''Asterix in Belgium'' (french: Astérix chez les Belges, lit=Asterix among the

Belgians Belgians ( nl, Belgen; french: Belges; german: Belgier) are people identified with the Kingdom of Belgium, a federal state in Western Europe. As Belgium is a multinational state, this connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultur ...

Belgae The Belgae () were a large confederation of tribes living in northern Gaul, between the English Channel, the west bank of the Rhine, and the northern bank of the river Seine, from at least the third century BC. They were discussed in depth by Ju ...

) is the twenty-fourth 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 ...

, by

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 ...

(story) and

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 ...

(illustrations). It is noted as the last Asterix story from Goscinny, who died during its production.

Plot summary

After fighting the

in the northern part of

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, 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 Caes ...

states that they are the bravest enemies he has ever faced ( historically claimed by Caesar). His soldiers agree with him, to the point when they consider being posted to the camps outside Asterix's village as a period of leave. Chief Vitalstatistix is aghast at the idea that his village, which has been the terror of the Romans for years, is now looked upon as relatively harmless. He is further outraged when he hears of Caesar's remarks. He claims that "his villagers" are in fact the bravest men of Gaul, and travels to Belgium to prove his point. A reluctant

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 ...

go with him after

Getafix 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 ...

tells them not doing so could make the story come to a sticky end. After crossing the border, they encounter a village of Belgians who rely on brute strength (and a regular diet of meat and beer) to successfully scare off Caesar's troops. These Belgians are led by two chiefs, Beefix of the

Nervii The Nervii were one of the most powerful Belgic tribes of northern Gaul at the time of its conquest by Rome. Their territory corresponds to the central part of modern Belgium, including Brussels, and stretched southwards into French Hainault. D ...

and Brawnix of the

Menapii The Menapii were a Belgic tribe dwelling near the North Sea, around present-day Cassel, during the Iron Age and the Roman period. Name Attestations They are mentioned as ''Menapii'' by Caesar (mid-1st c. BC) and Orosius (early 5th c. AD), ...

(though Brawnix comes across mainly as a second-in-command). To prove that the Gauls are the bravest, Vitalstatistix proposes a competition. The contest consists of raiding and destroying Roman camps on either side of the village. The Belgians and Gauls destroy the camps, telling the soldiers who they are. By the end they have destroyed an equal number of camps. Meanwhile, the Pirates' ship is wrecked when Obelix throws a boulder catapulted at him too high, causing the Captain to complain, saying he and his men are neutrals. Word is sent to Rome, though the facts are exaggerated, talking about vast hordes of Gauls, a savage pack of hounds, and a mysterious

fleet Fleet may refer to: Vehicles *Fishing fleet *Naval fleet *Fleet vehicles, a pool of motor vehicles *Fleet Aircraft, the aircraft manufacturing company Places Canada *Fleet, Alberta, Canada, a hamlet England * The Fleet Lagoon, at Chesil Beach, ...

of neutrals. Caesar goes to Belgium himself to restore order unaware of the fact that the whole thing is to get him to decide once and for all which side is the bravest. Upon Caesar's arrival, Asterix and Obelix go to meet him under a flag of truce. Asterix proposes that Caesar meet both parties at an arranged meeting point and tell them they are equally brave so they can all go home. Outraged at being reduced to a mere

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

(as opposed to

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

), Caesar furiously declares that he will meet them in battle instead. In the ensuing fight, the Romans get their way in the early stages of the battle through the use of

catapults A catapult is a ballistic device used to launch a projectile a great distance without the aid of gunpowder or other propellants – particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. A catapult uses the sudden release of store ...

. But then the three Gauls, and their magic potion, join the Belgians after they thwart a Roman flanking maneuver, and, by combining their efforts, the Gauls win the battle. With the battle lost, Caesar decides to leave for Rome. On his way he comes across the Gaulish and Belgian chiefs. Caesar proudly announces that he will lay down his life, but the chiefs only want to know who is the bravest. Caesar angrily declares them simply all "crazy" and leaves Vitalstatistix and Beefix laughing the incident off. They have to face the fact that they are all equally brave and, after a victory feast, part on good terms.

Notes

* Goscinny died halfway through writing the comic; as a homage to him, Uderzo drew darkened skies and rain into the comic for the rest of the album, to mark the point at which Goscinny died. This also serves as a spoof on the Belgian weather. * A further tribute to Goscinny appears in the very last panel of the album: beneath the banquet scene, to the left of the panel, a rabbit glances mournfully at Goscinny's signature. * Beefix's wife, Bonanza (Nicotine in the French version), is a caricature of Walloon actress and singer

Annie Cordy Léonie Juliana, Baroness Cooreman (16 June 1928 – 4 September 2020), also known by her stage name Annie Cordy, was a Belgian actress and singer. She appeared in more than 50 films from 1954 and staged many memorable appearances at Bruno Coqu ...

. *Beefix suggests to Bonanza about trying to cook

french fries French fries (North American English), chips (British English), finger chips ( Indian English), french-fried potatoes, or simply fries, are '' batonnet'' or ''allumette''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin from Belgium and France. Th ...

, and, after seeing a pile of mussels, wonders how fish would go with chips. * This album features a small cameo on page 31 from the two detectives

Thomson and Thompson Thomson and Thompson (french: Dupont et Dupond ) are fictional characters in ''The Adventures of Tintin'', the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. They are two incompetent detectives who provide much of the comic relief throughout the ...

from the world famous Belgian comic strip ''

Tintin Tintin or Tin Tin may refer to: ''The Adventures of Tintin'' * ''The Adventures of Tintin'', a comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé ** Tintin (character), a fictional character in the series ** ''The Adventures of Tintin'' (film), 2011, ...

