Asterix and the Missing Scroll (French: Le Papyrus de César) is the thirty-sixth volume of the Asterix comic book series and also the second to be written by Jean-Yves Ferri and illustrated by Didier Conrad. The album's theme centers around censorship and battle over information. The comic tells a slightly different version by adding a fictitious Chapter 24 (XXIV) named "Defeats at the Hands of the Indomitable Gauls of Armorica".
Plot[]
Julius Caesar has completed his classic book, Commentarii de Bello Gallico (Commentaries on the Gallic War), but on the encouragement of his publisher, Libellus Blockbustus, he omits chapter 24, since it would spoil his curriculum vitae. However, while Caesar's new book became a hit in the Roman Empire, a mute Numidian scribe, Bigdhata, steals a copy of the chapter and gives it to the journalist Confoundtheirpolitix, who went to the village of indomitable Gauls to pass it onto them, but along the way was pursued by the Roman military so as to silence him, but were forced to flee when Confoundtheirpolitix ran into Obelix.
The Gauls were misunderstood by the censored chapter, but they eventually learn that itcontains evidence that Caesar is lying over having successfully conquered all of Gaul and said lie will prove to be such a scandal if exposed that it would result in the Roman Empire's downfall.
Chief Vitalstatistix is unfazed by the lie, but his wife Impedimenta urges him to campaign for the truth. Since the Gauls have, unlike the Greeks and Romans, no skills in reading and writing, the druid Getafix, accompanied by Asterix, Obelix and Dogmatix, travels to the forest of the Carnutes to meet his former teacher, Archaeopterix, who shall then pass on the truth by word of mouth to future generations. The true story eventually reaches René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo in a French cafe, who publish it and thus the mystery behind all the Asterix stories is finally unveiled.
Characters[]
- Asterix
- Obelix
- Dogmatix
- Getafix
- Vitalstatistix
- Impedimenta
- Cacofonix
- Unhygienix
- Fulliautomatix
- Geriatrix
- Anachronistix
- Archaeopterix
- Wifix
- Julius Caesar
- Blockbustus
- Bigdhata
- Ipsos
- Confoundtheirpolitix
- Pridanprejudis
- Verigregarius
- Antivirus
- Asparagus
- Apteropter
- Aptoptero
- René Goscinny
- Albert Uderzo
Caricatures[]
The official Asterix site notes there are several caricatures of celebrities in the book.
- The newsmonger character Confoundtheirpolitix was inspired by and resembles Julian Assange. Jean-Yves Ferri said the character was almost called Wikilix in reference to WikiLeaks. Like Assange, Confoundtheirpolitix "makes use of the most modern networks to spread the news, and is something of a worry to the powerful in the Known World". The colors of his clothes resemble those of another reporter, Tintin, while the name is a reference to the British national anthem.
- Caesar's publisher Libellus Blockbustus resembles French advertising magnate Jacques Seguela, but Ferri said the character is actually based on presidential advisers Henri Guaino and Patrick Buisson, who both worked for former French president Nicolas Sarkozy.
- Film director Alfred Hitchcock is caricatured as an unnamed falconer among the entourage of Libellus Blockbustus. This is a tribute to Hitchcock as the director of The Birds.
- French actor Jean Réno appears as a soldier in Libellus Blockbustus's special unit tasked to retrieve the scroll.
- French journalist Franz-Olivier Giesbert is caricatured as the white-haired critic of Mundus.
Notes[]
- The whistleblower character Bigdhata is an allusion to Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning.
- Asterix and the Missing Scroll had an initial print-run of about 4 million copies, half in French and the other half in other languages. It was France's top-selling book of 2015, with more than 1.6 million copies sold.
- This book was the final Asterix book to be translated by long-time translator Anthea Bell, who was forced to retire due to illness in 2016.
- Anachronistix's pipe makes tweeting sounds and is accompanied by small blue birds, in an apparent reference to Twitter.