Says That Duckfan: instead I find myself dreaming about The Niece of the Black Corsair, where a version of Daisy is an actual 17th century pirate and heading a ship full of Beagles. (Go check out that story, it's a classic.)
I've been aware of these new adventures of Fantomius (Duck Avenger's sepia-era predeccesor), but they only got published here in Holland after I had stopped reading the pocket books line. It feels a little out of place in this 17th century-heavy volume, and it doesn't give me a good feel for this version of the character. The Andreas Pihl/Mårdøn Smet Fantomius stories were my introduction to Duck Avenger lore, and that Fantomius is a shadowy old martial arts master who holds a deep contempt for his supposed 'successor'. Going from that, to rich boy thief... well, it feels a little deflating. Make him the good guy, remove any upper class affectations, add a Gearloose to the cast for gadgets, and you haven't got much of a whole lot of mystique left.
The story is the just the Broadway/Empire State Building parts of King Kong, where the gorilla doesn't like cameras but has a particular taste for Gyro's spinach juice. Fantomius decides to capture him to bring him back to his island. We don't actually go to the island in this story -- like I said, it's just the New York parts (without as much as the ice skating scene I liked from the Peter Jackson version). It's such a non-adventure for Duck comic standards, I kind of wonder why they put in the effort. Where's the lost world? Why make the monster so tame? What's the point?
Verdict: D
I agree with most of your review but not this. Those Pihl stories were torn to shreds on the German boards and rightly so. I also think the Italians didn't want to touch them with a ten foot pole. Gervasio's interpretation, across the series and its 3-4 prequels, stays much closer to what we actually learn in Guido Martina's original story and doesn't distort the characters like Pihl did.
I'm sorry I had written a much lengthier post on the subject but my computer froze, so this is all I wanted to type again
I've been aware of these new adventures of Fantomius (Duck Avenger's sepia-era predeccesor), but they only got published here in Holland after I had stopped reading the pocket books line. It feels a little out of place in this 17th century-heavy volume, and it doesn't give me a good feel for this version of the character. The Andreas Pihl/Mårdøn Smet Fantomius stories were my introduction to Duck Avenger lore, and that Fantomius is a shadowy old martial arts master who holds a deep contempt for his supposed 'successor'. Going from that, to rich boy thief... well, it feels a little deflating. Make him the good guy, remove any upper class affectations, add a Gearloose to the cast for gadgets, and you haven't got much of a whole lot of mystique left.
The story is the just the Broadway/Empire State Building parts of King Kong, where the gorilla doesn't like cameras but has a particular taste for Gyro's spinach juice. Fantomius decides to capture him to bring him back to his island. We don't actually go to the island in this story -- like I said, it's just the New York parts (without as much as the ice skating scene I liked from the Peter Jackson version). It's such a non-adventure for Duck comic standards, I kind of wonder why they put in the effort. Where's the lost world? Why make the monster so tame? What's the point?
Verdict: D
I agree with most of your review but not this. Those Pihl stories were torn to shreds on the German boards and rightly so. I also think the Italians didn't want to touch them with a ten foot pole. Gervasio's interpretation, across the series and its 3-4 prequels, stays much closer to what we actually learn in Guido Martina's original story and doesn't distort the characters like Pihl did.
I'm sorry I had written a much lengthier post on the subject but my computer froze, so this is all I wanted to type again
Shame that your computer froze, because that sounds like an interesting perspective. I reread the two Pihl stories I have this afternoon (the third was published in a different series that I never bought), but I can't say they stood out as being particularly bad. They seem a lot closer to the source material than the PKNA stories that were being published in the Netherlands at that time -- those were torn to shreds on the Dutch boards, though I think they have some value in the first few stories. It depends on what you expect of Duck Avenger, I suppose. What is it you don't like about Pihl's interpretation? It's a bit intense, but Donald's characterization/motivation rings true enough for your usual Danish production, and it's nice to see a Gladstone who is genuinely mortified for once.
Speaking of Martina's original story... it was never published over here. I grew up with the impression that Duck Avenger was created some time in the 90s, because our pocket numbering reset to 1 when they finally went to full-color in 1992. Checking Inducks, it turns out that it was finally published here in 2017, while I was 'away' so to speak.
You're clearly more up-to-date with the Gervasio stories than I am. What I read didn't leave much of an impression, but that may just have been the story. Anything you suggest I check out?
Last Edit: Apr 4, 2020 18:56:03 GMT by That Duckfan
I agree with most of your review but not this. Those Pihl stories were torn to shreds on the German boards and rightly so. I also think the Italians didn't want to touch them with a ten foot pole. Gervasio's interpretation, across the series and its 3-4 prequels, stays much closer to what we actually learn in Guido Martina's original story and doesn't distort the characters like Pihl did.
I'm sorry I had written a much lengthier post on the subject but my computer froze, so this is all I wanted to type again
Shame that your computer froze, because that sounds like an interesting perspective. I reread the two Pihl stories I have this afternoon (the third was published in a different series that I never bought), but I can't say they stood out as being particularly bad. They seem a lot closer to the source material than the PKNA stories that were being published in the Netherlands at that time -- those were torn to shreds on the Dutch boards, though I think they have some value in the first few stories. It depends on what you expect of Duck Avenger, I suppose. What is it you don't like about Pihl's interpretation? It's a bit intense, but Donald's characterization/motivation rings true enough for your usual Danish production, and it's nice to see a Gladstone who is genuinely mortified for once.
Speaking of Martina's original story... it was never published over here. I grew up with the impression that Duck Avenger was created some time in the 90s, because our pocket numbering reset to 1 when they finally went to full-color in 1992. Checking Inducks, it turns out that it was finally published here in 2017, while I was 'away' so to speak.
You're clearly more up-to-date with the Gervasio stories than I am. What I read didn't leave much of an impression, but that may just have been the story. Anything you suggest I check out?
