Asterix and the Great Divide is the twenty-fifth volume of the Asterix comic book series. It was first published in 1980. In a village similar to Asterix's, two rival chiefs, Cleverdix and Majestix, have been elected. Through various incidents, a ditch has been dug through the village dividing it into the party of the left (led by Cleverdix) and the party of the right (ruled by Majestix). Both men contest the leadership of the entire village. The two sides regularly show their dislike for each other. Histrionix, the son of Cleverdix, and Melodrama, the daughter of Majestix, are the only villagers who do not agree with the fight, and constantly try to get their fathers to stop fighting. To add a twist to the plot, Majestix's mind is poisoned by his evil advisor Codfix. After a failed attempt by both chieftains to convince the other side to join them, Codfix comes up with an idea: in exchange for Melodrama's hand in marriage, he will invite the Roman troops to help Majestix become chief of the whole village (in fact, he plans to overthrow Majestix and become chief himself). However, Melodrama overhears the conversation, and gets her nurse, Angelica, to arrange a meeting with Histrionix.
That night, Melodrama reveals the plan to Histrionix (whom she is in love with and vice-versa), who alerts his father. Cleverdix tells his son to go to the village of Vitalstatistix, who fought alongside him at Alesia, and get help. Arriving at the village, Histrionix explains the problem to Vitalstatistix, who agrees to send Asterix and Obelix to help. As the Romans have been quiet lately, Getafix decides to go too. Meanwhile, at the Roman camp near the divided village, the legionaries are tired of doing their own work and want slaves. Codfix arrives, and convinces the centurion to help by telling him his camp can have the defeated villagers as slaves. When the Romans arrive, however, Majestix refuses to let them take any villager, left or right, as slaves. Enraged, the centurion takes Majestix and his men as slaves.
About the Author
Albert Uderzo (born 25 April 1927) is a French comic book artist, and scriptwriter. He is best known for his work on the Astérix series, but also drew other comics such as Oumpah-pah, also in collaboration with René Goscinny. Uderzo was born Alberto Aleandro Uderzo in Fismes (Marne, France), to parents, Silvio and Iria, who had recently immigrated from Italy. His name comes from the Italian village called Oderzo (formerly called Uderzo), where his family tree can be traced. His childhood ambitions were to become an aircraft mechanic, despite his talents in art at an early age. Uderzo is married to Ada and has one daughter, Sylvie Uderzo. According to The Book of Asterix and the Great Divide, it was speculated that Uderzo had based the characters Panacea and Zaza on Ada and Sylvie respectively, though this has been denied by Uderzo. When Uderzo sold his share of Editions Albert Rene to Hachette Livre, Sylvie accused him in a column in Le Monde, that with this action it was "as if the gates of the Gaulish village had been thrown open to the Roman Empire".
