What are the best volumes of the European "Disney Masters"?

[macguybird]

I am inexperienced with these volumes, and there is very little guidance in the US as to who would be the best without knowing what others say. Who stands out from the mass amount of duck comics produced? And especially is quality like Barks/Rosa?

I've got the William Van Horn Pie in the Sky (vol 18), and Trapped In The Shadow Dimension (Mickey Mouse, vol 19)


And another that isn't "Disney Masters" but is called "World of The Dragonlords" by Giorgio Cavazzano and Byron Erickson.


I've got my eye on some upcoming preorders like the "War and Peace" by Giovan Battista Carpi, and the science fiction one in the 22nd century as well although these aren't "disney masters"


Have heard great things about Romano Scarpa. Any direction for the current volumes, please? Thanks!!


I have heard mixed things about Paul Murry and Al Hubbard in particular. Any thoughts on that?

[thadwell]

I think they're all worth buying, but if you're going to run out and buy any, I think the very best are:

Vol. 1: Scarpa (for "The Delta Dimension" and "The Fabulous City of Shan-Grilla")
Vol. 4: Jippes/Milton (just to have all of their legendary collaborations in one place)
Vol. 5: Scarpa (for "The Phantom Blot's Double Mystery" uncensored and "The Eternal Flame of Kalhoa")
Vol. 10: Mau and Bas Heymans (mostly short stories, but this is arguably the funniest volume)
Vol. 12: Cavazzano ("The Dazzling Duck She-Venger" and "The Forgetful Hero")
Vol. 14: Kinney/Hubbard (for all the earliest Fethrys in one place; it'll give you an idea if you want to keep picking them up)
Vol. 15: Murry (having all the deranged issues of the Phantom Blot's own title in one place)
Vol. 18: Van Horn (but you have this already...)

I have my own reasons for liking all of them, except the continuing Murrys, which I just get to support the idea of this whole series (they're awfully bland, but the most recent, Vol. 21, does show a marked improvement in the writing, even if the art is still terrible). They seem to be the most popular volumes aside from Scarpa, so what do I know?

Scarpa's output was wildly inconsistent after the early '60s, but his work was always pleasant enough. Any Bottaro or Carpi volumes are strictly for if you want to delve into just how weird the Disney Italian comics world can get. (As I wrote in another thread, the upcoming "Les Mis"/"War and Peace" book is Carpi at his best, as well as the whole "Disney Literature Parodies" genre.) Vol. 22 will have Cavazzano's "Snacking Sleuths" in its entirety (it was bowdlerized when it showed up in the Gladstone days), something I've campaigned a long time for (along with "War and Peace"). There's still a lot of great stuff coming up from Fanta!

[Matilda]

If you're in the US, you might try to get these volumes from the library to see which you want to own--ask if your local public library can get them by inter-library loan, if it doesn't have them.

A lot depends on your personal taste and on what you mean by "quality like Barks/Rosa." Obviously the editorial folks think all of these stand out in some way. Personally, I much enjoy the Bottaro volumes 2 & 16--the story in 16 is a sequel to that in 2. The interplanetary journey gave me the kind of fun and adventure and memorable characters one might get from a 1960's-Barks adventure story, with a very different tone and style. Volume 4 Jippes/Milton, volume 10 Mau and Bas Heymans, and volume 18 William Van Horn give you a sense of what some of the very best of the non-Barks-or-Rosa stories in the Gladstone/Gemstone comics were like. I'm not a Scarpa fan or a Murry fan--though vol. 21 has a favorite story from my childhood, Pineapple Poachers, where Mickey and Goofy meet the Menehunes, small Hawaiian people who talk in rhyme. Like the Peeweegahs, but much shyer and more pacific. Carl Fallberg did write some good stuff! I do often like Cavazzano's art, and it looks to me like the upcoming volume 22 will have stories I will appreciate even more than those in volume 12. The Phantom Blot volume 15 is a hoot. In the Fethry stories, volumes 14 & 20 so far, I particularly enjoy poor put-upon Tabby's myriad expressions! I like the stories in volume 20 better, so I'd actually advise starting with 20 and then going back to pick up 14 if you like them enough to want to have them all.