'', who characteristically mispronounce the name of Julius Caesar. The scene is even drawn in a ''

ligne claire ''Ligne claire'' ( French for "clear line", ; nl, klare lijn) is a style of drawing created and pioneered by Hergé, the Belgian cartoonist and creator of ''The Adventures of Tintin''. It uses clear strong lines sometimes of varied width and n ...

'' style similar to that of

Hergé Georges Prosper Remi (; 22 May 1907 – 3 March 1983), known by the pen name Hergé (; ), from the French pronunciation of his reversed initials ''RG'', was a Belgian cartoonist. He is best known for creating ''The Adventures of Tintin'', ...

, the author of the Tintin comics. * On page 39, it also features the famous cyclist

Eddy Merckx Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (, ; born 17 June 1945), better known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional road and track bicycle racer who is among the most successful riders in the history of competitive cycling. His victorie ...

as a messenger. * The entire final battle between the Gallo-Belgian and Roman sides is a parody of the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (at that time in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium). A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armie ...

, in present-day Belgium. In the French edition, the text scrolls and quotes on them are a stylistic parody of

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

's text ''

Les Châtiments ''Les Châtiments'' ("The Castigations" or "The Punishments") is a collection of poems by Victor Hugo, first published in 1853, that fiercely attack Napoléon III's Second Empire.Kathleen Kuiper, ''Encyclopedia Britannica'' editors (2011)Les Châ ...

'', about the Battle of Waterloo; whereas even the English edition contains references to the same battle. During the battle the Roman commander is depicted as saying "

La garde meurt mais ne se rend pas The Imperial Guard (French: ''Garde Impériale'') was originally a small group of elite soldiers of the French Army under the direct command of Napoleon I, but grew considerably over time. It acted as his bodyguard and tactical reserve, and he ...

" ("The guard dies, it does not surrender!"), a quote attributed to the French general

Pierre Cambronne Pierre Jacques Étienne Cambronne, later Pierre, 1st Viscount Cambronne (26 December 1770 – 29 January 1842), was a general of the First French Empire. A main strategist of the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars, he was wounded at the ...

at the

in 1815. The pose he takes while saying this is similar to Cambronne's statue in Nantes. Similarly, Julius Caesar believes his reinforcements have arrived, when in fact it is Asterix and Obelix, parodying

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

expecting his general Grouchy's army to arrive at the battle, only to encounter the forces of the Prussian general Blücher. * Of all the ''Asterix'' books, this one contains the most literary references to earlier works, including

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...

's ''Lives'', Caesar's own ''Gallic Wars'', and (in the English translation) Shakespeare's ''Tragedy of Julius Caesar''. * The picture of the victory feast at the Belgian village is a parody of the Flemish painting '' The Peasant Wedding'' (''De Boerenbruiloft'') by

Pieter Bruegel the Elder Pieter Bruegel (also Brueghel or Breughel) the Elder (, ; ; – 9 September 1569) was the most significant artist of Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, a painter and printmaker, known for his landscapes and peasant scenes (so-called genr ...

. It was painted by Albert Uderzo's brother

Marcel Uderzo Marcel Uderzo (20 December 1933 – 24 January 2021) was a French comic book artist. He was the younger brother of fellow comic book artist Albert Uderzo. Biography Uderzo was born in Clichy-sous-Bois on 20 December 1933 to a family of Italian i ...

. * Botanix's young son is seen running to urinate, a reference to the iconic statue of ''

Manneken Pis ''Manneken Pis'' (; ) is a landmark bronze fountain sculpture in central Brussels, Belgium, depicting a puer mingens; a naked little boy urinating into the fountain's basin. Though its existence is attested as early as the 15th century, it wa ...

'' in Brussels.

In other languages

*Catalan: ''Astèrix a Bèlgica'' *Croatian: ''Asterix u Belgiji'' *Czech: ''Asterix u Belgů'' *Danish: ''Styrkeprøven'' *Dutch: ''Asterix en de Belgen'' *Finnish: ''Asterix Belgiassa'' *Galician: ''Astérix na terra dos belgas'' *German: ''Asterix bei den Belgiern'' *Greek: ''Ο Αστερίξ στους Βέλγους'' *Icelandic: ''Ástríkur í Belgíu'' *Italian: ''Asterix e i Belgi'' *Norwegian: ''Styrkeprøven'' (''The test of strength'') *Polish: ''Asteriks u Belgów'' *Portuguese: ''Astérix entre os Belgas'' *Serbian: ''Asteriks među Belgijancima'' *Slovenian: ''Asterix pri Belgih'' *Spanish: ''Astérix en Bélgica'' *Turkish: ''Asteriks Belçika'da'' *Indonesian: ''Asterik Di Belgia'' *Swedish: ''Asterix i Belgien''

Reception

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 ...

, it has a score of 4.09 out of 5.

External links

''Astérix chez les Belges'' annotations

Official Website

References

{{Asterix, Belgium, Asterix in, type=book Belgium, Asterix in Belgium in fiction Comics set in Belgium 1979 graphic novels Works by René Goscinny Comics by Albert Uderzo Depictions of Julius Caesar in comics Cultural depictions of Belgian people Cultural depictions of Eddy Merckx Ethnic humour Parodies of paintings