''Asterix and Obelix's Birthday: The Golden Book'' is the thirty-fourth album of the

Asterix ''Asterix'' or ''The Adventures of Asterix'' (french: Astérix or , "Asterix the Gaul") is a ''bande dessinée'' comic book series about a village of indomitable Gaulish warriors who adventure around the world and fight the Roman Republic, wi ...

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

series, designed and written by

Albert Uderzo Alberto Aleandro Uderzo (; ; 25 April 1927 – 24 March 2020), better known as Albert Uderzo, was a French comic book artist and scriptwriter. He is best known as the co-creator and illustrator of the ''Astérix'' series in collaboration with Re ...

. The book also includes Asterix stories which were created jointly with

René Goscinny René Goscinny (, ; 14 August 1926 – 5 November 1977) was a French comic editor and writer, who created the ''Astérix'' comic book series with illustrator Albert Uderzo. Raised largely in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he attended French schoo ...

. The album, which celebrates the 50th anniversary of the creation of the series, was released on 22 October 2009. The album begins with a preface where Uderzo replies to the critics of his solo work, especially for the previous album, ''

Asterix and the Falling Sky ''Asterix and the Falling Sky'' (, "The Sky Falls On His Head") is the thirty-third volume of the Asterix comic book series, the ninth solely written and illustrated by Albert Uderzo and the only volume to introduce science fiction elements into ...

''. He also says ''The Golden Book'' is not a whole story, but a succession of short stories celebrating the 50th anniversary of the hero.

Plot summary

The story begins in the year 1 AD, fifty years after 50 BC, when all the other books are set. The characters are introduced, but aged fifty years. Some

craftsmen Craftsman may refer to: A profession *Artisan, a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative * Master craftsman, an artisan who has achieved such a standard that he may establish his own workshop and take ...

tradesmen A tradesman, tradeswoman, or tradesperson is a skilled worker that specializes in a particular trade (occupation or field of work). Tradesmen usually have work experience, on-the-job training, and often formal vocational education in contrast to ...

or Gallic warriors already have children or grandchildren. Uderzo appears in the strip and has a joke at the Gauls' expense, leading Obelix to hit him. Uderzo then decides that aging the Gauls 50 years was not such a good idea. Back in 50 BC, in the same village in which the birthdays of

and

Obelix Obelix (; french: Obélix) is a cartoon character in the French comic book series ''Asterix''. He works as a menhir sculptor and deliveryman, and is Asterix's best friend. Obelix is noted for his obesity, the menhirs he carries around on his bac ...

, which happen to be the same day, are celebrated. Asterix and Obelix receive letters from their friends (

Panacea In Greek mythology, Panacea (Greek ''Πανάκεια'', Panakeia), a goddess of universal remedy, was the daughter of Asclepius and Epione. Panacea and her four sisters each performed a facet of Apollo's art: * Panacea (the goddess of universal ...

, the pirates, and Edifis among others). Obelix can't read Panacea's letter, so he gets an old alphabet book from Getafix. However, he is still unable to understand what the letter says until Asterix finally helps him. Obelix, in his anger, then throws the alphabet book at Getafix. Then Geriatrix, jealous of the two

Gauls The Gauls ( la, Galli; grc, Γαλάται, ''Galátai'') were a group of Celtic peoples of mainland Europe in the Iron Age and the Roman period (roughly 5th century BC to 5th century AD). Their homeland was known as Gaul (''Gallia''). They s ...

, criticizes them and makes a rather negative description using a

Magnetic resonance imaging Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio wave ...

picture. At a great feast, many recurring or important characters of the adventures of Asterix, from all nationalities, appear. Each one of them offers his gift to the heroes ('' Ekonomikrisis'' offers a guide Coquelus,

Cacofonix This is a list of characters in the ''Asterix'' comics. Main characters Asterix, Obelix and Dogmatix are the first characters with short descriptions usually listed at the beginning of each of the ''Asterix'' books (after the map of Gaul). They ...

his

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses List of musical symbols, musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chord (music), chords of a song or instrumental Musical composition, musical piece. Like ...

