So I read the comic "Wanted : Lucky Luke," and I just wanted to pop up here to rant and comment about it.
I'd recommend you read it first if you don't want to be spoiled, but if you don't want to, I'll still explain the plot for context.
"Riding peacefully along a western trail, Lucky Luke is suddenly ambushed by an unknown assailant. After a quick gunfight, the cowboy loses his mysterious attacker but happens upon a lone wagon beset by Apache raiders. Another quick fight later, Luke is surprised to find that the occupants of the wagon are three lovely young women! Three sisters on their way to start a new life, and who all find the lonesome cowboy ... quite interesting."
Just by reading this synopsis the premises sound interesting, but not enough to be engaging, in my opinion.
Anyway, here is a short explanation of the overall plot for better context :
In "Wanted: Lucky Luke," the famous cowboy finds himself on the wrong side of the law. After being framed for a crime he didn’t commit, Lucky Luke is declared an outlaw with a bounty on his head. The tables have turned, and now, instead of chasing criminals, he must evade capture by both lawmen and bounty hunters. Along his journey, he must clear his name, uncover the real culprits, and help a group of sisters he has encountered on his way.
I'm sure some of you may have recognized the artstyle as it was made by Matthieu Bonhomme; The same person who made the comic "The man who shot Lucky Luke", which is interesting in on itself, but I won't be talking much about it in this rant.
Regarding the art ? I enjoy it for the most part. It feels very fitting to the world of old western, but I understand the people who may not like it as it's not suited for Lucky Luke's stories that are usually more light hearted.
I personally don't really like the way Luke is drawn in Matthieu's art style. But I digress.
Moving on, here are some of my favourite panels from this comic that I'd like to comment about (please click on the pictures to better see if need be) :
For context, this was when the girls were being held hostage by the criminals, who then forced them to sing and dance. The girls were defenseless against these men. And as they were being harassed, I feared something explicitly bad would happen to them.
Thankfully, this big guy (Big Jack) stepped in and stopped the other men. I know he is a bad guy and the only reason why he protected them was because he was enjoying their performance, but still. It was nice to see.
Next set of my favourite panels :
Sadly, I couldn't put all the panels, but basically, this was when Lucky Luke was catching the criminals late into the night, after he managed to escape from them.
It was very entertaining and badass, the way he hunted them down, like a predator chasing its prey, when they were the ones chasing him earlier that day. Love the colours and art as well, making for an intimidating atmosphere. Very nice.
Now, here are a few sets of panels that I find hilarious:
This was when Lucky Luke was being teased over the wanted posters that were displaying him with a flower in his mouth. Need I say more? Just look at Luke's reaction !
It's especially funny when you consider the fact that the legendary cowboy used to smoke in the past, but now he just sucks on a piece of grass like a bum.
The duality of this man, going from formidable foe in front of his enemies to a lightweight when teased, is just too funny.
And finally, these panels :
This was when the comic hit its climax. Everyone was fighting over who could get Lucky Luke, including the outlaws, the Indians, the ladies, and the cavalry. Everyone wanted him !
And speaking of the outlaws, I was pleasantly surprised to see some of the iconic villains, from the original comics, make their apparitions to do Lucky Luke in.
But I was pretty disappointed that the Daltons weren't included amongst them. However, they were still mentioned by a character named Dick Dalton, a distant relative of the Daltons. Which I originally did not like, but his presence ended up making for quite a treat.
When the outlaws caught him, Dick felt strangely familiar to Lucky Luke, who unconsiously stared at him. But he didn't care much about engaging with Dick, even after the guy spilled out his story.
It was later revealed, near the end of the comic, that Dick was the one who put up a bunch of wanted posters of Lucky Luke, to make him suffer and hand him over to Joe (who is actually mentioned by name !) so Dick could be recognised as a Dalton.
Coming up with a plan like that, it's on brand with the Daltons. However, Luke is simply unimpressed and condescending to Dick. He calls him nothing but a pale imitation, clearly implying that Dick could never be at the same level as Joe Dalton.
Which i find funny as hell.
The next thing that i'd like to talk about is the sisters' interactions with Lucky Luke. More specifically, with Cherry (the blond one).
Because you see, in his journey of trying to hide from his enemies, Lucky Luke encounters and saves a group of 3 sisters (Angie, Cherry, and Bonnie), who need to reach the nearest town with their herd of cattles, all without being scalped by Indians.
Of course, Lucky Luke volunteers to help them. And obviously, the 3 sisters end up being interested in him and are aiming for his heart. Competing with one another.
They all attempted to flirt with him, naturally with no success.
So far, no suprise, until a tangible romance subplot seemingly formed between our hero and Cherry !
I initially kind of disliked that development. Especially how there seemed to be a reciprocated attraction on Lucky Luke's side.
Because it doesn't fit with his character, as in the comics and cartoons, he never shows any interest towards women or their advances.
However, as I kept reading, I realized it made for a compelling storyline, as well as a good introspection on our beloved hero. Explaining why he may be the way he is.
One of the many reasons why Lucky Luke is a lonesome cowboy who won't form long-lasting connections is because he has never received love in the past. So he doesn't know how to receive or give any back.
To me, this panel could be interpreted as him also wanting to learn how to love from Cherry, but he refuses to give in because of his convictions.
And since he has never known love, how could he know what it's like to be in love with someone?
So while she may harbor love towards him, he appreciates her in return, but it's more of a friendly admiration than romantic love. Because he could never reciprocate her kind of love.
In the end, he still ends up leaving, choosing independance over love.
But at least, now he knows that there are people who do love him.
All in all, I quite enjoyed this comic and I recommend any Lucky Luke enjoyers to read it as well.
-I think the name of the comic is "Wanted: Lucky Luke," not only because he was being hunted down, but also because there are people who love him. Meaning he is quite literally wanted. Or maybe I'm just reading too much into it.
-The whole Dick situation shows how irrelevant he is to Luke compared to Joe. And if i'm not reaching, this also implies how much Joe wants Luke, to the point of being mentioned in a story about wanting Lucky Luke without even being present !
So fun ! So yeah this is all pretty neat.
