Gangs of Tomorrowland

 

Happy New Year! In 2023 I learned about the existence of Disneyland Social Clubs, so now I curse you with that knowledge as well.

See ya in 2024!

 

Family Purchases $10, 000 in Disney Plus Gift Cards By Mistake

Cowboy Up

 

Nate Garcia Is America's Cowboy

Pictures of You

 

Quality Pictures is a new zine with comics by Josh Pettinger, Simon Hanselmann, Charles Burns, Alex Graham, Sammy Harkham, and many others.

Get yours while supplies last.

Adults Only

 

Stuck for last-minute gift ideas?  Get them Adult Books!

Sweetheart of the Rodeo

 

Ad page from Paper Rodeo

Adam Ruins Theme Park Videos

 

To Wish Impossible Things

 

Everybody hates Wish.

Twisted, Sister

 

Disney's Twisted Wonderland manga by Yana Toboso, Wakana Hazuki, and Sumire Kowano is the perfect successor to Kingdom Hearts.

Perfect in that it is: 1. Japanese, 2. Based on a video game, and 3. Doesn't make a damn bit of sense.

I'm gonna be honest, I skimmed through this one.  The beginning starts off like a sports manga about kendo,  which I was enjoying, but after a couple of pages the main character is whisked away to Hogwarts Night Raven College  where he has to compete with classmates? And one of the classmates is into Queen of Hearts cosplay?  And he has to dorm in the Haunted Mansion?

Like I said, I skimmed it. 

Anyway, if you like the cellphone game and/or Goth Disney, you'll probably like this book. Volume 2 comes out tomorrow, I believe.

The Killing Joke

 

The Cereal Killings by James Sturm

I Ching You Ching

 

The Last Supplement to the Whole Earth Catalog, 1971

Oh! You Pretty Things

 

Evil Things is a comic without a clear reason for existing*.  Was the world really clamoring for a graphic novel telling the origin story of 101 Dalmatians villainess Cruella DeVille?  Especially when Cruella was already given two completely separate origins in the (surprisingly entertaining) Emma Stone movie and the YA prose novel by Serena Valentino herself?

Evil Thing Graphic novel by Sara (Gloomcookie) Valentino and Arielle Jovellanos

Probably not, but we got one anyway.

Generally speaking, I am not a fan of this trend of humanizing the villains- I blame Rob Zombie's Halloween for tricking people into thinking every movie monster needs to be Hannibal-ized.

 I guess it sells, though, as the YA shelves are full of Disney Villains novels, most of which are written by Valentino herself.

The manga-inspired art by Jovellanos is cute, if a little rough in spots, and the black and white and red color palette sets it apart from other Disney comics and gives it that throwback SLG indie comic feel.  The best parts are when Cruella finally unravels from the stress of being an emaciated unloved  widowed penniless former heiress with mommy issues:

Overall it was fine.  If you like Valentino's other books and comics then you will probably like this.  Inessential but inoffensive.

*On further reflection I realized that it was probably designed to make the Cruella novel accessible for reluctant or struggling readers, but since I never read the Villains YA book series this  hadn't occurred to me.

Oz The Great (And Terrible)

 

"Hey did you know that in the 80s DC put out a miniseries called The Oz-Wonderland War?"

"Oh wow, that sounds terrific! Right up my alley!"

"Yeah, and Captain Carrot and the Amazing Zoo Crew are the main characters!"

"Oh. Okay. Never mind."

I Wanna Be Sedated

 

He's Mickey Ramone!

 

I Don't Know About Art But

 

What We Like

by Mark Newgarden

From Bad News #3, 1988

Can't Stop Messin With The Danger Zone

 

Disney's Doorways To Danger is another oddball comic that I found surprisingly enjoyable.

This book came out in 2021 but I ignored it, assuming it would be some kinda Wimpy Kid middle school YA thing. While Jeff Harvey's art style is definitely in that wheelhouse, story-wise this could be a totally normal modern-day Duck Mouse adventure.  

Our heroes find themselves in the cast of an Amazing Race style gameshow, racing in teams around the globe to locate a series of keys which will unlock a hidden treasure. Because this is an Uncle Scrooge comic, the treasure and the gameshow are more than they appear.  

The characterization and dialogue are all perfectly in-character; I am not familiar with Tom Angleberger's other works ,but judging from this he appears to be a fan of the classic Disney Comics.  Like Donald Duck Visits Japan, this is an off-model, offbeat take on the Disney classics that is enjoyable for kids and longtime readers alike.

Spider-Man Far From Home

 

Did you guys know that Duck Maestro Giorgio Cavazzano drew a Spider-Man comic that was only reprinted in English once, in the UK-only collection Marvel Europa?  Well now you know.

Unfortunately, the characters are not all drawn with dog noses like Uncle Carl here.

Instead he sticks closely to the style he used for the human characters in Dragonlords.

The story uses some convoluted plot mechanics to get Peter Parker to Venice

But the story doesn't matter; the real attractions here are Cavazzano's dazzling cityscapes.

The bad guy, Count Gianus, could totally be a Topolino villain.

Biff Bam Pow!

The story's official title is "Spider-Man in Venice: The Secret of the Glass," written by Dylan Dog and Topolino scribe Tito Faraci with art by Cavazzano, and first appeared as an original graphic novel published by Panini in 2004.

It's baffling to me that Marvel didn't reprint this as a movie tie-in, but they know what they're doing I guess.  If you want to read this story you can do what I did, and find the UK reprint, or bust out the Google Translate and figure it out for yourself.

Brain Damaged

 

Why Disney Buried "Runaway Brain"

Multiverse of Mad Ducks

 

For all of these years I had been under the impression that Duck Tales comics and The Barks Duckverse were two entirely separate continuities, containing many overlapping characters but also some aspects unique to each of the two worlds.  Earth-D and Earth DT, let's say. 

  A recent thread on The Fethry Society, however, set me straight that there are several examples of characters created specifically for  Duck Tales making the leap into the mainline Donald Duck comics universe:

Mr. Mc Dee's butler Duckworth appears in the William Van Horn story "Snore Losers," collected in Pie in the Sky

While Launchpad McQuack shares space with Donald and Daisy in "New Year's Daze," by Stefan Printz-Paulson and Vicar, as seen in Bear Mountain Tales.

So there you have it, Bubba the Cave Duck fans, your favorite character counts as an honorary Duckburgian! Surely it's only a matter of time before the Darkwing/ Gizmoduck/ PKNA teamup that all the Tumblr fanart people have been clamoring for becomes official.

Dead Girl Superstar

 

Hey Millenials, remember "the aughts"?  The OC, the Nintendo Gamecube, the Emo, the SLG? 

Lenore Meets the Haunted Mansion by Roman Dirge

 

Great overview of Fawcett Comics' funny animal superhero Hoppy The Marvel Bunny.

Squeak Previews

 

Mitch Lohmeier's funny animal true crime epic Michael Mouse, starring his own totally unique and original characters, is now available to order through Previews.

Go get it, ya mugs!

You Know, For Kids

 

Speaking of promotional giveaways, here are all the comics pages from Nabisco's The Perils of Mickey Fun Book For Kids,  art inspired by Floyd Gottfredson but drawn by Stephen DeStefano in what appears to be excerpts from comics in Disney Adventures magazine.