Kids aren't reading Asterix these days so I read one to see why. I found it a better read than I expected. I'm not sure kids today would get the jokes and the stereotypes, but to me as an adult, it all brought a smile. The characters all had terrific silly names that showed their nature.
The most brilliant part of the book was its dead-on accurate take-down of Western problem solving. The rock oil (petra oleum) helped create the magic elixir (a thriving economy). When Asterix and Obelix's society ran out of it, the solution was to go invade, occupy, and take the oil from the originating land. When the occupiers return, they discover someone had finally tried to come up with an alternative to rock oil (innovate) and had actually done so.

"Why didn't you do that before we left?" Asterix and Obelix asked. GREAT QUESTION!