Lucky Luke

Remember reading Asterix and Tintin? I certainly do. And like most people, I go back and re-read them time and again. There’s a certain ageless quality to them that comics today lack. That’s why I was absolutely thrilled to see Lucky Luke series out in the market here. Never heard of him? Well… even though he was translated into English from the original French quite some time back, the books surprisingly never came into India. Why surprising? Because Rene Goscinny co-produced them, and his other famous work, Asterix, is still a bestseller.

Lucky Luke is ‘The man who shoots faster than his own shadow’. Based in the wild west, the comics follow the adventures of a cowboy. This yellow-shirted lemonade-drinking cowboy roams the plains and deserts of America in the mid-1800s, drifting from town to town setting wrongs right (sometimes on government request). Lucky Luke stories have all the humor and pull that one would expect from an Asterix comic.

Morris, the original creator, took on a several co-authors and the entire series actually consists of a whooping 72 books. Of these, the Goscinny period (a series of 45 books!), is called the Golden Age of Lucky Luke. Each book is a complete story and as our hero roams the prairies, he comes across many colourful characters… some of which actually existed, like Billy the Kid, Calamity Jane, and Jesse James, to name a few. Some stories are themed… like ‘In the Shadow of the Derricks’, which is based on the oil strikes. In addition to Luke, the other recurring characters are his horse, Jolly Jumper – the smartest horse in the world, Rantanplan – the stupidest dog in the universe, and the fumbling criminals, the four Dalton brothers – each being progressively taller and dumber. Most of the comics end with Luke riding off into the horizon singing ‘I’m a poor lonesome cowboy.

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Before you go rushing off to ransack the nearest Crossword for Lucky Luke, here’s an interesting bit of trivia: the early comics have Luke with a cigarette between the lips while the later ones have him chewing on straw. In fact, if you happen to pick up a copy of the first adventure, ‘Billy the Kid’ (published by Cinebook), the cover has him chewing on a piece of straw while the panels inside show a cigarette.

Fowl is Good

Ever hear of Artemis Fowl? Don't curse yourself if you have not. Outside of Europe, not too many people have. After all, the author is Irish. But here's something that should impress you. He is one of the few teen fantasy heroes to have survived the Harry Potter phase. The reason l mention this is that comic afficionados have a rare opportunity coming up: the chance to compare a novel to its graphic novel adaptation to its movie adaptation. Not bad, eh?

For those of you who aren't in the know, here's a short introduction. The Artemis Fowl series of books by Eoin Colfer is the next big thing in fantasy fiction. Its Harry Potter gone super-smart and hi-tech meets criminal genius Muggle. The good news is that they're on the same side (not quite accurate, but its the best I can do; you'll have to read the book to understand). And you'll be rooting for the Muggle, or Mud Man, as we're called here. It doesn't have witches, but there's fairies, centaurs, goblins, trolls, dwarves, wizards, warlocks and pixies- which isn't bad compensation if you're a Harry Potter fan.

Artemis Fowl - the graphic novel has been adapted to a comic by author Eoin Colfer and Andrew Donkin (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight). It features art by Giovanni Rigano (Incredibles) and colour by Paolo Lamanna (Daffodil series).

Now, if you've read the book, the first thing you'll do is good long look at the cover of the comic, which is a collage of all the characters in the book. Not just to compare them to the images we all form of characters while we read, but more because of the cryptic biographer that Colfer claims to be.

Confused? Well, just pick up any Artemis Fowl book and read the back. Colfer claims the stories are from classified files, which Artemis allows to be printed on condition that his face never be shown. Indeed, the covers of the novel feature stylized silhouettes, and never any faces.

The comic starts out just like the novel, with a note from the author on Fowl's background, almost like a prologue. Since its on the left page of the book, there's a good chance you might miss it. Then, the first few frames illustrate the narration, moving into the story, just like the novel.

The storyboarding has been done extremely well, with all the story highlights being covered. Am sure Colfer made sure of that. Now, this is where the graphic novel is better than the book. Colfer's style of writing gets slightly irritating because the story jumps perspectives when there is no real call for it. An amateurish attempt at suspense. The graphic novel is linear, with well-placed chapter breaks, and a pleasure to read.

I've read the entire series of novels and I hope all of them get adapted to graphic novels. And that's the verdict: the comic is better than the novel.