{"id":33181,"date":"2025-06-25T16:19:59","date_gmt":"2025-06-25T16:19:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=33181"},"modified":"2025-06-25T16:19:59","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T16:19:59","slug":"the-man-who-shot-lucky-luke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2025\/06\/25\/the-man-who-shot-lucky-luke\/","title":{"rendered":"The Man Who Shot Lucky Luke"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Matthieu<\/strong> Bonhomme<\/strong>: and translated by Montana Kane\/Jerome Saincantin <\/strong>(Europe Comics\/Cinebook)
\nISBN: 978-1-80044-063-0 (Cinebook PB Album\/Digital edition)<\/p>\n

Lucky Luke<\/strong> was created in 1946 by Belgian animator, illustrator and cartoonist Maurice de B\u00e9v\u00e8re (AKA \u201cMorris\u201d), first riding out in Le Journal de Spirou<\/em><\/strong> that summer sans any title or banner, and only in the French-language edition. His official launch came with Christmas Annual L\u2019Almanach Spirou 1947<\/em><\/strong>, before beginning his first weekly serial adventure – \u2018Arizona 1880\u2019 – <\/em>in December 7th<\/sup> 1946\u2019s multinational weekly issue.<\/p>\n

Doughty, rangy, and dashingly dependable, the cowboy is an implacably even-tempered do-gooder who can \u201cdraw faster than his own shadow\u201d, amiably ambling around a mythic, cinematically realised Old West on his petulant, stingingly sarcastic wonder-horse Jolly Jumper<\/em> in light-hearted adventures. Ever since that natal moment, his exploits in LJdS<\/em><\/strong> – and, from 1967, in rival periodical Pilote<\/em><\/strong> – have made the sharpshooter a legend of stories across all media and monument of merchandising.<\/p>\n

Working solo with occasional script assistance from his brother Louis, Morris produced 10 albums worth of affectionate and thrilling sagebrush parody before formally uniting with Ren\u00e9 Goscinny, who became regular wordslinger with Des rails sur la Prairie<\/em><\/strong> (Rails on the Prairie<\/strong>), which commenced in LJdS <\/em><\/strong>on August 25th<\/sup> 1955. They literarily rode together on another 44 albums whilst Luke attained dizzying heights of superstardom. The partnership continued when the six-gun straight-shooter switched teams, transferring to Goscinny\u2019s own magazine Pilote<\/em> <\/strong>with La Diligence<\/em><\/strong> (The Stagecoach<\/strong>). When Goscinny died, Morris continued both singly and with fresh collaborators. The dream team\u2019s last ride was 1986\u2019s La Ballade des Dalton et autres histoires<\/em><\/strong>\/The Ballad Of The Daltons and Other Stories<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Ultimately the grand originator invited an inspiring passel of legacy creators to step in: luminaries like Achd\u00e9 & Laurent Gerra, Benacquista & Pennac, Xavier Fauche, Jean L\u00e9turgie, Jacques Pessis and more, who all took their own shots at the lovable lone rider. Morris died in 2001, having drawn fully 70 adventures, plus an assortment of sidebar and spin-off sagebrush sagas such as the one we\u2019re scrutinising today. Since 2016 Julien Berjeaut, AKA Jul (Silex and the City<\/strong>) has handled the tall tale telling\u2026<\/p>\n

Lucky is one of the top-ranked comic characters in the world, having generated 94 albums (if you count spin-off series like Kid Lucky<\/strong> and Ran-Tan-Plan<\/strong>, and artist\u2019s specials) with sales well north of 300 million in 33 languages. That renown has translated into a mountain of merchandise, toys, games, animated cartoons, TV shows and live-action movies and even commemorative exhibitions. No theme park yet, but you never know\u2026<\/p>\n

Our taciturn trailblazer\u2019s travails draw on western history as much as movie mythology and regularly interact with historical and legendary figures as well as even odder fictional folk as he re-explores and refines key themes of classic cowboy films – as well as some uniquely European notions and interpretations. As previously hinted, the happy wanderer is not averse to being a figure of political change and Weapon of Mass Satire \u2026but not in this primal, purely-classic-western-influenced outing. Here the entire premise is played dead straight…<\/p>\n

We Brits first encountered Lucky Luke<\/strong> in the late 1950s, syndicated to weekly comic Film Fun<\/strong>, and again in 1967 in Giggle<\/strong>, where he blazed trails as Buck Bingo<\/em>. In all these venues – as well as in numerous attempts to capitalise on the English-language success of Tintin<\/strong> and Asterix<\/strong> albums from Brockhampton and Knight Books – Luke had a trademark cigarette hanging insouciantly from his lip. In 1983 Morris – no doubt amidst both pained howls and muted mutterings of political correctness gone mad – substituted a piece of straw for the much-travelled dog-end, which garnered him an official tip of the hat from the World Health Organization. The classic snout is notionally back here and plays a large part in how an uncharacteristically grim saga unfolds…<\/p>\n

