#IReadsYou Review: DARKWING DUCK Volume 1 #1

DARKWING DUCK VOLUME 1 #1

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

STORY: Amanda Deibert

ART: Carlo Lauro

COLORS: Carlo Lauro

LETTERS: Jeff Eckleberry

EDITOR: Nate Cosby

COVER: David Nakayama

32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (January 2023)

Rated “All Ages”

“Darkwing Duck in… The Dark Flight Returns”

“Darkwing Duck” was an animated superhero comedy television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation.  It originally aired for three seasons (for a total of 91 episodes) from 1991 to 1992, both as part of the syndicated programming block, “The Disney Afternoon,” and as part of ABC's Saturday morning lineup.  “Darkwing Duck” focused on a suburban duck, Drake Mallard, and his superhero alter-ego, “Darkwing Duck.”  The character was a parody of the pulp fiction vigilante character, The Shadow, and his alter-ego, Kent Allard.

Over a 15-year period, beginning with Disney Comics in 1991, “Darkwing Duck” was adapted into comic books.  Disney Adventures Magazine published Darkwing Duck comics stories.  Marvel Comics, BOOM! Studios, Joe Books, and IDW Publishing also published Darkwing Duck comic books.  The current license holder is Dynamite Entertainment, and they are debuting Darkwing Duck Volume 1.  The series is written by Amanda Deibert; drawn and colored by Carlo Lauro; and lettered by Jeff Eckleberry.

Darkwing Duck Volume 1 #1 (“The Dark Flight Returns”) opens in St. Canard, the city hyper-vigilantly defended by the terror that flaps in the night, the ferocious fowl who plucks the evil eye from the face of foul play... Darkwing Duck!  Today, the city is unveiling a statue of their hero to honor him for all he has done to protect the city from evildoers.

However, one of those evildoers, the electrified villain, Megavolt, puts the shock on everyone, turning Darkwing Duck's adoring followers into followers that want to “get him!”  Can Darkwing Duck save the day?  With the help of his trusty sidekick, Launchpad McQuack, and his adorable adopted daughter, Gosalyn, Darkwing Duck just might be able to deliver a shock of his own.

THE LOWDOWN:  Since July 2021, Dynamite Entertainment's marketing department has been providing me with PDF review copies of some of their titles.  One of them is Darkwing Duck Volume 1 #1, the first Darkwing Duck comic book that I have read.

I have never watched an episode of the “Darkwing Duck” animated series, although I have always wanted to do so, nor have I previously read a Darkwing Duck comic book … although I have wanted to do so.  So it is with great pleasure that I tell you that I found pleasure in reading Darkwing Duck Volume 1 #1, my first Darkwing Duck comic book.

The work of artist-colorist Carlo Lauro here is quite good.  It reminds me of the kind of comic book art that readers would have found in Gladstone and Disney Comics back in the 1980s and 1990s.  Also, writer Amanda Deibert's story provides a nice, concise overview of the action, characters, and settings.

I hope that Dynamite can find success with this title and its other recent Disney release, Gargoyles.  There is an audience for these titles … if it can find them.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Darkwing Duck will want to try Dynamite's new Darkwing Duck comic book series.

A

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

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Review: DUCKTALES #1

DUCKTALES No. 1
IDW PUBLISHING – @IDWPublishing

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Joe Caramagna
ART: Luca Usai; Gianfranco Florio
COLOR: Giuseppe Fontana; Giuseppe Fontana and Dario Calabria
LETTERS: Tom B. Long
COVER: Marco Ghiglione
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Marco Ghiglione; Jeff Smith
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (September 2017)

“DuckTales” was an animated television series that ran from 1987 to 1990.  Produced by Walt Disney Television Animation and Tokyo Movie Shinsha, DuckTales was syndicated to American local television stations and ran for 100 episodes.  The series also yielded a theatrical spin-off movie, DuckTales The Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp.

DuckTales was inspired by and based upon the Uncle Scrooge comics book and other comic books set in the world of Donald Duck that Carl Barks, legendary comic book writer-artist, created mainly from the early 1940s and into the 1960s.  DuckTales proved to be a popular TV series, and within a year of its TV debut, comic books based on DuckTales began to appear.

From 1988 to 1991, there were two DuckTales comic books.  There was a “DuckTales” children's magazine published by Disney, and it featured DuckTales comics.  The digest-sized Disney magazine, Disney Adventures, that included DuckTales comics from 1990 to 1996.  Cable network, Disney XD, revived “DuckTales” in 2017 in a slightly rebooted animated series.  That means that DuckTales returns to comics in a new comic book series from IDW.

DuckTales #1 features two stories.  In “The Chilling Secret of the Lighthouse,” Donald Duck takes a job as a lighthouse keeper, but the lighthouse is in a small desert town.  Now, Donald's three nephews:  Huey, Dewey, and Louie have found out that the legend about a lost underground river may be true.  In “The Great Experiment of the Washing Machine,” the nephews find misadventure in a den of absent-minded professor-inventor-scientist types.

