Hari's Reviews
Asterix at the Olympic Games
Created: Sat Mar 20 16:53:51 2010 | Last modified: Sat Mar 20 16:53:51 2010
Rating: 
Asterix at the Olympic games is one of my favourite Asterix albums. In fact, I would probably rate it as one of the top three. This is actually one of those albums where there's very little violence and a lot of wholesome humour throught the book.
The Romans are all set to participate in the Olympic Games and when the Gauls come to hear of it, they want to join in the fun. Unfortunately Gauls aren't allowed to participate since they're not Free Hellenic citizens. How they overcome this obstacle and how the Gauls finally manage to compete and win a palm in the Games is what this album is about. Full of cultural references and parodies, this is probably the cleverest Asterix album ever conceived.
The part of the story where the Romans are driven to desperation by the looming threat of the magic potion and how they finally succumb to temptation is the best episode in the entire series - a light-hearted and extremely clever satire on the modern tendency to use performance enhancing drugs at the Games. The Greeks are also portrayed in a humourous and irreverent light - in particular I enjoyed the scene where the Olympic Council elders meet to discuss the fate of the Games - it's obviously a dig at the increasing commercial interests of modern sport.
The drawings are sophisticated and of top quality. All in all I would rate it 5/5. All fans of Asterix should have this in their collections for sure.