Το ορυχείο του χαμένου Γερμανού

by Jean-Michel Charlier (Writer), Mœbius (Illustrator), Χρήστος Ηλιάδης (Translator)

This book collects the Blueberry stories 'The Lost Dutchmans Mine' and 'The Ghost with the Golden Bullets', and a short bonus story: 'King of the Buffalo', an early Western strip drawn by Jean Giraud (Mœbius).

Genres: Comics, Westerns, Fiction

104 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Jean-Michel Charlier was a Belgian script writer best known as a writer of realistic European comics. He was a co-founder of the famed European comics magazine Pilote.

Reviews

[Vishy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read a little bit of 'The Lost Dutchman's Mine' by Jean-Michel Charlier and Jean 'Mœbius' Giraud many years back. I remember liking it very much, but it was very long compared to the other comics I used to read – the typical comic that I read at that time was between 32 and 62 pages long, while this one was around 100 pages long – and so I got distracted halfway through and never got around to finishing it. I finally picked it up again today, and finished reading it in one sitting.

'The Lost Dutchman's Mine' is one of the famous stories in the Blueberry series. In this story Blueberry is temporarily stationed in a town in Arizona to help in upholding the law. His friend and assistant, the old man Jimmy, is his deputy. There is a brawl in the bar and two people are trying to kill each other. Blueberry stops the fight, and arrests one of the people involved. The fight seems to be about a goldmine in the land of Apaches that this man has discovered. No one believes this man, but then one thing leads to another, strange men come to the town looking for this man, and before long, both the good guys and the bad are on their way to this mythical goldmine filled with secret treasure. What happens after that forms the rest of the story.

'The Lost Dutchman's Mine' is an old-fashioned Western. There is a small town, there is the desert, there is the mountain, there is a bar brawl, there are horse-riders-chasing scenes, there are Apaches, there is secret treasure – all the enjoyable elements of a classic Western are present. It is intricately plotted, the action moves at a beautiful pace, there are twists and turns and there is a surprising revelation at the end. The artwork by Jean 'Mœbius' Giraud is very interesting and unique and received a lot of acclaim when this book and the Blueberry series first came out, because of its realistic portrayal of the places and characters.

I enjoyed reading 'The Lost Dutchman's Mine'. I didn't love it as much as I had hoped to – I really loved the first part when I read it the first time years back but it didn't have the same impact on me now – but I still enjoyed reading it. I am glad I finally read it and I got to finish the book. Jean 'Mœbius' Giraud's artwork is an acquired taste – my favourite Belgian comic artists are William Vance and Hermann – but hopefully one day I'll be able to appreciate it better.

Have you read 'The Lost Dutchman's Mine'? What do you think about it?

[Kenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent art along with a serviceable plot makes this a fun read. Gir's artwork captures the feeling of the West from the best of Hollywood westerns. Composition of panels and pages well thought out, characters are drawn in detail. This series is the best showing the American West.

[Микола · Rating 4 out of 5]

Нині вже класика «альтернативного вестерну» в коміксі, «Втрачена копальня» цікава мені передусім як графічна новела Мьобіуса.
Я нашвидко переглядав і попередні випуски серії, вчитуватися мені трохи заважає вік )), але роздивлятися таку графіку можна не раз.