Uncle Scrooge #394

August 28, 2010

Title: The Curse of Flabberge Part One

Writer: Regis Maine
Translator: David Gerstein
Art: Jose Cardona Blasi
Colorist: Digikore Studios
Letterer: Jose Macasocol, Jr.
Cover: Giorgio Cavazzano & Cyrille Leriche
Editor: Aaron Sparrow & Christopher Meyer
Publisher: Boom! Kids

After the Beagle Boys foul up Scrooge’s latest treasure hunt, he rounds up Launchpad and his nephews to search for the world-famous Flabberge Egg. As treasure hunt stories go, this one starts out a little generic. It gets more interesting, though, when the introduction of a (literal) cat burglar throws in a new twist.

It’s interesting how something which, logically, shouldn’t be a big leap can really skew with your perception of a story. In the world of Ducktales, we typically see ducks and dogs as our main characters. Even in the “expanded” Disney universe, we add mice and the occasional horse and cow. The anthropomorphic cat that shows up in this issue, is a different sort of character, totally unexpected, and actually throws me a bit for a loop.

The story, overall, is good. It’s not great, though, and when you compare it to the other Disney Afternoon comic Boom! Is putting out, Darkwing Duck, it’s a little weak. The thing is, unlike Darkwing, Ducktales wasn’t exactly a totally new idea. It was basically a translation of the Carl Barks Duck universe to television. It worked, but what we have now is a derivation of a derivation. What I’d really love to see is someone take the TV show’s framework and use it to tell a totally new, totally epic storyline in the vein that Barks and Don Rosa did in the greatest Disney comics of all time.

There’s room for it, and there’s certainly a demand. Come on, Boom! Show us what you’ve got.

Rating: 7/10

Donald Duck and Friends #356

August 15, 2010

Title: Souvenir de Paris Epilogue & Total Reset Button Part 1

Writer: Marco Bosco
Art: Vitale Mangiatordi & Francesco D’Ippolito
Translator: Saida Temofonte
Letterer: Jose Macasocol, Jr.
Cover: Giorgio Cavazzano & Cyrille Leriche
Editor: Christopher Meyer
Publisher: Boom! Kids

Finishing off the story of Donald’s adventure in Paris, he finds himself again trusting the double agent, Kay K. As he returns home, he discovers that his mission wasn’t exactly what he expected, and left with a stronger dedication than ever to delve into the missing three days from his memory, to find out what really happened to him during the lost adventure that turned Donald Duck into secret agent Double Duck. This issue also begins the next adventure of Secret Agent Double Duck, “Total Reset Button.” Donald is off to Egypt to hunt down the former head of the Agency, whose memories were wiped when he retired. Those memories are starting to creep back, though, leaving both the director and the agency in peril. Donald’s job is to find him and fix the memory erasure process.

American comic books are still predominantly superhero books, but all other genres have been finding homes lately – westerns, fantasies, science fiction, horror… but there haven’t been a ton of spy adventures. It’s really amusing to me that Donald Duck and Friends has become one of the best spy tales out there. Sure, this book doesn’t give you the sort of hardcore, gritty espionage you may look for elsewhere, but as a lighthearted adventure this book is knocking it out of the park. Donald as a spy takes the character out of his usual wheelhouse, but the comedy still follows along. Kay K has become a really intriguing player, constantly treading that line, leaving the reader (and Donald) totally unsure as to what side she’s really playing for. If there’s anything  I’m not crazy about regarding this book, it’s the way the title frequently ends one storyline and begins the next in the same issue. I’d rather have that hard break between issues, although I can understand their reasoning.

The interior art on both stories is solid, but the cover by Giorgio Cavazzano and Cyrille Leriche is fantastic. Donald’s expression is pitch-perfect, and the colors (they look painted, but I can’t be sure) elevate the page to a real work of art. It’s a lovely, amusing image that’s well beyond what one often expects from the cover of a “kids’ comic.” Awesome book all around.

Rating: 8/10