Yeah, in general I'm not very interested in the literary parodies. I've always been mystified by how many of the highest-rated stories on INDUCKS are literary parodies. I prefer the Ducks to be themselves. Though I realize that the best parody stories play on the characters of the Ducks themselves....
Mottura's art in Moby Dick really is something, though. And I do quite like Scarpa's Robin Hood story, especially with GeoX's dialogue.
I agree, except on Robin Hood, which I have not read. Those old parodies are so related to the age and the place they come from. They are a reflex of the traditional pedagogical Italian approach to literature and culture. As such they should be read and contextualised. Seeing anything more in them just seems weird to me. I can understand an Italian feeling a sense of attachment to them if she read them as a kid. But except for that, what is the interest. Especially if you are not even Italian and cannot exactly perceive the cultural context that generated them. I guess people just like seeing pages and pages of ducks drawn by Carpi or Scarpa.
The modern parodies are better, I do not know why. Maybe because modern writers are decent comics creators that can put a panel after another way better than Martina...
You are right, the old parodies tend to be lost a lot because they are too contextualized at the time they were written. Maybe is because the authors wanted to be to much modern.
Uncle Scrooge and DuckTales are the only monthly books. Comics and Stories and Disney Afternoon Giant are bi-monthly, (although I don't follow DAG). I miss having a monthly Mickey Mouse title, as David Gerstein and his team put out some of the most interesting Mickey stories each month...although with the current editorial direction, I'm probably not missing anything without one.
Uncle Scrooge and DuckTales are the only monthly books. Comics and Stories and Disney Afternoon Giant are bi-monthly, (although I don't follow DAG). I miss having a monthly Mickey Mouse title, as David Gerstein and his team put out some of the most interesting Mickey stories each month...although with the current editorial direction, I'm probably not missing anything without one.
I have appreciated picking up the stories from the monthly IDW Mickey Mouse title in TPBs or hardcovers. (Which reminds me I still haven't bought the third Timeless Tales hardcover... partly due to shelf space issues.) Egmont here in Norway seems to have almost no faith in Mickey Mouse anymore and publishes very few stories with him, so it was great to have an alternative for new Mickey stories selected by an editorial team which really cared. The printing quality and presentation also makes me (generally) prefer IDW's editions of stories over Egmont's.
Uncle Scrooge Ducktales Comics and Stories Disney Afternoon
It’s hard to keep track of what’s coming and going, my local shop doesn’t stand a chance.
The saving grace is the master series and other books, though keeping track of the TPB is also getting interesting as well.
"Interesting" as in "confusing"? That's certainly my experience these days. Though hex posted a helpful guide to IDW comics not yet collected in TPBs in this blog post. I'm considering picking up Donald and Mickey#3 and #4 as single comic book issues, as they contain the Casty story "The Terrifying World of Tutor" which I haven't been able to read elsewhere.
They never released a trade for the last two Donald and Mickey issues? That's odd. IDW has usually been good at staying on top of their trade releases.
They never released a trade for the last two Donald and Mickey issues? That's odd. IDW has usually been good at staying on top of their trade releases.
Yeah, it's a little disappointing, considering that a two-parter by Casty would be perfect for a collected TPB. But there has always been some odd holdouts. Like, why wasn't "The Search for the Zodiac Stone" from Walt Disney's Comics and Stories collected in something like two TPBs in addition to the hardcover release? And there are others too... the backup stories in WDC #727-732 aren't collected in any trades. I'd suggest clicking over to hex's blog post at Disney Comics Randomness for the full list (scroll to the bottom of the post).
By the way, squeakyboots, have you considered fixing your avatar picture? It's a little distracting when the text for the broken image link always covers up parts of the comment when someone replies to you (as seen above).
EDIT: Hey, wait... it seems to vary from browser to browser whether or not the broken image link text covers up the below comment or not. I just now tried viewing this thread in Firefox and the text stays within the borders there. In Google Chrome, however, it always looks like this:
Uncle Scrooge Ducktales Comics and Stories Disney Afternoon
It’s hard to keep track of what’s coming and going, my local shop doesn’t stand a chance.
The saving grace is the master series and other books, though keeping track of the TPB is also getting interesting as well.
"Interesting" as in "confusing"? That's certainly my experience these days. Though hex posted a helpful guide to IDW comics not yet collected in TPBs in this blog post. I'm considering picking up Donald and Mickey#3 and #4 as single comic book issues, as they contain the Casty story "The Terrifying World of Tutor" which I haven't been able to read elsewhere.
Confusing works as well.
Fortunately I have a comic shop that is fairly on top of things, but I feel like I am always having to double check to make sure something didn’t fall through the cracks. Admittedly, IDW’s website and search feature doesn’t always make things easy either.
