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.

Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge "Only a Poor Old Man": The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library Vol.12

I'm having a bit of a rough time right now, waiting for several medical appointments to hopefully diagnose that mystery ailment of mine. Thus, I have needed a pick-me-up. Thankfully I still had a Carload Barks Library volume on hand. 

Starring my favorite of the Disney Ducks, this edition contains the first four Uncle Scrooge solo issues by Dell. Though Uncle Scrooge has previously appeared in issues of Walt Disney Comics and Stories and Donald Duck, the contents here are not to be overlooked! There is a Duckburg money bin sized amount of origin story and key first appearances of supporting characters and relics. Glittering Goldie, Scrooge's lucky dime, and his biggest foes, the Beagle Boys! Although, by this time, it would be the 3rd appearance of the Beagles. In the other 2 times, they were cameos with no lines. The title tale 'Only a Poor Old Man's, sees the crooks finally talking and actively attempting to rob McDuck of his vast riches. 

Major events in Scrooge's early days are explored here. His discovery of the massive Goose Egg nugget when a sourdough in the Klondike is retold. We'll also learn some of the major talents the entrepreneur has gleaned over time building his fortune. Fluent in several languages, Scrooge can also communicate with various animal species.

It's not just Uncle Scrooge whose backstory is being developed. Donald is pretty much established. But his nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie are beginning to transition from mischievous brats to valuable resources in Uncle Scrooge's globetrotting adventures for fabled treasures. The Junior Woodchuck Handbook begins to see wear and tear in epics that see the ducks discovering Atlantis and a Utopian, or Duck-topian version of Shangri-la. 

The stories are still a bit rough around the edges. It's like the first season of a now classic TV sitcom. The lighting isn't quite right. Background information on a character might be a bit inaccurate from the eventual finished product. Heck, you might even find that some of the original cast will be changed over time. Still, to see the early version of my all-time favorite Disney characters was so awesome. 

(Note: The first three issues were originally published as part of the massive Dell Four Color Series, #s 386, 456, & 495. They are retroactively known among collectors as Uncle Scrooge #1-3.)

The director's cut commentary by several noted 'Duck experts' was as usual. The backstory information and history of Carl Barks was so interesting. I'd love to read a biography about this iconic comic creator. But when these experts start to wax philosophic about how some random item in the background of a single scene was Barks' silent protest against totalitarianism.  Have these experts never taken advice from Sigmund Freud? Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Dell Giants #39 'Walt Disney's Merry Christmas'

I found this 1960 Dell Giants over the summer at a used book store. The cover was hanging by a thread and prayer. But otherwise, it was in really good condition. None of the holiday activities were scribbled in and all of the pages were intact. That alone was a Christmas miracle considering how many crafts and games juvenile readers were encouraged to partake in.

This special opens with Donald and his nephews pondering what to get Uncle Scrooge for Christmas. They instead get tricked by their rich relative to board a rocket ship bound for the moon. Only Scrooge forgot to set the ship's coordinates and they wind up stuck on the North Pole!

Then Mickey Mouse plans an ice skating event to raise money for Christmas presents for the local orphanage. The star athlete has refused to go on, leaving Mickey scrambling for a replacement. It comes in the form of Goofy, who turns out to be a real pro; as long as he skates in his sleep. Now too afraid to go back to sleep, Mickey hires a hypnotist to break Goofy's subconscious hang ups.

Brer Rabbit goes around the countryside asking for items to decorate his Christmas tree and winds up becoming an ornament himself in a trap set by Brer Fox. Gyro Gearloose teams with the Three Little Pigs when the Big Bad Wolf creates some gadgets, based on Gyro's blueprints, to kidnap the piggies for a Christmas dinner to remember. Dale becomes a private investigator in hopes of raising money to buy a Christmas present from Chip. He ends up becoming his own client when his deer slayer hat goes missing.

My favorite story was a Disney crossover. True, a couple of the other stories I mentioned had some unlikely pairings that I consider unexpected. But it wasn't as massive as my personal fav. It's got Dumbo and Daisy Duck's nieces helping Gephetto and Pinocchio solve the mystery of the missing dolls. Every time Gephetto completes a toy, it immediately disappears. With time running out before Christmas, the girls become bait to get to the bottom of all this and discovered that the person swiping all the presents is the Witch from Snow White! 4 different franchises all coming together in 1 tale. I loved it!

A couple of the stories in this book could have been set at different times of year. Christmas might have just been added as a place holder for the action. But the final story was absolutely not set anywhere near the holidays. Minnie Mouse and Clarabelle the Cow are reporters for the local paper, sent overseas to cover the birthday party of a princess. Only when the girls get to the palace, they learn that the princess has gone missing! It's a charming mystery. I just don't understand what it's doing inside a Disney Christmas special.

Lots of fun. Festive... mostly. All of the stories were entertaining. But half of them could've been more at place in a winter special which was something Dell did put out from time to time. Very Disney and it's something that I very much welcome into my holiday comics collection.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck: 'Return to Plain Awful'- The Don Rosa Library, Vol. 2

Don Rosa gets a lot of hate from Duck fans. But no matter how much a collector might despise his work, the harshest critic of Don Rosa is Rosa himself. And I just don't know why. 

Rosa is a disciple of the greatest Duck creator of them all, 'the good Duck artist' Carl Barks. And sure, you never want to exceed your hero. But while Don Rosa is no Carl Barks, I think it should be said that Carl Barks is no Don Rosa either!

The artist originally born as Keno Rosa has a style in the vein of Harvey Kurtzman with tiny little inclusions of hidden images and inside jokes- usually in the background. I absolutely love that. Each Duck story of Rosa's that I read, I feel like a detective trying to find all the Easter eggs hidden in every panel. Thank goodness Rosa wrote his own commentary situated at the end of this volume as sometimes, no matter how hard I try, I just can't find where he hid the word 'D.U.C.K.' in the art of the first page. (Note: you should also be on the lookout for hidden Mickey's and portraits of Barks throughout...)

In this volume we get to enjoy a number of adventures throughout Duckburg and the furthest reaches of the globe. The cover story sees Uncle Scrooge tagging along with his nephews to Plain Awful in hopes of securing the market on square chicken eggs. But he'll have to beat rival Glomgold Flintheart to Peru first! 

