Search high. Search low. Search above. Search below. But get yourself a copy of MICKEY MOUSE # 4 (Legacy Numbering: 313) from IDW.
In it, you’ll find the New-to-the-USA “Mickey Mouse and the Gift of the Sun Lord” (originally from the Italian TOPOLINO # 2565, in 2005) written by the Modern Master of the Mouse Andrea (“Casty”) Castellan, with lively art by the great Giorgio Cavazzano – all brought to you by the superb translation and dialoguing of Jonathan Gray!
Mickey attends one of those simultaneously stuffy and fascinating lectures we all wish we could attend, on the Ancient Mayans.
As if a “Mystery Buff” of Mickey’s caliber could miss
this!
Though maybe THIS "Mystery Buff" would pass...
Yep, he'd DEFINITELY PASS!
The lecturer’s associate is none other than Eurasia Toft, to whom we were introduced to in the now classic IDW MICKEY MOUSE # 1!
Oh-oh, Eurasia’s in trouble…
Mickey and Goofy leap into action!
Have they EVER done “jungle nonsense”!
A wonderful pun by Jonathan! …HE’S “one in a million”!
Waitaminnit! "GREAT SQUEAK?!!" REALLY?! Gray giveth and he taketh away - one panel later!
No surprise, Pete’s involved.
But here’s a surprise for Pete from Eurasia! It's never that easy though, as there's plenty more villainy to come
No more spoilers, but here’s an awesome panel by
Cavazzano!
What happens inside? You'll not find out from me!
The issue is rounded-out by a one-page Mickey and Goofy gag by Paul Murry, from Dell Comics’ MICKEY MOUSE # 61 (1958).
So, “make an appointment” to pick up MICKEY MOUSE # 4 (Legacy Numbering: 313). Just don’t use the Mayan Calendar, or you may be disappointed.
As always, once you’ve read the issue, please come back and join the discussion in our Comments Section!
Just remember, I do not speak for IDW, or anyone in its employ. I speak strictly for myself as both a long-time fan and as a dialogue creator – and those opinions are strictly my own.
I’ll meet you back here for another lively comment thread!
I’ll meet you back here for another lively comment thread!
Just don't anyone say "Great Squeak!", okay?
And, don’t forget, Casty returns with story AND art in MICKEY MOUSE # 6… and I might be there to “help out just a little”.
10 comments:
Eurasia is an effective replacement of the archetypal "professor" character that usually accompanies Mickey and Goofy on their adventures - Professor Dustibones, Doctor Einmeg, Doc Static - only she offers some nice moments of humor and derring-do that keep the pace rolling. I wonder if Casty has her meet Goofy's uncle, Arizona Dipp?
It looks like we'll start seeing stories written and illustrated by Casty soon. I think the last two were the first stories he wrote. Not a bad debut.
‘Rehab:
Uncharacteristic of me, the thought of the ORDER of the Casty stories we’ve seen published in the USA (over Boom! and IDW) did not cross my mind until reading your comment.
If I correctly interpret THIS LINK, the Eurasia Toft debut story appearing in IDW’s MICKEY MOUSE # 1 would be the FOURTH story Casty wrote. And the one in this issue would be Number 12 – though it appears with the “number 13” because the COVER (his first) is counted as “number 12”.
The stories we saw during Boom!’s run, came later. And the one scheduled for IDW’s MICKEY MOUSE # 6 in November, which Casty also drew, came after those. Originating in 2010, the story we call “Plan Dine from Outer Space” would be the MOST RECENT Casty story to appear in the USA to this point.
And, looking over that link, the greatest thing is that there are SO MANY MORE Casty stories (whether writing-only, or both story and art) that can appear here in the future! And 3, out of the first 6, IDW issues is certainly a great start!
I hope IDW reprints that "Magnificent Doublejoke" story. I recall him mention it when an interview was included with Boom!'s trade paperback collection of "Mickey Mouse and The Orbiting Nightmare". And whike glancing at the link, I notice he's done a LOT pitting Mickey against The Phantom Blot, so I look forward to seeing that too. I know he didn't write that "Sound Blot" tale, but I liked it because that adversarial relationship between Mickey and The Blot is always fun...even though he seemed more like Dr. Doofenshmirtz without his mask on. Or Dick Dastardly..stop the pigeon, stop the platypus, stop that rodent...:)
And, when those Casty Blot stories appear, I hope I get to dialogue them! It never hurts to start lobbying early! :-)
It's fascinating for me, having known the German version for a long time (it was released in 2006 - the first story with Eurasia in this language, a stupid mistake since Mickey and Goofy already know her well but readers had no idea why), to see excerpts of the English translation. The scene before Pete getting punched is vastly different. The German version has a running gag which starts with the parrot calling Eurasia "Fräulein Zöpfchen" (maybe best translated as "Miss Pigtail") and it turns out Pete had given her that nickname - so in that scene he uses it again and she tells him to quit calling her like that or otherwise he'll "feel her fist".
