GIRAUD - Lot 129

GIRAUD JEAN GIRAUD ◊ BLUEBERRY Chihuahua Pearl (T.13), Dargaud 1973 Original plate no. 32, prepublished in Pilote n° 581, December 24, 1970. India ink and white gouache on paper 38.6 × 49.8 cm (15.2 × 19.61 in.) This scene is one of the densest in a Blueberry adventure that's thrilling from start to finish, since it's the episode in which our hero meets the famous Chihuahua Pearl. But for now, he's a prisoner of Vigo and his band of Mexicans. Dilemma: Blueberry must avoid putting Vigo and his henchmen on the trail of the Confederate gold, since he's been commissioned by nothing less than the military advisor to the President of the United States to prevent the Southerners from getting their hands on the loot and financing their war. His conviction for murder and a bounty on his head help to keep things going. But for how long? The density of Jean-Michel Charlier's script is matched by Gir's drawing, which is exceptionally virtuosic in its depiction of insanely complex situations. The reader really doesn't have time to breathe!