Lucky Luke Saddles Up

"What... a... darn... stupid... contraption!" The 1st Columbia San Francisco Bicycle Race seems like the perfect opportunity for Albert Overman to impress the nation with his revolutionary design. But when a rival manufacturer hires two goons to intercept him, it‘s up to Lucky Luke to save the day once more. The lonesome cowboy will find himself swapping stirrups for pedals as he heads west in the saddle of Overman‘s invention. Will he make it to the starting line in time, or will the dawning of the modern age be stopped by ruthless thugs, stubborn hillbillies, and wary Apache? And what will Jolly Jumper think of his cowboy changing steeds?

After the heavily cartoon- and slapstick cinema-inspired first adventures, Morris turned towards the tradition of Westerns to flesh out his hero’s world. In Under a Western Sky, Lucky Luke versus Pat Poker and Outlaws there is a lot of Hollywood and John Ford, and while Luke hasn’t quite settled into his current look, he’s certainly closer to the phlegmatic cowboy we know and love. Outlaws also marks the first appearance of the Daltons – the historical Dalton brothers here, who will later return as their decidedly stupider cousins. Throw in 48 pages of extra material on Morris’s experience in the United States, and this is a book you won’t want to miss.

Lucky Luke arrives in Nugget Gulch in the company of another lonesome rider, John ‘The Philanthropist’ Smith. The town is buzzing with excitement over the coming horserace, and the considerable prize promised to the winner. Financially embarrassed, Luke signs up, counting on his exceptional mount to ensure victory. Unfortunately, Jolly Jumper is stolen just before the race! The lonesome cowboy will have to get by without his old friend back this time.

This third volume in the collection brings us to the very edge of absolute greatness, with two later, far more mature solo outings – Doc Doxey’s Elixir (including Manhunt) and Phil Wire (including Lucky Luke and Pill) were first published in 1955 and 1956, and already Luke was much closer to the cowboy that we now have in mind – followed by Rails on the Prairie, the first collaboration between Morris and Goscinny, that would usher in 30 years of a legendary collaboration. These stories are prefaced by a staggering 46 pages of extra material – biographies, essays, interviews, illustrations – that will delight every fan.

In this early adventure of the famous cowboy, Lucky Luke is dealing with one of the plagues of the Old West: quacks. “Doctor” Doxey is a con man, a charlatan who brews up useless elixirs and sells them as miracle cures for every ailment known to man. But he doesn’t stop at that and occasionally causes illnesses himself, the better to cure them—a behaviour that does not sit well with Luke...