Well, where can I begin... (long post following, much longer than the one I lost!) Lustiges Taschenbuch #41 (released way back in 1976) is the favourite of many German readers. So, the origin story of Duck Avenger, and his early development, are very much ingrained in the readers' minds. Over the years, "normal" Duck Avenger stories became one of the main attractions of the pocketbooks.
Donald's initial motivation WAS getting his revenge on people who treated him badly, but Martina already started to soften this stance. So a story like "Duck Avenger and the Land of the Indians" has him troubling Scrooge, but it's for a greater good (protecting the Natives from Scrooge mining their oil). And later, he becomes more of a Batman parody, fighting some pretty spectacular villians like Spectrus (my favourite) or the Inquinator.
PKNA (Duck Avenger New Adventures) came about because some of the younger writers and artists felt the colourful covers of the Duck Avenger monthly series "Paperinik e i altri supereroi" hinted at something that wasn't really in the stories. The new series was carefully constructed "from the ground up", and became an instant success in Italy. Other countries tried to adapt it, but I think it's only in some Scandinavian countries that they published it to the end. For a start, a lot of publishers made the stupid mistake of simply omitting the "0" number, "Evronians" (from 1996), thereby bewildering anyone trying to read the series. That story is the ultimate bridge between the normal Duck Avenger and his new environment, and the events of that story keep getting referenced throughout later issues.
I happen to be a big fan of PKNA but I didn't get in contact with it until the stories were collected with the Premium pocketbooks from 2012 on (and just a few months ago, PKNA was finally completed in German!). Apparently, the Netherlands have adapted the German format but improved upon it even further by including covers and printing everything in the correct order.
Anyway, 1996 also marked an important story for the "normal" Duck Avenger: "Return to Villa Rose"
It was the only Duck Avenger story printed on Topolino's pages in a long period, and like the debut, it was drawn by (an impressively matured) Giovan Battista Carpi. This story was basically everything a sequel to the debut should be, and it cleared up all the remaining issues about the area's ownership.
So, there was really no need to return to the topic once more, and yet this is what happened when Egmont decided they needed to produce 3-tiered Duck Avenger stories too (despite there being more than enough Italian material).
First of all, "Legacy" and "Hot Chemistry" feature some pretty bad art; even if the layout mimicks PKNA to a degree, the artistic quality isn't anywhere as high. Then, there's all the logical loopholes. Donald wanting to burn the piece of paper on a grill. No explanation for the strange gadgetry. No explanation why the "imagined" Nemesis monster suddenly becomes "real". No explanation as to why Fantomallard is still alive, why he's got such a huge head and why he's such a cruel and unlikable character. If anything, Martina hinted at him being more of a trickster; a member of nobility who would take his revenge on people who ridiculed him. But all that lofty stuff about some "codex", or that he's good at martial arts... Pihl pulled all that out of thin air. It's like he went with whatever seemed to come to his mind, without doing the proper research.
Although Ireyon's story (drawn by Fecchi) was much better than the first two, Ireyon is another example. The Dolly Paprika / Papera from Martina's second story is only Daisy in disguise, but gives us an idea of how she could've looked. The name certainly hints at her being an antropomorphic duck, not a fox. And since her and Fantomallard were a pair, you'd also expect that they are of a similar species (although of course we know that there are curious exceptions to the rule).
But what irritated me most... the tone. At the time I didn't know that this was a Danish story and the others were all Italian, you see, and I thought "Why did they change Donald's character like this?" Pihl's portrayal isn't too far from early Barks, but this behaviour - a mixture of hubris and anxiety, and above all, very ego-driven - does not fit to having a hero's role and costume. This is the real failure here. It's completely not in keeping with what had become standard practice in Italy, and that makes it jarring.
I guess that is the reason why many fans of the classic Ducks don't like PKNA; you can't have a Donald like that within the futuristic weaponry. Essentially he really has to temper the bad sides of his character. (Lucio Leoni & Emanuela Negrin, who kept the classic Duck Avenger alive with some amazing stories, did the story "Power Problems" which shows that a Donald with actual "super" powers would be a disaster.)
Pulling Gladstone in the midst of all this might have been a smart move on paper, but I think it was also badly done; other stories showed that he does like the adulation, even if it's all got its drawbacks. Years before Ultraheroes, he already challenged Donald with his own superhero costume.
I think this group of stories is a trainwreck (Mark & Laura Shaw then turned that trainwreck into a full-on Titanic tragedy with their two stories, which are so bad it's hard to believe). Evidently the editors thought so too, Peter Höpfner announced the end of them rather early (alongside the news that 3-tiered short-trouser Mickey had died his long overdue death). Apparently "Legacy" *was* printed in Italy, but altered so that the old guy isn't Fantomallard himself but a member of his "circle". Which doesn't make any sense, but shows how bewildered the Italian editors must have felt about the whole endeavour.
Enter Marco Gervasio, who had already drawn two stories with strong links to the Fantomallard legend (one by Sarda, one by Michelini). His writing debut in 2002 was the atmospheric "Fantomallard's Shadow".
His next self-penned Duck Avenger story, "Isle of Monsters", was very much in the vein of the early "avenging" Martina stories. Nonetheless it's tamer, and suceeds in defining Donald's motivation and making him not look like a fool out of control.
And then he gradually tackled the various aspects of Fantomallard's legend, not unlike Don Rosa's Lo$, although there were far less "facts" to work from, and of course a lot is Gervasio's own invention (e.g. the name Lord Quackett), but it has become canonical through the years:
inducks.org/story.php?c=I+TL+2675-1 First appearance of Fantomallard and Dolly Paprika (what was she called in the IDW translation?) in flashbacks, connected to a current-time Duckburg treasure hunt
inducks.org/story.php?c=I+TL+2902-2 The discovery of who built the gadgets for Fantomallard. (And yes, it's a relative of Gyro's. This leads to some really interesting narrative developments later in the series.)
inducks.org/story.php?c=I+TL+2933-1 Donald accidentally travels back to the past and almost manages to ruin his own history by changing the past. Sounds like Back to the Future? Indeed!
