Editing Blueberry (comics) (section)

==Synopsis==
Born on 30 October 1843 on Redwood Plantation near [[Augusta, Georgia]], '''Michael Steven Donovan''' is the son of a rich [[Southern United States|Southern]] planter and starts out life as a decided racist.<ref>"Mike Steve Donovan" in the original publication. Date and place of birth as provided by co-creator Charlier in his fictional ''Blueberry'' biography included in the 1974 book ''Ballade pour un cercueil''. The date is not a coincidence but willfully chosen, as the 30 October marks the date in 1963 that the ''Pilote'' magazine issue in which the series premiered was printed and ready for dissemination the following day.</ref> On the brink of the [[American Civil War]], Donovan is forced to flee north after being framed for the murder of his fiancée Harriet Tucker's father, a plantation owner. On his flight toward the [[Kentucky]] border, he is saved by Long Sam, a fugitive [[African-American]] slave from his father's estate, who paid with his life for his act of altruism. Inspired when he sees a [[blueberry]] bush, Donovan chooses the surname "'''Blueberry'''" as an alias when rescued from his Southern pursuers by a [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] [[cavalry]] patrol (during his flight war had broken out between the States). After enlisting in the [[Union Army]], he becomes an enemy of discrimination of all kinds, fighting against the [[Confederate States of America|Confederates]] (although being a Southerner himself, first enlisting as a [[bugler]] in order to avoid having to fire upon his former countrymen), later trying to protect the rights of [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]]. He starts his adventures in the [[American frontier|Far West]] as a lieutenant in the [[United States Cavalry]] shortly after the war. On his many travels in the West, Blueberry is frequently accompanied by his trusted companions, the hard-drinking deputy Jimmy McClure, and later also by "Red Neck" Wooley, a rugged pioneer and army scout.

===Characters===
{{Main|List of Blueberry characters}}