Asterix And The Falling Sky
Albert Uderzo
Orion Books, 2005
47 pp

Ah, the lost innocent days of youth. We all experienced those halcyon days differently. For some of us it was footy, for others make believe. For me, it was all about the Asterix comics. Back then I didn't read much graphic fiction - I was encouraged to go for "real" books, which I loved - but Asterix, with its classical references and Latin jokes, was treasured. And now I'm all grown up and I have to see if the magic is still there with the latest book, 'Asterix And The Falling Sky'.

Of course, many fans of the book have claimed that the quality has diminished since the death of writer Ren� Goscinny, after which artist Albert Uderzo took over. Accusations abound that the plots have become more outrageous, the humour less clever, and that even the art is not what it was. For myself, I've noticed that the more recent efforts - yes, I've still been reading them - have lacked a certain spark. So what about '...The Falling Sky'?

The news is not good. The story, such as it is, involves two warring tribes of aliens - that's right, spaceships and all - landing in ancient Gaul and wreaking havoc with our bemused villagers. Right from the start you can see something is amiss; the old Asterix stories would never have entertained such a concept. There were always plenty of real B.C. plotlines for our heroes to encounter, skewed though they were with modern references. And even if aliens had been featured, Goscinny would have worked the encounter into some famous point in history, rather than lazily reverse the whole process to finish it off. References to earlier stories ('Asterix And Cleopatra') only remind us of the poor comparison.

Once it gets going, the storyline is just as disappointing as the concept. Under Goscinny's pen, the Asterix stories were always clever and satisfyingly complex, facing our heroes with challenges that required more of them than the strength they got from their famous magic potion. '...The Falling Sky' provides only a series of punch-ups and minor catastrophes, with no cohesion to make it worthwhile. Not even the sneaky but always-inept Romans have any life to them in this tale.

I'd entertain the idea that maybe I've just grown out of Asterix if it weren't for the fact that I still enjoy the old comics so much. I've got all the books I had when I was younger, and I still take them out and dust them off now and again. I can recommend them just as highly as I recommend you leave 'Asterix And The Falling Sky' on the shelf.

Henry Nicholls