Massimo De Vita at his absolute very best, IMO - only rivalled by the first two parts of "Lords of the Galaxy" (which weren't written by him, but have some structural similarity).
The fabled German LTB 124 collected the entire trilogy (plus one Donald story), the later fourth part was first printed in a Christmas LTB but later all four were packed together in the six-part Fantasy edition- The other books were similarly made up of Disney fantasy sagas.
I've read all four "Ice Sword" stories, and while I don't think they're the best Mickey comics out there, or even the best "Mickey and Goofy in a fantasy world" comics out there, they are pretty solid stories for the most. I like how Goofy is viewed as the Great Hero, and the running gag of his games and hobbies becoming incredibly popular fads in the fantasy world is fun.
That said, the series is a little uneven, quality-wise.
- The first story is definitely the best one. True, it plays the fantasy clichés the straightest (the other three are better at subverting or finding new spins on the classic fantasy tropes) but it plays them well for the most part and has enough enough comical/parodic elements to keep it from becoming totally cookie-cutter. Goofy making the evil monsters vanish by simply not believing in them seems like it might be cheap at first, but then the story does a pretty brilliant twist by having the heroes rely on one of those monsters to fly them to their destination, and suddenly Goofy making them vanish by not believing becomes a problem and not a solution. The ending is a little anti-climatic, but all in all I think this is the best story of the four.
- The second story is a bit of a let-down. There are some good parts here -- the initial idea with Mickey and Goofy returning to the fantasy world and finding that it's become a tourist trap with modern-day technology and movie theatres is an interesting one... and I'd be lying if I said I didn't at least get a chuckle out of the part where pizza is presented as this amazing new invention... but the story in and of itself is weak; it's just Goofy competing in a tournanent to get the artefact to stop a volcano from erupting, and then it turns out not to matter because the volcano erupts anyway, making the entire adventure pointless. And at the end of the story the fantasy world decides to go back to the "old ways" and abandon the technology, making the story pointless.
- The third story is a return to form; not as good as the first story but vastly better than the second one. The set-up with Pluto getting lost in the fantasy world and the Prince of Fog's pseudo-return makes for a much more engaging story, even if it seems somewhat smaller than the first time around. This was clearly intended to be the last story in the series, with the magical dish remaining behind in the fantasy world and cutting Mickey and Goofy off from ever returning, and the people of the fantasy world resolving that they'll have to fix their own problems from now on. It's a fairly decent ending to the saga... and then the fourth story happens.
- The fourth story is... weird. I'm not quite sure why it was even made. I mean, once again the idea isn't a bad one, with the Prince of Fogs causing trouble even in death, and the princess from the stars, but... what happened to "we have to start fixing our own problems," guys? Way to undermine your own moral lesson here! Also, the trials and tribulations the characters go through here are just bizarre and half-hearted, getting directly stupid at times... the low point comes when Goofy fixes the problem by yelling at the story artist and telling him to draw them a way out of the situation. I mean, I'm not fundamentally against comics where the characters acknowledge that they are in a comic, but here it just comes out of nowhere and completely wrecks whatever credibility the story had left. I really don't think this story needed to happen... yeah, the star princess was cute, but she was barely in the story; they should just have had a story with her instead of trying to tie it in to the Ice Sword series.
Makes sense. It certainly reads like a cash-in more than anything else... the story was done and had reached a satisfactory conclusion with the third instalment, so the fourth is jarring only for that... I might have forgiven this if it had been good, but... It's easily the worst of the four stories. It just feels uninspired and hastily-put-together.
I think you're mixing things up. Sio wrote the parody/spinoff, not the fourth part (from which Orora 's avatar comes from). That was written by Fabio Michelini and Massimo De Vita.
But it's true that it was written as a trilogy and the sequel was definitely a later addition (call it a cash-in if you like - but many sagas since then have worked like that, see Wizards of Mickey).
Hello, I am a new member (from Greece like the member 'demiscy' who recently posted here). I was wondering, is it possible to purchase the volume of "Mickey mouse and the sword of ice" from somewhere? I have searched on ebay without any result. And the internet is chaotic with references. So i thought to ask here and maybe one of you guys could help me! Looking forward to receiving any feedback which will be highly appreciated! Thanks in advance, John
I was wondering, is it possible to purchase the volume of "Mickey mouse and the sword of ice" from somewhere? I have searched on ebay without any result.
