Well, you'll be the judge of that. Fact is, I've been, naturally, acquainting myself with the third Fantagraphics mouse book, and kinda marveling about just how damned good it is. I'd read most of these stories before--Gladstone I reprinted all but one of them--but seeing them in chronological, concentrated form like this really makes me realize: damn. Floyd was on fire. What a spectacular run.
Problem is, I was having trouble deciding which one to write about, since there are lots of interesting things to say about all of 'em. So ultimately, I decided, fuck it: I'm declaring this the Summer of Mickey and writing about all them sumbitches. Nine entries total. I don't have an exact timetable, but you can expect to see them all sooner or later, starting tomorrow with "Captive Castaways."
("Look at your masthead, asshole! 'Duck Comics Revue!' Judas! Hope you're enjoying your thirty pieces of silver!" To which I can only say A) Yes. B) Donald's in one of them, so calm the fuck down. C) If anyone would like to give me some actual pieces of silver as opposed to these useless figurative ones, I wouldn't say no.)
I'm very happy with this mini-project. A Duck Dude myself, these volumes and the care that obviously went into them are additionally making me a Mouse Man. I especially want to commend the treatment the series is receiving on its Facebook pages; panels, reviews and neat stuff uploaded almost daily. Clearly the community enjoys this, for it has more than three times the members the Carl Barks' Library page does (which is a desert right now).
ReplyDeleteSpeakin' of said Library! After Mickey's Summer is over, will ya tackle some of the marquee stories from the 2 released volumes? Lost in the Andes and Only A Poor Old Man are both emblematic Barks' gems that the blog has yet to comment on. Just curious! Bring on the mice!
Masthead be damned!
ReplyDelete“Duck Comics”, in whatever form they’ve taken since Unca Floyd first drew “Pointy-Beaked Jumping-Bean Donald”, have all GROWN OUT OF these “Mouse Comics”! Go for it!
So, did you bring back anything for your readers from the Zambezi? …Besides the requisite “lousy t-shirt”, that is!
I think you know where I stand on the whole thing. (-:
ReplyDeleteLost in the Andes and Only A Poor Old Man are both emblematic Barks' gems that the blog has yet to comment on.
ReplyDeleteI've certainly thought about it--the only issue, especially with "Only a Poor Old Man," is that it's so incredibly well-known, and the issues associated with it are so well hashed-out, that I'm not sure I could bring anything new to the table. It would sorta be Uncle Scrooge 101. Then again, there could certainly be *some* value in that...
So, did you bring back anything for your readers from the Zambezi? …Besides the requisite “lousy t-shirt”, that is!
...fond memories? The ability to pontificate about African animals as though this made me some kinda expert? Actually, it would be super-cool if there were Zambian Disney comics, especially given that the official language is English. But alas!
Geo,
ReplyDeleteI'm with Joe... It's not as if you haven't taken time to do Mouse reviews before. This would merely be an extension of that.
Chris
Geo writes:
ReplyDelete“I've certainly thought about it--the only issue, especially with "Only a Poor Old Man," is that it's so incredibly well-known, and the issues associated with it are so well hashed-out, that I'm not sure I could bring anything new to the table. It would sorta be Uncle Scrooge 101. Then again, there could certainly be *some* value in that...”
I know where you’re coming from, Geo!
It’s the same reason there’s a Humphrey Bogart DVD review up on my Blog at present – and there are 9 others previously posted – but I won’t attempt “Casablanca” or “The Maltese Falcon”.
Love them, and "Only a Poor Old Man", as I might, there’s probably little or nothing I can add to what’s already been said. If possible, I prefer to cover new or less-traveled paths – with Scrooge, Bogart, or any other area of interest.
Either way, I’m sure you’ll have SOMETHING interesting to say, if you so choose.