Asterix and the Chieftain’s Shield (1967)
Asterix and the Chieftain’s Shield Review
Asterix and the Chieftain’s Shield is the eleventh volume of the Asterix comic strip series that was written by Rene Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo. It was published in 1967 and it is a highly entertaining, though flawed story.
When Julius Caesar wants to parade with his Gallic adversary Vercingetorix’s shield, Asterix and his friends race to find the hero’s shield before Caesar does. This is a different than usual formula for this series as it focuses extensively on a mystery about this shield. This was a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it made for a more intriguing story with a nice detective ring to it, but on the other hand, the final revelation wasn’t telegraphed properly, resulting in a bit of a letdown.
This story isn’t great in its overarching plot, but it is superb in its many individual moments that not only work, but are some of the best in the series so far. The Romans basically defeating themselves was funny and the highlight is the fight between the two protagonists. It gets resolved pretty quickly, but it’s so wonderfully executed in its every frame that it represented some of the series’ best humor. Dogmatix is also endearing in those frames.
The other characters are very amusingly named and quite memorable, though not as strong as our protagonists of course. Vercingetorix is an interesting new addition while Vitalstatistix has rarely been better than he was here. He got a meaty arc and the emphasis on his shield was great as it’s well connected to all the previous entries. The illustrations by Uderzo are just as marvelous and as detailed as always with some of the outdoors backgrounds being particularly mesmerizing. The dialogue is also strong here and the speech bubbles are used just right.
