Asterix is with Tintin the mother of all European bande dessinée, with tens of millions of albums sold to generations of readers. International readers unfamiliar with the art of European bande dessinée should give it a chance, it is appealing not only to children and very different from American style comic books.

Many Asterix adventures focus on one land and its people and features a humorous depiction of the French stereotypes about that land. Astérix chez les Helvètes was first published in 1970. Asterix and his buddy Obelix are sent to Switzerland by their village's druid to find the precious Edelweiss flower needed to brew the magic potion that will let them beat the Roman invader.

Asterix and Obelix seek refuge from the Romans in a large safe deposit box at a Swiss bank. The, banker, Zurix, tells them they need to open an account first and asks them to sign a power of attorney so that their Swiss friend Petisuix can open the safe and let them out in the morning. Although the safe deposit box where they sleep cannot normally be opened from within, Obelix gets hungry during the night and tears it out with his immense strength. The banker, very upset, lets them inside another client safe filled with Egyptian antiques just before the Romans arrive. The Roman centurion sees the box with the broken door and yells at Zurix: he is the owner of the box with the Egyptian antiques. The scene takes about 6 pages and is very fun. On the book's cover we see Asterix and Obelix in the safe deposit box with a large Swiss cheese.

There is not much point in checking the realism of this scene but we must say that the behavior of the Swiss banker Zurix is quite in line with what a Swiss banker would have written in an Asterix book, the client need to open an account, the friends needs an power of attorney, the banker does not know what's inside the box, etc...

Reading this book is warmly recommended!