My son took my Asterix comics off my shelves earlier than I meant to share them. These silly, witty, comically violent,* comic books spoof the historical period of Julius Caesar from the French
(pardon me, Gaulish) perspective of Asterix's indomitable village,
surrounded by Roman fortified camps filled with highly trained,
disciplined legionaries terrified by the rowdy villagers filled to the brim with brio and magic potion.
Hard to say what exactly my son makes of all this. He loves puns, and the books are filled with them. The plots mix up history that he is still learning. The plots follow Hitchcock's McGuffin rule,
the characters are all after the same object. This is much easier
to follow than stories with more emotional subtext.
Comic books tend to focus on a simple clash of protagonist and
antagonist. And the pictures help give information about
vocabulary or concepts that might otherwise delay the reader.
Most importantly, the books entice the reader. As witness my
falling apart Asterix books.
the characters are all after the same object. This is much easier
to follow than stories with more emotional subtext.
Comic books tend to focus on a simple clash of protagonist and
antagonist. And the pictures help give information about
vocabulary or concepts that might otherwise delay the reader.
Most importantly, the books entice the reader. As witness my
falling apart Asterix books.
*Biff! Paff! Pow! (No one ever dies, everyone walks away (eventually) from the fight.
-Spectrum Mom
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