Whatever's reviews: Little helper lost

[Hector]

One of the stories created to celebrate Carl Barkses 100th birthday, drawn by Marko Rota. To one who hasn't read it, the idea of a
story where Gyro's little bulb gets the starring role and most of the pages are without dialogues will probably seem unattractive. Yet,
the writers handled it in a masterful way.
I always liked the time travel themed stories, so i got excited early, when, in the very first panel, Gyro talks about his new invention
that has to do with that. Here is how it worked: Gyro would reel his ''fishing rod'' in one of the machine's rings, which acted like portals
to random dimensions of the spacetime. He also warns Little Helper about some potential explosion.
Alas, the explosion that follows shoves Little Helper out of the house, while Gyro exclaims ''that was the last thing i expected to see
coming out''. Without us knowing what Gyro's rod caught yet, we watch Little Helper being chased by a dog and getting tangled into
worse and worse situations that drive him further and further from the lab.
I don't know about the other readers, but, myself, by the second page of the story, i had already figured out how the story would end.
Don't tell me you haven't found out yet! Anyway, the ending is one of the most funny examples of predestination paradox. Also, i felt
sad for Gyro, who thought his invention was malfunctioning. Poor guy, he will never know he had actually succeeded in inventing a time
machine.

Rating: 8/10

[RobbK1]

Jan 24, 2017 3:19:12 GMT Hector said:

One of the stories created to celebrate Carl Barks' 100th birthday, drawn by Marco Rota. To one who hasn't read it, the idea of a
story where Gyro's little bulb gets the starring role and most of the pages are without dialogues will probably seem unattractive. Yet,
the writers handled it in a masterful way.
I always liked the time travel themed stories, so i got excited early, when, in the very first panel, Gyro talks about his new invention
that has to do with that. Here is how it worked: Gyro would reel his ''fishing rod'' in one of the machine's rings, which acted like portals
to random dimensions of the spacetime. He also warns Little Helper about some potential explosion.
Alas, the explosion that follows shoves Little Helper out of the house, while Gyro exclaims ''that was the last thing i expected to see
coming out''. Without us knowing what Gyro's rod caught yet, we watch Little Helper being chased by a dog and getting tangled into
worse and worse situations that drive him further and further from the lab.
I don't know about the other readers, but, myself, by the second page of the story, I had already figured out how the story would end.
Don't tell me you haven't found out yet! Anyway, the ending is one of the most funny examples of predestination paradox. Also, i felt
sad for Gyro, who thought his invention was malfunctioning. Poor guy, he will never know he had actually succeeded in inventing a time
machine.

Rating: 8/10

I'd like to read that story.  Can you please give us the title and story code (and COA link)?  I don't remember reading it, but if it was printed in Scandinavia in 2001, it should have been printed in Dutch Donald Duck Weekblad or Donald Duck extra by no later than 2004 or so.  So, I should have it.

[Matilda]

It's D 2001-001: coa.inducks.org/story.php?c=D+2001-001 . Yes, it's been printed in the Netherlands and most other places. Though, note to all: if you want to see this, you can get it in any comic from any country you like, because it's almost entirely wordless. (This also means that IDW Disney won't have to pay someone to write the English script!)

I like this story very much. It was on my list of "favorite stories not yet printed in the USA." Naturally a lot depends on the art here, and I love Rota's art. But the story itself is quite clever. Personally, I seriously dislike time travel stories in general, unless they're done for fun. (Since the logic of everyday cause-and-effect is disrupted, the author can do whatever the heck s/he wants, so why should I care?) But the time travel in this one is a way to give Helper a fantastic journey and to give us a glimpse of the future of the Duckiverse that's directly relevant, and I enjoyed both these elements. It's "Lassie Come-Home" from Lassie's POV, with the added fun of future Duckburg. There's also a similar message (not plot) to "It's a Wonderful Life"--you may be making more of a positive difference than you realize.

[Scrooge MacDuck]

Jan 24, 2017 14:17:40 GMT Matilda said:

It's D 2001-001: coa.inducks.org/story.php?c=D+2001-001 . Yes, it's been printed in the Netherlands and most other places. Though, note to all: if you want to see this, you can get it in any comic from any country you like, because it's almost entirely wordless. (This also means that IDW Disney won't have to pay someone to write the English script!)

I like this story very much. It was on my list of "favorite stories not yet printed in the USA." Naturally a lot depends on the art here, and I love Rota's art. But the story itself is quite clever. Personally, I seriously dislike time travel stories in general, unless they're done for fun. (Since the logic of everyday cause-and-effect is disrupted, the author can do whatever the heck s/he wants, so why should I care?) But the time travel in this one is a way to give Helper a fantastic journey and to give us a glimpse of the future of the Duckiverse that's directly relevant, and I enjoyed both these elements. It's "Lassie Come-Home" from Lassie's POV, with the added fun of future Duckburg. There's also a similar message (not plot) to "It's a Wonderful Life"--you may be making more of a positive difference than you realize.

It's indeed a very heartwarming story and the art is awesome… except, well, I just felt bad with the implication that Gyro and Co. were dead in the future. Even if you don't consider them as immortal in the "present day" of the stories, you'd think Gyro or Ludwig or, you know, any of the hundreds of eccentric geniuses in the Duckiverse would invent a viable means of indefinite life extension. 

[Hector]

Jan 24, 2017 4:44:04 GMT RobbK1 said:

I'd like to read that story.  Can you please give us the title and story code (and COA link)?  I don't remember reading it, but if it was printed in Scandinavia in 2001, it should have been printed in Dutch Donald Duck Weekblad or Donald Duck extra by no later than 2004 or so.  So, I should have it.

What do you mean by code and link? Is there a way to read stories online? Tell me about it!

[RobbK1]

Jan 24, 2017 19:48:07 GMT Hector said:

Jan 24, 2017 4:44:04 GMT RobbK1 said:

I'd like to read that story.  Can you please give us the title and story code (and COA link)?  I don't remember reading it, but if it was printed in Scandinavia in 2001, it should have been printed in Dutch Donald Duck Weekblad or Donald Duck extra by no later than 2004 or so.  So, I should have it.

What do you mean by code and link? Is there a way to read stories online? Tell me about it!

The code is the story number, and code is the code letter or letters of the country of its production.    "D" is for Denmark, "H" is for Holland (The Netherlands), "I" is for Italy". "G" for Germany, "B" for Brazil, "AR" for Another Rainbow (USA -Gladstone).  A link to it would be the web address of the CCOA page that show the detailed credits for that story.  Here's a link to the story page for my story: "The Greatest Hoax of All Time":

coa.inducks.org/story.php?c=H+94215