From here on, Gervasio wrote the ongoing series, which does away with the scenes set in the present. What I like about the stories is the atmosphere (enhanced by the colouring), the running gags with the incompetent Police Officer Pinkus (who is actually an ancestor of the "Screwball" from the aforementioned Michelini/Carpi story!), the fact that the main character is actually a THIEF (although a pretty nice one), the appearances of many well-known characters both from real life as well as fiction (Herlock Sholmes!) and the fact that the series develops a "vertical" plot over time. Sadly, the stories which connect to Rosa's work have not been published in German yet...
PKNA (Duck Avenger New Adventures) came about because some of the younger writers and artists felt the colourful covers of the Duck Avenger monthly series "Paperinik e i altri supereroi" hinted at something that wasn't really in the stories. The new series was carefully constructed "from the ground up", and became an instant success in Italy. Other countries tried to adapt it, but I think it's only in some Scandinavian countries that they published it to the end. For a start, a lot of publishers made the stupid mistake of simply omitting the "0" number, "Evronians" (from 1996), thereby bewildering anyone trying to read the series. That story is the ultimate bridge between the normal Duck Avenger and his new environment, and the events of that story keep getting referenced throughout later issues.
I happen to be a big fan of PKNA but I didn't get in contact with it until the stories were collected with the Premium pocketbooks from 2012 on (and just a few months ago, PKNA was finally completed in German!). Apparently, the Netherlands have adapted the German format but improved upon it even further by including covers and printing everything in the correct order.
The Dutch publishers started in 2016 and are well on their way to reaching the end of the (original) PKNA stories. I stayed away from buying them, as the previous two attempts (in 1997 and 2006) ended pretty quickly. They seem well on their way to completing the run this time, which is encouraging to hear. I was hoping to catch a couple of second-hand pocket books at the local comic con, but they've cancelled the event due to COVID-19.
So, there was really no need to return to the topic once more, and yet this is what happened when Egmont decided they needed to produce 3-tiered Duck Avenger stories too (despite there being more than enough Italian material).
[...]
I think this group of stories is a trainwreck (Mark & Laura Shaw then turned that trainwreck into a full-on Titanic tragedy with their two stories, which are so bad it's hard to believe). Evidently the editors thought so too, Peter Höpfner announced the end of them rather early (alongside the news that 3-tiered short-trouser Mickey had died his long overdue death). Apparently "Legacy" *was* printed in Italy, but altered so that the old guy isn't Fantomallard himself but a member of his "circle". Which doesn't make any sense, but shows how bewildered the Italian editors must have felt about the whole endeavour.
Three-tiered D-coded stories are a discussion all their own, and their problems are hardly restricted to PK material. But that's a discussion for another time.
First of all, "Legacy" and "Hot Chemistry" feature some pretty bad art; even if the layout mimicks PKNA to a degree, the artistic quality isn't anywhere as high. Then, there's all the logical loopholes. Donald wanting to burn the piece of paper on a grill. No explanation for the strange gadgetry. No explanation why the "imagined" Nemesis monster suddenly becomes "real". No explanation as to why Fantomallard is still alive, why he's got such a huge head and why he's such a cruel and unlikable character. If anything, Martina hinted at him being more of a trickster; a member of nobility who would take his revenge on people who ridiculed him. But all that lofty stuff about some "codex", or that he's good at martial arts... Pihl pulled all that out of thin air. It's like he went with whatever seemed to come to his mind, without doing the proper research.
Although Ireyon's story (drawn by Fecchi) was much better than the first two, Ireyon is another example. The Dolly Paprika / Papera from Martina's second story is only Daisy in disguise, but gives us an idea of how she could've looked. The name certainly hints at her being an antropomorphic duck, not a fox. And since her and Fantomallard were a pair, you'd also expect that they are of a similar species (although of course we know that there are curious exceptions to the rule).
I wouldn't call the artwork bad per se, but it does feel a bit too crammed. Pihl is so desperate to up the stakes that he'll throw into everything and the kitchen sink -- Donald's moods swing wildly from panel to panel, Daisy is all over the place, it's a clear case of trying too hard -- but it's trying, which is more than I can say for the Dutch output I'm used to. I don't think it's trying to ape PKNA so much as contemporary superhero comics in general (with near John K-levels of cartooniness in terms of character expressions). Other things I think are just artistic license.
One thing I really like about these stories is the indirect confrontations between Donald and Fantomius. They never quite meet, or at least Fantomius doesn't realize it. He's a hard type, implied to be much more ruthless than PK --- but only implied. There's various levels of danger and mystery at display -- same with the villains.
As for Ireyon, she's not implied to be Dolly Paprika, is she? Just another one of Fantomius' associates.
But what irritated me most... the tone. At the time I didn't know that this was a Danish story and the others were all Italian, you see, and I thought "Why did they change Donald's character like this?" Pihl's portrayal isn't too far from early Barks, but this behaviour - a mixture of hubris and anxiety, and above all, very ego-driven - does not fit to having a hero's role and costume. This is the real failure here. It's completely not in keeping with what had become standard practice in Italy, and that makes it jarring.
A clash of cultures, then. An Italian PK versus a Danish PK.
My main problem with characterization in these stories lies with Daisy, more than Donald. We know that Donald can be alternatively flawed or take the 'straight man' moral high ground, depending on the situation. To contrast his life as PK the hero with Donald the loser -- a different kind of Clark Kent -- I think that's really got something. Does it "fit the costume"? Well that's just the tension, isn't it? Can't reveal your secret identity to save the ones you love and all that. We're not reading superhero comics here, we're reading Donald Duck. It's not something you could keep up forever, but there might be some development in it.
I guess that is the reason why many fans of the classic Ducks don't like PKNA; you can't have a Donald like that within the futuristic weaponry. Essentially he really has to temper the bad sides of his character. (Lucio Leoni & Emanuela Negrin, who kept the classic Duck Avenger alive with some amazing stories, did the story "Power Problems" which shows that a Donald with actual "super" powers would be a disaster.)
