Boom May Roundup
Barks/Rosa Collection, Volume 4
Well, it's not actually called that, but these would have been the stories in Gemstone's collection of that title. When each of the previous books in the series were released, I didn't own at least one of the stories therein, so they were quite exciting for me. Naturally, this isn't the case this time, so my excitement is somewhat limited. "The Mysterious Stone Ray" is a Barks classic, of course; "Cash Flow," well...it's okay. It's a very early Rosa story, and he was still kind of finding his footing (the only, tenuous, connection between the two is that they both featuring the same eccentric scientist). Still, maybe there's some soul out there who's at the same place with his or her collection that I was a couple three years ago, in which case, he or she will probably really appreciate this!
Donald Duck 366
The last installment in what Boom is pleased to refer to as "the Donald Duck 'Pirate Gold' trilogy," an Italian story from 1962. Kinda odd to see Scrooge and the Beagles in a story hearkening back to a pre-Barksian age (sure Barks worked on the original "Pirate Gold," but it's hard to see that story as exactly Barksian as we now think of the quality), but what the hey. What made Boom hit upon all this pirate stuff to reprint? Dunno, but I'm not complaining (though I'm anticipating the Jack Hannah story in 365 substantially more than this one). Shed a tear for Yellow Beak, as this is his last ever appearance. Alas!
Uncle Scrooge 403
A long-ish Scarpa story and a short Jippes jaunt to finish things off. As you know, I'm lukewarm at best on Scarpa, but our friend Joe Torcivia commented on his work on this particular story in comments to a previous post, so I'm at least somewhat curious. The question remains: will the people at Boom have some sort of nervous breakdown when they run out of Jippes stuff to run? Not that I don't usually enjoy his work, but Boom's seeming dependency on him raises Troubling Questions.
WDC 719
New Van Horn story, new (to the US) Kinney/Hubbard Fethry story (it's called "Water Sports," and if you think I am Going There, you have gravely underestimated by maturity level. Okay, maybe not), something by Taliaferro, and a L'il Bad Wolf thing of some sort. Not too bad! It seems like Wolf stuff has become sort of the de facto "third" in WDC lately, after Donald and Mickey (though Mickey isn't in this one). Hey, fine, have it your way; the chances of me being super-excited about any third are fairly low. But a little variety wouldn't come amiss--how 'bout instead of the constant lupinity (that's a word, right? Of course it is!), we get some Bucky Bug or…or…okay, I'm drawing a blank on other options that aren't reruns from back in the day. But you're bright boys; you'll figure out something.
Well, it's not actually called that, but these would have been the stories in Gemstone's collection of that title. When each of the previous books in the series were released, I didn't own at least one of the stories therein, so they were quite exciting for me. Naturally, this isn't the case this time, so my excitement is somewhat limited. "The Mysterious Stone Ray" is a Barks classic, of course; "Cash Flow," well...it's okay. It's a very early Rosa story, and he was still kind of finding his footing (the only, tenuous, connection between the two is that they both featuring the same eccentric scientist). Still, maybe there's some soul out there who's at the same place with his or her collection that I was a couple three years ago, in which case, he or she will probably really appreciate this!
Donald Duck 366
The last installment in what Boom is pleased to refer to as "the Donald Duck 'Pirate Gold' trilogy," an Italian story from 1962. Kinda odd to see Scrooge and the Beagles in a story hearkening back to a pre-Barksian age (sure Barks worked on the original "Pirate Gold," but it's hard to see that story as exactly Barksian as we now think of the quality), but what the hey. What made Boom hit upon all this pirate stuff to reprint? Dunno, but I'm not complaining (though I'm anticipating the Jack Hannah story in 365 substantially more than this one). Shed a tear for Yellow Beak, as this is his last ever appearance. Alas!
Uncle Scrooge 403
A long-ish Scarpa story and a short Jippes jaunt to finish things off. As you know, I'm lukewarm at best on Scarpa, but our friend Joe Torcivia commented on his work on this particular story in comments to a previous post, so I'm at least somewhat curious. The question remains: will the people at Boom have some sort of nervous breakdown when they run out of Jippes stuff to run? Not that I don't usually enjoy his work, but Boom's seeming dependency on him raises Troubling Questions.
