I love asterix comics - they provided endless hours of entertainment and escape from math and geography back in the day. I love them so much, in fact, that I am going to share them with you! Here are some links to ebooks of my favorite comic book heros;
Asterix the Gladiator:
Prefect Odius Asparagus wants one of the indomitable Gauls as a present for Julius Caesar, so his men capture Cacofonix the bard. By the time the other Gauls know he is gone, he is on his way to Rome. But Asterix and Obelix are hot on his heels, taking ship with Ekonomikrisis the Phoenician merchant.
Highly unimpressed by his present, Caesar decides to throw the bard to the lions. Asterix and Obelix enlist as gladiators in order to rescue him, and, in the course of their training, teach their colleagues some interesting tricks. The next Games in Circus Maximus turn out to be the most unusual yet...
This book is very historical in the Asterix series as it is first in which Obelix's says "These Romans Are Crazy"!
Asterix and the Mansion of the Gods:
With the intent to wipe out the Gaulish village by any means necessary, Caesar concocts a plan to absorb the villagers into Roman culture by having an estate built next to the village to start a new Roman colony. The colony is to be called the Mansions of the Gods.
Asterix: How Obelix Fell Into the Cauldron:
All of us know that Obelix got his superhuman strength from his infant escapade of falling into the pot of magic potion. Here's the whole story of how this happened;
Asterix: The Legionary
The book begins with a now familiar scene of the indomitable Gauls' village. Asterix and Obelix are setting off for a wild boar hunt when they pass a beautiful blond young lady by the name of Panacea who has been picking mushrooms. She has returned to the village after studying in Condatum. Obelix immediately falls in love. After a few scenes of Obelix embarrassing himself, Panacea receives word that her fiancé Tragicomix has been conscripted into the Roman army and shipped to North Africa. Asterix and Obelix promise Panacea that they will return Tragicomix to her, even though it breaks Obelix' heart.
Asterix in Britain:
Julius Caesar has invaded Britain and succeeded, mainly because the British soldiers under Cassivelaunos stop fighting every day to drink hot water (with a drop of milk), and refuse to fight over the weekend. As with Gaul, a single village remains independent, defying the Romans. One member of the village, Anticlimax, is dispatched to Gaul to enlist the help of Getafix the druid in providing magic potion for the British rebels. It is decided that Asterix and Obelix should accompany him back to his village to help transport a whole barrel full of the potion...
Asterix in Corsica:
The Roman camp of Totorum, too, has visitors: three Roman soldiers escorting the Corsican leader Boneywasawarriorwayayix, exiled by Praetor Perfidius. He is left to spend the night in the Centurion's tent, to its owner's dismay. While the other camps are deserted, the Romans of Totorum have no option but to stay and be decimated by the Gauls and their friends, who discover Boneywasawarriorwayayix awakening from a long siesta.
Asterix in Spain:
A group of Iberian resistance fighters are holding out against the Romans, very much like Asterix's village. So the Romans kidnap Chief Huevos Y Bacon's son, Pepe. As the Romans are taking him to a garrison in Gaul (as it happens, it is one of the garrisons close the Gaulish village), Asterix and Obelix beat up the Romans — under the command of the Roman officer Spurius Brontosaurus — and take Pepe to their village. Obelix is assigned to take care of Pepe, but the boy proves to be highly taxing (especially in Obelix's opinion when Pepe and little Dogmatix take a shine to one another), so Asterix and Obelix are assigned to take him back home.
Asterix in Switzerland:
Roman governor Varius Flavus of Condatum has been putting aside for himself (i.e. embezzling) the greatest share of the taxes he has collected. The money he sends to Rome consists of just a few coins. When Quaestor Vexatius Sinusitus is sent to investigate, Flavus poisons him to avoid being discovered. Dissatisfied with Flavus' doctors, Sinusitus calls for the druid Getafix. Getafix can brew an antidote for him, but an essential ingredient of the potion is a flower called the silver star (edelweiss), which only grows on the highest mountains.
Asterix the Gaul:
All of Gaul is divided into three parts. No, four — for one small village of indomitable Gauls still holds out against the Roman invaders....
Centurion Crismus Bonus, head of the Roman garrison at the fortified camp of Compendium and very keen to discover the secret of the Gauls' superhuman strength, sends a spy disguised as a Gaul into the village. The Roman's identity is revealed when he loses his false moustache, but not before he discovers the existence of the magic potion brewed by the Druid Getafix and actually manages to taste some. With that potion, Crismus Bonus believes that he could overthrow Julius Caesar, and become Emperor himself. So he and his second-in-command Marcus Ginandtonicus have Getafix captured in order to get the recipe.
Asterix in Belgium:
After fighting the Belgians in the northern part of Gaul, Caesar states that they are the bravest enemies he's ever faced (historically this statement really was made by Caesar). His soldiers agree with him, to the point when they consider being posted to the camps outside Asterix' village as a period of leave.
Chief Vitalstatistix is aghast at the idea that his village, which has been the terror of the Romans for years, is now looked upon as relatively harmless. He is further outraged when he hears of Caesar's remarks. He claims that his villagers are in fact the bravest men of Gaul, and travels to Belgium to prove his point.
So, what does this have to do with Asterix..? Read on to find out!
Asterix and the Olympic Games:
While out hunting, Asterix and his friend Obelix run across a sports champion of one of the local Roman garrisons named Gluteus Maximus, who is to participate in the Olympic Games. Under the effects of magic potion, they beat the Roman athlete in everything he attempts, temporarily breaking his resolve. Later on, the Gauls decide to participate in the Games as well, under the view that - as part of the Roman world - they are legally Romans (only free-born Greek citizens were allowed to compete in the ancient Olympics, but under pressure an exception was made for their Roman occupiers). They later arrive in Greece for the games, and are entered in the list of participants, much to the surprise of the Greeks and the consternation of the Romans.
Asterix and the Soothsayer:
One stormy day, the Gauls — with the exception of Getafix, who is at his annual druid meeting — are huddled in the chief's hut, fearing for their lives. But then, a man enters the hut in a burst of lightning - it is a soothsayer, who promptly proceeds to see the future for our superstitious Gauls. He predicts that "when the storm is over, the weather will improve." But not all are impressed; Asterix alone dares question the qualities of this soothsayer, who is in fact a fraud.
Asterix and the Secret Weapon:
The story begins when a female bard named Bravura comes to the village to teach the children. She has been hired by the women of the village who think that Cacofonix, the current teacher of the village, is giving the children a poor education. Upon hearing this, Cacofonix leaves the village. When Bravura arrives, the women are stunned by her singing and the men laugh at it (the only difference between Bravura's singing and Cacofonix's is that when Bravura sings it doesn't rain!). Bravura is insulted and wonders how the women put up with them...
