BOOK REVIEW: ASTERIX & THE GRIFFIN by Jean-Yves Ferri and Didier Conrad

BOOK REVIEW: ASTERIX & THE GRIFFIN by Jean-Yves Ferri and Didier Conrad
Sphere through Hachette
November 2021
Hard cover, $29.99
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar

Comic book, Graphic novel

93%

The thirty-ninth Asterix book is a beauty, featuring all the elements that we know and love from the series (which was created by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo).

Asterix and Obelisk find themselves in what we now know as Eastern Europe, trying to outwit those pesky Romans, who are on the hunt for a semi-mythical creature known as The Griffin. In what is possibly a first for this beloved series, Asterix has to defeat the Romans WITHOUT druid Getafix’s magic potion which gives him super strength!

The Barbaricans and Samatians that our heroes meet redress the series’ usual gender roles, wherein the men stay at home to raise the children and the women – Amazon women, giving rise to a raft of hilarious wordplay gags around the online selling platform we all know so well – go out to provide and fight.

As all Asterix fans will know, wordplay is key here. The local druid – a man adept at brewing a herbal tea with restorative powers – is Fanciakuppov, one striking Amazonian is Kalishnikova – “she was off like a shot!”, and one disgruntled Roman is keen to go “zooming home first chance I get.” Never let it be said that this medieval fantasy world isn’t modern day topical!

Ferri and Conrad have done a great job since they inherited the reins of the franchise from Goscinny and Uderzo, and Asterix & The Griffin is proof that they are only getting better and better.

 

Category: Book Reviews