Artists: Daniel Branca, Lorenzo Pastrovicchio, Bas Haymans
Covers: Andrea Freccero, Ronda Pattison
Translation: Justin H. Gray
Published by IDW
When is Disney going to loosen the reigns and let IDW make all-new comics about their most iconic characters? When IDW announced the release of a new volume of Walt Disney’s Donald and Mickey Comics, I had assumed that the new series would be filled with all-new material! But there’s not even 1 new story in this book!
IDW obtained the license to Disney’s line-up of comics in 2015. Since then, there hasn’t been anything new released by the publisher. Then over the summer, an exception was made with the new Ducktales series that corresponds with the reboot due next month on Disney XD. Deep down I was convinced that the new Ducktales series was a sign that IDW was now given free reign to create their own stories with Mickey and the gang. That’s why I volunteered to review this comic. Yet, once again as with the relaunch of 2015’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories, I was sorely disappointed.
The new quarterly Donald and Mickey Comics offers three adventures. All three stories were originally published around the globe and are making their debut in the USA. The first story, The Saucerer’s a Menace is Danish story from 2005 starring Donald. Here, Donald crafts a secret hot dog sauce that all the residents of Duckburg are crazy over. But when Donald decides to take a sick day, it turns out that his fair city can’t function without his amazing wieners.
The middle story features Mickey and Goofy and their legendary foil, the Mysterious Blot! Italy’s The Big Fat Flat Blot Plot has detective Mickey and the chief of police stymied as the Blot has found a way to make himself disappear while committing a number of crimes. This story was quite interesting of note as this marks the first time I’ve ever read a Blot story in which the villains face is revealed. I’m sure it’s happened before, but it’s not a common occurrence in Disney books.
The last story is from Holland. It’s another Donald feature called Yard Wars. Huey, Dewey, and Louie are tired of Uncle Donald fighting constantly with next door neighbor Mr. Jones. So they arrange for the pair to appear on a reality show in hopes of patching things up. Only the cure is worse than the disease as Donald and Mr. Jones’ appearance on Yard Wars has made them a town spectacle.
When it comes to this trio of stories, I have nothing but praise for the artwork. It’s some of the best renderings of Mickey and Donald this side of Carl Banks’ impressive portfolio of Disney Comics. It’s the translation of these stories that really bugs me.
For example, there’s a scene where Donald is serving a hot dog to a customer. In it he asks “Want some of my special sauce on your dog?” That panel brought out the fifth grader in me with talk of special sauces going on weiners. But it’s that type of double entendre that fills this comic that makes me would if it’s merely an innocent mistake. OR is this like when somebody deliberately drew a penis on the priest in 1989’s The Little Mermaid?
I really do not mind that IDW is digging into Disney’s worldwide vault of Disney Comics. But if they are going to continue with the license, they really need to fix the English interpretations of those works. Plus, it wouldn’t kill anyone if there was just 1 new story per issue!
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.
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