A Lucky Luke at the source of the western, caught in the hostile and violent environment of the desert plains of the West: this is the bias of the other designer of the series, Matthieu Bonhomme.
Wanted Lucky Luke
(Dargaud editions), second episode signed by this already noticed comic book author for
The Man Who Killed Lucky Luke
in 2016.
Read also:
Wanted Lucky Luke
by Matthieu Bonhomme, a lonely cowboy under the fire of passion
Created 75 years ago by the Belgian Morris, "the man who shoots faster than his shadow" is alive and well, to the delight of many fans of the series.
“
For Lucky Luke, there are Jul and Achdé, who take care of the mother series.
And then, in parallel with that, as it happens that certain authors take over a comic book character to bring their slightly different, original vision, I offered Dargaud my interpretation.
And I had a lot of fun,
”Matthieu Bonhomme told AFP.
The album
Un cow-boy dans le coton
by screenwriter Jul and designer Achdé, released in October, performed very well, being the best-selling comic book in France in 2020. Lucky Luke ventured into Louisiana, into a universe unusual.
And he couldn't wait to leave.
Read also: Lucky Luke dives into segregated America with
A Cowboy in Cotton
In
Wanted Lucky Luke
, we find him in his favorite environment: the vast expanses of an arid Far West, populated by desperados and Apaches, and dotted with small towns that grow along a railroad under construction.
“
I learned to read with Lucky Luke.
He's a character in my comic book author DNA.
But I saw it evolve, and I was not always in agreement with this evolution
”, remembers the designer.
“
The Lucky Luke that really carried me is that of the beginnings, and the golden age with
Goscinny
.
He was a real cowboy.
And I needed to get back to the western, I wanted Lucky Luke to be a kind of Clint Eastwood, Gary Cooper again.
"
The shaken phlegm
So back to the Lucky Luke of the 1950s and 1970s, stirring, full of action and humor.
Acrobatics with revolvers and on horseback, unexpected rescues, life-to-death duels: all the ingredients are there.
More a touch of sentimentality, in a hero who cultivates phlegm and detachment in front of three sisters, Angie, Bonnie and especially Cherry, very blue flower.
“
In the years 1960-1970, the convention was for a hero to be lonely.
He had the right to have an adventure companion, a foil.
No woman, because that meant less adventures.
I find it super old-fashioned, super-sexist,
”emphasizes Matthieu Bonhomme.
Faced with these heroines who wield the colt and bivouac fearlessly in these wild lands, we discover a cowboy who does not cut corners to defend them, but all the same shaken by this feminine presence.
According to the author, “
Lucky Luke is someone who wanders a bit.
He goes from one adventure to another, we don't really know what he does between two jobs, his goal is not always defined ... His lonely side may be due to a crack.
This is the assumption that I am making.
"