Iznogoud & the Day of Misrule

Iznogoud & The Day Of Misrule, written by Rene Goscinny and illustrated by Jean Tabary, is the third in the series of English translations of the twenty seven Iznogoud books. The Iznogoud series was originally published in French and a number of the books were published in English in the 1970s and 80s but have been out of print for many years. Since 2008 new English translations of the Iznogoud books have been published at a current rate of two per year.

Iznogoud is the revolting Grand Vizier of Baghdad, under the reign of the benign Caliph, Haroun al Plassid, and everything he does is to reach his one goal - " to become Caliph instead of the Caliph".

The Iznogoud books are all great fun due to the combination of farce, puns, silly storylines and amusing illustrations. I like the way that the stories often parody real political situations, portraying the characters in a childish and naive way, combined with genies, magic carpets and all manner of other silly devices.

The Iznogoud books are well worth reading if you like this style of cartoon books and if you are a fan of Goscinny's most famous creation, Asterix, then I think you will like Iznogoud.

Iznogoud & The Day Of Misrule is a collection of four short cartoon stories featuring Iznogoud, the evil Grand Vizier of Baghdad, his faithful strong-arm-man Wa’at Alahf and the gentle Caliph Haroun al Plassid.

The four stories featured in this book are;

1. The Day of Misrule
2. The Challenge
3. The Labyrinth
4. Elections in the Caliphate

This book contains a lot of humour in the form of funny illustrations, silly plot themes, farcical situations and daft puns. Below is a little information on each of the short stories.

1.The Day Of Misrule

Once a year, on the day of misrule, roles are reversed and masters become slaves and slaves become masters. Iznogoud tries to use this to his advantage but, in this silly satire on how society is reliant on a recognized chain of command, an error in timekeeping reverses Iznogoud's fortunes.

2. The Challenge

A long-forgotten law means that the Caliph must accept a challenge from those that use the correct form of address. Of course, Iznogoud organizes a challenger that he think cannot lose until some magic undoes his plans.

3. The Labyrinth

Chancing upon a labyrinth at a funfair that is impossible to escape from Iznogoud hatches a plan to lose the Caliph inside it. An ever increasing number of the Caliph's retinue disappear inside it until the Caliph becomes the first person ever to solve the labyrinth thanks to a mistake by Iznogoud.

4. Elections In The Caliphate

This story has some laugh-out-loud moments as the shenanigans surrounding an election are parodied to good effect. Only the Caliph is allowed to vote but a number of candidates are intent on getting his vote by fair or magical means. Campaigning gets ugly but everyone forgets to inform the Caliph of their electoral platforms, so the Caliph votes for himself as ever.

Rene Goscinny was the French author of the Iznogoud books who was best-known for the Asterix Books that he produced alongside Albert Uderzo. Rene Goscinny passed away in 1977, suffering a fatal heart attack, but Jean Tabary continued the Iznogoud series alone. Goscinny also the editor of Pilote magazine and was the author of the popular Lucky Luke series of cartoon books.

Jean Tabary is the illustrator of Iznogoud and, since 1977, also the author of the series. In 2004 Tabary produced the latest of the Iznogoud but due to his age, it is probable that there will be no further adventures of Iznogoud.