Whatever Happened To The Adventure Capitalist?

This is a good overview of the long, tortured history of the Disney comics licenses.

Found!

Roger Langridge's missing artwork has been found.

The Colour and the Shape

Head on over to Susan D-L's Color and Caffeine blog to read her re-colored version of "Ghost of the Grotto".

So, read any good comics lately?

So apparently while I was busy this summer, Boom put out a shitty Duck Tales comic.

I don't really have anything to contribute to this kerfuffle except to say that Boom put out some good Disney comics (Muppet Show, Darkwing Duck), some OK Disney comics (Ultraheroes, Wizards of Mickey), and some really awful Disney comics.  When it comes to comic books I tend to value novelty above all else, so Boom gets props for trying to shake things up with the license.  The Boom/ Disney experiment may be a failure, but at least it was never boring.  Whatever the future has in store for Disney comics, I hope Marvel has the good sense to try and reach out to kids and new readers, since the fan base for this material isn't getting any younger and will probably find plenty of things to complain about regardless.  And hey, it can't get any worse than this, right?

Kaboom, bitches!

Game Boy

Duck Tales #1, Comic-Con Exclusive

Aaaaand Boom goes the dynamite

Boom! Studios releases unseen Don Rosa Donald Duck roughs, entire story available online here.

Free Comic Book Day!

Today is Free Comic Book Day!   Go down to your local comic shop and get some FREE COMICS!

Comic Shop News

Boom Studios to lose Disney license?

Comic Shop News

Boom! to launch Duck Tales ongoing series.

Oh, hey, speaking of Boom! Studios... Marvel is going to reprint the Boom Cars and Toy Story comics as Disney/Pixar Presents magazine.

And, of course, the Complete Carl Barks collection from Fantagraphics is chugging right along. Here's an interview with Rich Tommaso on re-coloring the classics.

Old School

Boom! to start reprinting classic Disney stories.  

Via The Comics Reporter

If I had 300 mice, I'd call an exterminator.

Preview of Mickey Mouse and Friends #300

This is what I'd like to see more of from Boom-  An old-school Mickey and Eega Beeva story with a 1930's Gottfredson back-up.  

Yes, please!

Disney Weirdness Review: Darkwing Duck #1

SPOILERS BELOW:

It was pretty freakin good.

I was a little too old to be a hardcore Darkwing Duck fan back when the show was new, but I enjoyed it whenever I caught an episode. This comic gets the tone of the cartoon just right, but with a slightly more "grownup" feel. When the story opens, Drake Mallard is working for a soulless megacorporation in a St. Canard that no longer has a need for superheroes (or supervillains). I am always a sucker for a "getting the band back together" story, and that's exactly what we've got here. Highlights of the issue include the daydream sequences, as Drake sits in his cubicle and fantasizes increasingly more outlandish superheroics, and Drake's interactions with his cubicle-mate, a former supervillain who used to tangle with Darkwing back in the day.

Generally speaking I like what Boom! has been doing with the Disney license. Wizards of Mickey, Ultraheroes, and Double Duck are all fine examples of quality kids' comics. As a thirty-something comic book fan I can appreciate the effort even as I recognize that the books aren't really geared towards readers like me. Darkwing Duck #1, on the other hand, is a truly All-Ages comic (like Boom's The Muppet Show, or the classic Barks Duck stories), a kid-friendly book that more mature (ha!) fans can appreciate on its own merits. Good stuff, well worth a look.

Study ABROAD

If you haven't been following Walt Disney's Comics lately, I suggest you turn off your computer and go down to your local comic shop ASAP. These images are from #704, part 2 of Casty's "Mickey Mouse and the World to Come" series. Eega Beeva, old-timey airplanes, giant robots, Z-Files, a villain who speaks only in rhyme..how could anybody not like this story? They have no soul, that's how.

Rare Gems

Sekvenskonst has an interesting post called The Gemstone That Never Was.

