Series Lucky Luke Artists Morris Date of publication 1962 Originally published 1962 Followed by Les Collines noires Illustrator Morris | Writers Goscinny
Morris Published in Spirou magazine Language French Publisher Cinebook | |
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Preceded by Les Rivaux de Painful Gulch Similar René Goscinny books, Other books | ||
Billy the Kid is a Lucky Luke comic book written by Goscinny and illustrated by Morris. It is the twentieth title in the series. The original French-language version was printed in 1962 by Dupuis. English editions of this French series have been published by Cinebook Ltd.
Plot
1878 in The town of Fort Weakling, Texas, is "terrorized" by the notorious outlaw Billy the Kid - or rather, the citizens cower in fear of the things Billy, a bullying type, could (supposedly) do to them. When Lucky Luke, who happens to pass by, does not succeed in bringing in Billy through the local justice, he decides to teach the citizens that desperados are not as bad as they pretend to be by playing the role of a desperado himself, with the help of the only courageous person in the town, the local newspaper editor.
And so, much to Billy's increasing consternation, the townspeople begin to view him no longer as their primal terror, but as the one who will free them of this new "menace". This ends in the situation depicted on the cover: Lucky Luke giving Billy a sound spanking before ferrying him to jail. As a result of his unusual action, the people of Fort Weakling find the courage of fending off desperado incursions with nothing more than a smile and cool wits - as Jesse James is quick to discover.