Caesar has completed writing his Commentaries on the Gallic War, but his publisher, Libellus Blockbustus, encourages him to omit Chapter 24 on "Defeats at the Hands of the Indomitable Gauls of Armorica", fearing it would besmirch the Roman leader's curriculum vitae. A mute Numidian scribe, Bigdhata, steals a copy of the chapter and gives it to the journalist Confoundtheirpolitix, who in turn passes it on to the village of indomitable Gauls. Chief Vitalstatistix is unfazed by the lie that all Gaul has been conquered by the Romans, but his wife Impedimenta urges him to campaign for the truth. Since the Gauls have, unlike the Greeks and Romans, no skills in reading and writing, the druid Getafix travels to the sacred forest of the Carnutes to meet his former teacher, Archaeopterix, who will then pass on the truth by word of mouth to future generations. The true story eventually reaches René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo in a French cafe, who publish the censored tales in comic books as the Asterix adventures.
Caricatures
The official Asterix site notes there are several caricatures of celebrities in the book.
The newsmonger character Confoundtheirpolitix was inspired by and resembles Julian Assange. Jean-Yves Ferri said the character was almost called Wikilix in reference to WikiLeaks. The colors of his clothes resemble those of another reporter, Tintin. His short trousers also resemble Tintin's trademark plus-fours. His name is also a reference to the second verse of the British national anthem.
Caesar's publisher Libellus Blockbustus resembles French advertising magnate Jacques Seguela, but Ferri said the character is actually based on presidential advisers Henri Guaino and Patrick Buisson, who both worked for former French presidentNicolas Sarkozy.
Film directorAlfred Hitchcock is caricatured as an unnamed falconer among the entourage of Libellus Blockbustus. This is a tribute to Hitchcock as the director of The Birds.
French actorJean Réno appears as a soldier in Libellus Blockbustus's special unit tasked to retrieve the scroll.
French journalist Franz-Olivier Giesbert is caricatured as the white-haired critic of Mundus.
Reception
On Goodreads, Asterix and the Missing Scroll has a score of 3.69 out of 5.