Oh, that's just Super Snooper Strikes Again with extra steps.
Pulling Gladstone in the midst of all this might have been a smart move on paper, but I think it was also badly done; other stories showed that he does like the adulation, even if it's all got its drawbacks. Years before Ultraheroes, he already challenged Donald with his own superhero costume.
That was in the Brazilian continuity, wasn't it? Anyway, I was never bowled over by Ultraheroes.
Gladstone is shown in the story to love the adulation -- at least, in Donald's imagination. It's just that Fantomius' training takes him so far out of his comfy lifestyle that it just makes him miserable -- which is something I could easily imagine. After all, another Gladstone rule is that he doesn't work.
From here on, Gervasio wrote the ongoing series, which does away with the scenes set in the present. What I like about the stories is the atmosphere (enhanced by the colouring), the running gags with the incompetent Police Officer Pinkus (who is actually an ancestor of the "Screwball" from the aforementioned Michelini/Carpi story!), the fact that the main character is actually a THIEF (although a pretty nice one), the appearances of many well-known characters both from real life as well as fiction (Herlock Sholmes!) and the fact that the series develops a "vertical" plot over time. Sadly, the stories which connect to Rosa's work have not been published in German yet...
The Sherlock Holmes analogue annoys me to a minor extent. Holmes was active in the generation before Fantomius, he retired before the First World War. I can understand the need for a Gearloose -- I made one myself in my Sherlockian Duck fanstories, Ratchet Gearloose's French cousin Gâchet "Gadget" Guerlouse. It's just that I'd expect a gentleman thief to be a bit more self-reliant and create his own gadgets, more like Batman.
And the words "gentleman thief" conjure up such a strong image of Arpin Lusène for me, that you've got to come up with some pretty memorable competition. I think that, more than anything, is what stops from appreciating him more. This Fantomius isn't suave enough, at least that's not what I get from it.
Yes, I like the colors as well. Muted palettes are always great.
Last Edit: Apr 5, 2020 21:13:37 GMT by That Duckfan
The Dutch publishers started in 2016 and are well on their way to reaching the end of the (original) PKNA stories. I stayed away from buying them, as the previous two attempts (in 1997 and 2006) ended pretty quickly. They seem well on their way to completing the run this time, which is encouraging to hear. I was hoping to catch a couple of second-hand pocket books at the local comic con, but they've cancelled the event due to COVID-19.
Too bad I think they're worth it. The Dutch Premium series also houses DoubleDuck & the perhaps even better Mickey Mouse Mystery Magazine, but sadly not X-Mickey (which we got in Germany). It looks like a really well thought out series, and one that should be adapted by publishers all over the world.
Three-tiered D-coded stories are a discussion all their own, and their problems are hardly restricted to PK material. But that's a discussion for another time.
Agree, but it's those few stories that sort of made the bewilderment come to a head. Other stories were easier to stomach because they weren't so intrinsically tied to a particular tone and theme. Not to mention that there were good ones too, a lot of TNT and pretty much everything written by Byron Erickson, Gorm Transgaard, as well as some by Per Hedman come to mind.
I wouldn't call the artwork bad per se, but it does feel a bit too crammed. Pihl is so desperate to up the stakes that he'll throw into everything and the kitchen sink -- Donald's moods swing wildly from panel to panel, Daisy is all over the place, it's a clear case of trying too hard -- but it's trying, which is more than I can say for the Dutch output I'm used to. I don't think it's trying to ape PKNA so much as contemporary superhero comics in general (with near John K-levels of cartooniness in terms of character expressions). Other things I think are just artistic license.
Well, that strange multifunctional "steel glove" (which keeps appearing in Dutch PK stories) does seem very much like a derivation of the X-Transformer shield. My theory is that Pihl intended to set his stories after the end of Pk², with Donald having returned to Gyro and giving him the task of building something in the same vein. But this is never stated outright.
I do find Smet's facial expressions pretty ugly. Fecchi's art on the third installment shows what could've been possible, but by this point, it was already too late, I guess.
One thing I really like about these stories is the indirect confrontations between Donald and Fantomius. They never quite meet, or at least Fantomius doesn't realize it. He's a hard type, implied to be much more ruthless than PK --- but only implied. There's various levels of danger and mystery at display -- same with the villains.
Yeah, but what villains? The professor in Hot Chemistry wants to kill all people. That's kindergarten writing, I'm sorry. And the "Nemesis" in Legacy barely qualifies as a villain, he was just created by some crazy machine & Donald's overloaded imagination. And that is some sorry excuse for Donald's strange behavior in the following stories. He's terrified of his predecessor? C'mon, let's be real. You've dealt with REAL danger.
As for Ireyon, she's not implied to be Dolly Paprika, is she? Just another one of Fantomius' associates.
She's said to be his ex-partner (implied to be his lover). And Dolly Paprika's costume had "fox ears", Ireyon is a fox. I might be wrong but it underlines the feeling of being based on misunderstanding, or too free interpretation of the source material.
A clash of cultures, then. An Italian PK versus a Danish PK.
My main problem with characterization in these stories lies with Daisy, more than Donald. We know that Donald can be alternatively flawed or take the 'straight man' moral high ground, depending on the situation. To contrast his life as PK the hero with Donald the loser -- a different kind of Clark Kent -- I think that's really got something. Does it "fit the costume"? Well that's just the tension, isn't it? Can't reveal your secret identity to save the ones you love and all that. We're not reading superhero comics here, we're reading Donald Duck. It's not something you could keep up forever, but there might be some development in it.
I don't disagree with that, but it could be done so much more tastefully. Not "Donald get so angry that he throws Daisy into the dirt" like. In fact, even if it's not PK, the last few DoubleDuck stories have made some use of that. (Donald being envious that Gladstone's facebook page has so many likes, and imagining what would happen if he revealed his identity as a secret agent.)
Oh, that's just Super Snooper Strikes Again with extra steps.
But it's more relevant than Super Snooper, isn't it? After all, Rosa's Donald didn't do much crimefighting. As PK, he could really use those powers, but he doesn't have the personality to keep them under control. Unlike, say, Goofy.
