There’s a case to be made for Asterix and Cleopatra being the first masterpiece in the Asterix series. Artifis is a magnificently depicted bundle of cunning, arrogance and resentment, and Cleopatra herself beautifully constructed, with, of course, a very pretty nose.
#Asterix and cleopatra architect plus
At one point Edifis’ rival Artifis falls down some stairs, and his word balloon is a flying black dragon and a busy spiral followed by four skulls, a plus sign and another skull.
In some scenes random symbols are used, but occasionally there are some gems. Gothic typeface had been used to characterise in an earlier volume, but the idea fully develops here with the use of fake hieroglyphics to depict Egyptian speech. A couple of elements indicate the formula hasn’t quite fallen into place, such as the pirate captain swearing revenge on Asterix and Obelix, but Dogmatix is named for the first time. As the plot continues we learn why the Sphinx has no nose. Edifis is considered the best architect in the country, yet his own house is a structurally unsound edifice with support pillars at odd angles, jammed doors and dangerously uneven steps. There’s a great running gag about the decline of Egyptian construction. Incompetent he may be, but Edifis realises the impossibility of the meeting the deadline without help, so visits his old friend Getafix. She promises to construct a palace for Caesar within three months, and tasks architect Edifis with fulfilling her promise. The plot is set in motion by Cleopatra’s response to Julius Caesar’s scornful depiction of Egypt as a society with nothing left to offer the world. The collected volume wasn’t published until 1965, but serialisation in Pilote began in December 1963. On seeing the film René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo instantly recognised the potential for their own series.
#Asterix and cleopatra architect movie
Mankiewicz’s epic three hour Cleopatra film, released in 1963, and there’s no little irony in the adaptation making the movie screens in 1968. Asterix and Cleopatra takes its lead from Joseph L.