My favorite story has Scrooge declaring his money bin a sovereign nation. The headaches that come about with tariffs, passports and an invading army of Beagle Boys makes this story so relevant to today's headlines that you would swear that this story wasn't written over 35 years ago.

There's a couple of real hidden gems that I don't feel like Rosa gives himself enough credit for. First is a storyboard for a never published promotional comic highlighting Donald and his nephews' inaugural trip to Disney MGM Studios. As it's Rosa's only story to have Donald and Mickey interacting in the same universe, it's not to be missed! Then there's Rosa's only foray into the DuckTales realm. He only penned it and it's less than 8 pages, but this prehistoric time travel romp with Magica De Spell was so fun!

I needed this book as a bit of retail therapy and a pick-me-up after a very difficult weekend. I had a ball with this book. I laughed, I examined and I appreciated the artwork and I distressed. I just wish Don Rosa knew how much somebody appreciated his body of work. He's ton better than he gives himself credit for!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

DuckTales #4 (2025 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

Chip n' Dale Rescue Rangers. TailSpin. Darkwing Duck. Without the success of their predecessor DuckTales, none of these classic Disney cartoons from the late 80s-early 90s would have existed. In fact, the Disney Channel as it operates today as a leader in children's programming as well as the streaming juggernaut Disney+, if not for the pioneering nature of DuckTales.

Production for DuckTales began in 1986. At the time, it was a big gamble for Disney who was fledgling against a wave of new animation studios that was poaching quality talent away from the House of Mouse. In 1985, Disney saw a moderate success with the weekly TV series Adventures of the Gummi Bears. Debuting on NBC, the show was an all-new property, though loosely based on the popular gummy candies. It's surprise popularity enticed Disney to begin production on a daily syndicated series that would air in the late afternoon when children would be home. It needed to be based on a Disney icon. Instead of focusing on Mickey Mouse producers wanted a lead character with a bit of an attitude. And of you wanted attitude in the Disney universe, you headed over to Duckburg, Calisota!

Based upon the classic Duck universe comic stories of Carl Barks, DuckTales was an adventure heavy animated series that saw Uncle Scrooge and his nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie seeking treasures from across the globe; even the Moon! Enemies such as the Beagle Boys, Flintheart Glomgold and Magical De Spell would be the standard flies in Scrooge's ointment as he constantly looked for new ways to fill his already overflowing coffers. 

To the dismay of Duck fans, Donald Duck would be missing. Due to an internal edict by Disney, the main trio of Mickey, Donald and Goofy were forbidden from being used in the newly developed television animation department. Thus, Donald was sent away to join the Navy (He already had the hat and tunic!) and the larger than life Launchpad McQuack was introduced to pilot Scrooge and his nephews around the world. (The policy forbidding the use of Disney's major Golden Age characters would be overturned in 1992 with the release of the syndicated series Goof Troop starring Goofy and his son Max. Again, thanks to the popularity of DuckTales!)

As DuckTales quickly dominated the airwaves, Disney immediately looked for ways to market the series through merchandising. The first thing Disney approved was a comic book series by their American license holder of the Disney comic book rights, Gladstone. The first few issues had Studio Program material featuring Donald in the episode based adventures. Yet on the covers it was  Launchpad on the engaging with Scrooge and family; not Donald! The rest of the book was filled with a classic Barks story, which also featured Donald.

I realize the mastery of those stories in my older age. But for a 12 year old who was a fan of the TV show as well as a subscriber to Gladstone's comic adaptation, the stark contrast of art styles between the TV show and 1950s Disney Ducks was confusing. Having Donald acting out stories that he wasn't even involved in on the TV didn't help matters much either. Once Disney 's Studio Program realized that Donald was absent from the series, the remainder of the first volume of DuckTales' 13 issues featured Launchpad instead. Those first tales featuring Donald are now considered non-canon by fans.

In 1990, Disney revoked the licensing rights form Gladstone. The studio decided to publish their own comics. Len Wein was hired as the Editor-in-chief. With a full length feature film hitting theaters later in the year, Disney Comics published the second volume of DuckTales. The 18-issue series was nothing like Gladstone's book. An all-new multi part story saw Uncle Scrooge, the nephews and Webby, the granddaughter of McDuck's housekeeper, Mrs. Beakley attempting to recover Scrooge's lucky dime from the clutches of Magica De Spell. 

In this issue, the Duckburg estate is celebrating the safe return of Webby from being held captive by Magica. As a present, Scrooge takes his nephews and Webby on a cruise where bad weather causes McDuck to be swept overboard. He awakens, marooned on the tropical island of his dreams because the native monkeys pay him in trade for coconuts and other fruits in rubies, diamonds and emeralds. However, everything becomes less than ideal when a giant ape arrives on the scene literally throwing his weight around!

While the story ends with a 'To Be Continued' blurb, thankfully things on Ape Island satisfyingly end to prevent readers from having to wait for Scrooge's rescue in issue #5. 

Volume 2 ran for 18 issues right up until the publisher imploded in 1991, cancelling all but a trio of series. DuckTales #4 was written by season one screenwriter Frank Ridgeway. Covers and art by Cosme Quartieri and Robert Bat.

Completing this review completes Task #4 (A Comic Book Based on an Animated TV Show) the 2025 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck: 'The Son of the Sun'- The Don Rosa Library, Vol. 1

I was so enthralled by Don Rosa's epic undertaking of making a cohesive structure of the how of Scrooge McDuck made his fortune. Rosa poured over the countless stories of Uncle Scrooge created by the good duck artist Carl Barks and wrote and illustrated what is considered by many to be one of the greatest comic book miniseries ever made. Needless to say, The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck turned me from a Don Rosa admirer into a Don Rosa fanatic.

This past holiday season, I decided to add this book to my Christmas wishlist. I was very fortunate to have my bride get it for me, this beginning my opening foray into Don Rosa's portfolio as the second best good duck artist. 

The Don Rosa Library is a chronological omnibus of Rosa's career as an employee of Gladstone Comics. In this volume roughly covering the years 1986-1987, Rosa has returned to creating comics after having to quit for several years to run his family construction business. A chance encounter with an issue of Gladstone's run of Donald Duck inspired him to take a huge gamble and offer his services as a creator of Uncle Scrooge stories. Having passed his audition, Gladstone hires Rosa to craft a full story. 

