Blutch has once again drawn on his childhood memories to concoct an adventure about one of the classic comic book heroes. After having, with his brother Robber, offered a talented and moving rereading of the tandem Tif and Tondu, created in 1938 by Will and Rosy in Le Journal de Spirou, the author tackles the legendary Lucky Luke.
In parallel with the classic series taken up by Jul and Achdé, he pays a joyful homage to the “lonesome cowboy” with Les Indomptés. A rereading which features Lucky Luke confronted with the infernal offspring of a family of bandits. Made up of the eldest Rufus, wanted by the authorities, the youngest Casper and the youngest Rose, the siblings do not obey any rules and will cause him a lot of trouble. Having put the eldest Rufus in prison who tried to steal Jolly Jumper from him, he will find himself managing the two youngest. The brave cowboy then turns into a nanny, a task in which he is far from excelling. As for the parents, two scoundrels who disappeared with the enormous loot of a hold-up under the beard of their accomplice Grubby Feller at the head of a gang of desperadoes relentlessly tracking them, there is no point in seeing any support there.
For Blutch, revisiting the myth of Lucky Luke is a “delicate task”, because “while infusing it with my own temperament, my favorite themes and motifs, I tried to remain faithful to the spirit of Morris and Goscinny” , confides the author in an interview with publishers relayed in a press release. A major challenge that he accomplished with talent. In a story rich in twists and turns and with a frantic pace, the reader will be delighted to rediscover the offbeat spirit of the humorous saga with the inept villains (here the gang of thugs led by Grubby Feller from L’Escorte published in 1968), or Jolly Jumper’s tasty comments. Without forgetting the sacrosanct and shattering saloon brawl brilliantly illustrated.
The public will be just as enchanted to discover the hero of his childhood mistreated and overwhelmed by brats left to their own devices, totally undisciplined and unadapted to good society which shamelessly rejects them. Faced with the irreverence of this bad seed, even the sheriff loses all moral sense, trying to lose them in the forest, “forced to give in to popular pressure,” as he says. Driven by his infallible humanity, Lucky Luke cannot bring himself to abandon them and exposes himself to some truly funny and hilarious moments. The author dedicated Les Indomptés to his three children. Crossed by his memories, the album interweaves references to myth and a more personal dimension. “I must have drawn Lucky Luke for the first time when I was four or five years old. So I can say that I have been drawing it for around fifty years, Blutch told AFP. He had been ripening inside me for a long time. That he was in ambush, that he was just waiting to emerge… To our greatest delight.
The Untamed, a tribute to Lucky Luke seen by Blutch, Lucky Comics, 13 euros.