WDC 719
New Van Horn story, new (to the US) Kinney/Hubbard Fethry story (it's called "Water Sports," and if you think I am Going There, you have gravely underestimated by maturity level. Okay, maybe not), something by Taliaferro, and a L'il Bad Wolf thing of some sort. Not too bad! It seems like Wolf stuff has become sort of the de facto "third" in WDC lately, after Donald and Mickey (though Mickey isn't in this one). Hey, fine, have it your way; the chances of me being super-excited about any third are fairly low. But a little variety wouldn't come amiss--how 'bout instead of the constant lupinity (that's a word, right? Of course it is!), we get some Bucky Bug or…or…okay, I'm drawing a blank on other options that aren't reruns from back in the day. But you're bright boys; you'll figure out something.
posted by GeoX, one of the GeoX boys. at
10:01 PM
12 Comments:
A "new" Hubbard Fethry story?! That's awesome
They were originally written for the Australian market, so there's actually a fair few of them that haven't seen print in the US.
I just love Hubbard's art, but I've only ever read two or three of his Duck stories.
Actually, GeoX, the S-coded stories were written for foreign markets in general.
Gold Key/Whitman could use them, too, now and then, though they only used a very few—and I'm not entirely sure why; I've only heard conjecture (maybe they had to pay an extra fee? But I don't know).
Apart from Gold Key, Gulf Oil published a domestic Disney giveaway magazine in the late 1960s that included a few Kinney Fethry stories.
Oh, right. I think you actually clarified that for me before, and I forgot. But Australia certainly seems to have been fond of them!
Geo:
About Donald Duck # 366, you wrote: “Dunno, but I'm not complaining (though I'm anticipating the Jack Hannah story in 365 substantially more than this one).”
Aw, gee… would you anticipate it, even a little more, if… if I said I did the script?
Now, that the issue is being publicized, I’m happy to report it’s one of mine! Yes, the original may have “harken[ed] back to a pre-Barksian age” but I made sure to have Donald say that “Things have CHANGED since the days of Barks and Hannah-built schooners!”
Now SCROOGE is the driving force of the Duck Family and, per the authors of the original work, he and his perpetual conflicts with the various sects of The Beagle Boys take center stage.
Another thing that’s changed is that, unlike the original “Pirate Gold” yarn – which was, in many spots, a wordless, glorified animation storyboard – this version was chock full of dialogue balloons for me to fill with humor and characterization. So, please allow for such differences in storytelling between the two.
But, at its core, it’s still Old Yellow Beak, Donald, the nephews, an old ship, and another treasure map! And, I’m proud to be along for the 22-page ride!
As you note, it’s a big month for me, with Uncle Scrooge # 403’s Romano Scarpa story “The Pelican Thief”, and the Mickey Mouse and Ludwig Von Drake team-up “To the Moon by Noon” – with art by The Great Paul Murry – is scheduled for WDC # 718 (April) as well.
But, never mind me… the entire Boom! Disney line is now ON FIRE! It’s a great time to be a Disney comics fan!
Joe.
I quite agree--Disney comics are being quite unexpectedly awesome these days. And it's not that I'm not looking forward to the 'pirate' story here--it's just that, I dunno, there's something about seeing a super-rare Cheerios giveaway reprinted in the US for the first time EVER that really does it for me. I will avidly read the both of them, however.
Geo,
I definitely second you and Joe. It took longer to get here than we might have liked, but Boom! has finally "arrived"! Now, let's hope that the Disney Comics parallels do NOT repeat themselves 20-plus years on.
Chris
Yup, exciting times for Disney comics. Thanks for posting these solicits!
Both "Stone Ray" and "Cash Flow" (first Rosa story I read) made HUGE impressions on me when I first read them back during Gladstone I. That shot of the Bin exploding is still pretty damned awesome. And while I already have both stories in high-quality format, it's still going to be a special treat to have 'em packaged together like this.
Would hoping for commentary text (like in the previous Barks/Rosa books) be pushing it?
About the cover though: I hope "Not Final Art" means they'll consider moving that title text to somewhere near the bottom of the cover, rather than the awkward position it's in now. Already a bit much goin' on up there with the masthead and Beagles. Nice to see them giving those Piscou pinups some American exposure though!
Glad to see scripting on the other stories listed is in the upstanding hands of the gentlemen above. Verily, they doth know what they do.
The first page of "Cash Flow" is of special interest, because it's the Life and Times in a nutshell. Don Rosa had already constructed his timeline back then! The rest of the story is pretty exciting, too.
Two stories, four months apart, is "constant lupinity"? (Sorry, I just had to use the phrase.)
I have deduced that it is so, using Science. Or at least until the company shows it's got something else up its sleeve for WDC. Not that it's a big deal to me either way.
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