Asterix the Gaul and Obelix have a problem. A Roman physician named Viceversus has brought his "White Iris" philosophy to their village and everyone seems to be falling for it. People are acting differently. They are not fighting, they talking rather than arguing, and no one is hunting boars anymore. But then Viceversus leaves taking the Che if's wife Impedimenta with him on a trip to Lutetia. Asterix, Obelix, and Chief Vitalstatistix set off to retrieve her. Read the book and see how much mayhem philosophy and the Gauls can do at a theater and elsewhere!

Thanks Netgalley and Papercutz for the chance to read this title!

As a long-time fan of the Asterix series, I was thrilled to dive into the latest graphic novels. In these new stories, positive thinking has mysteriously swept through our beloved Gaulish village, and Asterix is convinced it's a sinister Roman plot! The blend of poetic language and relentless optimism adds a fresh twist to the classic tales. I couldn't help but wonder if these new attitudes would be enough to thwart our heroes Asterix, Obelix, and their trusty magic potion. I recommend this to any Asterix fan big and small.

I always remember love this historical fiction comic so much when I am young. The new author gave new ideas but keep the original vibes of the classic.

Asterix and his best friend Obelix famous with their strength and fighting skill to defeat Romans. And this time Roman's comeback with new tactics to lift up their soldiers spirits, reducing desertion level and beat their Gallish opponent at the same time. They sent a motivational speaker to spread positive thinking, peacefully and kindness speech to smooth the rough village.

The story and jokes hit me differently than the classic type of story but still good. It is feel smart, modern and related with our social life. Cant wait to read another installment from.the new team. 🥰❤

Thank you to Netgalley and Papercutz Publisher for providing copy of this ebook. I have voluntarily read and reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Expecting Publication : 31 Oct 2023

This really took me back to my childhood, We always had Asterix comics books around this house. The puns come hard and fast, not just every page, every frame. The illustrations are adorable and colorful. So appealing to the eye. And even though it’s silly, it made me want to go read a history book. I could see this sparking an interest in history for students! History doesn’t have to be stuffy.
Thank you for the laughs in this eARC! I enjoyed it.

A fun walk down memory lane for me as I grew up reading these comics in school. This was a fun addition to the series that I am happy to see thrive to this day.

I can certainly understand the appeal of the Asterix series. There are so many of them and they provide a consistent product. Plenty of word play and humor.

Originally created by Goscinny and Uderzo, Asterix and Obelix and the village of indomitable Gauls have been resisting the advance of the Roman Empire for over half a century now. This latest comic offering perhaps doesn't always scale the dizzying heights achieved by the very best in the classic cartoon series in the past.

A brand new author takes over in the newest chapter in the long-running Asterix series; “Asterix and the White Iris” (Asterix Vol. 40) by Fabcaro, Didier Conrad, based on characters created by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. It may be a case of trying too hard to make a good first impression, but a lot of this chapter feels a bit forced.

For those unfamiliar with the Asterix series: The Romans have invaded and conquered all of Gaul with the exception of one village holding out. How do they do it? By a combination of intelligence, cunning, and (of course) a secret potion that gives them strength. Our main character, Asterix, is the one with most of the cunning and intelligence. His constant companion, Obelix, is the brute force (he fell into a cauldron of the magic potion as a child and has perpetual strength) who is always hungry for boar.

Ceasar has decided to bring out the big guns in his fight with the Gauls: positive thinking! He sends out his personal coach/physician Viceversus to change the behavior of the Roman troops and sow dissent among the Gauls. And for the most part, Viceversus is a success! The Romans all spout platitudes as they go about their business, even when getting thrashed by our heroes, the Gauls are in thrall to their new visitor and start behaving, well, civilized! Asterix is suspicious and isn’t buying into the new ways of thinking, Obelix just goes along until his beloved food supply (boars) is threatened. When Viceversus takes the chief’s wife to Paris, this is a step too far, and our heroes go to the big city to rescue the day and return all to the way it was.

