Books like Asterix in Switzerland

So what exactly makes the Asterix Comics for the most part so much fun, what makes them such personal treasures and such successful satires, and what then also renders even their often constant "political incorrectness" both acceptable and actually usually also laugh out loud hilarious? For one (and in my opinion very much importantly) author René Goscinny (and by extension also illustrator Albert Uderzo) generally NEVER single out one ethnic or cultural group for their jokes and humour (both textual and illustrative). For indeed, Goscinny and Uderzo almost ALWAYS spread their satires, their humorous asides, their parodies and stereotypes pretty much right across the board so to speak, with everyone, from Asterix and Obelix to the Romans, and in this here case, in Asterix Chez les Helvètes, of course, the Swiss, being painted and depicted with entertainment, with similar and equal smiling, satirical brushes. And for two (and this might in fact be even more essential as to why the Asterix comics are such perennial wonders), the actual villains (the bona fide and true nasties) of the diverse episodes are generally and usually solely individually problematic and vile characters in and of themselves, which means that they are not considered worrisome and cringeworthy because of their ethnicity and culture, but because they just happen to be people, they are persons with an inherent nastiness both internal and external. And while these villains can be Roman (and yes, are often Roman, but do not in fact have to be Roman, as the villains of the Asterix comics actually appear in many guises and from many cultures), they are villains not because they are Roman (or from any culture, for that matter), but because they happen to be just bad and worthlessly mean-spirited entities, very bad and annoying human beings (for example, in Asterix chez les Helvètes, the main and yes inherently nasty villain Governor Garovirus is not a virally horrid specimen because he is Roman, but because he is a decadent politician loving and living the so-called high life, withholding collected tax income from Julius Caesar and of course doing everything, including resorting to poisoning, to avoid being caught, to avoid an investigation). Highly recommended are both Asterix chez les Helvètes and indeed the rest of the Asterix comics (well, at least those episodes written by René Goscinny, as the ones both penned and illustrated by Albert Uderzo after Goscinny's death are unfortunately not nearly as deliciously funny). However, and at least for me personally, if you can read French sufficiently at an intermediate and above level, the Asterix comics should really be enjoyed in the original, as the translations, while of course generally adequate, often simply cannot and do not come even remotely close to capturing all of the humour and satire (and especially the many historical, political allusions) of the original French texts.