Redbeard

A cruise always implies long periods of free time, especially those that took place in 50 B.C. If you wonder what was done with that time, you can be sure that René and Albert had no trouble coming up with ideas. In keeping with the usual crew of merrymakers from the Asterix world that we know and love, they entrusted our Jolly Rogers and their captain, Redbeard, with the role of masters of revelry.

Their mission is to provide entertainment to the enjoyment of all travellers (Romans, Normans, and, of course, Gauls)! Pirates to massacre, what a treat! Well, caricatures of pirates, because Redbeard’s crew is none other than that created by Jean-Michel Charlier and Victor Hubinon for their cartoon strip “Le Démon des Caraïbes”, which was published in Pilote, just like Asterix.

Transformed by the feverish imagination of Goscinny and Uderzo, these fearsome Pirates are little more than punching balls, reduced to working as innkeepers or galley slaves to compensate for the lack of any loot that would pay for a new boat! And even if they finally get the chance to get their hands on Chief Whosemoralsarelastix’s sesterces in Asterix and the Cauldron, they spend the rest of their lives undergoing all kinds of trials and tribulations: the (regular!) destruction of their ship, running aground, scuttling, etc. In other words, a series of thrashings that finally dumbfound even Pegleg, leaving him incapable of pronouncing any Latin saying.