This was an OK read, but it did seem like the humor was a bit by the numbers. In addition, there was a lack of focus, as the author tried to cover too much territory all over the place, not only were we satirizing the positive thinking industry, but we also had health food, women’s rights, city vs. rural intelligence, city inconveniences, etc. It seemed that every page brought a new topic. And some of the primitive versions of modern conveniences, particularly the “light rail”, also seemed a bit too much. Also, what was the purpose of the very brief pirates cameo?

Anyway, a bit of a rough start, we’ll see how this manages to carry on.

I requested and received a free advanced electronic copy from Papercutz via NetGalley. Thank you!

I didn't know that new Asterix was still coming out, but I was so excited to see and read this. It was a good addition to the series.

I've only ever met Asterix and Obelix in cinematic form - although I seem to have read a jubilee story a long time ago - and that gave me a much more humorous impression than I got from this volume. Interesting though was the shift towards modernity in their world, embodied mostly in the food and the horse-drawn carriages, alongside the basic approach to life. We get Romans changing to a healthy lifestyle, Gauls who are not nervous about anything, but it all seemed so role-playing to me. I did like the independent woman thread itself, but overall it felt rather superficial.

What a fun and exciting story. Beautiful art and writing adapted for the North American audience. This story is full of fun and witty names and cute remarks. Old fans of Asterix will adore this story, and new fans will surely be made from this book. Just great.

I grew up reading Asterix and I don't think I cannot love one of these stories
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I grew up watching Asterix and Oblix every weekend at my grandparents house. I love that the stories are getting rereleased. Since I grew up in the US I didn't have access to most of the comics, I cannot wait to get to read them all.

5 stars

Asterix comics bring back a lot of memories. This is the feel-good series I used to read to uplift my mood. Even when rereading the graphic novels, I would often laugh out loud. This book falls far short of expectations. While it seems to try hard to be relevant to contemporary social issues, the sense of humor is insipid. A number of Obelix's dialogues that are meant to be funny fall flat on their face, and a few of Asterix's clever quips fail to deliver. The wordplay lacks its characteristic punch. Unfortunately, it shows that neither of the co-creators were involved in the making of this volume. I hope future volumes bring back the Asterix of yore.
*I would be giving this two stars because of the disappointment, but Fabcaro had big shoes to fill, hence the three star rating.
Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC. My review was not influenced due to the receipt of an ARC.

In the newest Asterix series, the Roman Vicevertus/Viceversus is using positive thinking to mold the Romans and the Gauls to his likings. Of course it works, and things doesn't look well for our friends. Until the Roman had another idea. A good book and good laugh as usual, although this one is not as witty as the original author's hand.

What an exemplary inclusion to the decades of tales of Asterix. The story and plotting is excellent and the artwork stellar. In these days of almost entirely rotten comics out-put, this volume should lead on to what comics should be today.

Involving story, i love the silly Tony Robbins-type character out to turn the world around with mind games. The idea this is to increase the power of Cesar aids in the hilarity of it all. I love the clever writing of seducing one to use as a pawn to attempt to overcome the Gauls. Then also there's the resolution to it all. The use of stage is brilliant as a metaphor of the showman being undone. Perfect.

Involving artwork, this hits levels above what Uderzo drew. The rendering and inking is skilled wonder. There are a slew of individual panels that are mezmerizing.
One in particular I love is a brilliant rendering of what 'Light Rail' might've been like hundreds of years ago. I especially love the different faces of the horses struggling.
As I worked in government on light rail projects, I see the depiction in this volume being more practical than what's being built today!

Bottom line: I recommend this book. 10 out of ten points.
I obtained this English version via NetGalley.com.