Using an old script he wrote years ago, Rosa decides to set his story firmly in the universe established by Barks. 'The Son of the Sun' has a dateline of the 1950s, right around the sweet spot era when Barks was crafting some of his best Uncle Scrooge adventures and when a young Keno Rosa was experiencing those tales his older sister had collected over the years. The main antagonist would be the Scrooge antithesis, Flintheart Glomgold, who challenges McDuck in a race to see who can find a fabled horde of fabled Incan treasure in Peru.

This volume contains about 2 dozen other works starring Scrooge along with nephews Donald, Huey, Dewey, Louie and the uber-lucky Gladstone. Not every story was written by Rosa, but it's all of his handiwork as Gladstone Comics quickly began to rely on Rosa as their go-to artist. 

I love the Complete Carl Barks volumes of Disney Duck stories. But what makes this book superior to them is the commentary. In the Barks volumes, the commentary is by a number of scholars who try to equate a can of soup in the background of a single panel to the artist's opinion on social economics in Communist countries. I don't care for that sort of exposition. But I do love learning about the backstory and history of how and why a story or character was created. By having Don Rosa narrate his personal commentary, it's almost 100% the type of facts and figures I want to learn about. Plus, it's where I learned that Gladstone Comics was named after the character of Gladstone Gander!

Being his earliest Disney works, Rosa is a bit harsh on himself here. Well, they do say that we're our own harshest critic. I just wish Rosa could see his brilliance even in his rawest forms. There's a panel of Glomgold pointing a gun at off panel Scrooge while he's escaping a crashing plane that I kept coming back to again and again. So powerful. So much movement. So full of anger and emotion. Got to be one of my top 10 comic book images all time.

I've long wondered how to classify Don Rosa's art style. He puts so much detail into his work like a George Perez. But he also puts tiny jokes into the background like a Harvey Kurtzman. In the words of the master, he considers himself a student of the school of underground comix. That's fine with me.

I'm looking forward to volume 2! Can't wait to see Rosa's evolution and learn more inside information about one of my favorite characters ever!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Dell Giant: Christmas in Disneyland #1

Instead of gifts from Santa, a little boy and girl ask Santa to take them on a magical trip to Disneyland in this 1957 Dell Giant. 

Santa obliges, telling the children an assortment of stories based on the various lands and rides throughout the park. The Carl Barks classic 'The Black Pearls of Tabu Yama' starts things off with Uncle Scrooge and his nephews marooned on a deserted island at Christmas. Chip n' Dale must rescue Jiminy Cricket from the clutches of Br'er Bear, who forces the wise insect to teach him how to become Santa Claus. Mickey and Goofy attempt to deliver a payload of gold to a group of miners before Christmas Eve. The L'il Bad Wolf thinks his papa is making him a snow blowing machine to help him in his snow shoveling business. And in the surprise of all surprises, Peter Pan and Tinkerbell attempt to rescue Santa Claus who has been kidnapped by the dastardly Captain Hook!

I was extremely excited about that Peter Pan story. The 1953 Disney classic plays into the story of how my wife and I met. I had no idea about the existence of this story. It was such a great read and I loved seeing the Tick-Tock Crocodile fly after getting sprinkled with pixie dust.

There were also several arts and crafts activities and a fun and games section in the back. Considering that this issue is nearly 70 years old and only 1 of those pages was torn out, probably by some child who had zero idea how collectible old comics would one day be, I consider myself very lucky. I paid less than $10 for this issue and if that page hadn't been missing, the book would probably have been priced out of my price range. 

On my wish list of Christmas comic books, I've got issue #38 of Gold Key's Walt Disney Comics Digest. The front invites readers to enjoy 'Christmas at Disneyland'. I have a feeling that the contents of this special are reprinted in that digest edition. I'm still keeping that book on my wish list. However, as I now own this book, in 99.% entirety, obtaining the Gold Key book is on the back burner for now.

Sure, this was a big ol' commercial for Disneyland which had opened less than 2 years prior in California. But the whole thing was jammed packed Christmas fun starring many of my favorite Disney characters and it's a treasured addition to my Christmas comic book collection!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

DuckTales #1 (Family Comic Friday)

Dynamite Entertainment seems to be the new official home of comic books starring your favorite Disney properties. Hercules, Darkwing Duck and Lilo and Stitch have been leading a 90s resurgence and I think that's great. But what I really want is something with Peter Pan. However, my interest in Dynamite's Disney books was peaked when it was announced over the Summer that DuckTales would be returning to print!

No, this isn't the recently rebooted version of the show featuring the voice talents of David Tennant. Here, Donald Duck is off serving in the Navy. Launchpad McQuack is Scrooge's personal pilot and bodyguard. Della Duck is nowhere to be found. Nope, Dynamite has brought back the original 1980s syndicated animated classic version of DuckTales and I couldn't be more thrilled!

The first issue is basically an introduction to the main characters. Great nephews Huey Dewey and Louie are bored with counting Uncle Scrooge's money bin. Looking for a little adventure, the nephews ask Scrooge to tell them a story of one of his greatest adventures. Scrooge in return tells them 3 yarns. And that's issue #1. It ends with a 'to be continued' blurb. Normally I hate that. But in this case where there aren't any loose ends needing tightening up or a thrilling cliffhanger, I feel like the 'TBC' was more of a promise of more great things to come.

Next issue promises Magica De Spell. I've already told my favorite LCS to pre-order the entire series. So I won't be missing any of the action.  

Writer Brandon Montclare captures the spirit of the original series very well. I liked the vignettes about Scrooge's earlier days as an adventurer and explorer. I just wish we'd only gotten more of an origin story as to how the nephews came to live at McDuck Manor or that we could have gotten an full length adventure.