I miss Gemstone. As much as I love the work that Boom! is doing (especially their efforts to get kids reading Disney Comics again), I appreciated Gemstone's focus on the longtime collector. I collected Gladstones as a kid, and Gemstone recaptured a lot of that magic, in my opinion.

OH HELL YEAH

NEW DUCKTALES COMICS FROM BOOM!

!!!!!!!!

Wasn't expecting this announcement- new Darkwing Duck comics from Boom!

Sweeeeet.

Disney Weirdness Review: Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #703

WDC&S #703 is the first part of the story "Mickey Mouse and the World to Come," by Andrea "Casty" Castellan. In interviews Casty professes to be a huge fan of Gottfredson and Scarpa, and this issue is very much in that classic Mickey Mouse tradition. Story-wise this issue is all setup...there's very little action (except for a cool scene with a giant robot) but there is a lot of exposition. Casty's art style is very reminiscent of 1940's Gottfredson with some more modern elements in the mix. It's too early for me to pass judgment on the story, but this was a really solid opening chapter. I have high hopes for this arc. There's also a backup feature with Pegleg Pete that didn't do much for me, but it's also chapter one of a longer story so maybe it will improve.

I've always thought that Mickey must be a tough character to write- you need to strike a balance between a relatable everyman and a courageous detective/adventurer. The best MM stories find that sweet spot between the two extremes; too far in either direction and the reader loses interest. I can't buy Mickey Mouse as a two-fisted tough guy, but at the same time I don't want to read the Adventures of Mickey the Suburban Dad. So far Casty seems to have a good handle on the character (he even compares him to Jimmy Stewart in the letter column interview), but we'll have to wait until the plot really kicks in to know for sure.

I've been impressed with almost all of Boom! Studio's Disney comics offerings so far. The editors are bringing some really interesting European books to the American audience. I like the classics as much as anybody (I grew up on Gladstone), but I'm really digging the more "non-traditional" stuff like Ultraheroes and Double Duck. Boom! is doing some great work with the Disney comics license, and I hope this Disney/Marvel merger thing allows them to keep on keepin' on with minimum interference.

The greatest comic book cover ever drawn.

I went to the comic shop today to pick up Buffy the Vampire Slayer #32 (Twilight revealed! Buffy's got superpowers!), and I came across this:



Fethry Duck (in his Red Bat persona) fighting The Goddamn Phantom Blot (wearing Spawn's cape for some reason). This is literally everything I want from a comic book.

Tweet tweet tweet

I don't understand the Twitter at all. I honestly believe Twitter is a plot created by the news media to appear hip and with-it in the Social Networking Age, because they're still embarrassed about missing the boat on Myspace and Facebook.

But anyway, if you're a Twitter-er who enjoys Tweeting and Tittering, Boom! has a Disney Comics Twitter page. Go there and tell em I sent you, in 140 characters or less.

Pthe Pman of Ptomorrow

This is what humans will look like in the year 2447.

How do I know that Bill Walsh is a genius? Eega Beeva, that's how. In 1947, Walsh and artist Floyd Gottfredson introduced the character Eega Beeva into the Mickey Mouse comic strip. Eega is a human being from 500 years in the future, although according to some comics he's from outer space. Eega has a future-dog named Pflip, is allergic to money, and adds a "P" to the beginning of almost every word. How could you not love this character? He's like The Great Gazoo, only completely insane.

As with other fan-favorite characters like Fethry Duck and Jerry Lewis, Eega Beeva is way more popular in Europe than he ever was here in the U.S. The character disappeared from the Mickey Mouse strip pretty soon after his introduction, but lived on in Italian comics by talents like Romano Scarpa. Eega is enjoying a comeback of late, starring in the Ultraheroes storyline currently running in Walt Disney's Comics from Boom! Studios.

Enjoy Eega's first appearance, The Man of Tomorrow, and the Walsh/ Gottfredson classics The Santa Claus Bandit, Pflip's Strange Power, and The Syndicate of Crime.