Asterix the Gladiator
by Goscinny & Uderzo (Pilote, 1961-1962); trans. Anthea Bell & Derek Hockridge (Hodder & Stoughton, 1969)
A glorious plethora of puns and running gags, built around the conceit of Cacofonix the bard being kidnapped as a gift for Caesar. The physical humour is delightful (as always), and all the characters brim with personality, the historical setting exquisitely realised.
The Daltons Redeem Themselves
by Morris & Goscinny, trans. Erica Jeffrey (Cinebook Ltd, 2012) [from Les Dalton se rachétent, Dargaud Editeur Paris, 1971]
For Asterix junkies who’ve been in withdrawal since René Goscinny’s death in 1977, a retrospective fix now exists in the translation of his collaborations with artist Morris on the American wild west Lucky Luke series: different characters but the same potent humour.
Asterix and the Picts
by Jean-Yves Ferri & Didier Conrad; trans. Anthea Bell (Orion, 2013)
With Albert Uderzo’s retirement after fifty-four years of drawing Asterix, the illustration of this new adventure (to a rather endearing Scotland) is… perfect; nigh on indistinguishable, by Toutatis! The writing, however, continues to lag behind that of co-creator René Goscinny (died 1977).