MORRIS (1923-2001) Lot n° 68

Lucky Luke India ink on paper for the 4th cover of the album. 36,5 x 28,5 cm. Dupuis, 1957. One of the most famous illustrations of Lucky Luke and Jolly Jumper. Is it a coincidence or a proposal from the scriptwriter? Whatever the case, this back cover appears for the first time in Des Rails sur la prairie, the first album written by René Goscinny. The complicity between the cowboy and his faithful steed is well highlighted with this drawing, also boosted by a very successful humorous effect (Jolly Jumper licking Lucky Luke's cigarette), which is why we can imagine that Goscinny slipped the idea to Morris. This new presentation replaces the previous lone rider in the moonlight who blew smoke rings. The cigarette remains an essential element of the two drawings; it will only be put away in 1983 to answer the anti-smoking associations. But this back cover will not last until then because from volume 19 Les Rivaux de Painful Gulch in 1962, the publisher stops displaying the covers of the last ten albums and replaces them with all the titles of the series.