Asterix Omnibus Vol. 5: Collects Asterix and the Cauldron, Asterix In Spain, and Asterix and the Roman Agent

by René Goscinny

In “Asterix and the Cauldron,” when a local Gaulish chief wants a cauldron full of money kept out of Roman hands, he entrusts Asterix to guard the loot. When the cash disappears, Asterix and Obelix must find a way to make money… fast! At any cost, even their morals. “Asterix in Spain” features our Gaulish hero heading to the Iberian peninsula to rescue the Gran Chen Huevos y Bacon’s son. But with the return of the Chief’s son to Hispania, comes a culture shock for Asterix and friends. Could Cacofonix the Bard finally find a culture that enjoys his awful singing? “Asterix and the Roman Agent,” starts when rumors are spread that Asterix leaked the recipe for the power potion to Rome That can’t possibly be true, and Asterix must find who started these terrible rumors. Soon the whole village is cast in suspicion. Asterix must clear his good name before the whole village tears apart at the seams with distrust. These three classic graphic novels are newly translated especially for an American audience. Includes 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 addressing various racial depictions

Genres: Comics, Childrens, Graphic Novels, Fiction

Kindle Edition

Published January 11, 2022

About the author

René Goscinny (1926 - 1977) was a French author, editor and humorist, who is best known for the comic book Asterix , which he created with illustrator Albert Uderzo, and for his work on the comic series Lucky Luke with Morris (considered the series' golden age).

Reviews

[Riddhish Bhalodia · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

Funny and exciting as usual, not the biggest fan of the asterix in spain

[Michael Emond · Rating 4 out of 5]

One thing that struck me reading this set of Asterix stories is how much Uderzo improved in his art over the years. The details of Mansion of the Gods especially were amazing. He keeps improving with ever volume.

One thing to always get out of the way with my reviews of this series is that the translator for Papercutz sucks. Their translated jokes fall flat and their pun names are weak and poorly thought out. I read the 70's translated series and it was much better. But thankfully the art, the stories and a lot of the humour still shine through despite the bad translations.

So what do we have? We have the Cauldron...it is basically a short story drawn out too long with Asterix losing a cauldron of money he was supposed to guard and spending all of the story trying and failing to make money to fill it back up until...the deception the reader knew from page one is realized by Asterix (who is stupider than usual throughout the story - being conned out of his money time and time again). Not a great story but still fun.

Asterix in Spain is a little more forced than that - the main gag is this little boy must be returned to his father - a great leader - in Spain. the boy is a pain but Dogmatix loves him. One of the weaker Asterix stories IMO.

Then we get my favourite Asterix story which saves this collection - The Roman Agent. This one works so well because they play around with story striucture so it isn't just asterix and Obelix going on a quest or journey. We get to se the whole village. And I do like it when the Druid gets involved in the story.

So two weaker stories and then my fav. all in all even the weaker ones are great fun. Highly recommended as one of the best comic series ever written/drawn.

[Eva · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5
Oh, Asterix in Spain has always been my favorite!

Note: I'm not sure when I finished this, but I realized I forgot to add it to my books! Which isn't fair to the other volumes...all so funny to read.