Asterix Omnibus Vol. 8: Collecting Asterix and the Great Crossing, Obelix and Co, Asterix in Belgium

by Albert Uderzo, René Goscinny

Contains 3 newly-translated classic Asterix tales. Asterix is a fearless Gaul with a magic potion that grants him incredible strength to protect his village and ward off Roman Empire from invading. With his pal, Obelix, the defend their village from not only the blundering Roman legionairies, but also lend their services to the rest of the world. First, Asterix and Obelix’s fishing trip goes wrong when they make “The Great Crossing” and wind up on the shores of North America. Neither America, nor Asterix, will ever be the same after this comical invasion. Second, Obelix gets the spotlight as his delivery service for stone menhir slabs gets a Roman update, becoming “Obelix and Co.” Will Obelix be too greedy? Probably! Then, third, watch your waffles, it’s “Asterix in Belgium,” writer and Asterix co-creator René Goscinny’s final story before his untimely death. It’s a tale of two tribes as the Gauls and the Belgians unite, and then unravel, all to keep out Caesar’s forces. a new Afterword by Alexander Simmons providing historical and cultural context for Asterix, both in 50 B.C. and in the time the classic comics were made.

Genres: Graphic Novels

152 pages, Paperback

Published December 20, 2022

About the author

Albert Uderzo (1928 - 2020) was a legendary French comic book artist and scriptwriter. The son of Italian immigrants, he is best known as the co-founder and illustrator of the Asterix series in collaboration with René Goscinny. He also drew other comics such as Oumpah-pah, again with Goscinny.

Reviews

[Michael Emond · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the last set of Asterix novels that Rene Goscinny wrote before his untimely death at 51. And the quality is there right up until the end. I had never read these Asterix books before but they are all amazing and the art of Uderzo only gets better and better with each novel. I'll do a quick summary of each novel in this omnibus:

The Great Crossing - a fun little adventure of Asterix and Obelix visiting America and stumbling across the First Nation people. Nothing super noteworthy but it is well constructed with some good humour - especially the idea and Asterix and Obelix left a legend to be told before they returned home.

Obelix and Co - I had never read this before BUT this goes into my top five of all Asterix stories. Any story that involves the whole village already elevates the story and this one is a great tale of capitalism gone too far. I love not only the humour but how the writers get the point across without making it too heavy handed. I have been readng Groo and it doesn't do as good a job as Asterix in this regard - mainly because Asterix has a bigger cast of characters to help sell the joke while getting the message across.

Asterix in Belgium - not good and the reason why this collection doesn't get five stars. I just found the authors didn't have a way to up the stakes of the plot after Asterix met the Belgians. In a 50 page story you need a few twists and turns to keep the plot interesting and this one didn't have that. Is it the worst Asterix tale in the first 24 of them? Maybe not, but it would easily make my bottom 5.

With regards to the Papercutz collection specifically:
- Price is amazing - you get three tales for a great price
- Size is smaller so it is harder to read
- Translation is VERY bad - in my youth the English translations were a lot funnier and better done. I guess Papercutz couldn't use those original translations and these collections suffer because of it. I don't have them side by side so I can't tell you all the differences - but the naming of the characters especially was poorly done in terms of the puns they tried for.

Overall - another great collection of Asterix.

[Jonathan Bicker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obelix and Co is especially great. 👌