While finishing up the “answers” section to the recent quiz, I accidentally bumped in to this panel (from Banquet) and was struck by how unique it was.

Now, there have been plenty of times when an overconfident oaf looked to put Astérix in his place, only to be sent skyrocketing to the heavens, but in this rare case we have a solo legionary of mediocre physical build (name of “Spongefingus” in English) who’s been worked in to a perfect wrath, eager to take on our Gaulish duo.

Well, what the hey… let’s see the backstory:

(previously, Asterix & Obelix on their tour through Gaul happened to gain possession of a ‘breakdown’ chariot, likely a playful anachronism, altho who knows?)

As usual, Obelix is dreadful at playing along, and now the vendetta is ignited.

Brut: a French word meaning “raw,” used to describe a style of wine that’s very dry and crisp, with little to no added sugar. In this case, a dry, sparkling wine.