Tommaso Ronda's artwork was very good. It wasn't Carl Barks or Don Rosa quality. However, it was better than that more modern style of the reboot that makes everyone look more angular and exaggerated. While the reboot stories were pretty good. I thought the art needed to return to the drawing board 

The 80s and 90s heyday of Disney is in full swing at Dynamite Entertainment. For a company that a couple of years ago looked ready to cash in their chips, the publisher reorganized into what IDW was so close to achieving before losing those lucrative Hasbro licenses. Retro fun for the whole family!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Walt Disney's Donald Duck "Trick Or Treat": The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library Vol.13

I ordered this one specifically in time for Halloween. Featuring the complete, unabridged, almost 100% unedited version of Carl Barks' adaptation of the Donald Duck cartoon 'Trick or Treat', this volume is a treasure. Dell, Disney or both felt that Barks' introduction was too scary. Thus, a full page and a half was scrapped and redone in a more friendly time. Tasked with 32-pages to fill based on an about 8 minute long cartoon, Barks padded the middle with the inclusion of a 6-armed ogre named Smorgasbord. Again, someone high up didn't like it and those pages were just removed and the story was trimmed to a 24-page book.

Over the years, many of the original lost pages were recovered. Thanks to Fantagaphics and Rich Tommaso, all except for the last panel were recovered, remastered and re-added to present the Good Duck Artist's original vision. (As of now, only the last panel has never been found.)

'Trick or Treat' is a masterpiece; both on celluloid and in print. I'm so glad that I waited and saved some of my Amazon gift cards to get this book. After the main story there's a couple of one-pagers involving Halloween and an 8-pager that isn't really a Halloween tale. But it does involve some strange goings-on to make it a seasonal read for this time of year.

Halloween isn't the only holiday covered in this book. Thanksgiving sees Donald fleeing to Europe to avoid having to host lucky cousin Gladstone Gander for Turkey Day. Christmas sees Donald trying to trick Uncle Scrooge into paying for his holiday feast. There's even some Valentine's Day love in the air when Donald takes a job as a mailman and must deliver a Valentine to his sweetie, Daisy. Only Donald didn't send her the card! Gladstone did!

Daisy makes a couple more appearances in this book, which also sees the introduction of Daisy's nieces, April, May and June. Daffy inventor Gyro Gearloose besieges Duckburg with some of his out-of-control creations. And there's tons of nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie and my favorite, Uncle Scrooge to be found in this cozy little volume.

My love for the stories is unparalleled. However, I'm starting to get a little annoyed with the expert commentary on the stories. They're all so negative and snobby about it. Sure, you're an academic and that's how you are trained. But I want to know more about the backstory. The inspirations for these tales appeal to me. I don't need to know how the position of Donald's wrist in panel #6 of the third story is a commentary on the plight of Nebraskan hog farmers. Just give me the facts, PLEASE!

As jaded as the experts say Carl Barks was, there just isn't substitute for the amount of joy his world has brought me over the past 40 plus years!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Walt Disney Comics Digest #22

A while back, I was at my favorite comic shop, checking out when I saw this stack of Disney digests. I'm a fan of the books from Gold Key and Dell. I know that these treasuries are in high demand. Plus I just adore the Disney Ducks. So I took a chance and asked if they were for sale. Thankfully they were; but the owners hadn't come up with a price yet. After a touch of friendly haggling, we agreed upon a fair price and based on how much money I had left to spend, I bought 3. 

Wouldn't you know, I then misplaced these for about a year and I would have forgotten all about them if I hadn't been working on organizing my comic book collection during my summer break. 

The cover for this June, 1970 volume is what sold me. It's got Donald and Uncle Scrooge in a victory pose on the very center of the cover. While Scrooge is dressed as a champion prizefighter, his contest to prove he's got more money than anyone in the world isn't quite so pugilistic. Challenged by Flintheart Glomgold, McDuck must liquidate his assets to prove that he's got more money, by volume, than that of his legendary foe. With assists by nephews Huey, Dewey, Louie and Donald, Scrooge has to outfox Glomgold who's clearly cheating. Only without proof, it looks like McDuck's going to lose the contest. Should Scrooge fail, he has to eat his opponents hat, which for the Scottish businessman is a fate worse than death or losing all his money to the Beagle Boys!

A pleasant surprise running throughout this book was the team-ups. In one adventure Tinkerbell saves Dumbo the elephant from the clutches of Captain Hook. In another, Jiminy Cricket visits his bug friends of Silly Symphonies fame for a picnic! Chipmunks Chip and Dale have had a number of capers driving Pluto and Mickey Mouse crazy. But they've never teamed with Bambi's best friend Thumper to get the upper hand over Mickey and company before... At least to my knowledge!

Something Disney was noted for was its nature films. In this issue, we get part 3 of the comic book adaptation of 1953's Bear Country. Winner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short, it's not a read where you have to know everything that has happened beforehand in order to enjoy it. There are also non-fiction one-pagers called 'Real Life Adventures' about dolphins and robins along with a longer essay on famous trains. Being that he was a lifelong railway enthusiast, I wouldn't be the least surprised to find out that old Walt Disney himself wrote that segment. 

Peter and the Wolf, Little Hiawatha, Li'l Bad Wolf, Pinocchio, Cinderella and many more stars of Disney's A, B and C level tiers appear in this digest filled with some puzzles, jokes and stories galore. A really enjoyable gem that felt like those Christmas mornings when I'd open a grab bag of comics up as a gift and just pour over the contents inside while the world outside melted away.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Uncle Scrooge and the Infinity Dime #1 (Family Comic Friday)

If Don Rosa's The Old Castle's Other Secret is the quintessential ending to the story of Scrooge McDuck, then this tale is the epilogue!

Jason Aaron pens a story that asks what if on that fateful snowy Christmas on Bear Mountain, Donald and his nephews never showed up? Scrooge would still be motivated to discover all those hidden treasures. However, without the bonds of family to experience those adventures with, McDuck would still be wanting more. Thus, when he uncovers an enchanted mirror that can breach the barrier between worlds, that world's Worlds Richest Duck will seek to become the richest duck of all the worlds!

I'm actually surprised that there hasn't been such a story before this. Multiverse type stories are extremely popular right now and it seems like every franchise from Rick and Morty to Scooby-Doo has done such a story in one medium or another. 

A bevy of artists contributed beautiful work on this book which might seem a little expensive with a $7.99 price. However it's got a ton of extras including the story that inspired this comic, Christmas on Bear Mountain, which introduced readers to Uncle Scrooge way back in 1947. That debut story is remastered to crystal clear perfection and worth the extra cost.

