Lucky Luke
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Lucky Luke is a Western comics series created by Belgian cartoonist Morris in 1946. Morris wrote and drew the series single-handedly until 1955, after which he started collaborating with René Goscinny, Astérix creator, a partnership that lasted until his death, in 1977. Afterwards, he collaborated with several other writers, until his own death, in 2001. French artist Achdé has drawn the series since Morris's death, also with the help of other writers.
The series takes place in the American Old West and stars the titular Lucky Luke, a gunslinger known as the "man who shoots faster than his shadow", and his intelligent horse Jolly Jumper. Lucky Luke is pitted against various villains, either fictional or inspired by American history or folklore. The most famous of these are the Dalton Brothers. The stories are filled with humorous elements parodying the Western genre.
Lucky Luke is one of the best-known and best-selling comics series in Europe and has been translated into numerous languages. 81 albums have appeared in the series as of 2019, and 3 special editions/homages, at first published by Dupuis, then from 1968 by Dargaud, and from 1999 by Lucky Comics. Each story was first serialized in a magazine: in Spirou from 1946 to 1967, in Pilote from 1967 to 1973, in Lucky Luke in 1974–75, in the French edition of Tintin in 1975–76, and in various other magazines since. The series has been adapted to various other media, such as animated films and television series, live-action films, video games, toys, and board games. About half of the series' adventures have been translated into English. Lucky Luke comics have been translated into 23 languages, including many European, African and Asian languages.