It's hard to believe that this much-loved comic series is in it's 40th edition. Even though it's original creators, René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, have long passed away their legacy remains. Didier Conrad still manages to capture the essence of our two favourite Gauls and their cast of supporting characters. This is Fabcaro's first attempt at writing Asterix and I do think he lives up to the task. The dialogue is full of puns and witticisms as always. It's predictable, but that's what we love about the series. It's comfort reading, we know what to expect, we know the plot will involve the Romans trying to invade the village and we know that the unfortunate pirates will once again, cross paths with the two Gauls.

A large part of Asterix's charm is poking fun at society and cultural phenomenon. Here it's the flaky side of the health industry, positive thinking, motivational speaking and lifestyle coaching, as well as the contrast between the pretentiousness of the city and the simplicity of small, rural towns. We're basically transported to our current world in an Asterix setting. And that's what makes it fun to read. We recognise these ridiculous fads and those who fall for and follow them.

If you're an Asterix fan, you'll enjoy Asterix and the White Iris. Just don't expect something different, new or groundbreaking and that's OK!

(First of all, thank you NetGalley and Papercutz, for sending me this ARC in exchange for an honest review)

Synopsis: Positive thinking has invaded our favorite Gaulish village. And Asterix is positive it's because the Romans are up to no good! Will poetic language and optimism be enough to defeat our heroes Asterix, Obelix, and their magic potion?

Opinion: Asterix and Obelix are so special to me because I always read my father's comic collection with him and we watched all the movies (we upset my mom with our laughs). So reading this new comic for a long time no reading them is like being a child once more. The draws are gorgeous as always and the laughs are guaranteed. The fresh fish always hits its point! xD So without telling you more of the story (no spoilers here) I, for sure, recommend you to read this new comic, and I hope you like it as much as I did.

It’s been a long time since I read an Asterix comic and it was just as enjoyable as I remembered.

Bright and lively graphics, with a story that both honours the earlier editions of Asterix while finding a way to be relevant in today. Laughed out loud reading this; looking forward to reading more by these authors.

With Caesar’s legions demoralised from losing constantly to the Armorican village that perpetually resists them, his head physician, Viceversus, decides to spread his gospel of positive thinking to the region to both boost the troops’ mindset and sow dissent among the small Gaulish village. But not if Asterix and Obelix have anything to say about it!

40 volumes in and I don’t really expect to be all that wowed by Asterix anymore, especially as the original creative team have both passed away having done their best work years ago. But it’s nice to check out the occasional new book if only out of nostalgia. Writer Fabrice Caro (or “Fabcaro” as he goes by - one thing I’ve noticed about French comics creators, they love their one-word names!) and artist Didier Conrad do a solid impression of a classic Asterix book but The White Iris is unfortunately a bit of a boar.

It feels like the creative team are hamstrung from wandering too far from what they can do with an Asterix book, to the point where it just feels like they’re checking boxes off a list and producing a lifeless, uninteresting facsimile. Pirates cameo, Cacofonix tied to a tree, Asterix and Obelix fighting roman legions, boar hunting, Unhygienix and Fulliautomatix screaming at each other, references to modern day things (high speed rail, scooters) - check, check, check, etc.

Even the story feels similar to what’s gone before. The sneaky romans trying to destabilise the Gaulish village is the storyline to The Roman Agent and Obelix and Co. while a charming crook who sways the villagers - but not Asterix - is like The Soothsayer.

By Belenos and Toutatis (check and check), it’s impressive how identical Conrad’s art is to Albert Uderzo’s and the book delivers on the nostalgia from the visuals alone! The story had moments of amusement, mainly from Obelix: Vitalstatistix getting depressed and he and Obelix locking horns; Obelix being unimpressed by sophisticated Lutetian (Parisian) cuisine; and Obelix getting stage fright when he invades a theatrical performance.

The White Iris is recognisably an Asterix book but, in the same way of The Simpsons, it feels like a zombie version of what it once was; the series died years ago but it chugs on because it continues to make money. A weak addition to the series, I’d recommend the earlier volumes mentioned above over this one to new Asterix readers, and old fans, don’t expect much from The White Iris if you’re planning on checking this out.