Asterix volume 40, “The White Iris” in a book shop in Paris Photo: picture alliance / abaca
From BZ/dpa
Even a Gaulish man with a ruckus is not immune to compliments. Fans can now find out in the new Asterix “The White Iris”.
The new Asterix comic “The White Iris” will be released this Thursday. In the adventure, the Roman military doctor Visusversus wants to paralyze the Gauls’ fighting strength using psychological tricks. Visusversus preaches positive thinking.
He gives each villager tailor-made compliments. Then he turns the bullies inside out with a kind of brainwashing. Instead of always being ready for a wild fight, everyone becomes gentle. Verleihnix suddenly sells real fresh fish without swarms of flies. Nobody wants to beat up the bard Troubadix anymore. Even the wild boars no longer run away from the Gauls. Asterix and Obelix soon sense the intrigue.
An important piece of information for Asterix fans is that there is a new lyricist: Fabrice Caro is very successful in France under the stage name Fabcaro.
He replaces Jean-Yves Ferri as author, who did not take part this time after five volumes. Ferri’s fan community had repeatedly accused him of losing creativity and wit in “Asterix”.
The drawings are still by Didier Conrad. “The White Iris” leans more heavily on the early volumes by Albert Uderzo and René Goscinny, which should suit many fans.
Uderzo and Goscinny created the characters Asterix and Obelix in 1959. After Goscinny’s death in 1977, Uderzo continued alone for decades before Ferri and Conrad took over.