Asterix and the Picts

The first original Asterix book to be completed by an all new creative team marks a key moment in the series’ history. Will Didier Conrad and Jean-Yves Ferri live up to the imposing canon of Goscinny and Uderzo? Will they, at least, come up with more sensible stories than Uderzo’s later solo efforts (Asterix and the Falling Sky involved an alien invasion)?

Signs are promising with Asterix and the Picts. Conrad’s illustrations substitute seamlessly for those of his predecessor, and Ferri has constructed a narrative that nods to a swathe of the much-loved character conventions, taking us on an old school quest, introducing some more pun-tastic names and neatly avoiding the inclusion of spaceships.  

When Asterix and Obelix happen across a Pict frozen into a lump of ice they must thaw him out and return him to his native Caledonia. Cue a sea voyage, the decimation of a shipload of pirates, and various battles with Roman legionaries to depose the wicked puppet ruler Maccabeus and restore the rightful, native king, the defrosted MacAroon.

Scottish readers will surely appreciate the indomitable Gauls’ taking a wee jaunt to the frozen north, and the coincidence of its being released amid the independence debate offers a wealth of cause for speculation within the plot. Could we draw parallels here with the current status quo? Sort of, maybe. And what of the suggestion that Asterix and the Picts rivals the white paper as most pertinent political document in the referendum dialogue? Absolutely. [Rosamund West]