The first Lucky Luke album to be published actually contains two stories.
The first story concerns a gold prospector and friend of Lucky Luke, Dick Digger, who's found an important ledge of gold in his mine. Two bandits steal him his gold nuggets and the plans of his mine, and Luke goes after them.
The second story concerns Mad Jim, an outlaw who just so happens to be the spitting image of Luke, causing much confusion.
Both stories:
- Early-Installment Weirdness:
- Jolly Jumper doesn't talk yet.
- Art Evolution hadn't kicked in yet so Luke doesn't have his iconic look yet. Neither does Jolly Jumper, or the undertaker or any other type of character who would become familiar over time in the series.
Dick Digger's Gold Mine provides examples of:
- Bandito: One of the two bandits is Mexican, peppering his dialogues with Spanish words and wearing a sombrero.
- Firing in the Air a Lot: When Dick Digger appears, he's seen shooting in the air out of happiness after discovering much gold in his mine. This wakes Luke up.
- Foolish Husband, Responsible Wife: At the end, Dick Digger drinks alcohol from his small jug, only to have his wife shoot said jug with a gun to prevent him from drinking.
- Prospector: Dick Digger is a gold prospector, and a very lucky one at that since he finds a big ledge of gold in his mine.
- Stupid Crooks: The two bandits are quite stupid even if they're very good shots with guns. Their clumsiness and betrayal instincts end up causing their downfall.
- William Telling: Both bandits decide who will keep the stolen plans by shooting a Mexican bartender's earrings. Both manage to shoot said earrings without hurting the bartender (and said bartender oddly never reacts), so they tear the plan in two and each keeps a part.
Mad Jim provides examples of: :
- Identical Stranger: Mad Jim is the spitting image of Luke, which causes much confusion.
