DuckTales Valentine's Day Special 2026 #1 (2026 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

In 2022, Disney awarded Dynamite Entertainment the rights to publish all new adventures of fan favorite characters and properties. The Big Apple set Gargoyles was the first property to go to print. By the next year, Dynamite was releasing origin stories of beloved Disney villains such as Maleficent and Cruella De Vil. More current animated films such as Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas and Lilo and Stitch began to fill shelves in 2024. 

It was Dynamite's initial plan to feature a lineup of comics based on the syndicated weekday cartoons from the 1990s known as 'The Disney Afternoon', with Gargoyles leading the way. However, it wasn't until late 2024, that Dynamite released a monthly series based on both DuckTales and spinoff TV show Darkwing Duck. Both have been extremely popular with Darkwing Duck's arch nemesis NegaDuck getting a miniseries soon after. Meanwhile, DuckTales star Uncle Scrooge has been receiving a fair share of solo love over at Marvel with a one-shot look at the Duckburg multiverse with Uncle Scrooge and the Infinity Dime and the follow up miniseries Uncle Scrooge: Earth's Mightiest Duck.

The DuckTales Valentine's Day Special 2026 is Dynamite's first companion piece to the beloved children's series that ran from 1987-90. In it, Uncle Scrooge is on guard against con artists who might want to steal his vast riches under the guise of being McDuck's Valentine. The powerful sorceress Magica De Spell just happens to be scheming against Scrooge on this lovely Valentine's. But she doesn't have plans to make the bijillionaire fall in love with her. As usual, Magica just wants his lucky dime. However, when her spell deflects off of Scrooge's lucky dime, it backfires into an enchantment that causes both to lose their memories and assume that they are each other's soul mate.

As nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie traverse the globe with the assistance of pilot Launchpad McQuack and inventor Gyro Gearloose, Scrooge and Magica uncover vast riches and hidden treasures with the help of Scrooge's dogged determination and De Spell's magic. Making an unstoppable pair, could these two former foes be falling in love this Valentine's Day?

Written by comedian and podcaster Connor Ratliff and comedy waiter James III, this Valentine's Day special hits all the high notes of a Disney Duck story. There's adventure. There's fantasy. There's humor. Add in unforgettable cameos by the Beagle Boys, Donald Duck and Flintheart Glomgold, this was almost a perfect story for fans of the many creations of Carl Barks. The only thing missing was the nephews' handy Junior Woodchuck Handbook.

Artwork was by Libero Ermetti. The muted hues along with how the background appears just a little bit out of focus from the action of the main characters, one feels like they're watching a never before seen episode of the classic DuckTales series instead of the most recent reboot starring David Tennant, which features less classic looking versions of the citizens of Duckburg. 

Main cover art was by Nicoletta Baldari. Variant covers were illustrated by Ermetti,Stefano Porcu and others.

Completing this review completes Task #34 (A comic book about a holiday OTHER than Christmas) of the 2026 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Alligator Loki Holiday Special #1

Alligator Loki: the scene-stealing darling of the first season of Disney+'s Loki. In typical fashion, Marvel Comics decided to create a digital comic series based on the character. But because I am strictly a paper comics guy, I didn't know this!

When I saw in a copy of Previews that this book was dropping, I promptly ordered a copy through my favorite LCS. It wasn't the star of the book that was why I wanted this book so much. True, it's touted as a holiday special. But even that wasn't what made this the Christmas comic I absolutely had to have of the 3 holiday one-shots from Marvel in 2024. The reason I had to have this book was because of the goats!

Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder were a pair of goats that stole every scene that they appeared in in Thor: Love and Thunder. In Marvel Comics lore, they are the goats that led Odin's sleigh, whenever the ruler of Asgard visited the Norse people of Midgard. This later inspires the reindeer that Santa Claus uses to make his midnight rides every year. And while I've always been down with this element of Pagan Christmas origins, that's not why this book was a must own. 

No, it's because I own goats as pets. I always saw myself as a cat person. I never knew that I was also a goat person as well.

My impression of this special was that Alligator Loki assisted by Odin's goats were going to save Christmas. I couldn't have been more wrong.

This special consists of about a dozen shorts. With the exception of the first story, and possibly one winter time snowball fight caper in the middle, none of the other tales are Christmas themed nor set. Instead, all of those backups are 'reprints' of Alligator Loki stories from Marvel's digital comics service. The opener is supposedly brand new. It sees Alligator Loki and Asgardian Loki trying their very best to get into the holiday spirit. At least I think that was the case. All of the stories were done with little to no dialogue and most of the dialogue was done as emojis. Just like with Marvel Meow, I kept getting lost. I really needed some dialogue. I also needed an expert on current Marvel Comics.

Maybe I am wrong, but it seems like Loki is now a member of the Avengers. Or at least he's on good terms with them. Plus, is Loki now roommates with Thor? Can someone tell me why these two seem to be sharing a Manhattan apartment together along with Alligator Loki and Frog Thor. Or was that all just for the sake of Alyssa Wong's Alligator Loki series? Could it be that  Alligator Loki isn't canon? I just wish somebody could answer my questions because the Marvel Wiki was zero help.

Had I known that this wasn't a real holiday special, I still would have ordered it. I just wouldn't have rushed like crazy to get my hands on a copy. Who am I kidding? With that adorable variant cover of Alligator Loki driving Odin's sleigh with Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder Nicoletta Baldari,I would have still been impatient waiting for this to drop. (Bless the guys at Books Do Furnish a Room for ordering me the variant cover, which was so freaking Disney and cute!)

Now can we just get a paper collection of the various digital Marvel Unlimited Infinity Christmas specials that have gone unread because I refuse to go paperless?! I'd pay good money for a hardcover edition of such!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.