Review by Frank Plowright

As this is now their fifth Lucky Luke album it seems to safe to say Achdé has now settled on Jul as his primary collaborator. It’s the sensible choice given the poor stories resulting from his lively cartooning applied to the scripts of others, but while together they produce very readable stories, Trouble Brewing is the first able to rank with the best work from classic creators René Goscinny and Morris.

The strange thing about that is Trouble Brewing almost completely removes Lucky Luke from his comfort zone. Instead of roaming the countryside and dealing with the Daltons in small towns, he’s in Milwaukee in the early days of the great brewing conglomerates. Trouble Brewing also takes some time to warm up, with the opening pages of Luke’s repetitive routine and seeking help after hurting his back being distinctly lacklustre. That’s just the set-up, though, as a town of primarily German immigrants plead with Luke to intervene in the strike that’s preventing any beer arriving in their community. It’s here Jul hits form, with a good satirical sequence showing how people may be bored without beer, but their town is actually far safer.

Contributions Germans have made to American culture are seen on the sample art, the balance permitting a few jokes at the expense of German culture. Jul’s farcical scenes about a town built on brewing are well conceived, such as the bath with hot, cold and beer taps, and he also supplies some great visual moments for Achdé. The Daltons are involved, they go missing, and we next see four barrels of ascending heights awaiting delivery, and they’re involved in a visually funny finale, although it’s somewhat tainted by an off colour joke at the expense of Luke’s Native American friend Two-Headed Eagle.

While his previous collaborators haven’t sparkled, Achdé’s art has always been first rate. He notes on the cover he’s working in Morris’ style and delivers it beautifully, down to the great silhouette panels. Individual panels prompt a laugh from the cartooning alone and the compositions setting up the jokes are first rate.

Let’s hope a groove has been hit.