Recently, three volumes have been released on the Polish publishing market, which have been described as "comic book stories". These are books telling a story from the duck and mouse universe of Disney with many illustrations, often comic-like (where we also deal with speech bubbles). How is such a combination?
Young Donek
The first title I reviewed is also the best of all three. Do you remember the stories about the young Donald Duck raised by Grandma Duck? These comics reached their peak of popularity in Poland a decade ago when they were published in the Donald Duck magazine .Jimmy Gownley, the lead writer, tries to keep his story in the same atmosphere as we know it from the comic books of the funniest magazine in the world. Here we have a bit of family warmth, strange adventures and a storm of adolescent Donald’s hormones. The storyline focuses on how young Donald tries to help save his grandmother’s farm, and as a result of some coincidence, he enters one of the best schools in the country. Donald and science? Of course, this is just another element that will give us even more laughter.
The issue of composition of comic illustrations and text is really sensational here. The illustrator, i.e. Jay P. Fosgitt, with his drawings tries to come closer to the style of Carl Barks, Vicar and Don Rosa. This is an extraordinary story that the heroes really create. We have a real rollercoster of characters here, from Mickey Mouse, through Goofy, Daisy, Be brothers, to the Scrooge McDuck himself. Each dialogue is also distinguished by a different color, and most importantly, the narrator breaks the fourth wall, getting even closer to the reader.
Girls strength
Spyware. Double Scam is the subtitle of the second volume. This time the main characters are Minnie and Daisy, accompanied by Klarabella, Miki, Donald, among others, as well as completely new characters. Here, too, the protagonists are rejuvenated in relation to the prototype, because they are just starting their adventure with studies. Both will attend the University of Kalisota (i.e. the fictional state where Kaczogród and Myszgród are located). The whole intrigue begins with a mysterious integration event, to which the duck goes alone, without the company of her friend. But something happened at this party. And, as befits a Mickey Mouse with a detective inclination, Minnie decides to find out the truth.
The entire comic book reads very quickly, as does the first and third volumes. All because of the form. Light, fluid narrative, colored with many illustrations, and sometimes also with irregular comic panels. In order to facilitate the reading process for the youngest and to enable adults to follow the action faster, the characters’ dialogues have a completely different color. Daisy’s statements are purple, Minnie Mice’s red, and all other characters are assigned a turquoise color, while the narrator is black.
Drawings in comparison to the story about Donald constitute a completely new style. You can see a characteristic, new aesthetic that is closer to manga than to Euro-American comics. The plot itself is very interesting and can attract both adult and younger readers, because, as befits a story about secret agents, we get a lot of twists. However, it is certainly a story aimed at female readers thanks to the main characters.
Youth again!
This time it’s time for … more young heroes. However, this is not a change in relation to the original, because we get a story about Hyzie, Dyzie and Zyzie. Three resourceful little ducklings go to Germany for a student exchange. And when we talk about Germany, let’s not only have football and German delicacies in our heads, but also mad scientists.
The Scary Sphere. The nightmare formula is perhaps the worst story, as there are more novels in it than comic book elements. The plot is also not very complicated, but you cannot expect anything outstanding from a narrative about children, also directed at children. There are certain elements of the thrill of what might be presented to younger readers. Unfortunately, the graphics are painfully looked at. The nephews’ spouts resemble the big Botox mouths. Also, the number of speech bubbles is limited to only the number of fingers on one hand. What about the other characters? Well, they got a one-dimensional show that literally does not impress you with anything.
It is worth reaching out and forming your opinion!
The new graphic stories from Egmont may not be strictly comic books, but they can be interesting – not only with the original formula, but also with the narrative itself. Each of these books has its advantages and disadvantages, but the overall performance is very good. Especially when we pay attention to the fact that these are books for younger readers, which are the basis for introduction to the Disney comic book world.
