Asterix Marathon #28 - Asterix and the Magic Carpet

This album was actually my original introduction to the series, through an audio book narrated by Willie Rushton, the editor of the satirical magazine Private Eye and a regular on the radio panel show I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue until his death in 1996. For this one, Uderzo tried to introduce more of a fantasy element to the series, drawing influence from 1001 Arabian Nights, along with a French old wives' tale about bad music making it rain (no prizes for guessing who that's applied to).

Anyway, The Indomitable Village has been rebuilt following the events of Asterix and Son, and a banquet is being held in celebration, when Cacofonix causes a rainstorm while testing the acoustics of his new hut. His impromptu weather manipulation attracts the attention of a fakir called Watziznehm, who literally drops in during the banquet. This new visitor has travelled from a kingdom in the Ganges Valley in search of "a village of madmen where a voice makes rain", based on a story told to him by a Roman merchant and former legionary. He explains that they are experiencing a drought during what is supposed to be the rainy season, and there are fears of a famine. A sinister guru named Hoodunnit has decreed that if there is no rain by the end of the season, he will sacrifice Rajah Wotzit's daughter, Princess Orinjade to appease the gods (and pave the way for him to become Rajah). So, it's up to our heroes and Cacofonix to return with Watziznehm so the bard can coax the monsoon rains with his singing voice and foil the grand vizier's scheme.

Nostalgia aside, this one is something of a mixed bag. I do quite like the darker element to the story, with the characters trying to prevent the death of an innocent which paves the way for a power-grab (and brief reference to Iznogoud, another character created by Goscinny). However, a lot of the story feels like padding, with the three-week flying carpet journey to India being broken up with repeated stops mostly to appease Obelix's hunger. I feel for him, but it does make him kind of one-note in this particular story. On the other hand, it does add a source of tension, as Cacofonix resents the fact that they're always permitted to stop to eat, but he's not allowed to sing during the journey (for the obvious reasons).

That said, the padding does take an interesting turn once they arrive in India, when Cacofonix loses his voice. While undergoing treatment, he is kidnapped by Hoodunnit's men and left to die in an elephant's graveyard. To be perfectly honest, most of the padding is kind of necessary; so our heroes can arrive in the nick of time.

While I'm here, I'd like to mention something I discovered while reading into this one a bit more. The two stories we most commonly associate with 1001 Arabian Nights, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves and Aladdin, don't actually appear in the Arabic texts. The earliest known appearances are from a French version of the text from the 18th Century. This is purely speculative, but I'm wondering if Uderzo was exploring that.

Anyway, considering the heatwave we've been having, this story became surprisingly relevant in recent weeks. It has neat ideas and a great payoff, but the humour wasn't as great in this one.