Scion of an artistic family, Matthieu Bonhomme received his degree in Applied Arts in 1992, before learning the comics trade working in the atelier of western and historical comics specialist Christian Rossi. Le Marquis d\u2019Anaon<\/strong><\/em> was Bonhomme\u2019s first regular series, running from 2002-2008, after which he began writing as well as illustrating a variety of tales from L\u2019Age de Raison<\/em>, Le Voyage d\u2019Esteban<\/em>, and others.<\/p>\n

When invited to craft his own take on a comics megastar, in 2016 he delivered L\u2019Homme qui tua <\/em><\/strong>Lucky Luke<\/em><\/strong>: a wry but strictly serious pastiche of the parody western pioneer that successfully answered the question \u201cwhat if they dropped all the funny bits and (mostly) played the hero as straight as the classic cinema fare he\u2019s usually spoofing?\u201d The gimmick clearly hit a cord as he was asked back and in 2022 released second shot Wanted: Lucky Luke<\/strong>, which we\u2019ll get to another day…<\/p>\n

The result was first translated in 2016 by digital-only comics collective Europe Comics (which I\u2019m referencing here today) but the tale is also available as part of the Cinebook Lucky Luke Library available both on paper and in pixel pictures. The Man Who Shot Lucky Luke<\/strong> is a deliciously enticing drama with notes and references to many US western movies anyone over 40 has seen – usually beside a parent or grandparent – that tips its Stetson to the glory days of shoot-\u2018em-ups. You can play spot the movie reference on your own time, but yes, it\u2019s notionally based on The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance<\/strong>, with hints of The Big Country<\/strong>, 1957\u2019s Gunfight at the OK Corral<\/strong> and more…
\n\"\"
\nOne cold, wet night, a lone rider ambles into sleazy, dying mining outpost Froggy Town. The dank muddy dump is hardly welcoming, as it still reels from a recent robbery that took away the last of the gold the mines seem to contain, Moreover, the taking of those few nuggets by a mysterious Indian left beloved stagecoach driver Bob <\/em>dead in the dust…<\/p>\n

Tired, hungry and desperate for a smoke, the legendary good-guy gunslinger is inexplicably provoked by incompetent sheriff James Bone<\/em> and his lethal, brooding brother Anton<\/em>, and only coughing, slowly expiring veteran shootist Doc Wednesday<\/em> is able to defuse what might have become another tragedy.<\/p>\n

Fed and watered, Luke\u2019s luck seems to be turning, but even the little metropolis can\u2019t supply all his needs. There\u2019s no tobacco to be had at any price since the robbery…<\/p>\n

Moreover, the dogged, reputation-obsessed brothers conspire to get Lucky out of the way and Luke, still thwarted in every attempt to get some tobacco, tetchily starts to feel the Bone boys aren\u2019t quite right in the head… and he hasn\u2019t even met big brother Steve<\/em> yet…<\/p>\n

In that diagnosis he\u2019s not wrong, and the assessment is even more true of their miner father. Big shot Pa Bone<\/em> founded Froggy Town with his first big strike, runs roughshod over the townsfolk, literally rules his sons with a rod of iron and is desperate to save the place from fading away as the precious ore peters out…<\/p>\n

Luke\u2019s reputation prompts a citizens committee to appoint him to investigate the robbery\/ murder, hoping to catch the enigmatic Indian and recover the gold, but the Bone boys sabotage his every effort, even confiscating his gun and Jolly Jumper and \u201closing\u201d them… and that\u2019s before old flame Laura Legs<\/em> shows up, betrothed to Anton…
\n\"\"
\nDistracted, jonesing for a smoke and outwitted at every turn, Luke is even framed for the crime after Pa Bone suddenly saves the town by \u201cfinding\u201d more gold, but the tissue of lies is starting to tear. When the old man shoots Luke – in the back – the tragedy sparks a lynch mob and the true finally emerges, but far too late for some…<\/p>\n

Not without humour – but not the raucous slapstick Luke\u2019s readers are used to – this is a beguiling tribute to traditional western tales, asking Europe\u2019s most famous cowboy to play against type and the trick works perfectly. If you ever wondered what Lucky would be like as a straight Gallic-framed hero like Blueberry<\/strong> or Red Dust<\/em> (in Comanche<\/strong>) this is the book for you…
\n\u00a9 2016 – LUCKY COMICS – Bonhomme. All rights reserved. English translation \u00a9 2021 Cinebook Ltd.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Matthieu Bonhomme: and translated by Montana Kane\/Jerome Saincantin (Europe Comics\/Cinebook) ISBN: 978-1-80044-063-0 (Cinebook PB Album\/Digital edition) Lucky Luke was created in 1946 by Belgian animator, illustrator and cartoonist Maurice de B\u00e9v\u00e8re (AKA \u201cMorris\u201d), first riding out in Le Journal de Spirou that summer sans any title or banner, and only in the French-language edition. … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The Man Who Shot Lucky Luke”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[191,239,63,125,192,225,99],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","category-drama","category-european-classics","category-humour","category-lucky-luke","category-mystery","category-westerns"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-8Db","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33181"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33186,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33181\/revisions\/33186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}