The Whittaker Theater Troupe are the main antagonists of the 1975 Lucky Luke comic book The Dashing White Cowboy. They are a group of theater actors who travel in many town around the Wild West to present their recent play, The Dashing White Cowboy, but in reality, they are a group of thieves who rob banks of their money, hiding them inside the fake baby prop used during their show.
They are led by the titular Whittaker Baltimore, a famous actor who portrays the titular main protagonist of the theater play of the same name, "The Dashing White Cowboy". When Lucky Luke first meets them, they were doing rehearsals to train themselves for their tour without spoiling their entrance to the public. When Lucky Luke's destination is revealed to be the same town where their theater act would take place, they travel there with him. However, during the act, the town's bank would suddenly be robbed by an unknown criminal, as no one was able to catch a glimpse of the thief after they "left" the scene, this would result in Lucky Luke getting incriminated, having him locked in jail and even almost hanged.
Later in the story, it is revealed by one of the former members of the troupe, Gladys Whimple, now a performer working for Fifi LeBonBon, that the booing caused by the troupe was actually a signal for Whittaker to sneak out of the scene and rob the banks, confirming that Whittaker was the one who robbed the banks while the audience was booing Barnaby Float, who played Mortimer, the main antagonist of the play.
History[]
The Whittaker Theater Troupe was formed by the titular Whittaker Baltimore at some point prior to the events of The Dashing White Cowboy. Around the Wild West, they performed their play, The Dashing White Cowboy, which is a huge success in audience and made them achieve a lot of money for their performance. At one point, they meet Lucky Luke during one of their rehearsals, who thought that someone was being attacked, while in reality it was just a fake call for help, as it was part of the play. They offer Lucky Luke to share a nice meal with them, but the former declines as he is expected in Nothing Gulch, which ironically is the same place where they will perform their play once more.
This is where everything progressively goes downhill, as every time the play is played, it always ends with Mortimer being booed by the audience and with the titular Dashing White Cowboy making his appearance shortly after, only for someone to alert that somebody has robbed the bank, causing everybody to search for the criminals behind it. This tactic repeatedly gets Lucky Luke into multiple dangers, as he is incriminated for being the "leader" of the criminals.
Eventually, Gladys Whimple retired from the troupe to become a dance performer, where she reveals that all the robberies were caused by Whittaker himself, using his play as a distraction so he can sneak out and rob the banks of their money while the audience were booing Barnaby Float, who played the main antagonist, before the Dashing White Cowboy reappears to fight him. Their hideout is also revealed, leading to Lucky Luke going there and catching both Whittaker and Barnaby, ripping a hole in the baby's fabric, with money falling out of it, causing them to be finally exposed for being the ones committing the crimes and sent to the penitentiary, where the prisoner boo the Dashing White Cowboy instead of the Baby Snatcher.
Trivia[]
- The leader of the troupe, Whittaker Baltimore, is a caricature of the actor John Barrymore.
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 Villains
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