Lucky Luke, the 'fastest gun in the West,' turns 70
Dagmar Breitenbach
December 7, 2016
Happy birthday, Lucky Luke! The "fastest gun in the West" - a wry and witty cartoon figure who outshoots his shadow, plays chess with his trusty horse, and wins against the bad guys every time - is turning 70.
Image: Lucky Comics
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Cartoon cowboy Lucky Luke switches saddles
The "fastest gun in the West" — a wry and witty cartoon figure who outshoots his shadow, plays chess with his trusty horse, and wins against the bad guys every time — is being revisited by a German cartoonist.
Image: Lucky Comics
Lucky Luke switches saddles
Lucky Luke is rarely seen without his eternal companion, his horse Jolly Jumper. But in the latest official tribute to Morris' legendary character, the cowboy gets a new saddle: on a bicycle. In the story created by Berlin cartoonist Mawil, Lucky Luke races through the Wild West to save the prototype of the modern bicycle from crooks and prove that it's faster than a high-wheeler.
Image: Lucky Comics, 2019. By Mawil
The fastest gun in the West
Blue jeans, yellow shirt, black vest, a red bandana and a white cowboy hat — that's been Lucky Luke's attire for the past 70 years. The Belgian comic series about the lanky cowboy who famously "shoots faster than his shadow" is one of the best-known in Europe and has been translated into many languages. It's also been adapted into animated films and TV series as well as live action movies.
Luke's eternal side-kick and companion is his white steed Jolly Jumper, "the smartest horse in the world." No other horse is as good at chess, arm-wrestling, running while asleep — and making dry comments.
Image: picture alliance/United Archives/IFTN
A legend of the West
The Belgian cartoon character gallops across the Wild West from one adventure to the next. For decades, a trademark cigarette dangled from Lucky Luke's lips, but in 1983, it was replaced with a wisp of straw in response to the growing anti-smoking movement — which earned artist Morris recognition from the World Health Organization.
Image: Lucky Comics
Wild West hero
At the end of most of his adventures with villains, robbers, gold diggers — and the occasional rattle snake — in the Wild West, Luke and Jolly Jumper ride off into a bright orange sunset, with Luke singing, "I'm a poor lonesome cowboy, I'm a long long way from home..." To this day, the skinny cowboy continues to star in new adventures.
Image: Lucky Comics
Foiling the Daltons
The Dalton brothers are Luke's eternal adversaries in the comic series. In the cartoons and movies, the hilarious quartet of outlaws usually breaks out of prison to chase Luke down, but in the end, he turns things around and puts them right back in jail.
Image: Lucky Comics
The hero and the outlaws in the movies
The comic inspired several films over the years. The 2004 "Les Dalton" was filmed in France, Germany, and Spain. The actors look the part, but this particular movie version of the wildly popular Wild West comic series wasn't very successful.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Carstensen
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Created by Belgian cartoonist Maurice de Bevere (better known as Morris), Lucky Luke first appeared in the Almanach issue of the Spirou comic book on December 7, 1946.
Image: Egmont Ehapa Media
Over the decades, the laid-back cowboy has had many an adventure, crisscrossing the Wild West, grappling with bandits, but also running into actual historical personalities like Billy the Kid, Buffalo Bill, Jack London and even Abraham Lincoln.
From the oil boom and the first transcontinental telegraph to skirmishes with America's native inhabitants, Lucky Luke's adventures touch on many an event that marked 19th century America, with a healthy dose of bizarre twists and humor. His tales are published by Egmont Ehapa Media.
Click through the above picture gallery to find out more about Lucky Luke.
