That Duckfan Yes, the quality is about the same as 10 years ago, but I think it's much much lower than it was 20 years ago. (I am talking about Egmont as I am not that familiar with Italian Disney comics.) Don Rosa is retired, William van Horn is retired. Daan Jippes and Marco Rota are around 80 and likely close to retirement. Where is the younger talent? Sure, there is Kari Korhonen and Arild Midthun but I don't think they are on the same level as those four other artists I mentioned, and even if they were, they are not spring chickens either.
When it comes to archival editions, I agree that we nowadays have it better than probably any time before (mainly thanks to the great work Fantagraphics is doing), but consider this: how many archival books will there be in the future featuring the Disney comics of the last two decades? In this period, Casty is probably the only one who is noteworthy enough to deserve a separate Library. Maybe Midthun.
For me best decade were 90s (and early 2000s too) - only decade of great Disney comics from Egmont (detective Mickey (not this empty shell of character from 2000s danish stories that made whole Poland hate Mickey), early Andersen, interesting plots with a lot of dark humor, Rosa) and the golden age of Italian comics - Cavazzano and De Vita in their prime, group of great new talents that made PKNA later, final Scarpa stories, Mezzavilla detective stories, Leoni and Negrin cooperation in PK and series like: Le Fantaleggende, Le tops stories, C'era una volta in America. Nothing beats nineties when it comes to Disney comics.
But I'm optimistic about coming years. Zero faith in Egmont - they don't want to create good stories now. But Topolino under Bertani reign is great. Gervasio Fantomius universe is one of the best series ever, we have Nucci who is amazing writer (horror stories particularly) and also the biggest fan of Disney comics - you can feel love to this universe in his stories. There is place for interesting ideas in Topolino (Gli Evaporati, Phantom Blot saga, Lord Hatequack stories, Mastantuono Papersera stories, Cornelius Coot saga) and multi-issue initiatives like this year's no Christmas event. All good authors from previous years stayed (Casty, Artibani, Faraci, Cavazzano, Ziche, Celoni, Enna, Faccini, Sisti, Pastrovicchio), there are new promising ones (Zanchi, Picone, Stabile, Baccinelli, Zemelo, Bigarella) and also some comebacks (Camboni, Pezzin). I'm waiting for new issue of Topolino every Wednesday like I was waiting for new weekly DD as a kid. Only Italians can save Disney comics.
Last Edit: Jan 15, 2024 20:23:04 GMT by phalanx091
phalanx091 So you are Polish and speak Italian? Good for you! And while I don't read new Italian Disney comics, I agree that they seem far more interesting than anything Egmont has done in over a decade. I just wish they drew in a more classical, Barksian art style! Just like Rosa, I find it rather difficult to get over that "kiddie" art style they use.
caballero I have learned Italian mainly to read Topolino In 3 years I've translated 13 thousand comic pages from Italian to Polish to improve my Italian in enjoyable way.
About the kiddie art style - I think it's stereotypical. There are stories with meh art (1/3 to 1/2 of every Topolino), but most of it looks different to stories from before Bertani era. Bertani made Freccero art director to make Topolino stories look better. Pencilers and inkers that don't have star status have to change their art according to Freccero's direction (Mazzarello for example) and it could look like this is killing creativity and uniqueness - but it's totally different situation. There is more freedom for creators in big stories (and if your concept is good enough - you don't need big name to get this freedom - for example Zemelo/Picone Le Isole della Cometa) with irregular layout, out of panel art, original coloring. I didn't enjoy most of Topolino art from 2000 to start of Bertani era, but it has changed a lot. I think you should give it a chance if there will be an opportunity. I think you will enjoy Lorenzo Pastrovicchio's current art style. In third Nemo there is a lot of Gottfredson influence in the look of characters.
And you seem to know a lot about Italian Disney comics. I will try to get into them a bit more by reading some of the Casty comics that are the best according to Inducks.
And you seem to know a lot about Italian Disney comics. I will try to get into them a bit more by reading some of the Casty comics that are the best according to Inducks.
13'000 pages of translation is indeed incredible. But maybe even more incredible is the realisation that's only about 3 years of production from Topolino !
I am currently reading the Nucci/Casty team's Phantom Blot Trilogy (made up of Io sono Macchia Nera, Il bianco e il nero and Topolino e l'incubo dell'isola di corallo) and have to say that these might be the best Disney comics of the past 5 years, possibly past 10 years! I still have to finish the second one, Il bianco e il nero (I read them out of order because I did not initially realize that these 3 make a trilogy, and was originally planning to read only the first and the third parts of the trilogy), but the other two are certainly very very solid. Also, up until like two weeks ago I had not read a single comic by Casty. Once I finish "Il bianco e il nero", I will have read 10. And as much as I enjoyed some of Casty's earlier comics (especially Topolino e la marea dei secoli), I think these 3 are the best Casty comics so far for two reasons: Nucci is a better writer than Casty and Casty's art is nowadays even better than before.
My updated best things in Disney comics nowadays list:
1. Casty (especially when working with Marco Nucci) 2. the Disney Glenat albums 3. Arild Mirhun and Kari Korhonen for keeping the Barks/Rosa tradition alive 4. old masters still working: Marco Rota and Daan Jippes
Ramapith I hope that Fantagraphics will consider publishing these three Nucci/Casty Phantom Blot comics in one volume, either a thicker Disney Masters volume (the 3 comics are 246 pages in total) like the "New Adventures of the Phantom Blot" book was, or perhaps a standalone book.
