Della in DuckTales #2

[Matilda]

I've now read DT 2, which came out this week. There are two stories featuring Scrooge, Donald and Della adventuring together. No sign or mention of HDL. No explicit word that these are flashbacks. Just above the title of each story there is this text: "Awesome exploits and quests for rare and wonderful artifacts culled from foreboding terrain and forbidden lands! These are our journeys, these are: The Daring Adventures of Scrooge, Donald and Della Duck!" Aside from that, there's no attempt to fit these stories into a timeline with respect to the "present day" of the DuckTales episodes. Presumably, All Will Be Revealed as HDL discover the hidden truth of their mother's story in the DuckTales present day, and that "All" will include an explanation of when Scrooge, Della and Donald adventured together and what happened to take her out of the picture.

I enjoyed the first story, Monteplumage--liked Della as a character, liked the interplay between her and Donald. Della seems like she could be the mother of the HDL I know...or of the HDL of DuckTales 2017. The story made me laugh, and all three characters felt true to life, as I would imagine their life. That is, putting aside the question of whether Scrooge could have adventured with the adult Della and Donald...not in Rosa's version of Scrooge's life, which I accept for the classic comics world, aka "real Duckburg." But I'm OK with that happening in the DuckTales universe. One minor, odd thing: on p. 5, panel 3, Scrooge says "When we manage to get three of the same color, we'll be rewarded...." but the shapes-in-squares on the wall are all shown as the same color. Were the colorists not reading the dialogue there? The art makes me think that the dialogue should say "three of the same shape." The story's final two panels are cute.

The second story, Viking at the Door, didn't work for me. The whole conceit of the refrigerating sheep and the set-up of the Vikings in the desert was just too weird, too "off" to work for me even as a funny fantasy story. And why are they going to Iceland at the end? Never explained. And the final panel here did not strike me as cute or funny--it didn't fit with the conceit of the refrigerating power, and it doesn't make sense where the sheep went, if it wanted to get away from heat!

It's difficult to achieve a good adventure story in ten pages. The first one did this rather well, though it could have benefited from at least a couple more pages. The second one was just bizarre and unsatisfying to me.

The two stories in issue #0 both had a very similar pattern, as others have pointed out, especially the way they ended with respect to Donald. The two stories in this issue also both treat Donald similarly: he is magicked into an unfortunate state, and the story ends with him still stuck in that state. It seems to me like you'd want to avoid doing that twice in one comic.

[Scrooge MacDuck]

Nov 3, 2017 22:51:52 GMT Matilda said:

The two stories in issue #0 both had a very similar pattern, as others have pointed out, especially the way they ended with respect to Donald. The two stories in this issue also both treat Donald similarly: he is magicked into an unfortunate state, and the story ends with him still stuck in that state. It seems to me like you'd want to avoid doing that twice in one comic.

I think they're trying to be intentionally formulaic; both stories also share the same framing device of the trio going home from the adventure and recounting it while Donald is annoyed at his "magicked" state. I think what they're trying to do is tricking us into feeling like these Donald-Della-Scrooge stories are like an established type of story, as legitimate and endlessly riff-on-able as, say, Brittle Mastery stories, "Gyro is asked to do something innocuous, goes over-the-top, mess happens" stories, Magica-finds-a-new-magical-heyacall-and-goes-after-the-Dime stories, etc. 

[Hyaroo]

The comics are definitely very formulaic, which I found a little disappointing... I was hoping for some more variety. I did enjoy the peek at Della's character; with her love of research and knowledge, plus her callous way of acting before thinking, it seems like both Huey and Dewey are their mother's sons!

[Matilda]

Nov 3, 2017 23:12:36 GMT Scrooge MacDuck said:

Nov 3, 2017 22:51:52 GMT Matilda said:

The two stories in issue #0 both had a very similar pattern, as others have pointed out, especially the way they ended with respect to Donald. The two stories in this issue also both treat Donald similarly: he is magicked into an unfortunate state, and the story ends with him still stuck in that state. It seems to me like you'd want to avoid doing that twice in one comic.

I think they're trying to be intentionally formulaic; both stories also share the same framing device of the trio going home from the adventure and recounting it while Donald is annoyed at his "magicked" state. I think what they're trying to do is tricking us into feeling like these Donald-Della-Scrooge stories are like an established type of story, as legitimate and endlessly riff-on-able as, say, Brittle Mastery stories, "Gyro is asked to do something innocuous, goes over-the-top, mess happens" stories, Magica-finds-a-new-magical-heyacall-and-goes-after-the-Dime stories, etc. 