Artist Luca Usai and Gianfranco Florio turn out some nice quirky, modern comic book cartoon art for DuckTales.  Their lite version of the post-new wave, alt-comics graphics is spry and energetic.  The colors by Giuseppe Fontana and Dario Calabria are sharp and keep the art from looking like typical Disney-style comics art.

As for the stories, Joe Caramagna writes both of them.  Both are good ideas, but don't work as 11 and 12-page stories.  Caramagna understands the spirit of Carl Barks and of DuckTales, but is unable to execute the stories as tales of adventure, mystery, and imagination.  They are just not long enough, and are therefore, underdeveloped.  I see DuckTales #1 as a primer for what I hope is to come – 20+ pages stories that recall the Uncle Scrooge comics of Carl Barks.

6.5 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: UNCLE SCROOGE #1

UNCLE SCROOGE #1
IDW PUBLISHING – @IDWPublishing

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITERS: Rodolfo Cimino; Alberto Savini; Romano Scarpa and Luca Boschi
PENCILS: Romano Scarpa; Andrea Freccero
INKS: Giorgio Cavazzano; Andrea Freccero; Sandro Del Conte
COLORS: Digikore Studios; Disney Italia with David Gerstein; Disney Italia with Digikore Studios
LETTERS: Tom B. Long
TRANSLATION: Jonathan H. Gray; David Gerstein
DIALOGUE: Jonathan H. Gray; David Gerstein; Joe Torcivia
COVER: Giorgio Cavazzano
VARIANT COVERS: Derek Charm (subscription cover); Andrew Pepoy (RI cover); Giorgio Cavazzano (RE cover)
48pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (April 2015)

Scrooge McDuck is the maternal uncle of Walt Disney's Donald Duck and the grand-uncle of Donald's three nephews:  Huey, Dewey, and Louie.  Scrooge is the wealthiest person in the world (of Disney characters and stories), but he is quite thrifty, although for a long time, he could be described as a miser.  Scrooge McDuck was created by legendary comic book writer-artist, Carl Barks (who was named a “Disney Legend”), and he first appeared in Four Color #178 (Dell Comics).  Four Color Comics was a classic comic book series in which many Disney characters appeared.

Scrooge McDuck received his own comic book title, Uncle Scrooge (stylized as Uncle $crooge).  The first issue of Uncle Scrooge was Four Color #386 (cover dated: March 1952).  During a period of just over seven decades, several publishers and imprints have published Uncle Scrooge, including Gold Key Comics, Gladstone Publishing, and Disney Comics (now defunct), among others.

The latest American publisher to take on the license to publish comics featuring Walt Disney characters is IDW Publishing.  The publisher's Disney's comics will apparently reprint “classic stories” and offer new stories.  In April of this year, IDW started off its Disney publishing initiative with Uncle Scrooge #1, which is Uncle Scrooge #405, using a legacy numbering system that includes all the issue of the Uncle Scrooge comic book published in the past by various publishers.

Uncle Scrooge #1 reprints three stories, which I assume were first published in Europe, likely Italy, going by the names of the writers and artists.  Two are full-length stories, and a third is a single-page comic.  In “Gigabeagle: King of the Robot Robbers,” Scrooge McDuck frets because it has been several months since he has heard from the Beagle Boys.

The Beagle Boys are the criminal gang that is constantly launching plots and schemes to rob Scrooge of his money.  When he doesn't hear from them for a long period of time, Scrooge worries that they are plotting a particularly devious (and potentially successful) plan to get his money.  Donald Duck and Huey, Dewey, and Louie take their Uncle Scrooge on a camping outing so that he can relax and forget about The Beagle Boys.  Then, Donald sees what can only be an apparition, a giant Beagle Boy...

In “Stinker, Tailor, Scrooge and Sly,” Uncle Scrooge is beset by a thief who keeps breaking into his home to steal Scrooge's trademark red frock coat.  After one of the theft attempts ends with the coat damaged, Scrooge visits “La Belle Brigitta,” a sewing boutique owned by Brigitta MacBridge, who has a mad crush on Scrooge.  However, Brigitta has a new minority business partner, Jubal Pomp, and they have plans for Scrooge, even as the thief continues to stalk the now-damaged frock coat.

I bought IDW's Uncle Scrooge #1 for two reasons.  It was a first issue, and it was a first issue of a comic book series (Uncle Scrooge) that I once read on a regular basis (even religiously) for about a decade.  I did not expect much from it.  I still like comics featuring classic Disney characters, but not enough to read them as much as I did in my younger days.  I was a bit miffed that this first issue did not even include a reprint of a Carl Barks story – Barks, the man who created Scrooge McDuck!

Well, it didn't matter.  The two main stories in Uncle Scrooge #1 are quite entertaining.  Romano Scarpa, the artist for both stories, recalls Carl Barks with his lively, energetic compositions.  If comics are composed of a series of static drawings, there is nothing in any panel that Scarpa draws for these two stories that seems static.  There is sense of movement; characters are moving with zip and arguing with zest.  These are stories of action and imagination.