I think "La marea dei secoli" is a bit overrated, it really doesn't do that much that "Topolino e la neve spazzastoria" and "The World to Come" didn't already do in some way, or that the later "Tutto questo accade domani" does better. Uma also seems less vividly characterized compared to "The Blonde Menace".
Nevertheless, I could easily come up with a list of ten or twenty Casty stories that - in my view - easily beat everything by Nucci I've read so far. Nucci is good and I like the Blot trilogy, but he doesn't seem to have the unbridled imagination of Casty, his stories are more "workmanlike". And they usually don't have an ending...
So while I'm glad Casty was able to remain visible through these collaborations, I'm very excited that he's finally going to return as a writer to Topolino. Maybe we'll get the long promised next Eurasia story.
Spectrus Based on the 10 Casty comics I have read, I think that the reason it could seem that Nucci does not have the unbridled imagination of Casty is that his stories are more down to earth. Out of the 7 non-Nucci Casty stories I have read, 1 takes place in another dimension, 1 involves a hidden fantasy world, 4 deals with time travel and only 1 is a down to earth story (Topolino e i 7 Boglins). Is the ratio of fantastical to non-fantastical different when it comes to Casty's overall body of work?
Also, as imaginative as Casty's comics individually can be, I feel like there is a lot of repetition of ideas in them. Furthermore, I did not see much depth beyond a couple of really good ideas. Nucci's 3 Phantom Blot comics on the other hand offer a lot of things that feel like they are completely unique to Disney comics (at least to me). When I read "The Terrifying World of Tutor" I though, "yep that's like a modern mix of Gottfredson and Scarpa". When I read "Topolino e l'incubo dell'isola di corallo" I though "wow! this is completely unlike any other Disney comic I have ever read."
Anyway, what do you mean by Casty returning to writing to Topolino in the future? According to Inducks, he did write at least one comic for Topolino last year: inducks.org/story.php?c=I+TL+3515-1
Basically the first episode of "La Lampada Bisestile" is an Scrooge's story, something happens and it has ramifications for the whole world, including for Mickey & the Blot. Those ramifications are explored in "Nel mondo senza Macchia", with direct references to "L'Isola di Corallo". Mickey then becomes the secondary main character starting of later episodes of "La Lampada Bisestile".
"La Lampada" and "Nel Mondo senza Macchia" are really just one story with two titles, and are part of Nucci's Blot arc... even though Scrooge is the main character and the Blot barely appears. I'm not crazy, when you read them everything will be clear.
Al Levin Thank you! I did see "Minni nella casa dei mille corvi" on Inducks but did not put two and two together and did not realize that it was a spin-off of "Il Bianco e il Nero". But looking at the scan of its first page on Inducks, it makes perfect sense!
As for the "La Lampada" storyline (which is apparently called "Missing Christmas" on Inducks), it seems intriguing! I will definitely read it once it's published in a language I can speak!
Spectrus Based on the 10 Casty comics I have read, I think that the reason it could seem that Nucci does not have the unbridled imagination of Casty is that his stories are more down to earth. Out of the 7 non-Nucci Casty stories I have read, 1 takes place in another dimension, 1 involves a hidden fantasy world, 4 deals with time travel and only 1 is a down to earth story (Topolino e i 7 Boglins). Is the ratio of fantastical to non-fantastical different when it comes to Casty's overall body of work?
Also, as imaginative as Casty's comics individually can be, I feel like there is a lot of repetition of ideas in them. Furthermore, I did not see much depth beyond a couple of really good ideas. Nucci's 3 Phantom Blot comics on the other hand offer a lot of things that feel like they are completely unique to Disney comics (at least to me). When I read "The Terrifying World of Tutor" I though, "yep that's like a modern mix of Gottfredson and Scarpa". When I read "Topolino e l'incubo dell'isola di corallo" I though "wow! this is completely unlike any other Disney comic I have ever read."
Anyway, what do you mean by Casty returning to writing to Topolino in the future? According to Inducks, he did write at least one comic for Topolino last year: inducks.org/story.php?c=I+TL+3515-1
That was the exception that proves the rule. Generally though, Casty said he would only draw for the foreseeable future, and there was much speculation that his tendency towards dark scenarios and "political" statements (like "World of Tutor") were not considered suitable by either the current Topolino direction or Disney itself. Especially since he had long teased a third big Atomo story called "The City Without Sky" (which he described as a horror story and "very claustrophobic") and more Atlantis stories, neither of which showed up so far.
The fact that the series of Mickey, Goofy and Eurasia Tost stories is now confirmed to finally continue with "Antarctic Spectralia" (which I wonder if it is simply retitled from "The Vestiges of Z", the title he gave for the next Atlantis story back in 2018, or actually a different story), is therefore a big news item for fans of Italian Disney comics. It's the first so-called "Casty blockbuster" since "Castles of the Moon" five years ago!
I suppose you have a point about the fantastical stories, but Casty does have a lot of down-to-earth ones, or such that use the fantastical elements in a very down-to-earth way (like almost all of his early Blot stories). I think this one is a good example: inducks.org/story.php?c=I+TL+3023-1 Another one: inducks.org/story.php?c=I+TL+2912-1 Not to forget inducks.org/story.php?c=I+TL+2659-1 or inducks.org/story.php?c=I+TL+2595-1 - all basically "detective stories" but with so much humour and inventiveness that even someone that hates "detective Mickey" should find something to enjoy in them.