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Asterix and the Falling Sky

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  • Bizarro Episode: Aliens (a Mocky Mouse and his Superman Substitute bodyguards vs. Manga-like insectoids and super robots) show up in a series based on a parody of the historical Roman-dominated era. And yep, it ends with the good toon-like aliens erasing the villagers' memories of this episode.
  • Critic-Proof: It was the top selling French language comic in 2006, despite both critics and the public disliking it in retrospect.
  • Ending Fatigue: What seems like the obvious ending point for the story comes when the Gauls have a banquet following their defeat of the Nagmas. There are actually a dozen or so pages still to go at this point, first revolving around the Romans attempting to attack the Gauls, then Getafix trying to cure Toon of the potion's side effects.
  • Fanon Discontinuity: Most fans would rather believe that this story never happened due it lacking almost any of the charm or adventure of a traditional Asterix story, as well as being a poorly-thought-out satire that doesn't manage to say anything meaningful or even very accurate. This Uderzo album is usually pointed to as the one where the lack of René Goscinny's comedic writing really hurt the series, so it's usually left out of judgment of the quality of Uderzo's other solo albums since it's so universally detested.
  • Hilarious in Hindsight: Twelve years after this comic was published, Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion would end up parodying manga tropes itself, by having Getafix build a giant centaur-shaped "mech" out of Roman legionaries, complete with Voltron-esque effects as it forms. Though this time round, it's a much more affectionate kind of parody.
  • Older Than They Think: Exactly thirty years before this album, Action Comics #579 Prisoners of Time! (1986 A.D. to CCLIII A.D.) had Superman visiting a lawyer-friendly version of Asterix's village. Said story also included a Mickey Mouse character homage.
  • Seasonal Rot: It's pretty much unanimously considered to be the worst Asterix album in the long history of the series.
  • Shallow Parody: The Nagmas are supposed to be a Take That! to manga and anime, but it's very obvious from the character's appearance and behavior that Uderzo's knowledge of the entire art form extends to having flicked through some Super Robot thing on television back in the '70s and seeing some Beyblades in a toy shop, with general Yellow Peril stereotypes thrown in for good measure. In his public apology for the quality of the book, he admitted that his hatred of manga stemmed from flipping through a sexually-explicit one at the library (stating that it "teaches children to have sex") and wishing the Japanese would Think of the Children! (it's worth noting that France has legally binding age restrictions for comics).

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