Lucky Luke #1
Lucky Luke #1 (Semic, 1977 series) marks the launch of the principal Norwegian-language album edition of one of Europe's most culturally significant comics franchises — a series that, alongside Tintin and Asterix, defined the Franco-Belgian tradition for Scandinavian readers across multiple generations. By opening with the 'Billy the Kid' story, Semic placed one of Goscinny and Morris's sharpest satirical set-pieces at the forefront of the run, introducing Norwegian audiences to Lucky Luke's deadpan deconstruction of the Wild West myth. The series would extend to at least 56 issues under this Semic imprint, making it the longest-running and most comprehensive Norwegian vehicle for the property in the print era.
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The Semic Norwegian album series launched in 1977 under the imprint SEMIC/nordisk forlag AS, which licensed the Morris/Goscinny material from the French rights holders (originally Dargaud). Issue #1 reprinted the 'Billy the Kid' album, originally created by René Goscinny (script) and Morris (art) and first published in French by Dupuis in 1962 as the twentieth Lucky Luke album. Issues were printed in Belgium by Proost and translated into Norwegian, with editorial oversight handled locally — the series sat within the broader Semic Scandinavian publishing infrastructure that simultaneously distributed licensed European comics across Norway, Sweden, and other Nordic markets.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Issue #1 of the Lucky Luke (Semic, 1977 series) is titled 'Billy the Kid' — confirmed by the Grand Comics Database series index for this Norwegian run.
- The source material, the 'Billy the Kid' album, was originally written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Morris; it was first published in French by Dupuis in 1962 as album #20 in the canonical Lucky Luke series.
- The Norwegian Semic series ran for at least 56 numbered issues before its numbering was continued by a successor publication, making it the dominant Norwegian Lucky Luke album format of its era.
- Issues were physically printed in Belgium by Proost (confirmed on indicia of known issues in the series) and distributed by SEMIC/nordisk forlag AS in Norway.
- Lucky Luke was created by Belgian cartoonist Morris in 1946; René Goscinny became his writing collaborator in 1955 and their partnership lasted until Goscinny's death in November 1977 — meaning this Semic series launched at the very moment the Goscinny era was ending.
- The Lucky Luke franchise is one of the best-selling European comics series of all time, standing alongside Tintin and Asterix as a pillar of the Franco-Belgian tradition and translated into more than 30 languages.
- A separate, much shorter Semic-branded Lucky Luke publication existed in France (June 1994 – January 1995, 8 issues) — this is an entirely different publication from the Norwegian 1977 album series.
- The Norwegian Semic series reprinted albums from both the Dupuis and Dargaud phases of the original French publication, giving readers access to stories spanning Lucky Luke's full pre-1977 golden age.
Full credits
Reprints
↩ Reprints Lucky Luke #20 (1962), Lucky Luke #1 (1973)
Reprinted in Lucky Luke [Seriesamlerklubben] #[1] (1993)
Key issues in Lucky Luke
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