Asterix and Obelix All at Sea

Asterix and Obelix All at Sea (French: La Galère d'Obélix, "Obelix's galley [ship]") is the thirtieth volume of the Asterix comic book series, by Albert Uderzo. The album was dedicated to Uderzo's grandchild, as well as to the American actor Kirk Douglas.[1][2]

Asterix and Obelix All At Sea
(La Galère d'Obélix)
Date1996
SeriesAsterix
Creative team
WritersAlbert Uderzo
ArtistsAlbert Uderzo
Original publication
Date of publication1996
LanguageFrench
Chronology
Preceded byAsterix and the Secret Weapon
Followed byAsterix and the Actress

Plot summary

A band of slaves led by Spartakis (a parody of Spartacus) has taken over Julius Caesar's personal galley, prompting Caesar to send his Admiral Crustacius to recover the vessel.

After some arguing about a safe place to disembark, the slaves set sail for the only place safe from the Romans: the village of indomitable Gauls. The four outlying Roman camps rehearse a parade to welcome Crustacius, who is pursuing the slaves. Believing the Romans are about to attack, the Gauls prepare for battle. Obelix is (as usual) denied Getafix's magic potion. As the Gauls return victorious, they find Obelix has turned to stone after drinking a remaining cauldron of magic potion.

The former galley slaves are granted refuge, while Getafix tries to revive Obelix. Ultimately Obelix returns to life, but as a child and deprived of his usual strength. He is kidnapped by Roman soldiers and put on a ship bound for Rome, where Crustacius intends to use him as a bargaining counter for the return of Caesar's galley. Asterix, Dogmatix, Getafix and the former slaves set out in pursuit and rescue Obelix at sea. Crustacius and his adjutant Vice-Admiral Nautilus, as well as Caesar's galley, are handed over to the pirates, who plan to ransom them to Caesar. Spartakis and his crew take the Gauls to Atlantis (the Canary Islands), but the Atlanteans, despite having the secret of eternal youth, cannot restore Obelix's adulthood. The Gauls head homeward, while the freed slaves remain on Atlantis as children forever.

On Caesar's galley, the pirates unwittingly give Crustacius a dose of magic potion from a barrel inadvertently left behind by Getafix. He expels the pirates and plans on using his new strength to usurp Caesar; however, he makes the same mistake as Obelix and becomes a statue. Nautilus's ambition of obtaining a promotion for bringing back the galley is dashed when he forgets to remove the jolly roger flag upon approaching Rome's harbour and the vessel is attacked and sinks. The statue of Crustacius is installed in the Circus Maximus, while Nautilus and his crew are reduced to sweeping the arena. Asked by Cleopatra why he has erected a statue to commemorate his incompetent admiral, Caesar replies that although lions do not eat granite, things may change some day.

On their way back, the Gauls are intercepted by another Roman galley and Asterix is knocked unconscious by a catapult stone. Seeing his friend about to be thrown to the sharks, Obelix recovers his strength and size, and rescues him. Obelix then propels the galley into the Roman camp of Aquarium, before returning to the village for a feast.

Notes
  • The character Spartakis is obviously based on actor Kirk Douglas and his role in the movie Spartacus.
  • This is the only album in which two of the pirates are called by their names.
  • The Atlantean palace in the album has been modeled after the ruins of the Minoan civilization. Connections between Atlantis and Minoan Crete have also been explored in Atlantis Mystery, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, and other fiction.
  • The young Obelix lacks his usual great strength. This means he must be under six years old, as he was about that age when he fell into the potion and gained his strength (see How Obelix Fell into the Magic Potion When he was a Little Boy).
  • This album has perhaps the closest thing in the Asterix series to a major character actually dying, as Admiral Crustacius is left trapped in stone form at the end of the story, without Getafix to revert him to normal.
  • Cleopatra appears in this album alongside Julius Caesar; but her physical appearance is quite different from that seen in the album Asterix and Cleopatra, in that she is here darker-skinned and shorter-nosed, and is never shown in her characteristic irascibility.
  • The young Obelix here pronounces the name of Asterix properly; but lisps in How Obelix Fell into the Magic Potion When he was a Little Boy.

In other languages
  • Croatian: Gali na galiji (Gauls on galley)
  • Czech: Obelix a Caesarova galéra
  • Danish: Så til søs, Obelix!
  • Dutch: De beproeving van Obelix
  • Finnish: Obelixin kaleeri (also translated into Savo dialect as Opeliksin orjalaeva, roughly translatable as Obelix's Slave Ship)
  • German: Obelix auf Kreuzfahrt
  • Spanish: El mal trago de Obelix
  • Greek: Η γαλέρα του Οβελίξ
  • Italian: Asterix e la galera di Obelix
  • Indonesian: "Obelix Yang Malang"
  • Latin: "Navis actuaria Obeligis"
  • Norwegian: Obelix på galleien
  • Portuguese: A Galera de Obelix (Brazil) O Pesadelo de Obelix (Portugal)
  • Polish: Galera Obeliksa
  • Serbian: Обеликсова галија
  • Swedish: Obelix på galejan

Reception

On Goodreads, it has a score of 3.85 out of 5.[3]

gollark: It should simply be better designed.
gollark: Well, "decisions".
gollark: The human body is simultaneously thousands of engineering miracles and blatantly insane design decisions.
gollark: But you're at least definitely dead when your brain loses most of its stored information.
gollark: It's kind of fuzzily defined I think.

See also

References
  1. "Asterix and Obelix all at Sea – Asterix – The official website". www.asterix.com. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
  2. Albert Uderzo – Asterix and Obelix All at Sea – Hachette Children's Group.
  3. "Asterix and Obelix All at Sea (Asterix #30)". Retrieved 2018-10-04.
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