New "Lucky Luke": Western from yesterday

The 100th volume in the “Lucky Luke” comic series has just been published.

There is something special for the anniversary: ​​the first stories of the cowboy invented by the Belgian draftsman Morris.

• "The origins: Westerns from yesterday" is the name of the 100th "Lucky Luke" band.

• The Belgian draftsman Morris invented the cowboy in 1946.

• So far, more than 100 million "Lucky Luke" albums have been sold worldwide.

A gunslinger is a gunslinger - and of course he can handle four fingers.

Lucky Luke, the "man who pulls faster than his shadow", will be 75 years old in November.

His adventures have sold more than 100 million times worldwide;

In Germany alone, around 30 million albums went over the counter.

But in the beginning the cowboy was missing a finger on each hand.

“Western from yesterday” creates a gold rush atmosphere

This is revealed by the 100th edition of the Belgian comic classic, which appears today and whose title "The origins: Westerns of yesterday" does not promise too much.

Indian word of honor.

For the first time, "Arizona 1880" and "Dick Digger's Goldmine", two early stories by inventor Morris, are published regularly in the series.

This creates a real gold rush mood for comic lovers.

Inventor Morris is actually called Maurice de Bévère

Rightly.

Morris, who was born Maurice de Bévère in 1923 and advanced to become a formative artist of the Franco-Belgian style (see box), created "Arizona 1880" in 1946 for the almanac "Spirou 1947".

The episode comprises 20 pages, and anyone reading it will recognize the long way "Lucky Luke" has come since then.

Morris began his career in the animation studio

"I had no style back then," Morris once said of his early work.

That's true - and yet it is wrong.

Because history shows who shaped the then 23-year-old: Walt Disney with his clear character drawings, but also cartoonist Max Fleischer, in whose animated film, for example, “Popeye” was created.

At the beginning Morris' figures appear round, soft.

Yes, Lucky Luke had baby fat - and absolutely no hit with women.

Besides, the cowboy only had four fingers on each hand.

That was common for the cartoons of the time.

Because before he created his own series, Morris toiled for an animation studio.

This can also be seen in the dramaturgy of the two stories.

The focus is not on a surprising or allusive plot, not on pointed dialogues or charming protagonists, but on speed, action: rapid chases alternate with wild fights.

Perfect for the canvas.

“It was only thanks to Joseph Gillain that I was able to develop a more or less recognizable style,” recalled Morris.

"Without him I probably wouldn't have made it, after all, I had no training." Gillain - stage name Jijé - promoted the draftsman and other young talents who worked for the magazine "Spirou".

And he traveled to the United States with him in 1948 - Morris lived there for six years, his study visit so to speak.

He sent new "Lucky Luke" episodes to the editors by post.

René Goscinny wrote "Lucky Luke" from 1955 on

In New York, Jijé introduced the comic artist to René Goscinny.

Before the gifted French author invented “Asterix” with Albert Uderzo, he recognized the - also satirical - potential in “Lucky Luke”.

From 1955 on he wrote the adventures.

The rest is history.

Wild west story.

Information about the album:

Morris: "Lucky Luke 100 - The Origins: Westerns of Yesterday".

Egmont Ehapa, Berlin, 47 pages;

6.90 euros (softcover) or 14 euros (hardcover).

Read our review of the 99th “Lucky Luke” album “Torches in the Cotton Field” here.