So, my recommendations overlap with Thadwell's a fair amount:
2 & 16 Bottaro
4 Jippes/Milton
10 M & B Heymans
15 Phantom Blot (get the full 1960's American comics experience!)
18 Van Horn
20 Kinney/Hubbard (Fethry #2)
21 Fallberg/Murry (better writing than 3, 7, 13)
22 Cavazzano

What's most different from Thadwell's list is the replacement of Scarpa with Bottaro. I have no doubt that Scarpa is way more important to Disney comics history and great in ways I just don't happen to appreciate. I've read lots of Scarpa over the years, and there are only two stories he wrote (plus two more he drew) which I like enough to re-read. Something about his style of writing doesn't work for me. It's often too loose and digressive for me, perhaps in part due to having been written in weekly installments? As if he kept deciding on the spur of the moment where to take the plot. Like I say, sample the books via the library if you can.

And yes, the Les Miz/War and Peace book will be terrific! You can read reviews of the two stories (as published in Britain, with greatly inferior English translations, but stunning art) on GeoX's Duck Comics Revue blog: in the index, look for "War and Peace" and "That Missing Candelabra."

[thadwell]

Everyone has their opinions... If you are looking for comics, Duck or otherwise, on the level of Carl Barks, you probably won't find them. Perhaps the best view to take is that these folks offer a different but satisfying flavor. But I know the imports are a hard sale on a lot of comic fans... Personally, Matilda, I LOVE the Bottaro books and wish we'd get about ten more from his '60s work... but one exasperated eyeroll from a generally open-minded animator/comics guru as I was flipping through it with him told me everything about how embraceable he is...

[deb]

That Paul Murry Phantom Blot volume is the closest we’ll get to the Disney equivalent of a Sliver age DC comic.

[macguybird]

Thank you thadwell and Matilda , no I am not trying to find something on the level of Barks, I just want to get into the best of the European stuff that stands out, and essentially just more ducks. It's worth checking out in the future, i'll for sure get into these later this year.

They all have their idiosyncrasies and art styles.


I will probably have to end up asking this in the future once there's plenty more volumes again.


Looking forward to the "lots" of great stuff coming!

[thadwell]

Dig into the back issues of the David Gerstein-run period of IDW (2015-2018) for more of the very best in Euro Disney comics. Most were collected in hardback Timeless Tales series.

[quilleran]

May 1, 2023 13:06:05 GMT thadwell said:

Dig into the back issues of the David Gerstein-run period of IDW (2015-2018) for more of the very best in Euro Disney comics. Most were collected in hardback Timeless Tales series.

It’s a shame that these are out of print and difficult to get at a reasonable price. These books were beautifully made and benefitted from the variety of artists and styles you’d get in each volume. Gerstein has said that he doesn’t want to publish the same material in the Disney Masters series so that collectors will have the chance to buy hitherto uncollected stuff rather than doubling up on the same things, but it’s a shame because IDW was really bringing together great material in this series. I especially regret that Casty’s Atlantis Trilogy won’t get a reprint… and I guarantee that Fantagraphics would make a lot of money on that volume.

[Spectrus]

Apr 30, 2023 20:02:58 GMT Matilda said:

It's often too loose and digressive for me, perhaps in part due to having been written in weekly installments? As if he kept deciding on the spur of the moment where to take the plot. Like I say, sample the books via the library if you can.

Or maybe it was just being influenced by Bill Walsh's writing, who definitely operated like that? After all, most of Scarpa's stories were two-parters at best, occasionally three-parters, so I don't think the "weekly installments" really explains it.

