By Morris & Goscinny
Publisher: Cinebook
ISBN: 978-1-84918-059-7
Amazingly, we're now up to volume 26 in Cinebook's reprintings of the Lucky Luke books, and what's really good is that I'm still thoroughly enjoying them.
Lucky Luke has caught the notorious outlaw Bloody Bart and is in the process of handing him over to the sheriff. There's a very large reward on Bart's head, but Luke insists the money is distributed amongst Bart's victims, so creating a very disgruntled individual who is listening in on the exchange. This person is Elliot Belt (superbly modelled on Lee Van Cleef), a ruthless bounty hunter who has been claiming rewards on one thing or another since he was a child (a particularly well put together digression I'm sure you'll enjoy when you read it). Belt is not happy with Lucky Luke's attitude to rewards and bounties, so proposes they join forces and split the profits, but Luke is having none of it.
Meanwhile at a local ranch, a prize stallion has been stolen and the suspect is a Cheyenne who just may have returned to his reservation. The wealthy ranch owner sets the reward at $100,000, and so the inevitable race is on.
Once again, the story is packed full of gags, be they visual such as the surreal Frankenstein's monster masks of the Cheyenne medicine men or the disdain with which everyone treats the bounty hunters (shots of items being thrown at their feet rather than placed in their hands), or the wonderful word play that Goscinny is so masterful at. If you're reading this thinking this is all kids' stuff, then you're very, very wrong, and I urge you to grab a copy and enjoy.
And if you liked that: Volume 27 should be available right around now!
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