Uncle Scrooge and the Infinity Dime is the first Disney Ducks comic book ever from Marvel. The House of Ideas had tested a Disney comic in the early 90s, featuring popular franchises like the Little Mermaid, but they were victims of the comic book bubble. I've had this book on my wish list ever since I learned about its existence back in March. I would have gotten it the day it dropped in stores if I wasn't so gosh darn tired from driving all the day prior back from vacation. So I got it the next day after a big rest. But I didn't have to worry about it selling out because I made sure to order a copy from my favorite comic book store early!

Speaking of orders, thanks to the special material at the end of this book, I've got not one but 2 more Disney one-shots by Marvel to look forward to in the next couple of months. Donald Duck is being given the What If... treatment in 2 new specials that ask what would happen if Scrooge's nephew was subject to the Weapon X program and then found the hammer of Thor. With an Aliens What If... miniseries just wrapping up and these Disney issues forthcoming, I'm hoping that Star Wars is next to go under the watchful eye of the Watcher.

I'm not sure if Jason Aaron is ready to be listed with the likes of Rosa, Carl Barks and William Van Horn. But he's got my blessing to write more stories starring Scrooge and his nephews. Aaron crafted a perfect all-ages adventure that includes appearances by inventor Gyro Gearloose and those dastardly Beagle Boys. (Be sure to look out for a cameo made by the adult version of Simba from The Lion King!) I only wish that with the Christmas time book-ending of this story, and the inclusion of Scrooge's holiday set debut, that this book had come out in December. You're welcome to wait and read this book closer to Christmas. But where's the fun in that?

Oh... Can someone please tell me what happened to Donald and his nephews that kept them from visiting McDuck that Christmas on that alternate Earth? That's a mystery I'd like solved! Maybe Jason Aaron can explain that in a follow up to this funtastic multiverse romp!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Uncle Scrooge and the Infinity Dime debuted in print and digital formats on June 19th, 2024.

Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge "The Seven Cities of Gold": The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library Vol. 14

According to the expert commentary at the end of this book, the time period covered here was a very difficult time creatively for creator Carl Barks. For those of you wondering, we're talking 1955-1960. Apparently, Barks and the editors at Western Publishing butted heads over the contents of several stories. All of a sudden, the editorial staff began nitpicking over every little thing and especially took issue with anything that they deemed to be too violent.

The commentators don't seem to know why the sudden change. How good a comic book historian can these experts be if they can't make the connection that Western Publishing was freaking out over concerns brought about by the Comics Scare of the 1950s and the newly established Comics Code?!

True, I purchase and read the volumes of the Carl Barks collection out of order because I shop for the books based on current affordability and not sequence. Maybe in a previous or later volume, the commentaries will dive into the Comics Code. I just think if you're going to question why about something, you really either need to figure out the reasoning or don't call yourself the authority on something. It just makes for poor research. But that's probably just the history major in me coming out.

Within this difficult time, it's said that Barks' productivity waned and his creativity stagnated. I just don't see evidence of that in this book. In fact, for someone who grew up on DuckTales, this volume seems to align with that classic 80s toon the most out of the several volumes in this set I now own!

Several amazing adventures starring Uncle Scrooge and his nephews Donald, Huey, Dewey and Louie take the ducks across the globe including an epic trek all over planet Earth in search of the fabled Philosopher's Stone. Then there's the sci-fi adventure The Mysterious Stone Ray starring those dastardly Beagle Boys. My favorite was The Golden Fleecing which I believe was adapted for the Disney cartoon series! Plus the origins of Scrooge's steamboat days are explored in action packed story titled The Great Steamboat Race. 

When I reviewed Don Rosa's The Complete Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, I commented how much I disliked the talent making Scrooge so ornery. Yet, this volume here confirms that Carl Barks was behind the anger because in reality, he was a very disgruntled man. I'd really like to read a biography about Barks. Though I'm not all that sure if such a thing exists. And if it does, I surely hope it's not written by the 'expert' who neglected to connect the damage Dr. Wertham did to the comic book industry in the 1950s to all the in-fighting between Carl Barks and his editors. For if it is, I might have to take a pass.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

The Complete Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Vol. 2

As nearly flawless as Don Rosa's Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck was, the story was far from over. After the 12-part story concluded, both fans and Rosa himself wanted more. So, the Kentucky cartoonist returned to McDuck's scrap book to uncover more episodes in the life of the World's Richest Duck. Featuring the return of Glittering Goldie, Teddy Roosevelt and those dastardly Beagle Boys, these stories are like the frame around the Mona Lisa. As much as it  encapsulates the masterpiece, it's not what draws in millions of visitors to the Louvre. But it doesn't mean that their existence isn't important to putting together a complete portrait!

Concluding this volume is 'The Old Castle's Other Secret or A Letter From Home'. It was Rosa's final published Duck story.  A sequel to an earlier work of his called 'The Crown of the Crusader Kings', this story is also a sequel to Carl Barks' 'Secret of the Old Castle'. That classic was the first Duck story a very young Don Rosa ever read, inspiring him to become a comic book creator, it brings the story of Scrooge McDuck full circle in more ways than one. Sadly, poor vision due to a detached retina resulted in Rosa retiring actively from comics. Because I want to know more of what happened after this story and I kinda want to read what Rosa hints in the introduction as what he envisions the final McDuck story to ever be. I have a feeling it finally brings Scrooge and Goldie together. I also think that if that story ever came to pass, I'd weep uncontrollably as my favorite Disney character's story officially came to an end. 

This second volume includes a couple of stories published before Rosa undertook the herculean effort of crafting the original Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck story. Fantagraphics has published all of Rosa's Duck works in a 10 volume set. While I have a feeling I can skip the 2 volumes that reprint his magnum opus, I don't think I can get around not getting the other 8 volumes just because I have this deluxe edition book. Maybe I can get trade credit for this later on...

A great read of which I can't wait to read again when I get those Rosa books in the future. And after that, I just might read Rosa's swan song a few more times after that!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Walt Disney's Donald Duck "Balloonatics": The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library Vol. 16

I'm learning that as I read my way through the complete works of Carl Barks, the 'good duck artist' is not one to let a good trope die. In not one but two stories, Donald Duck becomes a part of the hot-air ballooning community. 

