Lucky Luke, lonely cowboy, take off in the streets of Paris

After the American West, the West … Parisian! Helped by his trusty Jolly Jumper, Lucky Luke arrives in the French capital for his 80e album called "A cowboy in Paris" (1).

In this album, written by Jul (as the previous one) and drawn by Achdé (draftsman of the series since 2003), the lone cowboy and his horse have the mission to escort on the two continents the sculptor Auguste Bartholdi born in Colmar during its major creation, the Statue of Liberty.

And as often with Lucky Luke, reality has served as a basis for fiction: when Lucky Luke meets Auguste Bartholdi in the far west, it carries the hand and the torch of the statue. "Bartholdi has actually scoured the United States with the arm of his statue to raise money," explained in a meeting the writer Jul; "Lucky Luke in bodyguard of the Statue of Liberty has almost imposed itself. This is what I like in Lucky Luke's albums: when there is a historical base, an event, an important fact of society on which one can graft a story of fiction. "

Thus, for the first time since its creation, Lucky Luke leaves North America for Europe. If the cowboy is like a cow in his meadow in the United States, the discovery of Paris (and especially the crossing of the Atlantic) is an opportunity to show another side of the hero. "At first he is a little lost but he realizes that there is more to the capital," says Jul. The cowboy will taste sausage, Beaujolais, and even … buy lingerie!

"Paris, a romantic character"

The visit to Paris is an opportunity for Lucky Luke to meet Victor Hugo, Gustave Eiffel, and even Emma Bovary! Many winks are also included in the boxes, related to the series or reality. We find a gargoyle of Notre-Dame strangely resembling Rantanplan, a Cabu wandering near the Sorbonne … One even reads a quote from the flagship song of "The Queen of Snow", "Liberated, delivered". "It has broken the feet of a whole generation and I think she will remember," fun the cartoonist Achdé.

Even if the far west is never far, this European tour is interesting for the cowboy. "This album has three icons. There is the statue, of course Lucky Luke but also Paris which, in itself, is a romantic character, "enthuses Jul.

(1) "A Cowboy in Paris" by Jul and Achdé, Editions Dargaud, € 10.95.