Asterix and the Missing Scroll
Asterix and the Missing Scroll (, "Caesar's Papyrus") is the 36th book in the Asterix comics series, and the second written by Jean-Yves Ferri and illustrated by Didier Conrad. A central theme is censorship and the battle over information. The title alludes to Julius Caesar's classic book, "Commentarii de Bello Gallico" (Commentaries on the Gallic War). The comic adds a fictitious Chapter 24 titled "Defeats at the Hands of the Indomitable Gauls of Armorica". Plot. 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 (accompanied  by Asterix, Obelix and Dogmatix) 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. Reception. On Goodreads, "Asterix and the Missing Scroll" has a score of 3.69 out of 5.