Obelix and Co.

Obelix and Co. (Obélix et Compagnie)
Date	1978
Series	Asterix
Creative team
Writers	Rene Goscinny
Artists	Albert Uderzo
Original publication
Date of publication	1976
Language	French
Chronology
Preceded by	Asterix Conquers Rome
Followed by	Asterix in Belgium

Obelix and Co. is the twenty-third volume of the Asterix comic book series, by René Goscinny (stories) and Albert Uderzo (illustrations). The book's main focus is on the attempts by the Gaul-occupying Romans to corrupt the one remaining village that still holds out against them by instilling capitalism. It is also the last volume released before Goscinny's death in 1977; his next and last volume, Asterix in Belgium, was completed after his death.

Plot summary

After Obelix single-handedly defeats the newly arrived Roman reinforcements to celebrate his own birthday, Caesar once again questions the possibility of annexing the rebellious Gaulish village; whereupon the Roman economist 'Caius Preposterus' proposes to introduce capitalism, by which to reduce the Gauls' interest in war. For that purpose, he moves into the camp of Totorum; and upon encountering Obelix, buys a menhir every day for increasing sums of money. When Preposterus demands more menhirs in exchange for more money, Obelix hires other villagers to help him make menhirs, and an equal number to hunt boar for him and his sculptors. This corporation later includes a cart-and-oxen with which to deliver half-a-dozen menhirs at once, and an ostentatious costume. Obelix's increasing wealth alienates Asterix and Dogmatix, and causes problems for the village men, whose wives reproach them for not matching his success. To reprimand Obelix, Asterix encourages the other villagers to build menhirs, sell them to the Romans, and put their subsequent wealth on display. Complicit therein, Getafix supplies them with magic potion. Soon, half of the village's men are making menhirs, while the other half are hunting boars. Only Asterix, Getafix, Cacofonix, and Vitalstatistix take no part.

Preposterus returns to Rome, where he sells the Gaulish menhirs to the patricians as a symbol of great wealth and high rank. The enterprise seems like a great success: the Gauls are too busy making menhirs to fight the Romans, and Preposterus is making a profit too. However, a Roman businessman arranges the manufacture and sale of menhirs at a cheaper rate. Anxious to recover the money paid to the Gauls, Caesar imposes a ban on the sale of Roman menhirs; but he is forced to lift the ban in the face of a possible civil conflict. Preposterus suggests a price war to reclaim their position, but this provokes Egypt, Greece, and other peoples to sell menhirs to Rome. The glut in supply leads to a massive decline in prices. Soon, even free menhirs are unwanted. Facing financial ruin, Caesar orders Preposterus to stop the menhir trade or be thrown to the lions.

The Gaulish village meanwhile is unaffected by the Menhir Crisis, because the centurion of Totorum has continued buying their menhirs to keep the peace; but Obelix is demoralized because everyone is now rich, making money no longer a status symbol. He asks Asterix for a return to his customary habits: a request Asterix grants, in exchange for Obelix's abandonment of ostentation. Preposterus, on return to Totorum, refuses all the menhirs offered him. When the men of the village notice Obelix has stopped selling menhirs, they accuse him of insider trading, and thus provoke a fight, which Asterix terminates by suggesting they turn their anger on the Romans. The Gauls then ransack Totorum, and stun Preposterus himself. When Asterix enquires into the fate of his friends' money, Getafix tells him the sestertius has been devalued, and is therefore useless to the villagers. At the subsequent victory celebration, a menhir holds Cacofonix down, to prevent his discordant singing.

Economic issues

• The book is a parody of capitalism:
  • While Obelix could hunt boar before, he begins to overwork for the purpose of buying them (and ridiculous clothing). This pointless circle of money is something Obelix never understands in the first place, when all this stress could be prevented by simply hunting and living the simple life like before.
  • Capitalism is also looked at as pointless through the fact that the only thing being bought serves no practical purpose, as a menhir is simply a large stone.
• When the makers of Roman menhirs are banned from selling their stock, they block the Roman roads in protest at the loss of their jobs. This is a common tactic by French strikers.
• The London School of Economics is referred to as the Latin School of Economics, where Preposterus is trained. It is the École Nationale d'Administration (ENA) through the Nouvelle École d'Affranchis (NEA) in the original.

Cultural references

• The character of Preposterus is a parody of French politician Jacques Chirac, then Prime Minister under President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, and himself President of the Republic from 1995 to 2007.
• Laurel and Hardy make an appearance as Roman legionaries ordered to unload the menhirs from Obelix's cart.
• When, on page 2, the Romans leave the camp, two of the legionaries are carrying a drunk on a shield. The bearers are Goscinny and Uderzo themselves and the drunk is their friend Pierre Tchernia.
• In this story, camp life for the Roman legionaries is shown as undisciplined and complacent, mostly due to the lack of any conflict with the Gaulish villagers during the Menhir trade. In other Asterix adventures they are usually vigilant, clean-shaven, and well-organized; but here the men's faces are covered in stubble and life is almost anarchic. This laxity is represented in the watchtower guard, who becomes increasingly dishevelled with every appearance.
• Page 36 of this book was the 1000th page of Asterix. It is the page in which Preposterus uses a number of stone tablets in order to explain his strategy of selling menhirs to an increasingly bewildered Caesar. This panel had been hailed as a remarkable explanation of modern commerce and advertising.
• Moreover, there is a small panel with the Roman numeral M and below a tiny Latin text saying 'Albo notamba lapillo'. It should read 'Albo notanda lapillo' (which means "To be noted on a white stone", appropriate given the subject of the story), but it is purposely misspelled: "notamba" is a pun in the French for footnote, une "note en bas" (i.e. a "note at the bottom"), which is what the panel is.
• Getafix's comment on page 30 "And the funny thing is, we still don't know what menhirs are for!" refers to the fact that modern archeologists and historians are uncertain what purpose they served.
• The "Egyptian menhir" advertised in Rome is an obelisk, similar to Cleopatra's Needle.

In other languages

• Catalan: Obèlix i companyia
• Croatian: Obelix d.o.o.
• Czech: Obelix & spol.
• Danish: Obelix & Co. ApS
• Dutch: Obelix & co.
• Finnish: Obelix ja kumpp.
• German: Obelix GmbH & Co. KG
• Greek: Οβελίξ και Σία
• Hebrew: אובליקס וחבורתו
• Indonesian: Obèlix dan Kawan-kawan
• Italian: Asterix e la Obelix SpA
• Norwegian: Obelix & Co. A/S
• Polish: Obeliks i spółka
• Portuguese: Obélix e Companhia
• Turkish: Oburiks ve Şirketi
• Serbian: Предузеће Обеликс
• Spanish: Obélix y compañía
• Swedish: Obelix & Co.

References

• The complete guide to Asterix by Peter Kessler ISBN 0-340-65346-9