40 - Bonhomme

Bonhomme MATTHIEU BONHOMME LUCKY LUKE (AS SEEN BY...) Lucky Luke’s Long March, Lucky Comics Original front and back covers from Spirou magazine, a special issue celebrating Lucky Luke’s 80th anniversary, to be published on December 2, 2026. Signed. India ink, colored inks, and gouache on paper 70 × 50 cm (27.56 × 19.69 in.) To prove that Lucky Luke draws faster than his shadow, Matthieu Bonhomme presents a double illustration offering two very different perspectives on the same action. On the left, he emphasizes the stillness of the hero’s shadow as he draws his gun, showing us only the hand of the sniper. This enigmatic first image, juxtaposed in a spectacular shot-reverse shot with the more explicit second image, creates a powerful impact that is reinforced by the bold contrast of the colors. Lucky Luke’s shadow is cast on a brown fence, while the image on the right features lighter tones, more in keeping with the festive atmosphere of the celebration underway. It’s also worth noting that, on one of the posters commemorating the series’ 80th anniversary, Averell is wanted for “stupidity and poetry.” This is the same Averell seen holding a huge birthday cake alongside his brothers—including Billy the Kid, Phil Defer, Joss Jamon, and Jesse James, among others—characters dear to Morris’s heart. “This gangster shooting through the planks reminds me a bit of my first Lucky Luke, when a man hidden in the shadows shot the man he thought was the hero in the back. I was inspired by the movie *The Human Target*, in which a young man looking to make a name for himself shoots at Gregory Peck, a gunfighter returning to his hometown. Lucky Luke, too, has that ‘human target’ quality.” M.B.