Asterix and Obelix All at Sea was published in 1996 and written and illustrated by Albert Uderzo.
Caesar’s galley has been taken by a group of slaves. The leader of this group looks strikingly similar to Kirk Douglas... they need a safe place to go so they head to Asterix’s village since this would probably be the safest place in all Europe (I’m sure it wasn’t called Europe back then...).
We are then taken to Asterix’s village. Right before a small skirmish with the Gauls and the romans, Obelix is pouty as usual about not being able to drink any magic potion (he fell into a cauldron of the stuff when he was a child so he’s always got super strength). While the Gauls are fighting he drinks a whole cauldron of the stuff!
First Obelix’s body turns into granite and then, after drinking some stuff from the druid, Getafix, he turns into... a child.
The slaves, led by the Kirk Douglas look-alike, arrive at Asterix’s village. Next, Obelix is kidnapped by the romans. After that, Asterix and Getafix chase the romans with Caesar’s galley. They catch up to the romans and little Obelix is back in good hands. Finally Getafix decides to take the crew to Atlantis, where there are many children. Atlantis is a pretty strange world (you’ll see what I mean if you read this book).
Will Obelix return to his usual self or will he be a child for good?
Asterix and Obelix All at Sea doesn’t use the Kirk Douglas look-alike very well. To be honest, this character is pretty dull in this story and I think Uderzo could’ve done a lot more with this character (perhaps, exaggerate the antics of the character).
Also, the crew of the Kirk Douglas look-alike are all similar characters that we’ve seen in past Asterix episodes, so there's nothing really original here.
The plot of the story is silly. After twenty-nine episodes we finally find out that the magic potion would have ill effects on people if a lot of it is drunk at once? And why didn’t Getafix warn Obelix about doing something so stupid?
Towards the end, Asterix and crew go to the mysterious city of Atlantis. Uderzo tends to add “fantasy” elements to these stories. I prefer these stories to be without that kind of stuff.
I’ll spoil the ending... Obelix does return to normal by the end of the story (I’m sure you’re really surprised by this). The way he returns to normal is... rather unsurprising. You’ll be saying to yourself, “That’s it?”.
Asterix and Obelix All at Sea is a bold adventure but it's mainly for children to read. Maybe the message of the story is not to eat/drink too much at once as there will be consequences.