"Interesting" as in "confusing"? That's certainly my experience these days. Though hex posted a helpful guide to IDW comics not yet collected in TPBs in this blog post. I'm considering picking up Donald and Mickey#3 and #4 as single comic book issues, as they contain the Casty story "The Terrifying World of Tutor" which I haven't been able to read elsewhere.
Confusing works as well.
Fortunately I have a comic shop that is fairly on top of things, but I feel like I am always having to double check to make sure something didn’t fall through the cracks. Admittedly, IDW’s website and search feature doesn’t always make things easy either.
I think it would have been a lot easier to keep track of the TPBs if they were actually numbered, like most TPBs collecting comic book issues are. Clearly they decided to go with titles for each volume, but why not include numbers on the spine, as well as in the titles listed online?
Another annoying feature of the trades is of course the shrunken size, a clear signal that these are considered kids' comics and thus not important enough to get TPBs in normal size. Now that the hardcover collections seem to be all done, I honestly think all the TPBs ought to be in proper comic book size.
I agree, except on Robin Hood, which I have not read. Those old parodies are so related to the age and the place they come from. They are a reflex of the traditional pedagogical Italian approach to literature and culture. As such they should be read and contextualised. Seeing anything more in them just seems weird to me. I can understand an Italian feeling a sense of attachment to them if she read them as a kid. But except for that, what is the interest. Especially if you are not even Italian and cannot exactly perceive the cultural context that generated them. I guess people just like seeing pages and pages of ducks drawn by Carpi or Scarpa.
No, it's not just the art (and the new colouring of "Donald Hood" immensely helps - it looks as if it had been produced today!), there's a sense of fun, adventure and light-heartedness that I sorely miss from almost all the new parodies/adaptations that try too hard to be "serious" IMO. Donald Hood is just Scarpa in top form, and since there's a framing device, there's not even the feeling of the characters being misplaced or anything.
Egmont here in Norway seems to have almost no faith in Mickey Mouse anymore and publishes very few stories with him.
This is exactly why Germany has been going its own way with the Maus-Edition, which contains 100% Mickey stories, mostly such that don't seem to have much chance to get into the main pocketbook line, but also some reprints. inducks.org/publication.php?c=de%2FLTBM&sortbyvote=1 On one hand I'm glad to have gotten what I consider Casty's most important and best comics ("The Terrifying World of Tutor" as well as the Atomo epics "The Shadow Dimension" and "The Frozen Empire"), but on the other hand I wish they had reached a bigger audience and not been blocked for the other countries. So you can blame us for not getting "Tutor" in Norwegian! Hey, we even got two Casty covers in this series: inducks.org/publication.php?c=de%2FLTBM&pg=img&num=1
I liked “Metopolis” a little less than “Moby Dick”, to be honest (though the art is awesome too). Some of the plot was a little confusing.
"Mousopolis" is the first of the new parodies I can really appreciate (Moby Dick probably a distant 2nd), but it's not because of the art, which I find too confusing.
Egmont here in Norway seems to have almost no faith in Mickey Mouse anymore and publishes very few stories with him.
This is exactly why Germany has been going its own way with the Maus-Edition, which contains 100% Mickey stories, mostly such that don't seem to have much chance to get into the main pocketbook line, but also some reprints. inducks.org/publication.php?c=de%2FLTBM&sortbyvote=1 On one hand I'm glad to have gotten what I consider Casty's most important and best comics ("The Terrifying World of Tutor" as well as the Atomo epics "The Shadow Dimension" and "The Frozen Empire"), but on the other hand I wish they had reached a bigger audience and not been blocked for the other countries. So you can blame us for not getting "Tutor" in Norwegian! Hey, we even got two Casty covers in this series: inducks.org/publication.php?c=de%2FLTBM&pg=img&num=1
Whaaa? So that's how it works? New Mickey stories which are published in the German Maus-Edition (a series I REALLY wish we had here in Norway) are not allowed to appear in the regular Donald Pockets in Norway -- presumably because Donald Pocket is co-produced with the German equivalent Lustiges Taschenbuch? Damn...
No, it's not just the art (and the new colouring of "Donald Hood" immensely helps - it looks as if it had been produced today!), there's a sense of fun, adventure and light-heartedness that I sorely miss from almost all the new parodies/adaptations that try too hard to be "serious" IMO. Donald Hood is just Scarpa in top form, and since there's a framing device, there's not even the feeling of the characters being misplaced or anything.
Yup, one of the reasons I like Scarpa's Robin Hood is the framing device--so the characters *are* themselves, playing roles in a production. Also, lots of lighthearted fun and adventure, as you say! And Daisy comes off well, for once. Perhaps I will have to buy an issue with the new coloring! Where would I find that?