First, the nephews are trying out some new miniature dirigibles made by Gyro Gearloose, which wreak havoc on Donald who's trying to get some very much desired R&R. In typical Donald firebrand fashion, the boys' Uncle gets revenge. And by revenge, Donald goes overboard with a hot air balloon in his likeness and about double the size of any inflatable you might see at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Plus, it's armed to the teeth!

Story #2 has Huey, Dewey and Louie find a hunting falcon that's just too timid to be a hunter. As the boys try to help the bird find his confidence, Donald enters a contest by being held by the Duckburg Parachute club in which he hopes to win the prize for most original sky dive. Hopefully that will involve the use of a hot air balloon, some vintage balloonist digs and one nervous bird of prey.

Other adventures starring Donald, his nephews and sometimes their spinster uncle, Scrooge McDuck involve a hunt for a sea monster, searching for precious stones in the desert and an investigation into the mysterious destruction of test rockets. There's a classic Turkey Day story in which Donald and cousin Gladstone Gander compete for a chance to earn Thanksgiving dinner with Daisy. It's a tale I've read before but I don't mind a re-read. It's one of Barks' all-time best tales!

There's a couple of stand-out segments in this volume. The complete reissue of Dell Four Color #1161 'Walt Disney's Grandma Duck's Farm Friends', has Barks' presenting a quartet of stories set at Donald's father's family homestead. First, the farm gains a new resident in the form of a gigantic elephant that Uncle Scrooge was gifted from a dignitary. A new chick on Grandma's farm causes mischief along the country side when he's revealed to be a genius with good intentions but some poorly planned ideas. Gladstone makes a visit with intentions of becoming a matador. Then finally, with the nephews visiting Grandma, disaster hits in the form of both a blizzard and the appearance of the Beagle Boys on the lam from the law!

Lastly, readers get to enjoy a half-dozen Junior Woodchuck stories guest-starring Uncle Scrooge in 4 of them! These tales were from when Barks had officially retired from comics. Gold Key had lured the creator back to script duty, but arthritis and age had made it impossible to carry on his quality of work. At the time these stories were published in the 70s, original readers complained of how uninspired the artwork appeared. With their reprinting, Fantagraphics presents new artwork by Danish artist Daan Jippes. The remastered artwork looks like that of Barks and yet, there's something modern about it. Barks was known to be a minimalist when it came to backgrounds. Jippes crafts a masterful background in every panel! Really jarring stuff- in a good way!

The new tales have an Uncle Scrooge more full of piss and vinegar than many of us are used to. His inclusion in those Junior Woodchuck stories were crafted right as the world was about to celebrate its first Earth Day in 1970. (So in a way those stories are holiday themed!) Scrooge McDuck is more like a robber baron, than a penny-pinching businessman, in these stories to the point of almost unlikability. Thankfully, Huey, Dewey and Louie and their scout troop pals save the day and Scrooge's soul in these very different Duck tales. 

With this volume, I'm not sure of a couple of things. For one, why is this a Donald Duck book and not an Uncle Scrooge edition? Would it have even been so bad to have had this volume starring the nephews instead of Donald or Scrooge? Also, if this is a collection of the complete Carl Barks' works of the residents of Duckburg, why the time jump? The Grandma stories were published in 1961. Barks' ecological stories were published a decade later. This is volume 16 of a 26 volume collection. So why put the Junior Woodchuck stories here and not in volume 25 or 26? I'm not complaining about their inclusion. I just don't understand the thought process of the editing team as to having them here and not later on down the line.

A great read that just confuses me as to why certain stories are published out of order if this was supposed to be a omnibus of Carl Barks works about the Disney ducks.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The Complete Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, Vol. 1 (2024 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

A chance encounter with a Gladstone comic book in 1986 changed the life of cartoonist Don Rosa forever. 

Don Rosa grew up showing great artistic talent. Rosa went through grade school and high school submitting strips for various educational and local publications. Despite working towards a degree in civil engineering at the University of Kentucky, Rosa continued to fine tune his craft submitting art for a pair of fanzines devoted to Carl Barks and the Disney ducks as well as the college paper, The Kentucky Kernel where Rosa contributed a strip devoted to political satire. Despite not considering himself a political cartoonist, Rosa won an award in 1969 for his work and was later named one of the top college artists in the nation by The Journal of Higher Education.

After graduating, Don Rosa went to work at his family's construction business which was started in 1900 by his grandfather, an Italian immigrant. Rosa was resided to work primarily in the family business while moonlighting part time as a cartoonist with a weekly strip called The  Adventures of Captain Kentucky that appeared in The Louisville Times. However, the endeavor was far from satisfying for Rosa and in 1982, the cartoonist retired outright.

It appeared that fate had destined for Don Rosa to work the rest of his days selling the Italian tile and marble products that his family had become legendary for. Then one day fate changed Rosa's career path once again. Upon stumbling upon a Disney comic published by Gladstone, Rosa learned that Disney was once again publishing books based on their properties in the United States and were in need of American writers and artists to fill those pages. Rosa grew up a fan of Carl Barks' Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge adventures and he felt destined to be the one to usher in the next generation of Duck tales. Rosa contacted editor Byron Erickson who agreed to a tryout. The result was a globetrotting search for treasure between Scrooge McDuck and the dastardly Flintheart Glomgold in 'The Son of the Sun.' In 1987, Rosa's Disney debut was nominated for a Harvey Award for Best Story of the Year.

After a few more stories, Rosa prayed ways with Disney as the company had a policy that would not return artwork back to the artist. However, Rosa's affiliation with the residents of Duckburg was far from over. The hit syndicated cartoon DuckTales brought forth a resurgence in both the original works of Barks, along with Rosa's newer adventures. After learning about how popular his Disney stories had become in Europe, Rosa freelanced for the Denmark based Gutenberghus, now know as Egmont. 

In 1990-91, word started to spread that Disney was wanting to issue a miniseries on the long and stories life of Scrooge McDuck. Rosa encouraged Egmont to select one of their employees for the task as the international publisher had an impressive team of artists and writers that could execute the job successfully. Egmont's editors agreed and recommended Rosa for the job. Beginning in 1991, Rosa crafted The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck. 

