Asterix Marathon #36 - Asterix and the Missing Scroll

Now that they'd managed to find their feet with Asterix and the Picts, Ferri and Conrad decided to do something more political for their next story.

Caesar is set to release his memoir, The Commentaries on the Gallic War, and his publisher Libellus Blockbustus removes a chapter detailing his failure to conquer The Indomitable Village in the hopes that the Senate will forget. However, one of the publisher's scribes, a mute Numidian called Bigdatha, leaks the chapter. It ends up in the hands of a Gaulish activist named Confoundtheirpolitix, who soon seeks shelter in The Indomitable Village. The initial plan is for the "newsmonger" to lay low in the village until the Romans abandon the search, but Impedimenta persuades Vitalstatistix that they should make the chapter public. Since the Gauls favour oral history over the written word, it is decided that Asterix and Obelix should accompany Getafix to the Forest of the Carnutes to seek out Archaeopterix, a senior druid with the memory to "record" the chapter.

In case you haven't realised yet, this story is based quite heavily on the Wikileaks scandal, exploring censorship and freedom of information. There's also a satire on the culture of sharing knowledge online. The village has a herald called Wifix who reads out bulletins to the mostly illiterate residents, and they believe quite strongly in horoscopes. In fact, Obelix becomes rather disheartened when his horoscope says he should avoid conflicts and go easy on the boars. On the other hand, Geriatrix is excited when his horoscope says his high spirits will be appreciated and he should expect new conquests, which earns him a death glare from his wife that would put a Corsican to shame.

I quite like how Ferri and Conrad have retained some of the fantasy elements which Uderzo incorporated into the series during the Solo Period. The Forest of the Carnutes, which previously appeared in Asterix and the Goths, is now revealed to contain unicorns, which Obelix mistakes for "wild goats". They also meet a druid called Anachronistix, who can communicate with animals using his flute, which he uses to help stall the pursuing Romans.

I think this is another good one, but I have the feeling it won't age well.

As for the hidden chapter? Once it's passed on to the druids, they pass it down through the generations. By the 1950s, a descendant of the druids relays the oral history to none other than our old friends Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, who use it as the basis for these comics.