''Hors-la-loi'' is a

Lucky Luke ''Lucky Luke'' is a Western ''bande dessinée'' series created by Belgian cartoonist Morris in 1946. Morris wrote and drew the series single-handedly until 1955, after which he started collaborating with French writer René Goscinny. Their par ...

story by

Morris Morris may refer to: Places Australia *St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia Canada * Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry * Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba ** Morris, Manitob ...

, it was the sixth album in the series and was printed by Dupuis in 1954 and by Cinebook in English in 2014 as ''Outlaws''. The story pits Lucky Luke against a fictionalized version of the

Dalton brothers The Dalton Gang was a group of outlaws in the American Old West during 1890–1892. It was also known as The Dalton Brothers because four of its members were brothers. The gang specialized in bank robbery, bank and train robbery, train robberie ...

Synopsis

The story begins with a quick presentation of the four Dalton brothers: Bob, Grat, Bill and Emmet Dalton. Their first bank attack in 1889 in El Reno, Oklahoma, marked the start of their criminal careers, followed by a stagecoach attack. The Daltons' growing reputation worries the government, sending Lucky Luke to stop them. This ensures the transport of money of a train. Luke later meets the bandits in a saloon where he gives them a show of force. The Dalton escape under the noses of the villagers. Once released, the Dalton continue their misdeeds and their reputation forces them to remain on their guard. They find Lucky Luke in a saloon and flee. They then try to have cosmetic surgery without success. Believing Lucky Luke removed for good, they decide to attack Coffeyville, on October 5, 1892 at 9 o'clock. There, Lucky Luke finds them and ambushes them in front of the bank, an ambush which will be proven fatal for them.

Characters

* Bob Dalton: The eldest and most intelligent of the four brothers. * Grat, Bill and Emmet: The other three brothers working as a team with him.

Analysis

It is the first Lucky Luke story that was based (loosely) on real historical events from the

Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

. Atypically for a Lucky Luke adventure, the villains are killed at the end, as the Dalton brothers meet their fate during the historical 1892 bank robbery at Coffeyville, Kansas. The story departs from historical truth as Bill Dalton is portrayed as taking part in the robbery while he did not operate with his brothers, and Emmett Dalton is shown as dying in the robbery while the historical Emmett Dalton survived the Coffeyville shootout, served 14 years in prison, and died in 1937. The Dalton characters proved so popular among readers that Morris created a new version of the gang, with their four identical-looking cousins, who went on to become Lucky Luke's main antagonists.

References

External links

Official Website

BDoubliées {{Lucky Luke by Morris Comics by Morris (cartoonist) Comics based on real people Comics set in Kansas Comics set in Oklahoma Fiction set in 1892 Lucky Luke albums 1954 graphic novels Works originally published in Spirou (magazine) Dalton Gang