So what does Asterix think about Scottish independence?
Detail from an illustration from Asterix and the Picts. Click for full image. Copyright: 2013 Les Editions Albert René
Asterix the Gaul has fought the Romans and the Goths, participated in the Olympics and discovered America – but his most fraught adventure came in 2005, when he appeared to jump the shark.
The original author of the Asterix stories, René Goscinny, had died in 1977, leaving artist Albert Uderzo to take over writing duties. Asterix and the Falling Sky saw Asterix and his friend Obelix encounter flying aliens when a spaceship arrived above the skies of Gaul. The book was not a success, which perhaps explains why it has taken eight years for a further adventure to appear, this time with a new creative team replacing Uderzo. In fact, there is a certain poignancy to the cover illustration of Asterix and the Picts, with Uderzo drawing Obelix and his successor Didier Conrad portraying Asterix. Obelix is pictured tossing a caber, while his friend smiles and winks, while gesturing with a thumb, as though the franchise is thanking Uderzo and attempting to reassure him that his legacy is in safe hands.
Luckily, for long-time fans, this proves largely to be the case. Writer Jean-Yves Ferri goes back to basics, with a story that sends the two heroes out on an adventure to foreign lands where danger lurks and wrongs wait to be righted. A Pictish warrior, MacAroon, has been washed ashore in a block of ice and needs to be thawed out. His speech has been affected, but his manly charms (and dashing kilt) soon attract female admirers, much to the displeasure of the menfolk of the village. Asterix and Obelix are charged with escorting him home, rescuing his beloved Camomilla from the clutches of the evil MacCabaeus, and installing MacAroon as king. Along the way, they encounter pirates (who are dispatched with the usual ease), meet Nessie (an ancestor of the Loch Ness monster), and thwart a Roman plan for the conquest of Caledonia.
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Luckily, for long-time fans, this proves largely to be the case. Writer Jean-Yves Ferri goes back to basics, with a story that sends the two heroes out on an adventure to foreign lands where danger lurks and wrongs wait to be righted. A Pictish warrior, MacAroon, has been washed ashore in a block of ice and needs to be thawed out. His speech has been affected, but his manly charms (and dashing kilt) soon attract female admirers, much to the displeasure of the menfolk of the village. Asterix and Obelix are charged with escorting him home, rescuing his beloved Camomilla from the clutches of the evil MacCabaeus, and installing MacAroon as king. Along the way, they encounter pirates (who are dispatched with the usual ease), meet Nessie (an ancestor of the Loch Ness monster), and thwart a Roman plan for the conquest of Caledonia.
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