That was in the Brazilian continuity, wasn't it? Anyway, I was never bowled over by Ultraheroes.
Arguably a minor one, but not unbelievably characterized. Because Gladstone is so lucky, he barely has to work to be successful... even when he becomes envious of PK and decides he wants to be a hero too. (You do wonder why Ultraheroes didn't simply resurrect that secret identity instead of creating a new costume and name.)
The Sherlock Holmes analogue annoys me to a minor extent. Holmes was active in the generation before Fantomius, he retired before the First World War. I can understand the need for a Gearloose -- I made one myself in my Sherlockian Duck fanstories, Ratchet Gearloose's French cousin Gâchet "Gadget" Guerlouse. It's just that I'd expect a gentleman thief to be a bit more self-reliant and create his own gadgets, more like Batman.
If Martina was given the task to flesh out the character, maybe that's what he would've done. Who knows! I do like the collaborative spirit of the criminal trio.
And the words "gentleman thief" conjure up such a strong image of Arpin Lusène for me, that you've got to come up with some pretty memorable competition. I think that, more than anything, is what stops from appreciating him more. This Fantomius isn't suave enough, at least that's not what I get from it.
Sure, that's hard competition. On the other hand, there's also a reason that Rosa never wrote another Lusène story. His powers, on one hand, are almost unlimited, but his aims are pretty dang boring. I adore those two stories, make no mistake, but you can't sensibly make a series out of him!
Diff'rent strokes, I guess. I think we understand one another with regards to Pihl's stories, you just see a dead end where I see a possibilities for improvement, due to the differences in what we've read before. It certainly gives me food for thought!
Time for volume four: DRACULA. I TL 2945-1P Dracula, by Bram Joker Topolino 2945-2946, 2012 Writing by Bruno Enna Art by Fabio Celoni 72 p.
This is story is just phenomenal. I happened to be in Rome when the first issue was published and I could believe the artwork I was seeing. The digitally-colored artwork in these stories belongs in a hardcover album or something. I'm glad to see that the jokes are also top-notch -- my Italian isn't that great!
This is an excellent literary parody. The art style complements the mood of the story very nicely (unlike in Frankenstein), and the jokes are typical of the Italian style. All references to blood have been turned into beetroots, and the new herbology dimension proves to be fertile ground for parody. I haven't read the original, so I can't comment there, but the casting is great. Mickey and Minnie play Jonathan and Mina Harker, of course, while the title role goes to the Italian Phantom Blot (the one who doesn't wear a mask). Lucy Westenra (Clarebelle Cow) is courted by Horace, O'Hara, and Brick Boulder. Goofy makes a splash as the blunt Dutch Professor Van Helsing. And Pete makes an appearance as a prisoner.
Wish they made more of these. It really seemed like the way to go forward.
Verdict: A+ I TL 2237-1 The Taming of the Scrooge Topolino 2237, 1998 Writing by Silvano Mezzavilla Art by Giorgio Cavazzano 34 p.
So, this story was once published in English under the name "The Taming of the Duck Scoundrel", which is just, HOW do you manage to muck that up? Really?
Trying to get inspiration, William Shakespeare reads the story of a shrewish merchant in Padua, whose nephew wishes to marry the girl of his dreams. To melt the merchant's heart of ice, the girl's aunt (Brigitta) offers to seduce him with Grandma's help. But Scrooge claims he will only court her if she sells a truckload of silly shoes. By way of various tricks, everybody tries to help Daisy, but Scrooge manages to put a stop to them. However, when he tries to pull off the disguises of three legitimate (and very angry!) merchants, he's forced to give in.
I was skeptical about this story, but Cavazzano takes the slapstick designs and runs with it. This greatly helps to sell the plot, which might have fallen flat with another artist.
Verdict: B+ I TL 1993-D The Hunt for "Red Scrooge" Topolino 1993, 1994 Writing by Giorgio Pezzin Art by Valerio Held 34 p.
Scrooge needs to transport twenty million dimes to an Arab country that's begun to build phone booths. For some reason, he decides that the best way is to transport them from Duckburg with a red submarine. The Beagle Boys get wind of this and steal the sub, until after a long pursuit it gets damaged by polar ice caps. In order to prevent a massive oil leak, Scrooge is forced to dump all the coins so the oil can be stored in the money tank.
This sure is a story. Yup, this is a story. Doesn't get much more basic than this, really. Could have painted the submarine yellow and this would have been an adaptation of "Yellow Submarine".
Verdict: C I TL 1883-A Donald in: The (Never)ending Story Topolino 1883, 1991 Writing by Caterina Mognato Art by Giuseppe Dalla Santa 64 p.
This is one of those stories that looks fascinating on paper: tons of Disney characters in a long adaptation of something called "the neverending story" (which I have not read). Lots of potential for meta team-ups or whatever. In fact, this story was recently voted the second-best 'pocket story' in the Netherlands.
I... well, it has good bits, but you could have a lot of fun with this idea in a larger format. As it is, Donald reads The Neverending Story in his attic while fleeing debt collectors. Disney animation canon characters appear sort of randomly in the fantasy story, which has Mickey as its hero. It's a bit like Mickey's Inferno, but with even less commentary on the characters. The Nothing threatens to destroy Fantasyland, unless the reader can help the Princess (Daisy). Donald is pulled into the story at the last minute, everything is saved, and is promptly booted out again. Only for the story to begin again...
There was a time when this would have impressed me greatly. Sadly, I was not around when this story was first published in Holland. Reading it as an adult, and knowing what Disney comics have done since with the fantasy genre, it feels limited. An artefact of its time, I guess.
Verdict: C- I TL 1663-A Donald Duck, Ghostbuster Topolino 1663, 1987 Writing by Bruno Concina Art by Paolo Ongaro 40 p.
