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Blueberry is a Franco-Belgian comics western series created by the Belgian scriptwriter Jean-Michel Charlier and French comics artist Jean "Mœbius" Giraud. It chronicles the adventures of Mike Blueberry on his travels through the American Old West.

Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Publication history 3 Awards 4 Blueberry comics 4.1 Blueberry 4.2 La Jeunesse de Blueberry 4.3 Marshal Blueberry 4.4 Translations 5 Adaptations 6 Further reading 7 Sources 8 External links

The story follows Michael Steven Donovan, nicknamed "Blueberry", a name he chose when fleeing from his Southern enemies (which was inspired when he looked at a blueberry bush), starting with his adventures as a lieutenant in the United States Cavalry shortly after the American Civil War. He is accompanied in many tales by his hard-drinking deputy, Jimmy McClure, and later also by Red Woolley, a rugged pioneer.

Donovan is the son of a rich Southern farmer and started as a dedicated racist. He was framed for a murder he did not commit, had to flee and was saved by an African-American. He became an enemy of discrimination of all kinds, fought against the Confederates (although he was a Southerner himself), and tried to protect the rights of Native Americans.

Blueberry has its roots in Giraud's earlier Western-themed works such as Frank et Jeremie, which was drawn for Far West magazine when he was only 18, and his collaboration on Jijé's Jerry Spring in 1961, which appeared in the comics magazine Spirou. When Charlier offered the scenario for a new western series, Jijé proposed his protégé Giraud as the artist.^[1] Charlier and Giraud have also collaborated on another Western strip, Jim Cutlass.

Blueberry was first published in the October 31, 1963 issue of the comics magazine Pilote.^[2] Initially titled "Fort Navaho", the story grew into 46 pages over the following issues. Charlier and Giraud continued to add to the legend of Mike Blueberry in Pilote and other titles even into the 1990s. During that time the artistic style has varied greatly, much as with Giraud's other works. In the same volume, sweeping landscapes will contrast sharply with hard-edged action scenes and the art matches the changing mood of the story quite well. Like much of the Western genre, Blueberry touches on the constant conflict between violence and tranquility, nature and civilization, and the obligation of the strong to protect the weak. In addition to the comic strips, Blueberry and his fellow characters can be found on posters, clothing, and other items.

A "prequel" series, La Jeunesse de Blueberry (Young Blueberry), as well as the sequels Marshal Blueberry and Mister Blueberry have been published as well, with other artists and writers, most famously William Vance.

A few companies, particularly Egmont/Methuen, Epic Comics, Comcat and Mojo Press, have released collections of English translations of the Blueberry strips and stories. Opinions are mixed on these, as sometimes the artwork is shrunk to fit smaller book formats, and in the case of the Mojo Press collection Blueberry: Confederate Gold^[3] printed in black and white. The hardbound collections by Graphitti Designs are generally considered to be the best available to English-speaking fans, especially as they feature additional material and commentary by Giraud, but are difficult to find due to limited print runs.

The series has received wide recognition in the comics community, and the chief factor when Giraud received the Adamson Award for Best International Comic Series in 1979.^[4]

Jean-Michel Charlier and Jean Giraud

• Fort Navajo
• Tonnerre à l'ouest (Thunder in the West)
• L'aigle solitaire (The Lone Eagle; in English as Lone Eagle)
• Le cavalier perdu (The Lost Rider; in English as Mission to Mexico )
• La piste des Navajos (The Trail of the Navajos)
• L'homme à l'étoile d'argent (The Man With the Silver Star)
• Le cheval de fer (The Iron Horse)
• L'homme au poing d'acier (Steel Fingers)
• La piste des sioux (The Trail of the Sioux)
• Général tête jaune (General Golden Mane)
• La mine de l'allemand perdu (The Lost Dutchman's Mine)
• Le spectre aux balles d'or (The Ghost with the Golden Bullets)
• Chihuahua Pearl
• L'homme qui valait 500 000$ (The Half-A-Million Dollar Man)
• Ballade pour un cercueil (Ballad for a Coffin)
• Le hors-la-loi (The Outlaw)
• Angel Face
• Nez Cassé (Broken Nose)
• La tribu fantôme (The Ghost Tribe)
• La longue marche (The Long Walk)
• La dernière carte (The Last Card)
• Le bout de la piste (The End of the Trail)
• Arizona Love
• Mister Blueberry
• Ombres sur Tombstone
• Geronimo l'apache
• OK Corral
• Dust

Jean-Michel Charlier and Jean Giraud

• La jeunesse de Blueberry (Blueberry's Secret)
• Un Yankee nommé Blueberry (A Yankee Named Blueberry)
• Cavalier bleu (The Blue Coats)

Jean-Michel Charlier and Colin Wilson

• Les démons du Missouri (The Missouri Demons)
• Terreur sur le Kansas (Terror Over Kansas)
• Le raid infernal (The Train from Hell)

François Corteggiani and Colin Wilson

• La pousuite impitoyable (The Merciless Pursuit)
• Trois hommes pour Atlanta (The Three Men from Atlanta)
• Le prix du sang (The Price of Blood)

François Corteggiani and Michel Blanc-Dumont

• La solution Pinkerton
• La piste des maudits
• Dernier train pour Washington
• Il faut tuer Lincoln
• Le boucher de Cincinnati

Jean Giraud and William Vance, page layout by René Follet

• Sur ordre de Washington
• Mission Shermann

Jean Giraud and Michel Rouge

• Frontière sanglante

As of spring 2006, Egmont has started publishing a hardcover collected version translated into Norwegian, Danish, and German. The series is to total 12 volumes, with two to three single albums collected in each volume. The premise of these collected works is to publish the Blueberry stories in which Giraud has been involved - thus covering the original series, the first three albums of the "Young Blueberry"-cycle, and the "Marshall Blueberry"-cycle. As of August 2007, the first ten volumes have been published.

A 2004 film adaptation, Blueberry (U.S. release title is Renegade), was directed by Jan Kounen and starred Vincent Cassel in the lead role. However, purists were appalled by this film. It arguably did not stay true to action-based, gritty comic, but rather featured an esoteric, trippy presentation of shamanism.

• Erik Svane, Martin Surmann, Alain Ledoux, Martin Jurgeit, Gerhard Förster, Horst Berner: Blueberry und der europäische Western-Comic (Zack-Dossier 1; Berlin: Mosaik, 2003). ISBN 3-932667-59-X

Footnotes

• Blueberry official site (French)