The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log

Lucky Luke: Volume 2, Ghost Town & Volume 18, The Escort

by Goscinny & Morris

Cinebook

Lucky Luke is one of those beloved European books that has never quite made it into our British hearts. A little like Blake And Mortimer, it sits at the periphery of our Euro-comics awareness, obscured by the twin giants of Tintin and Asterix. You may well have seen the odd Darguard volume in your local library one time and you may well be aware of the iconic image of the laconic cowboy with either cigarette or blade of grass hanging loosely from his mouth (depending on the version and how strict the anti-smoking lobby is where you are). And whether you know him or not pretty much everything you need to know can be summed up with this classic image:

(Lucky Luke: The man who shoots faster than his own shadow. Classic imagery from Morris.)

Lucky Luke was created by created by Maurice De Bevere  (under the pen-name Morris), in 1946 but really hit it’s stride with the addition of Rene Goscinny (pre Asterix fame) as writer from 1957.  The 31 Goscinny & Morris Lucky Luke tales are considered by most as the best of the character – and Cinebook have very sensibly decided to reprint the works in English starting with these classic tales.

It’s a simple, repeating tale of the wandering cowboy, washing up in town at the start of a book and riding out once crimes are thwarted and injustices righted. Together with faithful and smart horse Jolly Jumper and a cast of supporting characters, often from US history, the fastest (and coolest) cowboy in the west has been delighting millions for decades. I haven’t read any for many years and it might seem a little strange to start with Volumes 2 & 18, but such is the nature of the stories that you really need no prior knowledge, no idea of Lucky Luke’s history to appreciate the classic cartooning and laid back tale in each volume.

(Lucky Luke meets the gamblers in Ghost Town and immediately realises that they’re going to be trouble)

In Ghost Town Luke comes across two devious gamblers, recently tarred and feathered out of town. As is his nature he travels on with them, a seeming innocent to their ways but the reader knows differently – Luke may seem laid back, but he’s always one step ahead of whatever villain he’s up against. On they ride to discover the ghost town of Gold Hill and it’s sole inhabitant, still insistent that his mine will supply the gold that everyone else long ago gave up on who’s now going to spend all book with the gamblers attempting to swindle the mine from him.

(Everywhere they go in The Escort, Luke is continually having to stop townsfolk falling over themselves to hand over anything he wants to the diminutive outlaw.)

In the second volume, The Escort, Lucky Luke is charged with getting Billy the Kid to New Mexico to be tried and put in jail. Billy’s a recurring character in Lucky Luke, an obnoxious and notorious bank robber whose infamy is so legendary that townsfolk do his every bidding just to stay out of trouble. The trek across the country to take Billy for trial sees Luke continually getting in the way of a series of ridiculous and funny escape attempts en route.

The actual stories of each volume don’t matter that much. In many ways one Lucky Luke story is much the same as any other in theme; It’s the characters and situations that Goscinny and Morris come up with that make Luke so enduringly popular. Whether it’s the continual ridiculous schemes that the con-men try to pull off in Ghost Town or the reactions of his victims to Billy the Kid in The Escort there’s always something in every Lucky Luke book to make it stand out as a genuinely funny read.

(Every volume of Lucky Luke ends in the same way with Luke and Jolly Jumper riding off into the sunset singing “I’m A Poor Lonesome Cowboy…..”. Onwards to the next adventure…..)

So as Luke rides off into the sunset once more, count yourself lucky that there are 18 Cinebook volumes to enjoy – all featuring some classic cartooning from Morris and some brilliant writing from Goscinny. Maybe, like me, you’ll be left wondering exactly why Luke has never really caught on here in Britain. And maybe, if we’re all lucky, these Cinebook reissues will right that one wrong that Luke’s never been able to right himself?

Richard Bruton.