The Phantom Blot's Double Review

 Good news, everyone!

Mickey Mouse is back in comic shops (along with Donald Duck and Uncle $crooge)!

If you were a fan of the IDW series, like I was, you will want to pick these up, because it's basically the same comic book.  Edited by David Gerstein, a mix of old and new stories never before printed in the US, and an emphasis on the classic Gottfredson villains.  

We've got a Casty Phantom Blot story to kick things off, which is basically the best possible way to reintroduce America to Disney comics.  Then a Rhyming Man two-parter by Francesco Vacca guest-starring the time-travelling Uma, who I am going to assume is Mickey's future daughter because I've seen The Flash and read Jughead's Time Police.

Yes, yes, but what about the art?  It's in the super cartoony modern Topolino style for the main stories, by Marco Mazzarello and Roberto Vian, along with a zany Super Goof comedy short by Stefano Intini

and a fun 1970s Barks throwback by Giovan Battista Carpi,

Fantagraphics, my all-time favorite publisher, has unsurprisingly done a bang-up job on my favorite comic.  Highly recommended, nine ears up.

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.

Meeting of the Minds

 

From the Double Duck/ Duck Avenger crossover event: Timecrime!

Fethry Duck is my spirit animal.

 

 

I don't know anything about Mr. Vertigo, except that he's my new favorite character.

Trumpolino?

 Can someone who speaks Italian hip me to what this is all about:

It's not just me, right?

Google Translate helpfully provides the following:

Description

A volume full of mysterious adventures, in which Mickey also pays homage to Martin Mystère, the detective of the impossible who turns 40 in April, with Topin Mystér and Orobomis the walking city: an electrifying homage-story proposed here for the first time since the first publication! Triumph of dynamic drawings in Mickey and the fantastic mister Magic and Mickey and the case of the "transmuter". Finally, surprise entry into the team also of the irrepressible Donald Duck in Mickey Mouse and the Ghostbusters.

Some Googling suggests it is an homage/ parody of a comic I've never heard of, Martin Mystere, which apparently was translated by Dark Horse at some point.

I'm seriously considering doing the Duolingo or some other kind of online language tutor just to figure out what the heck goes on over there.

Anti- Social Distancing

 

This story by Stefano Intini has got to be some kinda record for the number of obscuro characters crammed onto one page.

Beat Happening

 

So I learned from a thread on the Fethry Society message board that there is a "classics illustrated"-type parody of On The Road starring Mickey and Goofy?

This On the Road?

This one???

I mean, yeah Goofy and Dean Moriarty share some similarities, I guess?  

                                                                                    A-hyuck!

The whole thing seems wild to me.  I hope Fantagraphics or whoever gets to work on a translation ASAP.

You do "gotta hand it to them."

 

Vitale Mangiatordi draws good hands.

Any amateur cartoonist will tell you, hands are hard to draw!  Cartoon funny animal hands are especially tough, and Mangiatordi is great at them.

Not like the rest of these guys are slouches by any means, but Mangiatordi's chapter is my favorite so far.

From Wizards of Mickey volume 1 from Yen Press.

Soccer Mania!

 I played some soccer yesterday.

Lost in Scanlation

 

Probably every fan of manga, bande dessinee, fumetti, manhua, etc, has looked at "scanlations" (fan-made unofficial translations) and thought, "I got Google Translate, how hard can it be?"

It's hard.

I gave up after 3 pages of this random issue of Topolino I found online:

If you ever want to find out what happens to Pete and this other guy you can a) learn Italian or (b) wait 6 months or so for me to finish, Google Scanman42069 dot Tumblr dot com.