Asterix in Corsica

Asterix & Obelix rescue a dour Corsican Exile captured by the Romans and go with him to his village in Corsica to help retrieve the tax that the greedy Roman Praetor Perfidius has extorted from the Corsicans. In Corsica, they get mixed up with inter-clan vendetta, a bunch of idiot pirates, an overenthusiastic Roman legionary named Courtingdisastus, not to mention the Praetor himself.

Two of my favorite pieces in this book:

(1) A Corsican explaining to Asterix the roots of a very bloody vendetta between 2 Corsican clans:

Asterix: What’s the vendetta about?

Corsican: The old folk say Boneywasawarriorix’s Great-Uncle married a girl from the Vionecellix clan and a cousin by marriage of OllabellaMargaritix was in love with her. But others say it was because of a donkey which OlabellaMargaritix’s great grandfather refused to pay for when he got him from the brother-in law of a close friend of the Boneywasawarriorix clan claiming that he was lame (the donkey, not the Boneywasawarriorix’s brother-in-law). Anyway it’s very serious.

(2) Conversation between Obelix & a Corsican chief:

Obelix has mistaken the sound of a pig for the ‘secret’ cry of a chief of a Corsican clan.

Chief: Can’t you tell the difference between a pig and a chief of a Corsican clan?

Obelix: I don’t know, I never tasted the chief of a Corsican clan.

Asterix in Corsica is not in the same league as “Obelix & Co” and “Asterix the Legionary”, but is pretty darn good and a definite must for any Asterix fan. And I despair of those that have never read an Asterix comic. Come on!