The 12-chapter miniseries chronicled Scrooge's Scottish childhood fraught with poverty and lessons in hard work through his numerous failures in business until Scrooge finally struck gold literally in the Yukon Gold Rush of the late 1890s. The story comes to a close right where Carl Barks introduced the world to Scrooge McDuck in the 1947 story 'Christmas on Bear Mountain.' Having become the richest person in the world, Scrooge lives alone as miser until he decides to test his remaining relatives, nephew Donald Duck and his grand-nephews Huey Dewey and Louie, in order to see if they are worthy of inheriting his countless riches.

Building upon the foundation Carl Barks laid decades earlier, The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck answers questions long posed by Disney comic readers. How did the Beagle Boys come to be a perennial thorn in the side of Uncle Scrooge? Why does Flintheart hate McDuck so much? Why is that first dime so important to Scrooge? Plus, the entire family tree of Clan McDuck is explained, giving away many of the secrets of the old family castle as well as finally understanding where Granny, lucky duck Gladstone Gander and other residents of Duckburg relate to Scrooge McDuck and his kin.

In 1995, The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck won the Eisner Award for Best Serialized Story from appearing in issues of Anders And & Co. from 1992-1994. American audiences would be introduced to the story in the pages of Uncle Scrooge #285-296 beginning in late 1994. 

Over the following years, Rosa would craft several 'fill-in' stories that added to the mystique of Scrooge McDuck's life but do not have to be ready in any order in relation to the 12-part miniseries. An emergency surgery as the result of a detached retina would be the final straw in a career marred by low pay, creative differences and royalties in regards to intellectual property rights leading Rosa to ultimately retire from comics in 2008. He still continues to tour the convention circuit and conducts semi-annual signing tours in Europe where he enjoys superstar status.

Completing this review completes Task #6 (Best Single Issue or Serialized Story to Win an Eisner Award) of the 2024 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Walt Disney's Donald Duck "The Black Pearls of Tabu Yama": The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library Vol. 19

Maybe it's just me getting older and my tastes have changed. Maybe now owning nearly 12,000 comics and graphic novels that I realize that I don't have to own every comic book ever made. Or maybe it's just because I really love Scrooge McDuck and his nephew Donald. All I know is when it comes to a book that just warms my soul, I'd much rather read the complete works of the legendary Carl Barks than just about anything new that comes out on comic book shop shelves.

In this delightful volume, readers start off on a Pacific island adventure set during Christmas time with Scrooge Donald and Huey Dewey and Louie looking for the famed black pearls of Tabu Yama. The heartwarming ending is extremely predictable and yet this has immediately become one of my all-time favorite holiday reads to star the Ducks of Disney.

Lucky duck cousin Gladstone appears in at least 3 stories in this book. First, he'll race Donald around the world in a rocket ship for a pair of dueling scientists. For the last 2 stories, Uncle Scrooge is added to the mix as both Gladstone and Donald attempt to convince the wealthy businessduck to buy their prospective investment properties. Then the trio compete against each other in a series of competitive burro events for the rights to a lucrative uranium mine  For a character absolutely despised by Barks, he sure uses Gladstone Gander an awful lot.

Readers are also introduced to a new rival of Donald Duck in the form of the literal swine, P.L. McBrine. First, McBrine unleashes a pickle shortage in Duckburg by releasing a parasite that feasts on cucumbers. Donald and his nephews head overseas to bring back a wasp that is known to feast on those invasive bugs. However, McBrine is on their trail in hopes of keeping the Ducks from succeeding so he can make a killing by selling pickled rutabagas!

McBrine returns, now using the name McSwine as a customer scheming to take milkman Donald's job by making false complaints to the manager of the Duckburg dairy. Yet in an unexpected twist, Donald kinda snaps and exacts revenge on McBrine by issuing him his just desserts. As satisfying as it is to see Donald get the best of one of his foes with relish, it's no wonder that Disney and Dell passed on this story and was shelved for nearly 2 decades before being published in the Netherlands circa 1974.

Almost 2 dozen tales of various lengths abound in this nearly 200 page collection, along with covers and commentary from noted Disney comic historians on each adventure. 

Such a delight. I don't care if these reproductions show biases and stereotypes. Well, I care, socially. It just doesn't bother me to see how far we've come from those days of yore. It's how we learn from the mistakes of history and with that, I can't wait to get my hands on more books in this oddly published series of Barks' complete Disney Duck works. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Disney Uncle Scrooge & Donald Duck in Les Miserables and War and Peace (Family Comic Friday)

Topolino is Italian for 'little mouse'. It's also the name of Italy's long running Disney comic book that features original material starring your favorite House of Mouse characters including Goofy, the Phantom Blot and Pluto. In this volume devoted to Disney-fied 19th century European classical works, the stars are all from your favorite family of ducks! Uncle Scrooge, Donald, Daisy, nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie and many more appear in these comical adaptations of Les Miserables and Crime and Punishment. This being an Uncle Scrooge heavy work, you can rest assured that his biggest foes, the Beagle Boys are on hand to create some mischief as well!

Material from the pages of Topolino have been covered by me previously on several reviews of American Disney works. I usually state that poor translations from the original Italian text into English are the main problems with those works. Phrases would seem stilted or out of place. That's just not the case here.The previous works I reviewed were published by IDW Publishing. Here, Fantagraphics, who've been doing an amazing job releasing the complete works of Carl Barks and Don Rosa, are the publishers and their translations have been phenomenal.

Both original novels deal with some very mature and violent subject matter. Les Miserables sees a single mother forced to sell her body to pay for her daughters room and board as well as the cold blooded murder of a young street urchin. While the main plot of Inspector Javert seeks to apprehend the fugitive Jean Valjean is still covered in this comic adaptation, the violent uprising in the streets of Paris has been replaced with a farcical search for the missing crown jewels of Charlemagne. Don't worry, there's still plenty of adventures to be had in the sewers under those Parisian streets.

As for War and Peace, I've never read the book nor seen an version of it in film. (With Les Mis, my wife and I have seen the musical about a half dozen times.) So I don't really have a good idea of how much material was replaced with more family friendly situations. However I cannot find evidence of the main character of the original Leo Tolstoy work trying to hide his horde of gold by melting them down into cannonballs and then having to retrieve the spent projectiles from the battle field after they are accidentally used during the Napoleonic Wars.

