The Bounty Hunter by René Goscinny

Why read the book?

The rancher Bronco Fortworth loses his prize stallion and blames Wet Blanket, a Cheyenne former hand, posting a large bounty on his head. Elliot Belt, a cold and unscrupulous hunter drawn to look like Lee Van Cleef, kidnaps the innocent man to claim the money.

Lucky Luke takes up the Cheyenne man's cause, recovers the truth, and brings the case to court. The album draws a clear line between Luke's sense of fairness and Belt's hunger for gold, and it gives Goscinny room to mock the cruelty of the bounty trade. The horse, the trial, and the reward all knot together by the end.

Favourite quote

What I Loved

Elliot Belt is one of the great Lucky Luke villains, lean and menacing, and the film-poster likeness gives the album an extra wink. The plot rewards patience, with the missing stallion and the false charge resolving in a satisfying courtroom turn. It is a sharper, harder story than the Dalton romps, and the better for it.

Key Takeaway

A menacing bounty hunter and a wrongly accused man let the album weigh greed against fairness.

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