Asterix and the Picts

I haven't read Asterix since I was a teenager, and my memory may be foggy, but this just didn't seem to hold up to the quality of the old books. ( )

This is the first Asterix album not featuring the work of Goscinny or Underzo and I therefore approached it with trepidation; would it be any good? Would the new artist capture the style and likenesses well? Would the new writer be sympathetic to the history of 34 preceding volumes?

Short answer; yes to both.

Ferri conforms more closely to the Uderzo formula, with our heroes travelling abroad for an adventure that pokes gentle fun at national stereotypes and cultural touchstones, whilst thwarting a Roman plot and bringing back some of the traditional aspects of our characters, like their very short tempers, which fell by the way somewhat when Uderzo was writing. On the other hand, Uderzo's more outlandish, fantastical ideas are not entirely abandoned, either, with a (predictable) character showing up and turning out to be a tremendous addition to the story.

A really good first effort by the new team - I'm now looking forward happily to more from them. ( )

Asterix and the Picts is an encouraging, if somewhat uneven, contribution to the long-running Asterix comic book series. I grew up with this stuff, so I will always appreciate any new offering that appeals to my sense of nostalgia, and Picts has certainly encouraged me to dig out some of my old Asterix albums from my childhood and flick through them again. But looking at it dispassionately, this isn't a classic Asterix adventure. It certainly isn't a return to the highs of the Goscinny years, but it is on the same level as the later Uderzo-written albums and it doesn't feel like an imposter or a pretender, or a cash-in to continue the franchise. The Asterix books still have their heart and still have our affection, but they don't really have the laughs or the thrills that they used to. The plotting of Picts is uneven (there is an elixir MacGuffin which turns out to be a red herring) and the new characters largely unmemorable (MacAroon lacks presence and the Roman centurion and the treacherous chieftain both lack malevolence and guile). A lot of the jokes also seem to fall flat, and the plot at times seems like a pale hybrid imitation of Asterix in Britain and Asterix and the Great Divide. But as a nostalgia trip, it is worth a look. And, of course, the older fans like myself are not really the target audience any more. But I think if I had a kid and I gave him Asterix and the Picts to read, he wouldn't fall in love with the Gaul's adventures to anything like the same extent that I did reading Asterix and the Cauldron, Asterix in Britain and Asterix the Gladiator when I was younger. ( )

I first heard about the Scots translation of this book (Astérix and the Pechts) and thought "THAT SOUNDS AWESOME". I ended up reading the English version, translated from the French by Anthea Bell, and it was very good. I was constantly groaning at all the punny names and laughing at all the turns the story was taking. Lovers of puns and Scotland would probably like this book. ( )

This was the first time in along time that I laughed out loud at an Asterix book. The new writer-illustrator team is a great improvement over the great illustrator Uderzo's sad performance when he tried to do his own writing after the passing of Goscinny. This doesn't have all the flavor of the original, but it's quite fun. ( )