Asterix the Gladiator by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo - volume 4

The fourth Asterix album shows the series still developing and adding concepts, whilst also upping the humour levels. For the first time in the run so far a story's plot does not revolve around a threat to the village's supply of magic potion. Instead the victim this time is the bard Cacofonix, captured to be presented to Julius Caesar as a mere gift. This results in Asterix and Obelix heading off to Rome to rescue him.
This story features the first sea voyage in the series, showing the wisdom of setting the village on the coast. It also introduces the pirates who will go on to be the most frequent individual foes in the whole series. Also introduced for the first time in the series is Obelix's habit of collecting helmets from Roman soldiers, and indeed any other foes, as a proof of how many he's knocked out. It starts off as a bet that Asterix rapidly forgets about, but continues here and in later stories as a regular obsession, to the point that Obelix is often more annoyed about soldiers fighting bare-headed than even their commanding officers.

Once again, the title and cover of the story build expectations that take a while to meet. It's not until page 14 that our heroes arrive in Rome and then it takes until page 27 before they actually start training as gladiators. These stories were originally serialised a page at a time and so the patience required to get to the promised setting must have been immense. But rather than ramble around, the story focuses on getting all the characters to the destination, thus starting with the kidnap to order of Cacofonix, then showing the rest of the villagers making a natural rescue attempt by assaulting the camp of Compendium, before Asterix and Obelix set off for Rome. Once there they make natural enquiries, though are helped by the coincidence first of encountering one of Cacofonix's guard and then by discovering one of their main acquaintances is Caius Fatuous, the impresario and self-proclaimed biggest gladiator trainer in Rome. (Although the actual training is done by the even larger Insalubrius.) However things don't go according to plan, making for a tense build-up to the climax in the arena, with all worrying about what will happen there.

The one page a week format limits the opportunity to show Rome on a grand scale but there's certainly a sense of awe and wonder about the city, with sophisticated restaurants, public baths, council housing, a great arena and more. This is undeniably a greater city than the Lutetia portrayed back in Asterix and the Golden Sickle. Such is the scale that Asterix and Obelix even sneak out of training (or what they've turned it into) in order to go sightseeing. When they reach the arena, the audience includes not only Julius Caesar but also Brutus, truly emphasising the grand sense of the occasion. It's a tale that knows it's special and isn't afraid to embrace this.

There's also a lot of good characterisation. Cacofonix has up to now largely been treated as a one-note joke but here we get plenty of comedy as he moves through the proceedings completely unaware of just how terrible his singing is. Soldiers, wild-life, slaves, audiences - everyone who hears him is desperate for him to stop. Even the galley slaves who row him to Rome declare they'd rather have the whip. However, his singing does save him from the lions in the arena and then right at the end the mere threat of it is enough to get Caius Fatuous to start rowing a ship all the way to Gaul. Throughout much of the story Cacofonix is restrained but his thoughts make his ego all too clear as he silently protests the indignity of being treated as a gift and the inability of his successive audiences to appreciate his musical talents.

The story also contains a lot of satire on more contemporary affairs, ranging from the dubious contractual practices of the trader Ekonomikrisis through to advertising keeping entertainment going even though the products are no good to the conflict between neighbours in a block of flats (although the joke about them being Greater Latin Council - GLC - flats has dated heavily). The way the trader and his partners/oarsmen react to approach pirates not with defensive measures or escaping but by proceeding to discuss how to amend their contract is a nice play on the habit of some trade unionists bringing everything to an immediate standstill to discuss trivial matters whilst the very survival of the business is under threat. Obelix also adds to the humour and conflict, especially with his constant habit of accidentally knocking down doors, whilst even Asterix is not above reacting, knocking out masseuses, bath owners and gladiator trainers whenever threatened.

The climax in the Circus Maximus is wonderfully hilarious as all the plans of Caius Fatuous fall apart due to the involvement of the Gauls, yet as he gave them star billing there is very little he can do about the situation. The result is a final battle in the greatest arena of all, before one of the most powerful individuals in all of human history. Throughout it all both Asterix and Obelix demonstrate a strong sense of spirit, refusing to let the situation or the difficult characters around them overwhelm them, and instead make their way through.

This is probably the best of the Asterix adventures so far, showing the series really hitting its stride and showing a range of imagination of both plot and scope.