Bert Malloy is one of the two main antagonists (alongside Billy the Kid) of the Lucky Luke comic book The Escort and it's 1983 Hanna-Barbera animated adaptation.
He is a plain desperado who first meets Billy the Kid inside a jail cell of the Gun Gulch Sheriff's office and offers to share his loot with him as long as he lets him free and follow him to the tunnel he hid his loot in (though it is later revealed that Billy never had any loot in the first place and was just a lie so Bert would follow him and then get sentenced himself). Afterwards, he would attempt to set Billy free from Lucky Luke's custody several times, but fails, causing him to throw a tantrum saying that he is a failure. In the end, Bert would be locked in the same penitentiary as Billy the Kid, sentenced to 67 years in prison for aiding and abetting a criminal as well as jailbreak and resisting the law.
Biography[]
Bert Malloy first appears inside a jail cell in the town of Gun Gulch, where he recognizes the famous Billy the Kid. Bert tells Billy that he is a desperado like him and that after a small mistake, he was locked behind bars for a month but will be set free the next day. Knowing that Billy must have a huge fortune, he offers a deal with him: Follow him and set him free from Lucky Luke's custody and share the loot together. Billy agrees with the deal, but the two secretly think about betraying each other. However, little does Bert know that the "loot" Billy is hiding doesn't actually exist, which is just an excuse to have Bert help him out.
The next day, Bert is set free and is allowed to leave the town, as his sentence of one month was over. Following Lucky Luke and Billy on his horse, he hides behind a pile of rocks, waiting for them. In the meantime, Billy wonders where Bert Malloy went and, thinking that he is just following them far behind so he can't be seen by Luke, decides to sing so he can get his attention. Even though Luke refuses at first, he lets him do so it makes him happy. Billy then sings a loud song, which successfully makes Bert know where he is. As the two lay down to drink hot chocolate, Bert comes out of his hiding spot and surprises Luke, only to be splashed with coffee on his face, blinding him and allowing Luke to escape, with Billy still attached to his wrist.
His plan failed, he runs off into the distance as he can't do anything as long as Luke and Billy are chained up together. Later at night, he spies on both of them sleeping, planning to follow them from far away, but he knows that Billy won't actually share his loot despite the deal they made earlier, as it is always thanks to Billy that he managed to escape. The next morning, he notices both Luke and Billy going to Bulbous Town to spend another night, giving him the opportunity to finally find Billy there easily (due to how small the town is). To not get caught by Luke, he goes inside the town during the night and, knowing that Billy was locked up in the town's jail for the night, destroys the building by pulling it with his horse, only to realize that there were hotel guests inside the jail and not Billy, as they all left the hotel to sleep there so they would not be sleeping with an infamous bandit. This also ultimately causes a fight which destroys the entire town due to the former Sheriff's inability to guard well, even though he was no longer a sheriff anymore.
Hiding in a bush, Bert notices Billy attached to a rail by Luke and decides to carry him up, with Billy hitting a toffee merchant in the head during their escape so he can steal his supply of toffees, leaving wrappers behind (which forms a trail for Luke to follow). Meanwhile, Bert tells Billy that the donkey he is riding is getting tired of holding the rail and that they must get rid of it when they find a blacksmith. Bert then realizes that Lucky Luke has been following them and both he and Billy attempt to run away, but the latter's donkey falls down to the ground due to the rail's weight, throwing him on the ground as the rail hits him.
Some time later, Bert decides to find some allies to help find Billy, as he's not ready to take on Lucky Luke on his own. Fortunately for him, he finds a bandit named Grubby Feller and his gang who agree to help him out in saving Billy in exchange of tons of gold inside the train Billy was carried to. Seeing the train leaving Crooked Junction, he and Grubby missed the chance of getting on it, but the latter knows a good spot where they could successfully board the train. Bert, thanks to the help of the gang blocking the train's path with logs, manages to get on the train and orders Luke at gunpoint to release Billy, but as he was about to do so, Grubby interrupts him, as he and his gang noticed that there was no gold there as initially promised. Suddenly, Bert hears galloping from outside the train, which turns out to be Lucky Luke escaping with Billy again. He then tricks Grubby by making him think that they went to the north, which allows Bert to get back on tracking Billy down by himself, as he doesn't want to share a loot with a dishonest gang.
Bert later finds Luke and Billy inside a stagecoarch and attempts to stop it so he can get Billy out. However, Grubby and his gang have been following him the entire time and hold him at gunpoint for lying to them, but as this happens, Luke shoots Bert's revolver away and opens fire on Grubby's gang as they take cover. All of them then surround the stagecoach and fire at it, later joined by the Indians. However, the U.S. Cavalry arrives to put a stop to the siege, leading to both the Indians, Grubby and his gang to run away, leaving Bert behind as the latter bursts into tears for his failure.
Later, after Billy was finally escorted to Bronco Pueblo where his trial was meant to be set in the first place, Bert arrives in the town and waits for the perfect opportunity to free Billy out. Little does he know, however, is that Billy managed to escape prison by himself using tabasco. Bert then arrives in the sheriff's office, bursting down the door down and asking him where Billy is, but after the sheriff refuses as visiting hours are over, he is forced at gunpoint to lead Bert to Billy's cell, only to see that he already escaped.
Bert doesn't take too long to find Billy again however, as he noticed him hiding in a barrel as an attempt to shoot Luke from behind. But as he was about to save him, Luke was alerted by Bert's yelling and quickly shot their revolvers out of their hands, before arresting them. Billy and Bert then have an argument and fight each other, allowing the sheriff to lock them both in prison for the upcoming trial. As the trial finally begins the next day, Billy is forced to pay a fine of $5 for his felonies that he caused, but as he doesn't have any money on him, he lets Luke pay the fine, but doesn't have money either. Bert, however, has money and gives $5 to the judge, paying for the fine.
The judge thanks him, but tells him to not go too far, as he was going to be tried as well. It is at this point that Billy reveals the truth about the loot's inexistence, which makes Bert realize that it was all a lie, meaning that he risked everything all for nothing. Furious at Billy for setting him up, he attacks him. As this happens, the jury makes their verdict, finding Bert guilty of associating with Billy, aiding an escape and resisting the law, which ultimately sentences him to 67 years in prison. Luke then offers the judge to have Bert locked up in the same penitentiary as Billy, which he agrees even though he doesn't understand the reasons behind that decision. Afterwards, Billy and Bert are taken to the Texas Penitentiary together to carry out their sentence. Luke mentions that on the way there, the two were hating each other and every time that one of them tried to escape, the other stopped them from succeeding, resulting in both Billy and Bert guarding themselves without knowing.
[]
 Villains
| ||
|
Dalton Family Other Outlaws Comics Movies The New Adventures of Lucky Luke Kid Lucky | ||