Oh god, don't tell me we're going to see more of these DD$ adventures and every one of them will end up with Donald magicked into an unfortunate state! I hope not.

They may have intended this to feel like an established formula, but I think it just feels repetitive in one issue. Even when there *is* an established, effective formula, like the Brittle Mastery formula, it wouldn't work well to have two of them in the same comic. Putting aside a formula-themed book/album, of course.

[Hyaroo]

Nov 4, 2017 0:09:33 GMT Matilda said:

They may have intended this to feel like an established formula, but I think it just feels repetitive in one issue. Even when there *is* an established, effective formula, like the Brittle Mastery formula, it wouldn't work well to have two of them in the same comic. Putting aside a formula-themed book/album, of course.

I agree. The comic's main problem so far is repetitiveness. And yeah, I get that they're going for formulaic, but it's a formula that very quickly wears thin.

I thought issue #0 was delightful; a cute little look at Donald and the boys' lives before they moved in with Scrooge, as well as a nice homage to Donald's constant changing of jobs (even given a bit more substance here, because it's made clear that he just wants a safe and stable jobs so that he can provide for the boys), but by the end of issue #1, after the fourth round of "Donald gets a new job, HD&L tag along, hijinks ensue" I felt slightly fed up. Especially since three of the four stories ended in the exact same way, with Donald running for his life after being offered a new and more dangerous job.

So it was great that issue #2 was going for something new. Great, I thought, we're going away from the formula! But then I realised we'd just entered a new formula instead. Now it's "Scrooge, Della and Donald are on their way back from an adventure; something magical and inconveniencing/embarrassing has happened to Donald, and we flash back to see Scrooge and Della getting the glory and treasure, while Donald is the universe's chew toy."

Now, there are a lot of saving graces here. The artwork's really good; I think the 2017 designs look better in this comic than they do on the show itself. Characterisations are solid, and there's some surprisingly witty dialogue here, much of it coming from Donald. I just hope they break away from the formulaic approach soon; it's definitely hindering rather than helping the comic.

[squeakyboots]

Nov 3, 2017 22:51:52 GMT Matilda said:

I've now read DT 2, which came out this week. There are two stories featuring Scrooge, Donald and Della adventuring together. No sign or mention of HDL. No explicit word that these are flashbacks. Just above the title of each story there is this text: "Awesome exploits and quests for rare and wonderful artifacts culled from foreboding terrain and forbidden lands! These are our journeys, these are: The Daring Adventures of Scrooge, Donald and Della Duck!" Aside from that, there's no attempt to fit these stories into a timeline with respect to the "present day" of the DuckTales episodes. Presumably, All Will Be Revealed as HDL discover the hidden truth of their mother's story in the DuckTales present day, and that "All" will include an explanation of when Scrooge, Della and Donald adventured together and what happened to take her out of the picture.

The credits page at the start of the issue has this text on it.

"Before the events of the new Disney XD series, flashback to the daring adventures of Scrooge McDuck, Donald and... Della Duck!"

It's clear these are the adventures the three of them were implied to have had together from the painting shown in the first episode of the show.

[Matilda]

Nov 5, 2017 2:41:11 GMT squeakyboots said:

Nov 3, 2017 22:51:52 GMT Matilda said:

I've now read DT 2, which came out this week. There are two stories featuring Scrooge, Donald and Della adventuring together. No sign or mention of HDL. No explicit word that these are flashbacks. Just above the title of each story there is this text: "Awesome exploits and quests for rare and wonderful artifacts culled from foreboding terrain and forbidden lands! These are our journeys, these are: The Daring Adventures of Scrooge, Donald and Della Duck!" Aside from that, there's no attempt to fit these stories into a timeline with respect to the "present day" of the DuckTales episodes. Presumably, All Will Be Revealed as HDL discover the hidden truth of their mother's story in the DuckTales present day, and that "All" will include an explanation of when Scrooge, Della and Donald adventured together and what happened to take her out of the picture.

The credits page at the start of the issue has this text on it.

"Before the events of the new Disney XD series, flashback to the daring adventures of Scrooge McDuck, Donald and... Della Duck!"

It's clear these are the adventures the three of them were implied to have had together from the painting shown in the first episode of the show.

