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My sons (13 & 11) love these books. Although I used to be against "graphic novels", I'm fine with these. They have learned so much history, geography, and even a little Latin from reading Asterix. We own about 20 of them, and they want them all.My 11 year old insists on calling "France" "Gaul".
Chief Vitalstatistix is enraged that Caesar considers Belgians the most courageous lot and the Romans have come to treat a post outside the Gaulish village a break from their brutal work regimen. He drags Asterix and Obelix to accompany him to Belgium where he provokes the brave Belgians into accepting a challenge of bashing up the most Romans. This leads Caesar to intervene and declare both parties crazy. Amen, man.
This is one of the funniest adventures featuring those "Crazy Gauls " Asterix & Obelix involving a minor spat with the tribes of Belgium that involes Julius Caeser by placing the Guals & the Belgian tribes & uniting them to fight against the mighty armies of Rome. Also a classic comic cameo by Thompson & Thompson from Herge's Tin Tin series.
Uderzo takes over with somewhat surprising competence; readers shouldn't notice the transition. Needless to say, Vitalstatistix, along with Asterix and Obelix, has to go to Belgium and challenge the Belgian cheiftain to a Roman-bashing contest.
Tough. Rene Gosciny, Asterix in Belgium (Dargaud, 1980)Belgians.
Vitalstatistix finds out that Romans are actually relived to be being posted to the Roman camp of Aquarium, because the village of indomitable Gauls is nothing compared to the Belgian campaign. So said Caesar.
("Of all the Gauls, the Belgae are the bravest" can be found in De Bello Gallico). The most notable thing about Asterix in Belgium is that this is the last of the Asterix books upon which Goscinny worked (he suffered a fatal heart attack whilst working on the text for the book; Uderzo had already completed the drawings, leading to legal action from Dargaud to force Uderzo to complete the text).
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Probably better if you know a bit about Belgium. Getafix sends Asterix and Obelix to back him up, and in Belgium the two tribes battle the Romans, to see how many they can beat up.
Rene Goscinny, who wrote the series up until this point, died while doing it. Albert Uderzo, Asterix's illustrator, wrote the storylines after this one.Julius Caesar wants to continue expanding his empire, and is now trying Belgium.
Asterix #24 is "Asterix in Belgium". It had always been that Vitalstatistix's Gauls were the strongest.
It's a tough fight, so tough that Caesar has said the Belgians are the bravest type of Gauls at all. Vitalstatistix, Asterix's chief, hears this back in Armorican Gaul, and tramps off to Belgium to challenge the Belgians.
Rattled by Belgium's battles, Julius Caesar comes after the Gauls.There's a lot of references to Belgian things, and though I got a couple (like Tintin's Thompson twins as Belgian villagers), many went over my head. Worth a look.
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