The average rating for Baalbek: Heliopolis, City of the Sun based on 1 review is 5 stars.
Review # 1 was written on 2015-02-08 00:00:00 Mikayla Grant Set in 50 BC, all of Gaul (ancient France) is conquered by Julius Caesar�s Roman army. All? One small village still holds out against the Romans: Asterix�s village. And it�s thanks to their druid Getafix�s magic potion which gives them superhuman strength! In Asterix and the Banquet, one of the earliest Asterix adventures, Inspector General Overanxius orders a stockade be built around the rebel village to contain them so Asterix makes a bet with the Roman. He and his best friend Obelix (don�t call him fat!) will go on a tour of Gaul, collecting the finest regional food and drink and bring them back to the village for a banquet, proving that they are free to move within their own country, stockade or no. The race is on! I think the Banquet was the first Asterix book I read cover to cover when I was a kid - before then I�d just pick up a book and randomly leaf through it, staring at the pictures, maybe reading a word bubble or two (I was, like, 5!). Re-reading it as an adult, it�s amazing how appealing the comic still is and not just in a nostalgic way. Rene Goscinny�s script is tight and fast-moving - it has to be, the book is only 43 pages long! And even though each half page (usually about 5-6 panels) was serialised in magazines and newspapers, collected into the books, they read seamlessly. It helps that Albert Uderzo�s art is so gorgeous with bright colours and wonderfully designed locations, bringing the ancient world to life with startling vivacity. I didn�t realise this book was also Dogmatix�s first appearance (Obelix�s dog). He just shows up out of nowhere, standing outside a pork butcher�s shop in Lutetia, Asterix and Obelix�s first stop, and follows our heroes from then on. He�s not named yet though and our heroes don�t acknowledge him until the very end when Obelix turns to notice him in one panel. Fulliautomatix, the village�s blacksmith, is also not a final character yet either. He�s here in name only but his character design is very different from the later books, and his running joke will be the guy who beats up Cacofonix (the village�s bard) whenever he tries to sing. As I remembered, the visuals for black people are quite racist too - big cartoony red lips - but then again everyone�s drawn cartoony. I�m not saying it�s right but it�s worth noting that this book was published in 1963 and that was still more-or-less the norm of how black people were portrayed in comics so it probably doesn�t reflect the creators� beliefs (I even remember getting Gollywog badges from Robertson�s Golden Shred marmalade in the �90s - that�s how long these negative images persisted!). The story�s a bit flimsy if you start to think about it - basically the magic potion makes the whole thing pointless. I mean, why don�t they just knock down the stockade themselves, and why are they afraid of the Romans at all when they smash them up whenever they encounter them? But then we wouldn�t have the fun adventure so I�ll give it a pass. Strangely for a French comic translated into English, a lot of the humour is linguistic with more than a few puns that are a bit cheesy, but I still love a lot of the physical gags. Like when the Romans are trying to put our heroes in chains but they keep breaking out because of their super-strength, and the repeat joke of the Pirates still gets me. I�m amazed and delighted that Asterix comics still have a powerful effect on me, years after first reading them. The Banquet is a wonderful read and probably one of the best comics in this series, suitable for, and recommended to, readers of all ages. By Toutatis, this book is great! |
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