By Morris & Goscinny
Publisher: Cinebook
ISBN: 9781849182263
For this landmark 50th volume Cinebook have compiled seven of Morris And Goscinny’s shorter tales into one book, offering us stories concerning topics such as a dentist-shy kid, a disputed calf, a saloon pianist with grand designs and a look at good ol’ Western hospitality.
There’s everything you’d expect from a good Lucky Luke tale here, along with the added bonus that Goscinny is the master of the short, sharp punchy comic strip, so you end up with a succession of vignettes each built around a neat little concept and wrung dry of every available pun and gag.
In The Peddler, for example, Goscinny and Morris give us a neat little character in Mr W Flatshoe, a trader in goods and fabrics. Lucky Luke manages to stop an armed robbery of Flatshoe’s cart, and so the peddler chooses to show his gratitude by serving Luke dinner, all utilising the many goods stowed in his wagon. Of course, that’s not all he stocks, and it seems he has something appropriate for just about any situation they subsequently find themselves in. He alone is a gem of a character, and it just goes to show with what ease Goscinny could dream them up, and Morris breathe life into them.
In Dangerous Crossing Luke aims to assist a struggling couple get their wagon across a treacherous stretch of water, but Edna is not particularly keen to take Luke’s advice or face up to the true nature of their predicament, so much humour is wrung from Luke being caught on the bad end of trying to do the couple a good deed. This includes Edna baking three enormous cakes to lighten the load of the wagon, which of course now means they’ve replaced one large weight with another.
If you’ve never picked up a Lucky Luke book before then this is no bad introduction, giving you a selection of tasters as to what makes the books so popular, memorable and long-lasting.
And if you liked that: If you enjoy these briefer tales then you’ll definitely like Goscinny’s Iznogoud books, also available from Cinebook
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