''Asterix and Son'' (, "Asterix's Son") is the twenty-seventh volume 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 series a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

, created by author

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 ...

and illustrator

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 ...

. It was the third Asterix album to be written and illustrated by Uderzo.

Plot summary

A baby boy mysteriously appears on

's doorstep one sunny morning. Stung by speculation that he could be the father, Asterix sets out with

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 ...

to find the baby's parents. Their only clue is the embroidered linen of the baby's clothes and wrappings, suggesting he comes from a rich Roman family. The

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

attempt to kidnap the baby, at the behest of

Marcus Junius Brutus Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC), often referred to simply as Brutus, was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Serv ...

, Caesar's adopted son. Getafix realizes that the baby was left in the village for its protection. While in the village, the baby twice drinks the

magic potion A potion () is a liquid "that contains medicine, poison, or something that is supposed to have magic powers.” It derives from the Latin word ''potus'' which referred to a drink or drinking. The term philtre is also used, often specifically ...

, first by accident when Obelix uses a half-full potion gourd as a feeding bottle; later, he falls into a nearly-empty cauldron of potion. The baby smashes the doors of several houses and harms the Roman spies sent to capture him, including a legionary disguised as a rattle peddler, and the Prefect of Gaul, Crismus Cactus, who is disguised as a nursemaid. Finally, Brutus takes matters into his own hands, attacking the village with his own legions and burning it to the ground. The men of the village entrust the baby to the women, before fighting the Romans. Brutus seizes the baby from the women and escapes with the help of the pirates, but soon Asterix and Obelix catch up with him and rescue the baby. The unexpected arrival of Caesar and then Cleopatra resolves the mystery. The baby is their son,

Caesarion Ptolemy XV Caesar). (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος ; 23 June 47 BC – August 30 BC), nicknamed Caesarion (, "Little Caesar"), was the last pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt, reigning with his mother Cleopatra from 2 September 44 BC until her de ...

. Brutus had sought to kill the baby in order to become sole heir to Caesar's property and fortune, so Cleopatra had the boy sent to the Gaulish village for his protection. Caesar exiles Brutus to Upper Germania and promises to rebuild the village. The story ends with a banquet on Cleopatra's royal barge.

Notes

*Uderzo said he received a lot of criticism for not setting the final banquet in the village. *This is the only time the Romans successfully attack and destroy the village, although Caesar promises to have it rebuilt. *Like ''

Asterix in Switzerland ''Asterix in Switzerland'' (, "Asterix in the land of the Helvetii") is the sixteenth volume of the ''Asterix'' comic book series, by René Goscinny (stories) and Albert Uderzo (illustrations). It was originally serialized in ''Pilote'' magazine ...

'', this album presents a rare dark tone as it touches on the possibility of an innocent's murder. With the destruction of the village,

Impedimenta 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 ...

's tearful failure at protecting the child, and the apparent Roman victory over the Gauls. *In the English translation, before Caesar sends Brutus to Upper Germania, he says '' Et tu, Brute?'', which were the words he spoke before his death in Shakespeare's ''

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 ...

''.

Reception

The book has a score of 3.81 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 ...

In other languages

*French: ''Le fils d'Astérix'' *Catalan: ''El fill d'Astèrix'' *Croatian: ''Asterixov sin'' *Czech: ''Asterixův syn'' *Dutch: ''De zoon van Asterix'' *Finnish: ''Asterixin poika'', also translated to

Rauma dialect Rauma dialect (''"rauman giäl", "language of Rauma"'') is a Southwestern dialect of Finnish spoken in the town of Rauma, Finland Rauma (; sv, Raumo) is a town and municipality of around () inhabitants on the west coast of Finland, north of T ...

as ''Asteriksim boikkane mukul'' ("Asterix's boy tot") *Galician: ''O fillo de Astérix'' *German: ''Der Sohn des Asterix'' *Greek: ''Ο γιος του Αστερίξ'' *Indonesian: ''Bayi Asterix'' *Irish: ''Asterix agus a Mhac'' *Italian: ''Il figlio di Asterix'' *Latin ''Filius Asterigis'' *Norwegian: ''Asterix & sønn'' *Portuguese: ''O filho de Astérix'' *Polish: ''Syn Asteriksa'' *Russian: ''Сын Астерикса'' *Serbian: ''Asteriksov sin'' *Spanish: ''El hijo de Astérix'' *Swedish: ''Asterix & Son'' *Turkish: ''Asteriks'in Oğlu'' *Welsh: ''Asterix a'r Pwt Bach Twt''

References

External links

Official Website
{{Asterix, Son, Asterix and, type=book Son, Asterix and 1983 graphic novels Comics by Albert Uderzo Depictions of Julius Caesar in comics Depictions of Cleopatra in comics Cultural depictions of Marcus Junius Brutus Cultural depictions of Caesarion