Asterix chez les Pictes

Astérix and Obélix return for an unforgettable adventure with the 35th volume of the series: Astérix chez les Pictes. The story takes place in Armorica, where the Gauls face a harsh winter and freezing temperatures. Deprived of wild boar hunting, Astérix and Obélix search for oysters on the beach when they come face to face with a red-haired giant trapped in a block of ice.

Thanks to the care of druid Panoramix, the stranger warms up and regains his speech. He is Mac Oloch, a Pictish cousin of our Gauls, who tells his dark story of feuding clans in his native Caledonia. Welcomed with open arms, under the right of asylum, the handsome warrior in a kilt ends up attracting the resentment of the village men, jealous of his power of seduction that stirs their wives. A solution is needed: Astérix and Obélix embark with him on a crossing to Scotland.

This album, created by the new authors Conrad and Ferri, approved by Uderzo himself, does not revolutionize the series but saves the sinking ship that the poor Uderzo, aging and alone, promised his heroes. We sometimes smile, we sigh a little but above all we rejoice in this new youth announced. Let's bet that once the pressure has subsided, Ferri and Conrad will find their marks and imagine more daring adventures for the couple of helmeted brawlers...

We find as in the past personalities hidden under the appearance of Picts, wordplay like character names such as Mac Oloch, Mac Mini or even Mac Abbeh. However, it seems that there is a trend towards a decrease in punches to Romans or pirates, which would be in itself my only small regret...

Of course, things could have been better before, but we must give Caesar what is Caesar's: Conrad and Ferri have managed to keep the spirit and humor of the first Astérix and Obélix. It is impossible to blame the authors for making a pale copy of their elders.