Both stories were written and illustrated by Giovan Battista Carpi. He's considered to be the Italian Carl Barks. The quality of these two parodies proves that belief. The plots are brilliant mixes of the original source material and the world of adventure created by those American masters whose stories first appeared in the pages of Dell and Whitman Disney comics decades ago.

In no way should this collection be used as a replacement for reading the originals. However both works are nearly a thousand pages each. Plus a lot of the terms and sentence structure are over 125 years old. Younger audiences might have difficulty relating. Unlike Classics Illustrated and Pocket Classics, these Disney adaptations should not even be used as study aids. But this book could very well be the link to interest young readers to want to read more about both the authors and their masterpieces. Sometimes humor is needed to peak interest into serious issues and this pair of parodies are hysterical. 

Perfect for all ages; especially fans of either version of DuckTales!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Darkwing Duck: Just Us Justice Ducks: Disney Afternoon Adventures, Vol. 1 (Family Comic Friday)

The Disney Afternoon. From 1990-97, Disney ran a 2-hour block of TV shows in the late afternoons after school let out. The event was syndicated, but eventually ran on the Disney Channel. Shows like Ducktales, Tailspin, The Adventures of the Gummi Bears and Darkwing Duck ran in a rotation that was a direct competition to Fox Kids. As part of the Disney Afternoon marketing campaign, Disney's publishing imprint released a monthly magazine called Disney Adventures.

Along with features on upcoming Disney TV shows and films, Disney Adventures contained comics! Stories based on the Disney Afternoon line-up, along with adaptations of long-form Disney films were released on a semi-regular schedule. As many of these stories were multi-parters, this rather irregular schedule meant that part one of a Ducktales story might be released on issue #1 but part two might not appear in print until issue #5!

Disney Afternoon Adventures Volume 1 was released in the summer of 2021. So yes, I am a little late maybe on reviewing something new. But the reason I found out about this book in the first place is because Volume 2 was released just last month and seeing the advertisement for that collection got me rather interested! Plus, I've really been digging some volumes from the Carl Barks Library lately and I've been wanting so more Disney goodness to read.

My kid sister is 12 years younger than me. So I am rather familiar with the stories despite the fact that I was 12-15 when the shows these comics were based on aired. Well, Ducktales actually came out in 1987 and I am a fool for anything with Uncle Scrooge in it! But everything else in this book was stuff that I probably was too old for. Yet, because of her, I'm actually pretty familiar with most of the material in this book. 

There's a lot of short stories in this edition and they are rather fun little reads. But the highlights of this book are the two larger stories that take up much of the real estate of this 200-pager. First up was a comic adaptation of A Goofy Movie. The second tale was a 5-part adventure that crossed-over all the way from Tailspin to Darkwing Duck, with Goof Troop, Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers and Ducktales filling in the gaps! A crossover that wasn't really a crossover, it was an epic romp on par with the works of Carl Barks, Don Rosa and William Van Horn! 

By the way- did you know that Tailspin took place 50 years before Ducktales and the other members of the Disney Afternoon? I didn't either. But now I understand why there weren't any flying pirates in modern day Duckburg!

I really enjoyed this book. I just wished that Fantagraphics did a better job letting fans know where these stories originally appeared. In the Carl Barks books, the level of research and background material on the Donald Duck stories is professional grade stuff. Here, we get a small bit of info on the material of origin on the ISBN info page and it's printed in a font of 3 at best!

A 3rd volume is scheduled for release in July. Hopefully, I can get both volumes for a good price. And hopefully, the amount of background material will get even better. Sure, these volumes are targeted for millenials and their children. But surely, even 30-something comic book lovers will delight in knowing more about the publishing and design history of these stories!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Walt Disney's Donald Duck "The Old Castle's Secret": The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library Vol. 6

This Valentine's Day, I stopped by a local independent bookshop for an extra gift for my bride. I got her something. But I also ended up getting myself a treat. As I've mentioned before, I want the entire run of these books. But they are NOT cheap. The store I was at had a small used book section and they had a volume for a price that was just right for me!

Like with all of the other volumes in this series, despite the name of just 1 story, there are several adventures, shorts and one-page gags starring Donald Duck, his nephews and several others. During this period of time, Uncle Scrooge makes his first appearances after the holiday tale 'Christmas on Bear Mountain'. The title story has Scrooge in some financial trouble. So McDuck takes his nephew and his nephew's nephews to the family castle in Scotland to unearth a missing inheritance. With hints of the Hound of the Baskervilles and the William Castle feature 13 Ghosts, this is a classic horror mystery romp that I've read before. But that familiarity, my enjoyment wasn't lacking. Ironically, knowing what I do about the massive money bins owned by Scrooge McDuck, I don't see how the small chest of jewels the guys find would help the old miser out of any sort of money troubles.

This book also featured the debut of Donald Duck's familiar adversary for girlfriend Daisy's hand, Gladstone Gander. In these first couple of stories, Gladstone is that cousin who just gets under your skin. He keeps trying to one up you, so you boast back at him. Thanks to a stupid bet made on a hot July day, Gladstone's holiday appearance at Donald's home could mean that Donald and his nephews might end up homeless this Christmas. That is unless Donald will take a swim in the frozen pond behind his domicile.  

The other main treat of this book is the Western epic 'The Sheriff of Bullet Valley.' This is another work I've read before. But the nostalgia brought about from reading this as a little kid made my re-read all that much more special. Donald and the nephews are going on vacation when they stop in Bullet Valley. The community has been besieged by a dastardly cow rustler that everyone knows is guilty. They just can't figure out how the villain is changing the brands on the other ranch's cattle. Inspired by a slew of Westerns, Donald volunteers to save the day. In an episode that doesn't see Huey, Dewey and Louie coming to Donald's rescue, this is a very unusual and violent Disney story. Especially, since Donald gets shot and left for dead in this one!

Donald's nephews are quite the intrepid Junior Woodchucks who come to Donald's frequent rescue. They're still those mischievous scamps who try to outsmart their uncle for their own gain. Uncle Scrooge isn't yet the world's richest duck who neurotically fears everyone is trying to rob him. Gladstone gets under everyone's skin. But he's not the luckiest duck on earth yet. We get to see the early stories of Carl Barks' comic book career. Perfection hasn't yet been achieved. But, there's definite signs of genius throughout this amazing book!

I want more! 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.