Yup, thanks for posting that. I only noticed that text on the credits page after I wrote my first post, and was going to mention it today!

[Baar Baar Jinx]

Nov 5, 2017 19:16:19 GMT Matilda said:

Nov 5, 2017 2:41:11 GMT squeakyboots said:

The credits page at the start of the issue has this text on it.

"Before the events of the new Disney XD series, flashback to the daring adventures of Scrooge McDuck, Donald and... Della Duck!"

It's clear these are the adventures the three of them were implied to have had together from the painting shown in the first episode of the show.

Yup, thanks for posting that. I only noticed that text on the credits page after I wrote my first post, and was going to mention it today!

I know I've expressed this sentiment elsewhere, but it bears repeating; whatever the fate of DuckTales '17's Della is ultimately revealed to be, I hope it does not end up becoming the "official" version of the character's history that becomes canon in all media, including the larger comics universe, and that this continuity's look and personality for the character does not end up as the established one in all future depictions. Unlike other aspects of the show, there is a real risk of this happening, since we've never really had this much exposure to an adult Della before. The "Della was a pilot and adventured with Donald and Scrooge" backstory is not what I've held in my headcanon all these years, and as has been pointed out, doesn't fit the Rosa continuity that I generally accept.

Also, I have to say that I find Della, as portrayed in IDW's DuckTales#2, a little too flippant and a tad too unconcerned about Donald's suffering, in much the same way that Scrooge often is (including in this very issue and in much of Rosa's work), and like HD&L were in the classic animated cartoons and early Barks shorts. From Scrooge (a curmudgeonly old uncle) and the nephews (rebelling against an authority figure) such an attitude might be acceptable, but from a (possibly twin) sibling, it seems a little heartless. It would also have helped to make Scrooge and Donald both look younger in these "flashback" stories, (admittedly, I'm not sure how exactly that could have been accomplished given the character designs), considering these events take place a decade and a half or so prior to "present day" Duckburg stories.  Apart from Della's presence, the stories themselves were not particularly memorable and were both a little silly; worthy successors to Barks and Rosa-tales they clearly are not (but then, very few stories are). Is there any reason the stories are not allowed to be book-length? Some of the dialog was awkward as well: Della, "Donald, take her! I want to get to the bottom of this!"  Donald: "Wuff! I'd better take her from you, Della." The phonetic spelling-out of Scrooge's Scottish dialect was annoying; it worked in specific instances in Rosa's Life of Scrooge, but seems out-of-place in a DuckTales comic. This is Scrooge's first appearance in this title; I hope they drop that for future issues.

BTW, is that book Della refers to supposed to be a prototype of the Junior Woodchucks Guidebook? 

[Scrooge MacDuck]

Nov 5, 2017 19:48:19 GMT Baar Baar Jinx said:

I know I've expressed this sentiment elsewhere, but it bears repeating; whatever the fate of DuckTales '17's Della is ultimately revealed to be, I hope it does not end up becoming the "official" version of the character's history that becomes canon in all media, including the larger comics universe, and that this continuity's look and personality for the character does not end up as the established one in all future depictions. Unlike other aspects of the show, there is a real risk of this happening, since we've never really had this much exposure to an adult Della before. The "Della was a pilot and adventured with Donald and Scrooge" backstory is not what I've held in my headcanon all these years, and as has been pointed out, doesn't fit the Rosa continuity that I generally accept.

As you have pointed out, the 2017 Continuum backstory for Della is heavily dependant on the idea of Scrooge, Donald and her having adventured off ten years prior to the "present-day", which does not fit at all with Rosa continuity. It seems to me like most modern publishers try to work with Rosa facts for the most part today, or at least avoid openly going against them, so I don't think it is likely that they'd transplant that backstory into the regular Duckverse, especially with the Dutch backstory having already gotten all the exposure it did. 

What is possible is that the personality they're giving her might leak through if Della is used again. That being said, it does itself seem derivative of the personality Geradts has been developping through Family Ties and the one-pagers, so I don't think it would be that noticeable.

[Matilda]

Nov 5, 2017 19:48:19 GMT Baar Baar Jinx said:

Nov 5, 2017 19:16:19 GMT Matilda said:

Yup, thanks for posting that. I only noticed that text on the credits page after I wrote my first post, and was going to mention it today!