If you want it in English it's only available digitally and from a Greek computer you can buy it on comixology.eu as the American version of the website have IP restrictions. (Mickey Mouse in the Sword of Ice)
I also found a printed issue in Greek searching for "Μεγάλα Σήριαλ 17" on emarket.gr. "Το Σπαθί των Πάγων" might work too.
Hello and thank you for your answer! I was aware for the greek auction site (emarket.gr). The thing is that i am looking for a hard copy version of this volume in english (if it exists). I am starting to think that this is only available as an e-book. I will keep on searching for a little while longer and i will see what to do next. Thank you so much for your reply!
PS: it is available (hard copy of that volume) in italian. But i cannot speak it lol!
Hello and thank you for your answer! I was aware for the greek auction site (emarket.gr). The thing is that i am looking for a hard copy version of this volume in english (if it exists). I am starting to think that this is only available as an e-book. I will keep on searching for a little while longer and i will see what to do next. Thank you so much for your reply!
PS: it is available (hard copy of that volume) in italian. But i cannot speak it lol!
As hex said, it is only available in English digitally. The stories have never been printed in English.
I've got a question concerning Topolino e il Torneo dell'Argaar and hope that somebody, maybe one of our Italian friends can answer me.
This story was originally 81 pages long according to Inducks. It's been released in other countries with as many as 4 pages cut. I've got both a 77- and an 80-page version here. The pages cut from the 77-page version that show up in the latter are:
- the first page, where Mickey asks if readers remember the original story and "turns" the page - the third page whch reproduces the map of Argaar - the recap page at the start of the second part
So there is apparently one additional page cut from the full version. According to Inducks the 80-page version was released in Italy in the book "Disney Golden Edition 3", while "Le più belle storie Disney special 1" and the original Topolino version are 81 pages long. Can anyone help and tell me what the missing page entails?
I've got a question concerning Topolino e il Torneo dell'Argaar and hope that somebody, maybe one of our Italian friends can answer me.
This story was originally 81 pages long according to Inducks. It's been released in other countries with as many as 4 pages cut. I've got both a 77- and an 80-page version here. The pages cut from the 77-page version that show up in the latter are:
- the first page, where Mickey asks if readers remember the original story and "turns" the page - the third page whch reproduces the map of Argaar - the recap page at the start of the second part
So there is apparently one additional page cut from the full version. According to Inducks the 80-page version was released in Italy in the book "Disney Golden Edition 3", while "Le più belle storie Disney special 1" and the original Topolino version are 81 pages long. Can anyone help and tell me what the missing page entails?
Zounds! The French version is also missing one page, and I can't tell what it shows.
--- Gaucelm de Villaret gaucelm@gmail.com --- gaucelm.blogspot.fr twitter.com/GothHelm --- facebook.com/gaucelm
I've got a question concerning Topolino e il Torneo dell'Argaar and hope that somebody, maybe one of our Italian friends can answer me.
This story was originally 81 pages long according to Inducks. It's been released in other countries with as many as 4 pages cut. I've got both a 77- and an 80-page version here. The pages cut from the 77-page version that show up in the latter are:
- the first page, where Mickey asks if readers remember the original story and "turns" the page - the third page whch reproduces the map of Argaar - the recap page at the start of the second part
So there is apparently one additional page cut from the full version. According to Inducks the 80-page version was released in Italy in the book "Disney Golden Edition 3", while "Le più belle storie Disney special 1" and the original Topolino version are 81 pages long. Can anyone help and tell me what the missing page entails?
Well, looking closely at the Inducks scans, it appears that the page turned by Mickey isn't the first, but the second - so the actual first page is missing, too. See:
You know what's neat? This story actually has licensed figurines by Panini Comics! (they don't just make stickers!) It comes in a special edition box.
Though it is only Mickey, Goofy and Yor for the moment...
It would have really been neat to also have, among others, Gunni Helm, Boz, the Prince of Fogs, Zibibbo, the Giant Locust and the Sleeping Beauty In The Stars.
--- Gaucelm de Villaret gaucelm@gmail.com --- gaucelm.blogspot.fr twitter.com/GothHelm --- facebook.com/gaucelm