Asterix and the Secret Weapon was published in 1991 and written by Albert Uderzo.
Since the history of mankind there’s always been tension between man and woman. Asterix and the Secret Weapon is that kind of story.
The story starts off with a bunch of kids in the village. The boys don’t want to play with a girl because... she’s a girl.
On page two, we learn that Cacofonix, the village’s bard and school teacher, has been dismissed and will be replaced by a female bard from the big city, Lutetia. Cacofonix leaves the village to live by himself in the woods and we are introduced to, Bravura, a tough woman who wears breeches.
Bravura influences the women in the village with her feminist attitude and thinking. She is from the big city of Lutetia and seems much more “worldly” as she knows the latest trends in fashion. The woman realize that they are tired of “taking care” of their men from Bravura’s speeches and they (the women) decided to rebel (or perhaps, protest...).
Around half way in the story Bravura approaches Asterix. She knows he’s a bachelor and she wants to “hook up” with him. Asterix doesn’t really fancy her and... punches her out.
Eventually all of the men move out and while this is happening, the roman camp, Aquarium, gets some new troops but these aren’t exactly typical roman troops. Who are these troops? Well, you’ll just have to read the book to find out.
I’ve read a couple book written by Albert Uderzo so far, and like I mentioned before, the structure of these stories is pretty tight and follows a certain form. They’re well organized.
This story features “women” and most men who read this can probably relate with what the story expresses. Why are women “women” (of course, the Asterix series is about exploiting stereotypes to the max, so we shouldn’t think all women are like this)? Why do women like clothing and fashion so much... why are women so attached to their hair... etcetera.
Just like the last Asterix story I read (Asterix and the Great Divide), Uderzo tends to use “magic realism” in his stories (I couldn’t think of a better way to describe how I feel about this...). Cacofonix is in the forest and every time he sings, it rains and there’s thunder. In the Great Divide the romans shrink into pint-size men.
The ending of this story is pretty simple and formulaic. I have a feeling Underzo needed to kill a couple of more pages so the male Gauls senselessly attack, not one, but every roman villages that surround their village.
What else... while reading Asterix and the Secret Weapon I felt it had a bit of a “TV sitcom” feel to it. There really isn’t any adventure to this story... just tension among the villagers. Also, the actual title, Asterix and the Secret Weapon, doesn’t really reflect the story well.
I don’t think I’ll be reading this story over and over again but it won’t hurt you to read it once... and see Asterix reject a woman.
