Asterix Marathon #11 - Asterix and the Chieftain's Shield

This is another album I discovered this time around, like Asterix and the Golden Sickle and Asterix and the Normans.

We open with a flashback two years earlier (or fifteen) at the Battle of Alesia, a decisive Roman victory in the Gallic Wars. After the battle, the Gaulish chieftain Vercingetorix lays down his arms before Caesar, but his shield is stolen, and changes hands repeatedly over the course of a single night.

Anyway, excessive indulgence in rich food and wine is taking its toll on Chief Vitalstatistix, so Getafix sends him to a health spa in Aquae Calidae (present day Vichy). Asterix and Obelix volunteer to escort him, but their dining habits at the spa cause friction with the other patients, so their chieftain sends them on a holiday in the Arvernian countryside (Auverne). While trekking, they pick a fight with the Roman Tribune Noxius Vapus, and befriend an Arvernian wine and charcoal merchant named Winesanspirix. They later discover that Vapus is searching for the Shield of Vercingetorix, so that Caesar can hold a parade with it in the town of Gergovia (a previous failure in his campaigns). As the shield is an important patriotic symbol, our friends follow the trail of those who handled it on that dark day in Gaulish history, hoping to find it before Caesar does.

I think the element of mystery they add to the story makes a fresh change, but they still leave room for Goscinny's signature humour. I especially like the running joke in which Vitalstatistix and Winesanspirix become irate at the mention of Alesia, to the point where they say they don't even know where it is. This denial is based on the fact that archaeologists had not yet determined the exact site of Alesia at the time this album came out. There's also the joke in which Asterix and Obelix are not on a diet while at the spa, so they can eat roast boar and drink beer while everybody else is stuck with boiled vegetables. It's harsh, but it's hilarious in a schadenfreude kind of way, especially with the pay-off after they leave.

As for continuity, this album starts to flesh out Vitalstatix's wife, Impedimenta. While she did make a minor appearance in Asterix and the Big Fight, this one establishes her overbearing nature.

While this one does need some knowledge of the historical context (but not much), the comedy and action are still on top form, and the mystery also comes with a great twist.