By Morris, Fauche & Léturgie
Publisher: Cinebook
ISBN: 9781849181600
No, not the somewhat grotty British tabloid, but an Old West newspaper with a proprietor inspired by a real editor who went on to run America’s most influential newspaper.
The Horace P Greeley of this book, we’re reliably reassured, is not intended be the same man, but with the resilience, determination and innovation he shows you wouldn’t mind if he was. With his reliable Washington Imperial No 3 printing press Horace sets off out into the West to tell the truth wherever he rolls up, but that often lands him in deep trouble, so when he meets Lucky Luke and Jolly Jumper there’s the opportunity to put down firmer roots in a town and really make a go of the paper. The problem is that despite Luke’s help, and Jolly Jumper’s exceptional assistance on most of the related newspaper production chores, some members of the town don’t appreciate the spotlight that the paper throws on them and try again and again to shut it down.
There’s a nice recurring gag where the ideas man of the hapless group has to run through a little pantomime to lay out his plan, and the alternative’s that are used when the newspaper and then ink run out are worth a smirk too.
Fauche and Léturgie are on writing duties here following the untimely death a few years earlier of Goscinny, and they make a good stab at retaining the humour and storytelling style of what’s gone before, no doubt assisted by the fact that Morris is still drawing his creation and understands what makes Lucky Luke tick.
What I particularly enjoy about this series is how they can take a small detail of living in the West and expand upon it, shaping an interesting and amusing tale in the process. One of the things I’ve always loved about cartoons and comics is their ability to introduce the unusual and the overlooked, so you end up a little more informed on a subject which can sometimes be all it takes to launch a wider interest. And there’s certainly lots to discover about the early efforts of a newspaperman here – in-between the more outlandish fun – and the fact you get Lucky Luke as well is indeed a bonus.
And if you enjoyed that: Look out for volume 42
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