Walt Disney’s Christmas Parade (2003 Series) #4

December 2, 2006

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Christmas in Duckburg and other stories

A new collection of holiday tales featuring the classic Disney characters.

Writers: Bob Gregory, Dick Matena, David Gerstein, Carl Fallberg, John Lustig, Gorm Transgaard, Thad Komorowski, Nick George, Floyd Gottfredson, Carl Barks
Art: Carl Barks, Dick Matena, Tony Strobl, Francisco Rodriguez Peinado, Wanda Gattino, Vicar, Jack Bradbury, Floyd Gottfredson
Colors: Susan Daigle-Leach, Kneon Transitt, Scott Rockwell, Michael Kraiger, Barry Grossman, Marie Javins, Rick Keane
Restoration (“Ice Show”): Rick Keane
Letters: Susie Lee, Jon Babcock, Willie Schubert
Cover Art Restoration: Rick Keane
Publisher: Gemstone Publishing

In December there are certain things you count on every year. Christmas carolers, crowded shopping malls, and a thick volume of comics with the Disney all-stars. For the fourth year, Gemstone is giving us a stocking stuffer of Disney goodies, and it’s a good one this time.

“Christmas in Duckburg” leads off this year’s volume. The story, by Bob Gregory with art by the legendary Carl Barks, shows Donald accidentally promising his nephews an exorbitant Christmas present this year. When he goes to Uncle Scrooge for help, Scrooge agrees on one condition – that Donald supervise his donation of a 100-foot Christmas tree for the town square. In true Scrooge fashion, though, the donation isn’t out of the goodness of his heart, but rather to spite a fellow businessman who got his temper flared last Christmas. When Scrooge’s rival learns of the plan, he turns to those jaded crooks, the Beagle Boys, to sabotage the tree. Even though he didn’t write the script, this story has all the feel of a Barks classic, and is one of the best stories in the volume.

“A Christmas Carol,” by Dick Matena with English dialogue by David Gerstein, is yet another retelling of the classic Charles Dickens story, this time featuring the Big Bad Wolf and the Three Little Pigs. When Big Bad drives his son out on Christmas Eve, a handy visit from a spirit reminds him what Christmas is all about. The nice twist ending saves the story from being too sugary and makes it memorable.

“Snow Shovelers” is next, and it’s more a generic winter story than a Christmas story, but it’s still interesting. Hoping to refill their piggy bank before Donald finds out they spent their money on sodas, Huey, Dewey and Louie set out to shovel snow, but a little too late. The only unshoveled house in the neighborhood belongs to their too-lucky cousin, Gladstone Gander, who is counting on his luck to get the walk shoveled for free. Then in “Wrap Up Your Troubles,” Mickey and Goofy get roped into helping Minnie with her gift wrap service, and wind up delivering a load of presents of a rather dangerous sort. We also get a Gyro Gearloose story, “Presently Indisposed,” in which he finds himself unable to come up with good Christmas presents for his friends. True to his nature, he tries inventing a machine to select the perfect gift for him, but things don’t go according to plan. It’s a pretty standard Gyro story, but it’s perfectly good as that.

The two-part “Free Tree Spree” features Donald and Scrooge. Scrooge has promised to help the mayor with his pledge to give every family in Duckburg a free Christmas tree (for his part, Scrooge will get a hefty tax break), but there’s still one entrepreneur who has set up a tree lot, counting on Scrooge’s trees to fall short. Naturally, the Beagle Boys are involved, and Donald and the boys wind up in a race to save Christmas – and Scrooge’s pocketbook. This is one of the most fun stories in the book, lots of action, lots of gags, well done.

“The Doodleberry Dilemma” stars Chip and Dale. The two hungry chipmunks set out to relieve Brer Fox of a mouthwatering doodleberry pie. This reprint of a 1970 story also has only the thinnest tie to the holidays – there’s plenty of snow but no tinsel. The book is rounded out with two shorts. “Ice Show” is a collection of Floyd Gottfredson strips starring Mickey and Minnie in an ice skating competition with a nice little punchline. “Toasty Toys” is a Carl Barks one-pager about Donald resorting to despicable depths to avoid cutting firewood – only to get his in the end.

Put ‘em all together and you get a really great collection of Christmas (or just plain “winter”) themed comics, with only the Chip and Dale story falling flat. It’s a fine collection for any fan of Disney comics.

Rating: 8/10