Uncle Scrooge #1 is the kind of return that bodes well for IDW's foray into Disney comics.  I enjoyed Uncle Scrooge #1 so much that I will take a look at other IDW Walt Disney comic books.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Fantagraphics Bookstore and Donald Duck Do Free Comic Book Day 2012

Fantagraphics Bookstore Celebrates Free Comic Book Day On May 5 with Classic Collectible Comix!

Don’t miss Free Comic Book Day at Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery in Seattle. On Saturday, May 5, the Georgetown shop will be giving away free copies of specially produced comic books by master cartoonists like Carl Barks, Crockett Johnson and, while supplies last, the coveted Unseen Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz.

Celebrating its 10th year in 2012, the annual Free Comic Book Day promotion is a national effort on the part of publishers and retailers to attract new readers to the medium as well as show appreciation to loyal customers.

Seattle-based Fantagraphics Books offers two new titles for Free Comic Book Day this year, appealing to readers of all ages. Donald Duck Family Comics features 34 pages of full color comics by the great Carl Barks. Join Donald, his nephews, Uncle Scrooge and others on amazing adventures in some of the most acclaimed comics ever created. Also in store is Barnaby and Mr. O’Malley by Crockett Johnson. This rollicking strip follows the tyke Barnaby and his mischievous fairy godfather Mr. O’Malley. These wonderful cartoons will soon be collected in a handsome edition by Fantagraphics Books.

The first 50 customers at Fantagraphics Bookstore on May 5 will receive a free copy of Unseen Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. This delightful edition serves as both an introduction to the classic strip and a treasury of fascinating oddities designed to appeal to even the most fervent Peanuts fans. First issued by Fantagraphics Books for Free Comic Book Day five years ago, Unseen Peanuts became an instant collectible.

Fantagraphics Bookstore is located at 1201 S. Vale St. (at Airport Way S.) in the heart of Seattle’s historic Georgetown arts community. Open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM, Sundays until 5:00 PM. Phone 206.658.0110.

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I Reads You Review: UNCLE SCROOGE #401

"Graphic Novelistic"

UNCLE SCROOGE #401
BOOM Kids!

CARTOONIST: Don Rosa
LETTERS: David Gerstein
COVER: Don Rosa with Jake Myler
24pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (March 2011)

Way back in my early college years, some comic book reading friends introduced me to Carl Barks. Barks was a Disney Studio illustrator, but he became famous as a comic book creator. Barks invented the town of Duckburg, where Donald Duck and his three nephews: Huey, Dewey, and Louie live. Barks created Donald’s tight-fisted uncle, Scrooge McDuck and McDuck’s frequent adversaries, the Beagle Boys. Known as “The Good Duck Artist,” Barks also created many other characters that populate Donald Duck’s world, including Gyro Gearloose and Magica De Spell, among others.

Many readers consider American comic book artist Don Rosa as the heir to Carl Bark’s legacy. Rosa burst unto the scene with his Scrooge McDuck story, “The Son of the Sun,” which was first published in Uncle Scrooge #219 (cover date July 1987; Gladstone Publishing). The now-retired Rosa apparently idolizes Carl Barks (who died in 2000), and Rosa does indeed build almost all his stories on characters and locations that Barks invented. Many of those stories contain references to some fact pointed out in a Barks story, and Rosa has even created sequels to old Barks stories.

Still, Rosa is also a great talent, and he was one of the best cartoonists working in comic books over a period of two decades from the time he began drawing Uncle Scrooge stories until his retirement back in 2007. One of Rosa’s exceptional stories is “The Universal Solvent,” a 1995 Uncle Scrooge story. First serialized in Denmark, “The Universal Solvent” made its U.S. debut in Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #604, the story was reprinted this year in Uncle Scrooge #401 (cover date March 2011).

The story begins when Gyro Gearloose invents “the universal solvent,” which is a solution that can dissolve anything, for Scrooge McDuck. The bad thing is that this solvent, which Scrooge gives the trade name, “Omnisolve,” actually works. Scrooge wants to use it to create deep mine shafts in which he can mine “super-pure, flawless diamonds,” and to that end, he drops some Omnisolve on the ground.

Before long, Omnisolve is dissolving its way to the center of the Earth, which precipitates a crisis that could destroy the world. To clean up his mess, McDuck leads a team which includes Donald Duck and the three nephews: Huey, Dewey, and Louie on a mission that resembles the events depicted in Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth. Now, can the Ducks save the world?

Like Carl Barks, Don Rosa can create comic book stories of 20 or so pages that could easily be stretched to three times the size. In “The Universal Solvent,” Rosa crams in enough drama, twists and turns, scenes, sequences, and set pieces that it reads like a graphic novel of at least 100 pages in length. This rousing adventure is an excellent read, and I hated getting to the last page.

As usual, Rosa’s strong drafting skills shine through; his meticulous line work and his subtle crosshatching create the most gorgeous, almost jewel-like compositions. The understated touches, like the use of light to create shadows, are the things that always capture the eye. The contraptions, sets, and the windstorms that the vacuums create in the story attest to the fact that Don Rosa is a great Duck artist and is certainly one of the best cartoonists of his time.

A-