Mickey Mouse #309

June 24, 2011

Title: The Treasure of Marco Topo Part One

Writer: Romano Scarpa
|Art: Romano Scarpa
Colorist: Egmont
Translation: David Gerstein & Joe Torcivia
Letterer: David Gerstein
Cover: Marco Rota & Jake Myler
Editor: Christopher Burns           
Publisher: Boom! Studios/kaboom!

Mickey Mouse is summoned to a mysterious house to pick up an inheritance from a distant relative. What he finds inside, though, sends him on a treasure hunt along with his friends and foes alike.

I liked this story quite a bit. The opening scenes, with Mickey and Goofy going through what first appears to be a Haunted House, seem to be a little silly just for the sake of being silly, but once you get past that things kick into gear. Most of this issue is set-up with Mickey and friends (and foes) learning about a treasure left behind by one of Mickey’s ancestors. Romano Scarpa does have to stretch credulity a little to work in Uncle Scrooge and Brigitta MacBridge into this gathering of “Mickey’s Friends.” Minnie, Pluto, sure those are easy. Pete and the Phantom Blot? Two of Mickey’s most dastardly foes. That all works.

The adventure of Mickey’s ancestor, Marco Topo, takes up most of the second half of this issue. It’s not bad, but not quite as engaging as the contemporary stuff – I find that often happens when Disney comics switch to stories featuring identical ancestors of our heroes. The connection is gone and I start to lose interest.

Overall, I really liked this part one of the story, and I look forward to part two.

Rating: 7/10

Wonder Woman (1987 Series) #202

March 13, 2004

Quick Rating: Okay
Title: Leaks

Wonder Woman takes a breather this issue to make room for the origin of Dr. Veronica Cale

Writer: Greg Rucka
Pencils: Stephen Sadowski
Inks: Andrew Currie
Colors: Richard & Tanya Horie
Letters: Todd Klein
Editor: Ivan Cohen
Cover Art: J.G. Jones
Publisher: DC Comics

With this issue, Greg Rucka tries to bring in some of the espionage and crime drama techniques that has marked his best work over the years. Unfortunately, that doesn’t really fit too well with Wonder Woman, or even with Veronica Cale the ostensive villain whose “origin” makes up the most of this issue. Cale has stood against Wonder Woman since Rucka started writing this book, and giving her a past and motivation is overdue. The problem is the story he actually tells – he trots out the classic “evil genius tells her plan/origin story to her captive” routine, and he proceeds to tell us an origin that is fairly bland and unimpressive. Worse than that, when we find the motivation Cale has for despising Diana so much, it’s just plain shallow. There’s no depth to it at all, and one can only hope there are still a lot of parts of her past that he hasn’t trotted out yet that will flesh her out.

Stephen Sadowski, although coming off a pretty good run on JSA only does okay with this issue. He does a good Cale, to his credit, and makes certain scenes very brutal, although not gratuitously. His Wonder Woman, though, even only appearing in a few panels in this book, is unattractive and distracting. It looks almost as though he was trying to make her look more Greek (she is an Amazon, after all), but instead just wound up drawing a caricature of Nia Vardalos.

Rucka has done good work on this title for the most part – the last two issues were just wonderful, wrapping up a good storyline and setting a lot of pieces up for the next one. This is another setup issue, where he’s laying his cards out on the table for the next story to come down the pike. Unfortunately, the cards he lays out in this issue are uninteresting and have been played too many times before. There’s still a lot of work to be done to make this nemesis and this storyline click – hopefully Rucka is up to the task.

Rating: 5/10

Exiles (2001 Series) #57

December 31, 2004

Quick Rating: A Qualified Good
Title: Bump in the Night Conclusion

A secret held by an Exile could spell the end for Zarathos!

Writer: Tony Bedard
Pencils: Jim Calafiore
Inks: Mark McKenna
Colors: JC
Letters: Dave Sharpe
Editor: Mike Marts
Cover Art: Jim Calafiore
Publisher: Marvel Comics

The “Bump in the Night” storyline comes to its conclusion, and it’s one I have to admit I have my qualms about. On the plus side, Tony Bedard has finally brought this story around to the point where the Exiles themselves are critical to the plot and not just playing placeholder roles that could be assumed by virtually any superhero team in existence. The problem I have is with what seems to be something of a deus ex machina revelation about one of the characters that brings us to the climax and sets up the next storyline. On the other hand, I haven’t been reading this title since day one, so it’s possible that what struck me as a god in the machine is actually a plot point that’s been introduced before, and we just got a reminder of it this issue, and it’s that uncertainty that keeps me from judging more harshly.

The Exiles, as we recall, are on a world where Kulan Gath succeeded in transforming Manhattan into a medieval dictatorship, only to be overthrown by Zarathos, the demon that once formed Ghost Rider. The Exiles, along with Spider-Man and Magik, planned an assault on the demon last issue, only to be betrayed at the last minute. This issue is heavy on the action and the fantasy elements, and it wraps up with a very original interpretation of the Tallus’s stated mission and a big change for one of the characters that promises to have a major impact in the next storyline.

Jim Calafiore’s art, as always, is solid. He gets to do a lot of big, hairy monsters this issue, and he’s got a good feel for ‘em. I also must say, I really like his interpretation of Beak, who seems to slowly be coming into his own. One of the big complaints I’ve read about this run is that Bedard added the character to this title and then did nothing with him – I think it’s more a case of him using him very slowly. I hope he gets a chance in the spotlight soon.

Eventually I hope to fill in my early run of Exiles through trade paperbacks, but until then, I won’t know if the angle brought up in this issue is new or not. It’s not bad. I just wish I’d had the knowledge to see it coming.

Rating: 7/10