A Roman governor named Varius Flavus has been stealing tax money meant for Rome and using it to fund lavish orgies. Sure, Asterix is there, but this is actually a story about the Romans and the political intrigue that became something of a stereotype about the Empire. вЂњAsterix in SwitzerlandвЂќ isnвЂ™t really a book about Asterix and his village. It can be a bit confusing to follow at times, thereвЂ™s a very real sense that Goscinny may have been trying to be a bit too clever with the plotting and wordplay, but itвЂ™s still a fun book to read.

вЂњAsterix and the Roman AgentвЂќ shows the Romans at their most devious and is a story where the village is under the gravest threat. Fortunately, Roman trickery is no match for honest Gaulish camaraderie, and the Romans are defeated when Getafix and Asterix manage to bring the village together and outplay the Romans. On top of that, Convolvulus manages to enlist the help of the neighboring Roman garrison to engage in psychological warfare by convincing the Gauls that the Romans actually have the secret potion that gives them superhuman strength. The agent is sent to the village (his voyage is plagued by the crew fighting each other and even the pirates fall victim to his machinations) and proves to be immediately effective in sowing mistrust among Asterix and his villagers. Convolvulus is so effective that while he was sentenced to be fed to the lions, he managed to escape by convincing the lions to attack each other instead of him.

While his good friend Brutus likes the plan, the historical references that Caesar makes on a near constant basis are slowly driving him into a murderous rage.Д¬aesarвЂ™s agent is a man named Convolvulus, a small, spiteful man capable of turning any group of friends against each other with a single sentence. Since he canвЂ™t conquer them with force of arms or buy them out, he decides to send an agent into the village to sow discord and make the Gauls distrust each other. вЂњAsterix and the Roman AgentвЂќ tells a story where Julius Caesar has a plan to finally defeat the village of indomitable Gauls once and for all. This is the style where Asterix and Obelix thrive, and interestinglyвЂ¦the Smurfs as well. Out of all three of the styles, itвЂ™s the most cartoonish with the most unrealistic caricatures and the most exaggerated action. The final one is the вЂњcomic dynamicвЂќ style. This was made most famous by the Tintin books. The second is the famous вЂњlinge claireвЂќ or вЂњclean lineвЂќ style which is characterized by highly realistic backgrounds but simple easy to read line work.

You can find this in books like Blueberry by Moebius and Thorgal by Grzegorz Rosinski. The first is the вЂњrealisticвЂќ style where the artist creates highly detailed and almost photorealistic pages. Think of it as a small collection of facts that you can whip out at a party or any social gathering in order to look smart. HereвЂ™s a brief rundown of the artistic styles that are prevalent throughout the Franco Belgian comic book scene. This week we see the devious Romans almost conquer the village in вЂњAsterix and the Roman AgentвЂќ and weвЂ™re off to the Alps in вЂњAsterix in SwitzerlandвЂќ

Asterix fondue