Chasseur de primes
Chasseur de primes is a Lucky Luke adventure written by Goscinny and illustrated by Morris. It is the thirty ninth book in the series and It was originally published in French in the year 1972 .
Plot
Following a short introductional treaty on the general status of bounty hunters in the Old West, we get introduced to the titular character, Elliot Belt, a notorious and unscrupulous representative of his trade. His current target is Tea Spoon, the Cheyenne caretaker of the horse ranch of Bronco Fortworth, who is accused of stealing the rancher's price stallion, Lord Washmouth III; the bounty has been set at a dizzying $100,000. Not caring about whether or not Tea Spoon is innocent, Belt takes up the task of hunting him down, while Lucky Luke tries his best to stop him. Eventually, Elliot Belt himself ends up on the wrong side of the law as he nearly triggers a war with Tea Spoon's tribe to get his hands on the bounty, and now he is pushed into the role of the hunted.
Notes
Elliot Belt's appearance is an obvious nod on Lee Van Cleef, particularly his acting roles as merciless bounty hunter.