Asterix the Gaul

This is the first of the Asterix comic books written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo, and was published in 1961. I grew up reading these in English translations, and I think I had a French edition of one of them too. But this time I wasn’t the English version I remembered, as it was an “all-new more American translation” done in 1999. Back when I read the comics the village druid was named Getafix, but here he’s Panoramix, which is actually his name in the original French even though I don’t like it as much. And I wondered if, when Panoramix says he can make soup in various flavours, including “bacon cheeseburger,” this was a literal translation or something more “American.” Did they have bacon cheeseburgers in France in 1961?

For being the first in the series they hit the ground running with Asterix the Gaul, as the series was basically born full grown with everything in place. Except maybe for Dogmatix. I might have missed Obelix’s little dog but I don’t think he was here. And they even let Cacofonix sing at the final feast, which wasn’t going to happen again very often.

The story has a nice a mix of goofiness (the Romans playing musical chairs to see who will be the secret agent sent to the Gauls’ village), wordplay, and basic moral instruction. When Panoramix explains to Asterix that he doesn’t need the magic potion to beat the Romans but only has to use his native wit, it’s a point that a lot of superhero comics like to make.

The real star though is Uderzo’s art. It’s what impressed me the most when I was a kid and it still does today. And it’s all the more impressive because I can’t think of any comic artist who has created anything quite like it in all the years since. One panel here that really stood out has a Roman troop marching beneath a tree, with Asterix and Obelix perched in silhouette on a branch overhead. There’s so much action and information put into that one drawing, not to mention just how beautiful it is to look at. There aren’t many books you can return to after so many years that hold up so well.

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Bone Parish: Volume Three

The last volume – or is it just the season one finale? – of the Bone Parish saga. And up to the final issue I was wondering how they were going to manage to wrap everything up in the few pages remaining. Well, much to my surprise Cullen Bunn managed to pull it off. It’s a quick ending, and feels a bit rushed, but it’s satisfactory and does manage to tie up most of the loose ends while holding out the promise of the story continuing. Colour me impressed. I didn’t think it was going to work.

There were no big twists or revelations, while the action seemed bloodier than usual even though the regular gang violence was toned down and the mutants created by the bad batch of Ash weren’t back. I was getting used to Jonas Scharf’s art, and while he has a real weak spot for faces, especially in profiles that he tends to just repeat, he does some good action scenes here, including a couple of nice fights and one great explosion drawing.

So that’s a wrap, with most of the Winters family now deceased and bottled up. But what might be going on in the land of the dead is left a little vague. Is there a voodoo king of the underworld, or is it all just hallucinations? Maybe if the series is continued things like this will be explained, but I’m fine if they just leave it the way they did. Solid work all around.

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Batman: Damned

Batman: Damned is a sequel of sorts to the Joker comic put out by the same writer and artist ten years earlier but it was also the first comic to be published under the imprint of DC’s Black Label, which was targeted at mature audiences. The first printing of Damned even included a picture of a nude Bruce Wayne with his dick hanging out, and there are few things as adult as Batman’s dick. So . . . it was something old and something new. But what I really found it to be was overblown and confusing.

The blame, in my opinion, falls on Brian Azzarello. I really didn’t like the writing on any level. Most of it is woefully ungrammatical, no matter who is speaking. The Enchantress I could give a pass too since she’s a demon zombie witch or something so I figure she can say “I be fate written. Die cast. Why you no remember?” But why are Batman’s “diaries” full of stuff like “what don’ kill us eats us alive”? Why are the rapper’s rhymes so weak? Why does the homeless guy say things like “seen him with my own too [sic] eyes”? Why would the mandarin Waynes say things like “Don’t be here when I do get back”? Were these typos? In a prestige publication like this? Or did they have some meaning I was missing? Hell, I even hated the lettering. This was all terrible.

Then there was the plot, which was another take on the idea of the journey of the soul after death. The aim was to do a sort of horror comic, but I was too confused to find any of it very scary or unnerving. So as usual it just turned out dark. There were cameos from figures I didn’t know well (John Constantine, the Spectre) or barely at all (the Enchantress). And there’s an uncomfortable appearance by Harley Quinn, who nearly rapes Batman at one point because . . . she hates him. I didn’t need any of this. But then Swamp Thing shows up and I always like to see Swampy so that was a plus.

It looks fantastic. Lee Bermejo’s art is on point with the noir-horror vibe throughout, making me almost wish DC had done the book as one of those comics without words. I might have followed the story just as well. I’ve really liked some of Azzarello’s stuff, but this struck me as a poorly developed idea that tried to make up for its deficiencies with lots of heavy breathing and broken English. And that’s a shame because I did have the sense it could have been something great.

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