I know I've expressed this sentiment elsewhere, but it bears repeating; whatever the fate of DuckTales '17's Della is ultimately revealed to be, I hope it does not end up becoming the "official" version of the character's history that becomes canon in all media, including the larger comics universe, and that this continuity's look and personality for the character does not end up as the established one in all future depictions. Unlike other aspects of the show, there is a real risk of this happening, since we've never really had this much exposure to an adult Della before. The "Della was a pilot and adventured with Donald and Scrooge" backstory is not what I've held in my headcanon all these years, and as has been pointed out, doesn't fit the Rosa continuity that I generally accept.

BTW, is that book Della refers to supposed to be a prototype of the Junior Woodchucks Guidebook? 

Yeah, I wondered the same thing re: Della's book.

I also hope that the DuckTales '17 Della doesn't take over in the general Disney comics world. As you say, there's some danger of that since adult Della has hardly appeared in comics. And so many fans have wanted so much to know what happened to HDL's parents, they're likely to glom onto any reasonable explanation and adopt it. But at the same time, people are used to classic DuckTales and the comics world not being entirely the same. And I don't think DuckTales will be able single-handedly to overwrite Rosa's history of the family.

Here's where it's an advantage that there is no official canon for Disney comics worldwide. If people want to write stories in Rosa's continuity which assume that adult Della never met Scrooge, they are free to do so unless the editors nix it. Even when Egmont editorial policy has declared something out of bounds (can't use Ludwig!), that policy can change over time.

It would be harder, though, for writers to create a different personality for adult Della, because they're not likely to be able to show her in a story without coming up with their own explanation for what became of her, and that's a very difficult task indeed. Child Della, that's another matter. And count me as another vote to get the Geradts D&D stories published in English! At least, the ones with Della and Donald and not Every Other Character Because They All Knew Each Other as Kids.

Partly, of course, the fate of all this depends in part on what explanation the DuckTales folks do give for what's become of Della (not to mention HDL's dad) and why the kids are with Donald/Scrooge, and how satisfying people find it to be.

[Baar Baar Jinx]

Nov 5, 2017 21:45:11 GMT Matilda said:

Partly, of course, the fate of all this depends in part on what explanation the DuckTales folks do give for what's become of Della (not to mention HDL's dad) and why the kids are with Donald/Scrooge, and how satisfying people find it to be.

Agreed. At this point I'm certain that DuckTales '17 Della is not dead; the build-up is far too elaborate for such a depressing outcome. But in my comics-based headcanon, Della has to be dead (for reasons we've discussed at length on other threads) and I doubt DuckTales' 17 is going to find a way to make me believe otherwise. I also believe that the show is heading towards making Della a single mother without actually saying so; every reference so far has been to the mystery of the boys' mother, not their parents. The father will in all likelihood simply not be mentioned. That aspect I would be in agreement with, since it makes the most sense (but again, we've discussed that in detail on other threads).

And yes, Geradts' one-pagers provide a glimpse of the Donald-Della dynamic that we really need to see in English, although it includes elements incompatible with the Rosa continuity (namely, Scrooge being in contact with the family during Donald's childhood).  One could argue that Donald knowing Gus as a child is likewise a violation of Taliaferro continuity, and is another thing I'd have avoided. Rosa rightly didn't have Child Gus appear in the flashback scenes in "Sign of the Triple Distelfink".

[Matilda]

I thought of starting a new thread for DuckTales #3, but we're really continuing the same discussion here, since #3 consists of two more instances of the new formula Hyaroo describes so well above. To my mind, these two are somewhat better than the weird "Viking at My Door" but not as good as "Monteplumage"--and I'm fairly sure that that assessment is not just based on the fact that Monteplumage was the first story of this new formula that I read. The Pumpkin People story varies slightly from the formula in that Donald does more to deserve his mistreatment by the universe. But the formula still dominates. It beats me why they think this is a good approach. There should be lots of different sorts of short stories they could tell about the $DD adventures.

In the Nostradogmus story, I thought the whole plot element about expertise in baking cookies was not at all well integrated with the goal of the treasure hunt, the jelly beans and their time-traveling power. Not as bizarre and surreal as the refrigerating sheep, but still pretty unconvincing. The pumpkin people/monsters story felt more coherent to me.

[deb]

So far this new DuckTales series seems about as disposable as the earliest DuckTales stories that the Jamie Diaz Studios produced for Gladstone back in 1988. Hopefully it will improve, but I really don't go into each new issue expecting much, so I can't say I'm disappointed really.