A classic 1980s heirs-of-Scarpa work. Donald initially doesn't believe in ghosts, but decides to become a ghostbuster when it turns out there's money in the business. Scrooge hires him to evict a family from a haunted house, but they're quite sympathetic ghosts, and Donald gives them a second chance. They tell him of the family treasure in the basement, allowing them to become the legel tenants of the house once more, along with the other ghosts.
Yeah, this was nice. Fairly tame for Italian standards, but fun.
OK Quack is one of those weird characters who never really made it to Holland. This publication marks his first outing as story lead. He's an alien, whose flying saucer looks like a coin when shrunk (which it frequently does). However, it's constantly stolen or whatever, so he can't go home. In this case, Scrooge appears to have swallowed it. I say appeared, because the panel quite clearly shows where it actually went, but this is a nice excuse to have a Fantastic Voyage-style adventure in the insides of Uncle Scrooge. It makes for some fun gags.
Still not sure what OK Quack is about, though.
Verdict: C+ That's it for now. I'll be back later with MOBY DICK.
OK Quack is one of those weird characters who never really made it to Holland. This publication marks his first outing as story lead. He's an alien, whose flying saucer looks like a coin when shrunk (which it frequently does). However, it's constantly stolen or whatever, so he can't go home. In this case, Scrooge appears to have swallowed it. I say appeared, because the panel quite clearly shows where it actually went, but this is a nice excuse to have a Fantastic Voyage-style adventure in the insides of Uncle Scrooge. It makes for some fun gags.
Still not sure what OK Quack is about, though.
Verdict: C+ That's it for now. I'll be back later with MOBY DICK.
I like OK Quack. He's so nice, and endearingly naive... it's almost like he, as a peaceful alien, exposes all our bad traits as humans. Never read that story though, at least I don't think so.
I didn't like Dracula at first but now I've warmed up to it a bit. It's one of the few cases in which I can tolerate Celoni's art (I know he has a lot of fans). The Neverending Story was a book by Michael Ende which was made into a movie, which he hated because it was all "too Disney" (I haven't seen it, but hate Limahl's title song). So I assume the Disney version of the Disney-esque movie doesn't leave that much of the original spirit intact.
Anyway, I've never been a big fan of the comic either. Dalla Santa's art is just wasted on the story.
And we're back with volume five: MOBY-DICK. This one took me two months to get through. I've been busy, and the back half of the volume could not sustain my interest for very long. I TL 3003-1P Moby Dick Topolino 3003-4, 2013 Writing by Francesco Artibani Art by Paolo Mottura 71 p.
Another graphic novel-style epic, though from a different team this time. The art style has its flair, but I'm glad it's not a recurring feature because it does tire on the eyes. Donald plays Ishmael in Moby Dick, with Scrooge taking the part of Captain Ahab, with further parts played by Gyro and Fethry (both uncaracteristic grumpy), the nephews as three Polynesian princes, and of course the Beagle Boys and Magica DeSpell.
Visually, I'm very happy with the decision to have some dialogue-free splash panels, because the dialogue really doesn't match the art here. I find it difficult to make up my mind about the story: it's about as close to the feel of the original as you can get, (therefore/but) it doesn't feel very Disney-like. The only one who really fits here is Scrooge, and that's because Italian Scrooge is already so trumped-up. There's some riffing on Pinocchio as well. It's nice, but not too inspired. I don't know. It looks fantastic, but at the same time it feels too moody for a regular comic.
Verdict: B+ I TL 1930-A The Sorrows of Young Donald Topolino 1930, 1992 Writing by Osvaldo Pavese Art by Guido Scala 39 p.
This is such an unlikely story to adapt, and yet it somehow almost works. Scala's characters are so goofy-looking, and the comedy in his stories is so odd. Present-day Donald reads a story about Werther (Donald), who falls for Charlotte (Daisy), and tries to win her affection. But before he can confess his love for her, Daisy tells him her fiancé Albert (Gladstone) will be visiting. Werther tries his best, but he's only exploited to do odd jobs around the house. When Daisy asks him to make their wedding cake, he can't take it anymore and throws himself off a cliff. This is where the original story ends.
Donald survives, caught by a log in a river, which deposits him on the bank near the house of a big printer/publisher (Scrooge) and his cousin (Brigitta). They take him in, and Donald takes a job at the printer's. In his spare time, he writes the traumatic of events of his life. Eventually he throws away the whole story in the junk, but not before Brigitta gets a look at it. Donald's life is immensely tragic that it immediately brings everyone who reads it to tears. She persuades Scrooge to publish it and Donald becomes a big-name author. Years later, he returns to Charlotte's house to find her grown old, fat, and mean. Donald wakes up from his reverie when he gets hit by a kitchen utensil in a fight between Daisy and Gladstone. He's overjoyed to find the real Daisy, who isn't fat and mean. She however misinterprets him, and he has to run to escape her wrath.
Totally caricature, a guaranteed failure of a story, and yet... there's an odd charm to it. However, I don't think these 19th century ideas of courtship (and sexism) need to be perpetuated.
Verdict: B- I TL 2069-1 The Search for the Green Star Topolino 2069, 1995 Writing by Bruno Sarda Art by Roberto Vian 59 p.
The South American Colonel Solo steals an emerald from a bookseller named Jade in a sleepy village in France. In trying to get it back, she nearly gets herself killed, but is saved by Arizona Goof, who has his own dealings with the man. In town, she gets a typical Hollywood make-over (glasses off, eighties hair let loose, etc.), and Arizona starts to develop a crush on her. Typical. She proves to be a bit clumsy, but together they hatch a plan to steal the emerald. Arizona is caught in his disguise, but the two manage to get away. It is then revealed that Jade is a fairy, and the emerald is part of her wand. Although Arizona would like to stay and settle down, she says it's impossible and he goes his tearful way.
I didn't like this story -- Romancing the Stone is one of those '80s adventure movies whose every cliché was worn out during the '90s. The romance is archaic, and the reveal that Jade is a fairy is just bad and unnecessary. Although Inducks tells me that Jade did appear in a small number of stories afterwards, so she was more than just a one-off. Adventure Goofy and human fairy? I just can't see the appeal.
