Asterix Omnibus 1

Asterix is a charming, humorous series that takes place in ancient Rome, and more specifically, Gaul, which is modern day France. The story is that the Romans under Julius Caesar have conquered all of Gaul except for one little village where there is a group of Gauls who have superhuman strength, thanks to a magic potion brewed by the village druid, Getafix. Absurdity and hilarity ensue when the Gauls encounter the Romans, who are positively terrified the Gauls will attack them at any time. The main character is Asterix, a shrewd, short little warrior from the village. Usually accompanied by his best friend Obelix, a loyal but dim-witted (just don't call him fat!) warrior who fell into the magic potion when he was a baby, thus having a permanent effect on him, Asterix and Obelix go on different adventures around Gaul and the Roman empire for a variety of reasons. The series has been translated into several languages and translates well into all of them. The strip is, first and foremost, a comic, with the expected slapstick humor that would appeal to younger readers. But the true genius of the comic is that there is a lot of historical humor in it as well. For anyone that has even a basic knowledge of Roman events, society and language, they will find the strip is so much deeper. From puns based on latin and every Roman having a name ending is -us, to references to historical events and cultures, the stories never disappoint. There is not really a clunker in the bunch, all of them usually having at least two or three laugh-out-loud, show your teeth jokes. It is truly clever and recommended for ages 7 on up to adult.

I read these comics as a child over and over again. They are well written and beautifully illustrated, witty and very entertaining. The story follows the members of a small village in Gaul whom resist the Roman Empire by virtue of a super-strengthening potion brewed by their druid Getafix. The heros of the stories are Asterix ( a short, but smart warrior) and his best friend Obelix ( a large, boar meat loving, loyal but not smart warrior whom fell in a cauldron of magic potion as a child and as a result has permanent super strength). You can read each comic seperately and be able to follow the story, though certain characters do repeat throughout the series. I am buying them again as an adult and enjoying them just as much as I did as a kid. I definitely recommend these comics.

This is a classic book everybody should have one on the bookshelf. Bought for my kid, but read by all of us. The quality of the edition is pretty good.

my nephew is loving this. he has asked for other books. great intro to comics.

My grandchildren love these books. As yet, they are too young to read them alone, however, the pictures are so visually interesting they spend a lot of time paging through each book. Interesting for adults as well:)

I grew up reading Asterix comics, but it'd been several years since I'd seen it. And I'd never owned any of the Astrix comics. So I pre-ordered this, and settled down to wait. And wait. And wait. I waited long enough that its shipment came as a surprise - and its timing was excellent, as I had no other preorders shipping that week, giving me time to re-read it. This was as good as I remember it being. In fact, I'll be ordering Volume 2 and pre-ordering Volume 3 as soon as I get paid. The art is charming and the text is amusing. As someone who is involved with several French-to-English translation projects, I am all the more amazed at the ability of the translators to maintain the verbal humor without extensive awkwardness or footnoting. Not only that, but the humor has held up extremely well over the 50+ year history of Asterix. There or occasional dated references, but they are few and far between. This book is heartily recommended.

Great

Great series to start collecting with for your kids. Asterix has been around from since I was a kid. Great wholesome fun and humor for all!