Asterix and the Missing Scroll
| Industry | Comic book publishing |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2015 |
| Products | Comic book |
Asterix and the Missing Scroll (, "Caesar's Papyrus") represents the 36th installment in the Asterix comic series and marks the second collaboration between writer Jean-Yves Ferri and illustrator Didier Conrad.<ref> The narrative explores themes of information suppression and censorship.<ref> Its title alludes to Julius Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico, introducing a fabricated Chapter 24 entitled "Defeats at the Hands of the Indomitable Gauls of Armorica".<ref>
Plot
Following the completion of his Commentaries on the Gallic War, Caesar's publisher, Libellus Blockbustus, insists on excluding Chapter 24 to safeguard Caesar's image. A mute Numidian scribe named Bigdhata absconds with this chapter and entrusts it to the journalist Confoundtheirpolitix (a satirical nod to Julian Assange), who subsequently delivers it to the Gaulish community.
Chief Vitalstatistix rejects the unfounded assertion that Gaul has been subdued, whereas his wife Impedimenta advocates for revealing the concealed truth. Due to the Gauls' inability to read, druid Getafix, alongside Asterix, Obelix, and Dogmatix, journeys to consult Getafix’s former mentor Archaeopterix in the Carnutes forest to ensure the story is preserved through oral tradition. Ultimately, this authentic account reaches René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo in contemporary France, who transform it into the Asterix comics.
Caricatures
According to the official Asterix website, several public figures are caricatured within this volume:
- The character Confoundtheirpolitix, modeled after Julian Assange, was originally considered to be named Wikilix as a reference to WikiLeaks. Like Assange, he leverages modern communication channels to disseminate information and confront authority. His attire’s color scheme is reminiscent of Tintin, while his name alludes to the British national anthem.
- Libellus Blockbustus, Caesar’s publisher, visually resembles French advertising legend Jacques Seguela but is primarily inspired by presidential advisors Henri Guaino and Patrick Buisson, who served under former president Nicolas Sarkozy.
- An unnamed falconer within Libellus Blockbustus’s retinue caricatures film director Alfred Hitchcock, serving as an homage connected to Hitchcock’s work on The Birds.
- French actor Jean Réno makes an appearance as a soldier in Blockbustus’s elite unit tasked with retrieving the scroll.
- French journalist Franz-Olivier Giesbert is depicted as the white-haired critic featured in Mundus.
Notes
- The whistleblower figure Bigdhata references real-life figures such as Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning.
- Asterix and the Missing Scroll launched with an initial print run near 4 million copies, evenly divided between French editions and translations. It became France’s best-selling book in 2015, exceeding 1.6 million copies sold.
- This volume was the last Asterix title translated by veteran translator Anthea Bell, who retired due to illness in 2016.
- Anachronistix’s pipe emits sounds akin to tweeting birds accompanied by small blue birds, symbolizing a nod to Twitter.