Duck Comics Revue: "The Beagle Boys' Very Merry Christmas"

Hello, all. Just a quick hit here. I didn't think I was going to be doing anything else for Christmas, but then, idly flipping through some Christmas comix, I encountered this one. I'd read it once before, but I didn't even remember that until my reread. All I recall is that I found it weird and pointless, which is a bit odd, because this came out in 2018, and I would have thought that by that time, I'd have long since come to appreciate the weird and pointless.

Anyway, the main point is, this is one of those nutsoid Brazilian stories, which is always something to celebrate. Or so I believe. And we can see from inducks that we're fortunate to have gotten this; it's not been widely reprinted. I may have covered a Brazilian Christmas story a few years back, but this one is...different. A bit. I realize that this opening doesn't look that special...

...but you get an inkling quickly enough.

So yup, we're doing Alice in Wonderland Here. And Through the Looking Glass, natch. What a festive...thing! Am I about to cavil about something? I feel like I am. And that thing is, "we're all mad here" is such an iconic phrase, it feels quite jarring and wrong to switch it to 'crazy,' which isn't anything. Imagine if Hamlet intoned "to be or not to be--that is the query." Not quite the same, is it?

Anyway, the main goal here seems to be to cram in as many Alice characters as possible, and it doesn't do a bad job at it, at that. I'm certainly not an expert on these books (though I've read them both), but the only omission that I found really noticeable was the Lion and Unicorn. Um, spoiler, I guess?

I appreciate that the story even tries to work in some of Carroll's linguistic stuff--that it's not JUST about some zany dudes, even though it mainly is. But while I have no idea how this worked in Portuguese, in English it kind of...doesn't. "Will you not have some tea?" sounds archaic and stilted, sure, but it's easily parsable at least for a native speaker, and not meaningful different than "Won't you have some tea?"--which, let's be honest, is still a little old-fashioned-sounding. Yes, you can make it sound weirder by emphasizing the "not," as this does, but then comparing it to the "won't" version just seems meaningless.

I mean, there's not a lot to say about the story, because it's not much of one. Just all these people or creatures dashing about. It's pretty fun, though--it gives it an anarchic spirit that's at least somewhat in tune with the source material.

Did you forget that this was a Christmas story? Well guess what! The Beagles don't get beheaded because of the spirit of Christmas! How's THAT for festive and magical?

Cheshire Cat. Not much else to say, but I DID cut these panels, so enjoy them.

I mean, this is okay, innit? Snowing diamonds! That's sparkly and fun.

And--heck yes--we've got THESE two! Join the party, boys!

I love it. I suppose the allusion to "You Are Old Father William" was added in translation, but that's fine--it just makes me wish there was something about "How Doth the Little Crocodile," which is one of my favorite things in the book. Just the idea that she was required to memorize (presumably) this didactic bit of doggerel, but she only remembers it as a nonsense pastiche. Take that, Victorian education

Speaking of groovy poems! Love that these guys are here, though predictably, the story really undersells the idea that all the oysters are going to be messily devoured. Well, maybe not "messily," but either way...

"What exactly is this all building to?" you might wonder. That answer is, it's not really "building" at all, but this is more or less the end of it, at least.

Back at the prison--this is fun! Ya got Pete and the Blot and...those are Beagle Brats, are they? I feel like there might be some sort of issue with sticking children in the general population? Maybe? Ah well.

...and no, I checked, and those are NOT Beagle Brats; these are the assistants of a Brazilian villain named Sr. X--the guy sitting to their right. Neither they nor he have ever appeared in an English-language context other than here. So that's a thing. I don't KNOW if we're missing out on anything by not getting more stories featuring them, but I'd love to find out!