particularly with the Egyptian, who, throughout the entire album, believed he was on some tour. Also, despite the strict discipline that is expected of those in the army, Asterix and Obelix managed to pummel their way through training and get off to North Africa, on their own terms, to rescue Tragicomix from the civil war and bring him back to his fiancée.

The civil war aspect is rather amusing because the whole idea of the Roman army fighting the Roman army is quite farcical, especially how they actually don't know who is fighting whom because they are all wearing the same uniform. I suspect that in reality (and this is not reality – this is Asterix) one could easily define who the enemy was, but then if they had done that it would not have been so amusing.

The other rather amusing aspect was how they had Obelix burst into tears when he discovered that the love of his life (or the latest one) was engaged to be married, and then from that point on whenever somebody burst into tears it had to be because their heart had been broken. Obviously there was no connection with the original one, though I do think it was because Asterix and Obelix first indicated that this was why they had burst into tears, and thus the other legionaries, who had the good chance of landing up in Asterix and Obelix's cohort, had picked up off of them.

So, another Asterix album finished, and one that is still up there with the others. There are still quite a few more to go, and at this stage I am still waiting for another two compendiums to arrive from the United States (and I do hope they get here because I am really stressing out about these latest Amazon orders), so I will hopefully manage to get through all of them sometime soon.