Dec 30, 2004 07:49 PM
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(Updated Dec 30, 2004 07:50 PM)
The men in a small village of Gaul are unconquered, even though entire Gaul is?.
They eat, drink, fight and make merry?..
They have only one fear? they sky may fall on their heads?..
They may be weaklings, but a single drop of magic potion makes them invincible?..
They have one passion in common?. Beating the hell out of the romans!!!
Welcome to the wonderful world of Asterix & Co??
The Set-up:
Asterix comics are based in the medieval Europe, where the entire continent (well almost) was conqurred by the great Julius Cesar. However, one small village was still holding out, which you may not see in the map without a magnifying glass!! So Asterix comics helps you in doing that every time J
This Gaulish(Gaul being the older name for France) village has one secret ingredient that helps them to hold out: the magic potion made by their druid Getafix. This potion makes them stand out against any opposition.
The Characters:
The characters in asterix are probably the best comic and humorous characters ever created. Lets take a quick glance.
Asterix:This midget of a man is the hero of the stories and the real crisis man. He has a brain that can think of all the great ideas and when that is backed by the power of the magic potion, he can do wonders. Of course, he has a great sense of humour to go with.
Obelix:Asterix?s best friend and a huge man who does a menhir delivery business (no one knows what the menhirs do though?). He had fallen into a pot of magic potion when he was a kid and he has great strength. Needless to say, brains don?t go with body.
Vitalstatistix:The head of the village. He is very authoratitive and a tiger in front of the enemy? when it comes to home front, he is a simple mouse in front of his wife!!
Getafix:The village druid. He has a witty sense of humour and a beard that touches the ground.
Cacophonix:The wannabe singer, who has a song for every occasion, only thing even the wild boars run away when he sings!!
Dogmatix:Obelix?s dog.
Then we have a set of other characters like Geriatrix, Justforkix, Hiswhosemoralsareilastix (the best name in my opinion) etc, who add to the fun.
My Review on the Comix:
Asterix comics are comics for all ages. When you read them as a child, you get a different kind of pleasure and when you read them as a grown up, you get different meanings from the dialogues. The writers had great sense of humour, which comes out in dialogues, sequence of events, the pictures and some witty remarks.
As these comics show, history can be fun and with a little knowledge of European history, you can go mad laughing your heart out. The characters are very nicely interlinked and you can see the warmth of relationships as well as the unity while fighting for a common cause in a humorous way.
But the best thing about the writers is that the way they link the incidents of history to modern world, bringing out a total hilarious picture.
The following are a few instances that pop up to my mind immediately.
- Asterix and Obleix want to rob a bank. Obelix tries to snoop in front of the bank and the guard catches him. He says, its not easy to rob the bank as there are x no. of guards who change at such and such time and thus he gives all the details that Asterix actually wanted.
Obelix comes back disappointed and says, ?I was trying to snoop around, but the guard caught me and I could not find out any thing!!!?
- The classic dilogue was in Obelix and Co, where the chief Vitalstatistix says, ?Half of the village are busy getting boars for the other half, who are busy making menhirs??
The fun of these statements can be manifold, when we see them with pictures.
5 reasons on why one should read Asterix comics:
This is especially meant at tjose, who criticize the comics reading saying that its total waste of time as there is nothing to learn!!
If you need to know how the ancient Europe looked like and the names of cities and countries, then this is the best way to learn.
Word hunt can be fun, when you try to get the meaning out of the names.
Extreme good sense of humour?. Adds lighter touch in any situation.
Great fun reading, read it for pur and unadulterated entertainment.
It gives a very good reading habits at an early age, without bringing any abusive word.
I read them for the first time 10 years back and am still reading them. If you have never read one, go ahead and grab a copy. You will definitely not regret it!!