, Valueaddedtax new magic potions ...) They also make some proposals for the future (clothes changing, marriage, amusement park, theater, art visual, etc., which are shown to the Gauls). Finally,

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...

and

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...

arrive. Caesar is initially reluctant to come to the birthday party. However, he yields to the wishes of his lady after she reminds him of the protection Asterix and Obelix gave to Caesarion (

Asterix and Son ''Asterix and Son'' (, "Asterix's Son") is the twenty-seventh volume of the Asterix comic book series, created by author René Goscinny and illustrator Albert Uderzo. It was the third Asterix album to be written and illustrated by Uderzo. Plot ...

). Nevertheless, Caesar, being a bad loser, decides to offer the Gauls a jar of wine laced with

Ricin Ricin ( ) is a lectin (a carbohydrate-binding protein) and a highly potent toxin produced in the seeds of the castor oil plant, ''Ricinus communis''. The median lethal dose (LD50) of ricin for mice is around 22 micrograms per kilogram of body ...

, entrusting the mission to a group of centurions. However, Getafix outsmarts the Romans by proposing a toast to Caesar's health and then secretly tossing the contents of his glass over his shoulder. The centurions drink with enthusiasm and are then plagued with severe gastrointestinal distress for the remainder of the story.

Notes

* There are over 80 characters in this album, making it the one with the most characters in the whole series. * This album includes characters from many past volumes, including characters without names (those seen only in passing). As well as main characters, there are female legionaries, a drunken prisoner, the children of the village, and the chicken in love with the feathers on Vitalstatistix's helmet. Also, former bad guys including several centurions, notable legionaries, and

in person are all present. Gaulish traitors such as Clovogarlix from ''

Asterix and the Golden Sickle ''Asterix and the Golden Sickle'' (, "The Golden Sickle") is the second volume of the Asterix comic book series, by René Goscinny (stories) and Albert Uderzo (illustrations). It was first serialized in ''Pilote'' magazine issues 42–74 in 1960. ...

'', Prolix from ''

Asterix and the Soothsayer ''Asterix and the Soothsayer'' (, "The Divine") is the nineteenth volume of the Asterix comic book series, by René Goscinny (stories) and Albert Uderzo (illustrations). It was originally serialized in Pilote issues 652-673 in 1972. Plot summary ...

'', and Codfix from ''

Asterix and the Great Divide ''Asterix and the Great Divide'' (, "The Great Ditch") is the twenty-fifth volume of the Asterix comic book series. First published in French in 1980, it was translated into English in 1981. It is the first Asterix adventure to be written by illu ...

'' are also present. The characters and subjects (scenes, places, and objects) present in the book make up a mix of elements, creating a "best of" the 33 preceding albums. * This album reuses drawings from publicity materials, annex publications to the series, and preceding albums. For example, the study of character proportions of Asterix on page 17 is from ''

The Twelve Tasks of Asterix ''The Twelve Tasks of Asterix'' (''Les Douze travaux d'Astérix'') is a 1976 Belgian/French animated feature film based on the ''Asterix'' comic book series, and the third in the animated franchise. René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, the crea ...

''. * The captain of the pirates, Redbeard, is finally named in this album. He is not named in any of the preceding albums. * Except for potential spouses, children, and grandchildren of Asterix and Obelix, Caesar's pharmacist Choleramorbus is the only previously unpublished character in the album. * On the final 2-page spread, one character appears twice. He is Voluptuous Arteriosclerosus, the former centurion from the Roman camp Compendium seen in the album ''

''. He appears in the upper-right as a centurion clapping Prolix on the back, and in the lower-left as the demoted legionary he is at the end of ''

'' sweeping under the supervision of his Optio (who he used to be in charge of). * Except for most of the short stories in ''

Asterix and the Class Act ''Asterix and the Class Act'' (french: link=no, Astérix et la rentrée gauloise, "Asterix and the Gaulish return; ''la rentrée'' is the French return to school after the summer break) is officially the thirty-second album of the Asterix comic ...

'', this is the first time that an album does not end with a banquet, even though we can predict that there will be one later on to celebrate the birthday of Asterix and Obelix.

Reception

The book has a score of 3.54 on

Goodreads Goodreads is an American social cataloging website and a subsidiary of Amazon that allows individuals to search its database of books, annotations, quotes, and reviews. Users can sign up and register books to generate library catalogs and read ...

References

External links

Presentation of the album on the official siteOfficial Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Asterix And Obelix's Birthday: The Golden Book Asterix books 2009 graphic novels Works by René Goscinny Comics by Albert Uderzo