Asterix in Switzerland

Asterix in Switzerland (Astérix chez les Helvètes)
Date	1973
Series	Asterix
Creative team
Writers	Rene Goscinny
Artists	Albert Uderzo
Original publication
Date of publication	1970
Language	French
Chronology
Preceded by	Asterix and the Roman Agent
Followed by	The Mansions of the Gods

Asterix in Switzerland is the sixteenth volume of the Asterix comic book series, by René Goscinny (stories) and Albert Uderzo (illustrations). It was originally serialized in Pilote magazine issues 557–578 in 1970 and translated into English in 1973.

Plot summary

Condatum's Roman governor Varius Flavus has been embezzling a majority of the taxes he collects in order to finance a debauched lifestyle of never-ending parties, sending only a pittance to Rome, until Quaestor Vexatius Sinusitus is sent to investigate. Flavus, upon finding that the Quaestor will not be easy to corrupt, he serves him food laced with poison and provides inept doctors making absurd guesses at his ailment. Realizing his life is in danger, Sinusitus sends for the druid Getafix, who instantly identifies the malady as attempted murder by poison. Getafix agrees to brew an antidote for Sinusitus but lacks an essential ingredient: a flower called the 'silver star', and sends Asterix and Obelix to Helvetia (Switzerland) to retrieve it. He also insists that Sinusitus remain in the Gaulish village as a hostage; apparently to guarantee Asterix and Obelix's return, but actually to save Sinusitus from Flavus. Asterix and Obelix reach Helvetia but soon run into difficulties set by the Romans, as Varius Flavus has warned his colleague in Helvetia, the equally-corrupt Curius Odus, of their arrival. Thus the Gauls find themselves continually chased and delayed by the Romans, but are assisted by the hotel manager Petitsuix, bank manager Zurix, and some Helvetian veterans who hold a celebration at Lake Geneva. During the celebration, Obelix is rendered senseless by plum wine, and the veterans are attacked by the Roman army; whereupon Asterix and some of the Helvetians, tying themselves to Obelix and each other, obtain the 'silver star' from the mountainside, while the remaining Helvetians repel the Romans. Later Varius Flavus comes to the village, expecting that Sinusitus to be still poisoned; but now healthy Sinusitus confronts Flavus, and empowered by Getafix's magic potion, punches Flavus into the sky, announcing that he will now expose the corruption and sentence Flavus and Odus to their fate in the Circus in Rome. The story ends with the usual banquet for the villagers and Sinisitus, making it the first banquet featuring a Roman as a guest.

Commentary

Following the protests of May 1968, Goscinny started introducing more "adult" themes such as the opening "orgy" scene which parodies Federico Fellini's debauched Roman film, Fellini Satyricon. The painted faces, feeling of ennui, mechanical gorging of elaborate food, and sado-masochistic punishments are balanced (in Helvetia) by the fastidiousness of the Swiss servants who keep cleaning up messes, washing whips, etc.

Notes

• This album features a rare dark overtone in that the plot involves a victim of attempted murder. The added element of potential death offers a startling but refreshing moment of drama in the otherwise whimsical series. Other stories that share a dramatic turn include Asterix and Son (where the village is destroyed) and Asterix and the Magic Carpet.
• The idea to send Asterix and Obelix to Switzerland might have been inspired by a casual suggestion by future French president Georges Pompidou, who had been a banker. The authors and the president sometimes admitted to it, but sometimes denied it.
• Bibendum (the Michelin logo) makes a brief guest appearance as the chariot wheel dealer in the original English translation; whereas the original French version used the Gaulish-warrior-like mascot of the French service station company Antar. The 2004 English re-print from Orion Books uses the French illustrations, making the later localized jokes on Bibendum's weight nonsensical. (Different images of the wheel dealer.)

In other languages

• Catalan: Astèrix al país dels helvecis
• Croatian: Asteriks kod Helvećana
• Czech: Asterix v Helvetii
• Danish: Asterix i Alperne
• Dutch: Asterix en de Helvetiërs
• Finnish: Asterix ja alppikukka (Asterix and the Edelweiss, or, more literally, "Asterix and the Flower of the Alps")
• German: Asterix bei den Schweizern
• Greek: Ο Αστερίξ στους Ελβετούς
• Íslenska: Ástríkur í Heilvitalandi
• Italian: Asterix e gli Elvezi
• Norwegian: Asterix i Alpene (Asterix in the Alps)
• Polish: Asteriks u Helwetów
• Portuguese: Astérix entre os Helvécios
• Spanish: Astérix en Helvecia
• Swedish: Asterix i Alperna
• Turkish: Asteriks İsviçre'de

See also

• Switzerland in the Roman era

External links

• Astérix chez les Helvètes annotations (French)