Sad to see Massimo De Vita not getting any love so far. In Germany, he's probably the most popular Mouse artist along with Murry and Scarpa. "The Ice Sword" is one of only two Mickey stories that made the fan-voted 50th anniversary pocketbook collection.

[quilleran]

May 2, 2023 8:30:21 GMT Spectrus said:

Sad to see Massimo De Vita not getting any love so far. In Germany, he's probably the most popular Mouse artist along with Murry and Scarpa. "The Ice Sword" is one of only two Mickey stories that made the fan-voted 50th anniversary pocketbook collection.

I enjoyed the Massimo De Vita stories at the end of the Ice Sword Saga even more than the saga itself, to be honest. I’d love to see a collection with more Arizona Goof tales.

[duckly]

May 2, 2023 8:30:21 GMT Spectrus said:

Sad to see Massimo De Vita not getting any love so far. In Germany, he's probably the most popular Mouse artist along with Murry and Scarpa. "The Ice Sword" is one of only two Mickey stories that made the fan-voted 50th anniversary pocketbook collection.

I wonder how successful the two Ice Sword Saga volumes are, because they are also my favorites.

I still hope for another De Vita volume with the first two stories of "Topolino e i signori della galassia" (I TL 1833-AP and I TL 1846-AP).

However, the best volumes of this series so far are

9 & 11 De Vita
22 Cavazzano
19 Casty
2 & 16 Bottaro

[deb]

If I had to pick favorites, it’d be Jippes/Milton, Mau/Bas Heymans and William Van Horn, and then the Murry Phantom Blot volume.

[Deleted]

Casty is my favorite Disney active writer. I have other favorites, all of which retired or passed away. Thus I must mention volume 19.

In addition I'd like to point out that all authors represented in this series are great. So, I would recommend to get the best volume of each author. The list posted in the 2nd post by thadwell serves you well, plus I'd like to highlight:

The Ice Sword Saga and the Duck Avenger's (Paperinik) first stories are milestones in Italian Disney Comics.

The Ice Sword Saga is the first Disney comics that feels like a graphic novel. The original 3 chapters were published one per year, from 1982 to 1984. It's a Disney take on the Tolkien-esque epic fantasy genre.

The Duck Avenger initial run is among Carpi's best works. In these stories Donald takes a u-turn against his usual misfortunes. Its a nice deconstruction IMO. He becomes a chessmaster. The stories play with superhero tropes from the golden and early silver ages, when the superheroes were actually vengeful. So this is more like kid-friendly Venom or golden-age Batman, than Spiderman.

There you go volumes 19, 8, 9, and 11.

Bottaro isn't among my favorite authors, anyways his volume 2 is the one I like the most.

[zorro]

Apr 30, 2023 5:52:05 GMT macguybird said:

I have heard mixed things about Paul Murry and Al Hubbard in particular. Any thoughts on that?

Having grown up in the (late) 1960s to 1970s, I'm quite partial to both the PaulMurry-drawn 3 part serials (that ran in "Walt Disney Comics & Stories") and long adventures in "Mickey Mouse" under the "Dell" and later "Gold Key" imprint. The best stories among these are considered to be those written by Carl Fallberg. There's also a handful (approx. 6) rather good Donald Duck stories (between 8 and 20 pp. long) illustrated by Murry; my favourite being "The Saga of Sourdough Sam" (1st printing in DD #62 [1958]) which features DD, HDL, and US and is 14 pp. long.

[sim]

So far, I have bought four of them: Kinney/Hubbard 1 and 2, Van Horn 1 and Murry's Blot.

Being Italian and having already read the Italian stories, I am not really interested in buying the volumes printing them, even if I am 100% sure that David and his team have done a egregious work on them. So, if you never read them, I would recommend them also.

Among those already published, I will probably buy the Milton/Jippes and the Heymanses, because it's a production that I find more "obscure" and I am curious about. I will certainly keep buying the Kinney/Hubbard ones (David wrote in this forum that there should be 4 in total) and more Van Horn would be instantly bought if they were published.