Verdict: D I TL 1721-AP Mickey 007 - Mission Goldelicious Topolino 1721-22, 1988 Writing by Giorgio Pezzin Art by Comicup Studio 55 p.
Goldelicious, a merchant in apples, is smuggling huge quantities of gold, and Mickey is enlisted by the secret service to find out how and why. Goldfinger is being tasked by the Brutopian agent Giorgiov to destroy the international gold reserve, except for that which he has saved. Turns out it wasn't the apples that were golden, but the crates he used to ship them. When trying to infiltrate Goldelicious' base, he comes across another spy -- the niece of the kidnapped Professor von Heller. Together, they manage to defeat Goldelicious.
The Bond parody is a little dated (made 24 years after the movie) and I'm not sure why this was made, but the artwork is classic European comic book art, and the girl gets something to do. Decent enough.
Verdict: D+ I TL 1573-AP The Forgotten Ark Topolino 1573, 1986 Writing by Bruno Concina Art by Massimo de Vita 46 p.
Duck Avenger and Gyro Gearloose enlist Ludwig von Drake to help find a missing ark in Egypt before it is found by Rockerduck's men. It follows the plot beats of Raiders of the Lost Ark pretty closely, with Daisy in the place of Marion Ravenwood. The ark ends up containing hallucinatory gases that could kill, were they not weakened by 5000 years of age. And the ancient scrolls in the ark? The pharaoh's favorite recipes, of course!
The story is nothing to write home about, but De Vita's art is great as always, the pace is brisk, and Rockerduck always makes for an entertaining villain.
Verdict: C At the end of the year, I will return with the sixth and final volume, METROPOLIS.
Last Edit: Oct 28, 2020 11:47:03 GMT by That Duckfan
Ouch, that one's one of my favorite Indiana stories. Very solid action adventure with a genuinely threatening villain (shame he never returned, he's more interesting than Krantz), a cute romance and some real worldbuilding. And yeah, Giada returns ina couple more stories, she's essentially Indiana's Reginella. Never read the third one, but the second one is solid.
Agree about the Goldfinger and Raiders parodies, though. They just come across as heavily toned down and censored retellings of the original movies that don't really do anything overly interesting with the source material. Bob Finger was a much better Goldfinger spoof and Duck Avenger and the Indian Temple was a better Indiana Jones adapatation.
Ouch, that one's one of my favorite Indiana stories. Very solid action adventure with a genuinely threatening villain (shame he never returned, he's more interesting than Krantz), a cute romance and some real worldbuilding. And yeah, Giada returns ina couple more stories, she's essentially Indiana's Reginella. Never read the third one, but the second one is solid.
Agree about the Goldfinger and Raiders parodies, though. They just come across as heavily toned down and censored retellings of the original movies that don't really do anything overly interesting with the source material. Bob Finger was a much better Goldfinger spoof and Duck Avenger and the Indian Temple was a better Indiana Jones adapatation.
And one of mine too. So much actually that I wrote a lengthy review for a German fan page that I don't think was published yet and even did the scans for it. Speaking of which, the colouring is really beautiful IMO. And Vian had Giada (Jade) down to a tee - Massimo De Vita, oddly, made her too much of a stereotype, visually.
Also agree re: the villain, he makes both Kranz and modern-day Pete look like schoolboys in comparison.
It's the end of the year, but not the end of the Donald Duck Classics range! However, I don't know what the next title will be for the time being. This is METROPOLIS. I TL 3189-1P Mousopolis Topolino 3189, 2017 Writing by Francesco Artibani Art by Paolo Mottura 70 p.
Another Artibani/Mottura team-up, this time tackling the silent movie classic Metropolis. Freder Mouse is the son of a wealthy industrial, a figurehead for a gigantic energy corporation run by Mr. Petersen. Freder however loves to roam the city streets, rather than greet people at parties, and this is how he meets Maria, a teacher from one of the poorer parts of town. While with Maria, he sees how one of his companies is actually run -- under the worst labor conditions imaginable. Maria (Minnie), as it turns out is an inspiration to the workers (including Goofy as 11811) to keep Mousopolis running despite their hardship, and pleading for someone to take a position as mediator between the upper and underclass. Freder confronts Petersen about it, who tells him he'll take care of everything... By meeting with Blackwang the scientist, who has invented a robot. Pete's plan is to replace all the workers with robots, but first they'll use a robot version of Maria to rile up the workers so that they have an excuse to fire them. Things work out differently, however: Maria tells the robot to destroy the power plant outright. Petersen and Blackwang get caught in an exciting chase, Freder builds a huge school for Maria, and everyone lives happily ever after.
So... this is a bit of a departure from the original. The original had two Fredersens, father and son, adding another dimension to the story. This adaptation is a bit more Tony Stark and Obediah Shane. Other than that, it's a fairly faithful adaptation. I'm surprised to see how moderate the politics of Metropolis really are, the original even more so because it's not Disneyfied yet. It being from 1920s Germany, I expected more strife.
The art is of course amazing, if you're into Mottura's style. It's very stylistic! There's a one-page panel in particular, that seems to have painted by Mottura rather than drawn in the normal way.
My main feelings about this story are similar to those I have with Moby Dick. The characters don't map properly, causing some weird characterizations. The artwork isn't for everyone, and the story is more focused or making sense or looking cool than being funny.
Verdict: B+ I TL 2974-2 Fantomius on Board Topolino 2974, 2012 Writing by Marco Gervasio Art by Marco Gervasio 24 p.
In this relatively short story, Fantomius steals a necklace while on board a cruise ship. He also keeps stepping on Commissioner Pinko's toes... literally.
As discussed before, I'm not the biggest fan of Fantomius stories. In this story, his sole motivation for stealing a valuable necklace is because the lady "was asking for it". The rich stealing from the rich... for funsies. Still, there are some decent gags and some decent mystery.
Also, this is supposed to be a pastiche of "The Love Boat" according to the people who compiled this comic, which... yeah, the joke's worn thin.
