Asterix und der Arvernerschild Band 11

by Rene Goscinny (Autor)

Other authorsAlbert Uderzo (Autor), Gudrun Penndorf (Übersetzer)
Paperback, 2011

Status

Available

Call number

741.5944

Publication

Ehapa (2011), Edition: 7., 44 pages

Description

When the hero Vercingetorix was defeated he threw his arms at Julius Caesar's feet. Years later, Caesar plans to hold a triumph with his enemy's shield - but where is it? Romans and Gauls race to track it down, and Chief Vitalstatistix, dieting on a health farm, has a surprise to spring. Will Caesar defeat the Gauls again, or will the truimph go to Asterix?

User reviews

LibraryThing member frightful_elk
Same fun visual puns and verbal trickery, but a rather weak story, enjoyable, but definitly not the best of Asterix.
LibraryThing member theboylatham
Five out of ten. CBR format.
Caesar decides to show the Gauls who is boss by parading on an ancient Gaulish shield. But no-one knows where it is or who has it.
LibraryThing member scuzzy
This volume (the 11th in the series) is notable for touching base on the Battle of Alesia ("I don't know where Alesia is?") which is somewhat ironic as the whereabouts of Alesia itself was not known until after this was printed.

It chronicles the story of how Chief Vitalstatistix came to obtain his
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well-known shield on which he is carried and the race between Asterix and Obelix to find it before Julius Caesar.

It is the first book to name Vitalstatistix's wife, Impedimenta, and is one of the only books to not have the bard, Cacofonix tied up at the end (in fact he is shown to be eating and getting merry at the tradtional book-ending banquet).

The Gaulish costline features as the backdrop to this story and makes references specifically to the heath spas and love for wine that dominate the area. Some of the classic characters that pop up are Winesandspiirix, the ROman Envoy Noxius Vapus, a lazy Legionnaire Pusillanimus, Lucius Corcumbendibus who is a whell manufacturer (loosely based on the Michellin factory) and Marcus Carniverus who owns a Wine and Boar inn.

Some good bits in this, not one of the best, but certainly not one of the worst.
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LibraryThing member David.Alfred.Sarkies
I didn't like this particular album as much as I did the others, though the story was still quite good, particularly with the rather interesting twist at the end. Actually there are a few twists in this story, and it does take time for the actually plot of the story, that is the quest for the
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shield of Vercingetorix, to come to fruition. Basically, after Vercingetorix threw his arms and armour at Ceaser's feet (which ended up being quite painful for Ceaser) the shield ended up going missing. However, it appears that a part of Gaul was beginning to revolt, namely because Asterix and Obelix were wondering through and decided to beat up the local Roman envoy. Actually, it wasn't because they decided to have some fun (which hadn't stopped them in the past) but rather that the Roman decided to throw his weight around, and Asterix and Obelix generally do not appreciate Romans doing that and tend to put them back into their place. Anyway, Ceaser decides that to remind the Gauls who's boss he wants to be paraded around the area on Vercingetorix's shield, however, as it turns out, the shield went missing shortly afterwards, so it ends up being a race between the Romans and Asterix and Obelix to get the shield first.
I guess the reason that I didn't really like this particular album is because I felt that the translation was not really all that good. I say that because some of the jokes simply did not make sense. It is not that I do not have a funny bone (we all have a funny bone, but I am not speaking anatomically here) but rather that the jokes simply did not make sense. Some of them, such as the Gaul's crying out that they do not know where Alesia is took some time to work out (Alesia is where Vercingetorix was eventually defeated by Ceaser) others of them (and I can't remember it quite clearly) simply did not come out all that well.
Anyway, I have sort of thought a bit more about the ideas behind the Asterix comics, and while some may suggest that there isn't anything deep in them, I would be inclined to disagree. Hey, even Superman has ideas behind it (that being the American's desire for a super hero to come down and save them from all the bad things, which may even have a connection to their Puritan heritage). Asterix has a similar idea though and I suspect that it stretches back to the writings of Rousseau, who suggested that technology and advancement were the main causes of humanity's ills, and as such a return to the ideal, that is the simple village life where everybody is self sufficient, is the answer. As such we see throughout the Asterix comics a continual battle between development, as represented by the Romans, and the idealistic life style, as represented by the village. While we do not see it as much here, we do get deeper exploration of the theme in some of the other albums.
Obviously the theme behind the story is one of control (as are many of them) and that it is the desire to finally remind the ideal that that time is long gone and that we now live in an age of progress. The shield of Vercingetorix symbolises the ideal, and obviously whoever holds onto the shield pretty much dictates where society is heading (which seems to also be the case with the Spear of Destiny). If the Romans have the shield then progress has won, however if the Gauls have the shield, progress many not necessarily have lost, but there is still hope for the ideal to exist and that progress can at least be halted.
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Barcode

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