Asterix and the Golden Sickle

Outside of the central characters and the basic formulas, I only recall bits and pieces of the Asterix comics from when I read them as a kid. But I do remember thinking that Asterix and the Golden Sickle was one of the best. It’s actually a nice little mystery story, with Asterix and Obelix traveling to Lutetia to find Metallurgix, Obelix’s cousin who is also a manufacturer of the golden sickles that druids like Panoramix need to harvest mistletoe. Unfortunately, when they get to Lutetia they find that someone has kidnapped Metallurgix as a way of cornering the market on golden sickles just before the big druid festival.

It’s eventful, fast-moving, and the plot holds interest throughout. The secondary characters are also interesting, from the little guy in the drunk tank who gets a shot of magic potion to the Roman prefect Surplus Dairyprodus, whose appearance was based on that of the actor Charles Laughton. Dairyprodus is one of the most original villains ever, taking up a life of crime and hanging out with lowlifes just because he’s bored of enjoying all the good things in life. He’s even looking forward to rowing in a galley at the end, just for a change of pace.

The only false note came by way of the new “North American” translation, which even has Obelix saying “Cool!” at one point. Not cool!

Graphicalex