Verdict: C+ I TL 2081-1P The Lord of Frying Pan Topolino 2081-82, 1995 Writing by Giorgio Pezzin Art by Franco Valussi 80/83p. (three framing pages omitted)
Occasionally, you come across these older stories that were typical of their time but have since fallen out of fashion. Franco Valussi drew a bunch of stories between 1987 and 1996, and he seems particularly suited to fantasy. The orcs and other monsters he drew for this story are suitably gruesome, though not as cute or appealing as the De Vita/Cavazzano style of that era. It's become a little dated by now, but considering this Tolkien parody was made before the movies, it doesn't do too bad of a job.
To be honest, I think there are other and better fantasy series from this time. It's not that this story is bad as such, it's got some clever ideas. But it doesn't really distinguish itself in any area.
Another homage to Fellini. This time, Mickey and friends are in Rome for a remake of "La Dolce Vita", which is gathering a lot of attention and an exhibition. However, someone seems to be changing the script, and it's driving director Horace Horsecollar nuts. Mickey suspects the prima donna Phantom Blot, but he's just here to steal Fellini memorabilia. As it turns out, it's a ghostly Fellini himself, who can't help himself when it comes to changing his own scripts. Mickey and Minnie find him in the middle of the night at the Trevi fountain. They reminisce about when they attended the premiere of "La Dolce Vita", and watch as Fellini and his characters ascend to the great film set in the sky.
This is a nice story. It's not as ambitious as the other Fellini homage, or as touching as the Hemingway montage, but it's nice. The jokes are good, the artwork is nice. What more do you need?
Verdict: B- I TL 1709-A The Legend of Donald Tell Topolino 1709, 1988 Writing by Guido Scala Art by Guido Scala 32 p.
Classic Guido Scala. Donald Tell is an hourglass maker in Switzerland who can't pay the exorbitant taxes demanded by the occupying Beagle mercenaries. His uncle, a rich cheese merchant from the city, wishes to stage a revolt, and gets to Donald to practice the longbow in his cellar. Unfortunately, Donald is terrible, and instead of hitting his target, his arrows only make holes in Scrooge's cheese cellar. To make matters worse, he forgets to greet the Beagle Boy cap in the city and is forced to do the Tell thing of shooting apples from his nephews' heads. Fortunately, the nephews are clever enough to slice the apples beforehand, so they'll fall down regardless. But Donald's arrow hits a tree, which ricochets to a branch, and then another, and strikes the head Beagle right in the behind. While Donald is carried off to the dungeons, the citizenry revolt and throw out the Beagles. When their boat crashes, Donald manages to get away from the Beagles and is given a hero's welcome by the townsfolk. Scrooge, whose cheese-with-holes is selling like crazy, hires him to become his permanent hole-shooter. When the season is over, he receives a golden cheese (with holes) as his salary, while the kids get golden apples.
Oh, and Donald inadvertently invents yodeling when he hits his head on a tree stump. Of course.
This is a nice surprise. Donald and Humphrey Gokart have set up a detective agency, when they get embroiled in the events of The Maltese Falcon, complete with caricatures of the original actors. Well, Donald gets embroiled -- Gokart goes mysteriously missing and ends up having joined the circus. The real star of this story is Donald's secretary Daisy, who saves him out of some sticky situations. I must admit to never having seen a 3 tier Korhonen comic before. It's a bit odd, but the story is pretty good. Donald's by-the-book detective skills make for a good recurring motif, and it's fun to see him not have an ounce of genre awareness as he checks off every trope in the business. Daisy is the one who saves the story in the end.
Verdict: B+ Happy New Year, everyone!
Last Edit: Jan 1, 2021 16:41:55 GMT by That Duckfan
I TL 1709-A The Legend of Donald Tell Topolino 1709, 1988 Writing by Guido Scala Art by Guido Scala 32 p.
Classic Guido Scala. Donald Tell is an hourglass maker in Switzerland who can't pay the exorbitant taxes demanded by the occupying Beagle mercenaries. His uncle, a rich cheese merchant from the city, wishes to stage a revolt, and gets to Donald to practice the longbow in his cellar. Unfortunately, Donald is terrible, and instead of hitting his target, his arrows only make holes in Scrooge's cheese cellar. To make matters worse, he forgets to greet the Beagle Boy cap in the city and is forced to do the Tell thing of shooting apples from his nephews' heads. Fortunately, the nephews are clever enough to slice the apples beforehand, so they'll fall down regardless. But Donald's arrow hits a tree, which ricochets to a branch, and then another, and strikes the head Beagle right in the behind. While Donald is carried off to the dungeons, the citizenry revolt and throw out the Beagles. When their boat crashes, Donald manages to get away from the Beagles and is given a hero's welcome by the townsfolk. Scrooge, whose cheese-with-holes is selling like crazy, hires him to become his permanent hole-shooter. When the season is over, he receives a golden cheese (with holes) as his salary, while the kids get golden apples.
Oh, and Donald inadvertently invents yodeling when he hits his head on a tree stump. Of course.
This is a nice surprise. Donald and Humphrey Gokart have set up a detective agency, when they get embroiled in the events of The Maltese Falcon, complete with caricatures of the original actors. Well, Donald gets embroiled -- Gokart goes mysteriously missing and ends up having joined the circus. The real star of this story is Donald's secretary Daisy, who saves him out of some sticky situations. I must admit to never having seen a 3 tier Korhonen comic before. It's a bit odd, but the story is pretty good. Donald's by-the-book detective skills make for a good recurring motif, and it's fun to see him not have an ounce of genre awareness as he checks off every trope in the business. Daisy is the one who saves the story in the end.
Verdict: B+ Happy New Year, everyone!
My favourite element of Donald Tell is actually the audience (HDL) breaking the fourth wall by yelling at the proceedings.
As for the Maltese Mallard, there is an older parody of that in Rudy Salvagnini's Wednesdays series, which was based on a wordplay but still retains enough elements that I noticed the similarities to the Korhonen version.