In Condatum (Rennes), the Roman governor Varius Flavus has been embezzling the region's tax revenue to fund his extravagant lifestyle of debauched parties, while sending a mere pittance back to Rome. Soon enough, this begins to raise suspicion, and Rome sends Quaestor Vexatius Sinusitus to Condatum to audit the governor's finance. When the Quaestor falls ill, he sends his bodyguard to The Indomitable Village to find Getafix (having heard mention of the druid in Caesar's rants). Asterix and Obelix are sent to Helvetia to find a rare flower which grows at high altitudes known as the "silver star" (an edelweiss) required for the druid's medicine. Meanwhile, Getafix returns to the village with his patient, ostensibly as a hostage to guarantee our heroes' return. In reality, he has determined that the Quaestor has been poisoned, and the hostage-taking is a pretext to keep him in the village where he'll be safe. However, Varius Flavus is friends with Helvetia's equally corrupt governor Curius Odus, and warns him of the Gauls' arrival.
This is probably one of the darkest stories to date, with the attempted murder of an innocent man adding a sense of drama and jeopardy never seen before in this normally whimsical series. In fact, it shows Varius Flavus poisoning his unwelcome guest's food, and he struggles to find a ring with a dose, implying that this isn't the first time he's got rid of an enemy this way. On top of that, the Roman orgies add some rather risque imagery in this album, even it is referencing an obscure film from the time. Curius Odus has a fondue party where punishments for losing one's bread is taken to an extreme level, with third time offenders being thrown into a lake with two weights tied to their feet. And everyone's excited by that. Wow, they were allowed to print this?
That said, it makes a fresh change of tone, and still has Goscinny's signature humour. The Helvetians are depicted as fastidious, punctual, expert bankers and diplomats, with a love of fondues and yodelling. This provides a comedic contrast to the Roman orgy scenes, with the household servants being chastised by the governor for cleaning up, and protesting his guests' punishments because the whip isn't dry yet or the lake is very muddy at this time of year. There's even a stab at international conferences, when our heroes and the innkeeper Petitsuix try to elude the Romans by hiding out at The International Conference of Tribal Chieftains, pretending to be asleep as a chieftain gives a long-winded speech. With the exception of Obelix, who actually does fall asleep.
This is probably another one I'd consider to be a favourite of mine.
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