I enjoyed these books as a kid without a doubt. It is, however, only when I was older that I understood some of the subtlety behind the characters names and their personalities. In Asterix’s travels he meets many many different nationalities of people whose idiosyncracies have been brought vividly and humorously to life. For e.g. you have the Swiss and their desire for orderliness and time and the British with their love of afternoon tea. The characters themselves Cacofonix, Dogmatix and who can forget Getafix are excellent plays on regular words.
I think these are books that are definitely worth possessing as they are stories that only get better and better every time you read them.