By Achdé, Pennac & Benacquista
Publisher: Cinebook
ISBN: 9781849181686
The Dalton Brothers are a recurring theme in Lucky Luke, so the creators have always done well to spin a new tale around them that respects the history of the cartoon strip and adds something new and worthwhile. You want the running gags, but you don’t want a repeat of the previous adventure.
In Lone Riders the four brothers fall out after yet another capture by Luke and it’s decided that the first one to make $1,000,000 will be the new leader. Digging four separate (naturally) escape tunnels, the siblings depart the prison walls for four very different attempts at collating their loot. Joe Dalton goes straight to doing what he knows and does best, holding up banks, William discovers the lure of the casino, Jack eventually stumbles upon politics and Averell ends up being the catalyst in a fast food franchise.
While all this is taking place Lucky Luke and Jolly Jumper are hot on their trails, but each time they catch up with one of the brothers the local populace appears to be happy with the new direction of the individual brother's life and would rather see him stay, to the point that they’re all soon making plenty of money and Luke appears to be helpless and hopeless. The only exception is Joe, who is just doing what he’s always done, but still amounting quite a hidden stash of cash.
Luke’s answer to this conundrum is to play them at their own game which has the result, eventually, of setting them one against the other before he can take charge of the situation.
This is one of the newest Lucky Luke books and the creative team of Achdé, Pennac & Benacquista have done a fine job of making it feel like a classic Lucky Luke adventure. It’s beautifully drawn by Achdé who lovingly mimics Morris’s style and it manages to breathe fresh energy into the Daltons by giving them the chance to blossom as individuals. Plenty of humour too, including Jolly Jumper appearing in a first floor window then complain of losing a shoe after descending a ladder, and although it’s a little softer than Goscinny’s work it’s still well within the sprit and fun of what’s gone before. Lucky Luke is in good hands.
And if you liked that: The Bluefeet Are Coming!
No comments yet.