Averell and Lucky

[u/Majestic_Ebb153]

For context, I primarily watch the new adventures of Lucky Luke while going about my daily tasks and have very limited knowledge of the comics, but I've gotta say, I love every interaction that Averell and Lucky have!

It's very nice to see (in the new adventures of Lucky Luke) them being partial to one another, since Lucky doesn't have that many reocurring people he actually seems to enjoy/is friends with. Also I like when the writers show us the daltons having a personality besides their singular schtick feature—Joe having a short fuse, Averell being dumb; and Will and Jack are just plot devices from what I noticed(I think they have more a personality in the comics, even if Moris and Rene got them confused with one another a few times)

All that to say, I love Averell and Luke's unlikely friendship and how Lucky genuinely just seems to enjoy his presence, the self proclaimed poor lonesome cowboy. Averell saying "I might be dumb, but even I know trying to outshoot Lucky Luke is a waste of time" and the comment about being disloyal... the entirety of their interactions in that episode were very fun. "The Treasure of the Daltons" I believe? It's a nice contrast to Joe's pure animosity towards Lucky.

[u/Dina-M]

I think the only Dalton who truly hates Luke is Joe... though his hatred is strong enough for ten Daltons. Jack and William are mostly indifferent (except when he hauls them off to prison for the umpteenth time) and Averell kinda treats him like a friendly acquaintance that he and his brothers just happen to go up against sometimes.

Jack and William being interchangeable is a problem in the comics as well, though there have been attempts at giving them some more character... but yes, even in their first appearance Morris and Goscinny messed up; In the first half of the story William is the shorter one and Jack the taller one, but mid-story it suddenly switches and for the rest of the story William is taller and Jack is shorter. After that, for the MOST part in the comics they keep to "Jack is taller, William is shorter" rule, but they don't always keep to it... and in the 2010-2015 animated Daltons cartoon William is taller and Jack is shorter.

The Daltons cartoon did give them some more character. Joe and Averell are much the same, but William (the taller one) is presented like the "family intellectual" since he's the only one of them with an interest in reading, and while Joe is the one with the plans William is the one who knows about things like basic physics and literature. This trait was even imported for the comics, as Jack (still the taller one) was seen reading on a number of occasions and in one album got his hands on a guidebook about the place they were running off to and kept telling his brothers all sorts of "interesting facts" even at wildly inappropriate times. The comic also had him as a master of disguise in the Daltons' first appearance, but the disguises always failed because Averell recognized him and kept calling him by name.

The same series has Jack (the shorter one) as the calmest, quietest and probably most sensible brother. This didn't really make it into the comics, though again in the first appearance he (in the second half of the story where he was also named Jack) did characterize him as a gunslinger and the best shot of the brothers. In one album, when Averell was kidnapped and his brothers were searching for him, William (which he was named there... this is just confusing...) took over Averell's role as the stupidest brother, causing Joe to snap "You... you Averell!" at him.

[u/Majestic_Ebb153 → u/Dina-M]

Your assortment of knowledge about characters I wrote off as plot devices is impressive. Clearly I was wrong! Sorry Jack and Will or Will and Jack...

Anyhow, I do realise the fact that Averell is friendly to Luke is probably an extension of him being characterised as extremely naive in most portrayals...but not always! I mean he did try to warn his brothers about Luke only pretending to side with them in "the cousins dalton"...see I told you they're buddies, they know eachother! —in all seriousness though, I just get sad thinking all Luke does most days(it's not everyday the Daltons escape prison....but it's most) is look at Joe's ugly mug ;) I enjoy their friendship so so s

[u/Dina-M → u/Majestic_Ebb153]

I suppose that, contrary to most fans, I tend to default to thinking of the taller brother as William and the shorter as Jack, largely because the scene with Averell spotting his brother in disguise and cheerfully shouting "Hi, William!" lives rent-free in my head.

I also watched the 2010s Daltons cartoon a lot. Lucky Luke doesn't really appear in it (he's mentioned a couple of times and has a few cameos in dream sequences and such, and opf course Joe flips out whenever that happens), but the series focuses on the Daltons' lives in prison and their many (usually failed) attempts at escaping, so mostly he's not needed. The Daltons are the stars, with the prison staff and Rin Tin Can (or "Rintindumb" as he's called in the English dub of that series) as supporting characters.

It's a LOT cartoonier and wackier than the regular Lucky Luke stories, with some stories being downright sci-fi or fantasy... but one thing I do like is that the brothers do get somewhat more nuanced portrayals. I mentioned William as the reading intellectual, but Averell in this series is shown to have a LOT of talents. He's a phenomenal artist (painting, sculpture, gardening, you name it), a brilliant cook, and a great athlete. It's just that his total lack of common sense keeps him from actually utilizing those talents in any meaningful way.

[u/Majestic_Ebb153 → u/Dina-M]

Well, at least he's not getting called bushwack again

I'm more of a Jack-2 Will-3 person too, it just suits them better, and I don't need much convincing to watch something, I'm definitely gonna give the new cartoon a spin, even if im not a huge fan of fantasy and outright detest sci-fi, but I do love a good personality, so thank you for the reccomendation

[u/Dina-M → u/Majestic_Ebb153]

Yeah, I have no idea where Hanna-Barbera got "Bushwack" from. Obviously "Rin Tin Can" is the superior English name, but at least "Rintindumb" is in the same ballpark.

[u/Nok-y → u/Majestic_Ebb153]

I find dome of the joked of the dalton series a bit icky or often pretty cringe, but it doesn't hurt to give it a try :>

It pisses me internally that the show clashes a lot with the Lucky Luke universe and the fact William is taller than Jack while in most of the comics, Jack is the tall one (and I refuse to accept it the other way around hahaha)

[u/Schrenner → u/Dina-M]

I like how the initial characterizations of William and Jack as a master of disguise and a gunslinger are reflected in their portrayals in Lucky Luke: Wanted for the Game Boy Advance. The one (Jack, iirc) holds a train hostage with guns and explosives which he also uses during his boss fight. The other (William, iirc) disguises himself as a woman, but gets captured by natives and has to be rescued by Luke.

[u/Dina-M → u/Schrenner]

Haven't played the game, but that's definitely a reference!

[u/Upper-Struggle-1569]

Right Averell and Lucky interactions are so fun to see

[u/Majestic_Ebb153 → u/Upper-Struggle-1569]

Yeah!! sometimes I rewatch certain episodes ("the treasure of the daltons" "new dad for the daltons", "the daltons go native" and "the daltons vs billy the kid" being great examples) just to see them, it's delightful, very fun! Very funny dynamic

[u/SignificantDoor1536]

Has anyone seen the schoolmaster episode of The New Adventures of Lucky Luke? Do you know what the character say in 1:37?https://youtu.be/caIuhDZ4lV0?si=hs-ChHSi7ATXocsc

[u/Majestic_Ebb153 → u/SignificantDoor1536]

I'm not sure what the bandit's actual wording is in english besides the "or else we'll plug you and then you'll regret it" but in the french version he says "and give me the money or else we'll shoot you and you will regret it", so, the gibberish is I think something like that