(What does the parrot say in the English translation?)
In fact the German version doesn't explain the collapse until much later, so I'm not even quite sure why she says "You tried to kill me" to Pete? Must be really quite different text...
I also noticed that the text bubbles are smaller in my version!
This was before I really started noticing Casty's name, by the way. Shame on me but it wasn't until his Phantastic (!) Blot stories that I started to notice the impact of an obvious "new" talent.
Julian:
Well, ya got me to dig out my copy of IDW’s MICKEY MOUSE # 4, so that I might best answer your questions. No one can say this isn’t a full-service Blog! As you leave, there’ll be a card for you to fill out, rating your experience at TIAH Blog! …Please say nice things about me, and maybe I’ll get a raise!
Seriously, always happy to help – if I can! Here goes…
In the IDW English version, the parrot calls Eurasia “Lady Longtail”.
As for Pete trying to kill Eurasia, her dialogue from the LAST PANEL of PAGE TEN reads: “Then I guess there was some sort o’ attack? I heard Giorno scream. Then someone brought th’ fort down on top o’ me! Next thing I knew, I was entombed!”
You can see the rubble of the attacked fort in the NEXT TO LAST PANEL of PAGE TEN. Hope that helped!
I’d imagine getting stories out of order happens every now and then. That’s yet another great thing about IDW. Their plan has been to INTRODUCE characters that are new to the USA, easing them into the mainstream for readers unfamiliar with them, and integrating them into the cast as a whole.
…Please remember to fill-out the evaluation-card, and tipping is not discouraged. Do come again! :-)
Thanks for the detailed answers! Yeah, I only just discovered this blog. Great "reader service" from you. :)
"Lady Longtail", eh? As for the dialogue, it seems the English and German versions are quite different in that regard. There's talk of kidnapping but it isn't until much later (when Pete outwits Goofy) that the falling-in of the fort is actually explained...
I've also seen some excerpts of that "Night of the Living Text" you did. I think the climactic sequence is better in the German version, ouch! Of course I have no idea what the original Italian text was but having Micky tell an over-the-top joke at THAT point seems like the better fit than just making fun of Goofy's ears ;-) It just caps off all the previous craziness quite nicely...
Now where's that evaluation card...
Julian:
The evaluation card comes with a list of suggested gratuities, broken down by the service provided… so, are you sure you still want it? :-)
Once again, happy to help regarding IDW’s MICKEY MOUSE # 4. Whenever I CAN make the time to better promote these comics, answer questions, or provide additional information (within my normal time constraints), I will. …As long as (as seen in my usual disclaimer) it’s known that I don’t speak for IDW – and only do so for myself.
Glad you discovered this humble Blog. Just curious, how did you come upon it? I like knowing little details like that.
“Night of the Living Text” is my absolute favorite of the stories I worked on and, regrettably, did not get a Blog post of its own, as the Blog was “dark” at that point in time. Now that it's back, I’m considering reviewing it retroactively.
Curious again… How is the “…climactic sequence better in the German version”, especially if you’ve only seen “excerpts” of the American version? Seriously, I’d like to know how it differed… Sorta the REVERSE of what we just did above with MM # 4!
My version does not have Mickey “making fun of Goofy's ears”. Even though the art looks like it invokes that, instead I had Mickey perform what he called “Crazy Ear Tricks”.
So, please let me know, about the climax in particular.
As for the blog - I'm not sure anymore, but I think it was when I discovered that IDW had printed Casty's Eurasia stories, that I was curious to see some comments about how those (and the character itself) were received among the English speaking Disney community. A google search brought up your blog (and some other sites), and there I was :)
As for the Living Text, the German sequence involves a word play that probably doesn't work that well in English. And given the way *I* know the story, I think I can be forgiven for thinking Mickey was making fun of Goofy's ears. Here's my attempt at a German -> English translation...
Goofy frogging about: "C'mon, Mickey... - croak! - What are you waiting for?"
Mickey: "Uh... I'm waiting for something senseless to come to mind..."
Prof: "Unbelievable. How can anybody be so grimly serious?!"
Pete: "He's always been a nitpicker."
Goofy: "Why not tell us one of your stories?"
Mickey: "But you always say they're not true!"
Goofy: "That's the point!"
Mickey surrounded by text boxes: "Oh, I see! Well..."
Mickey with normal ears: "One day I was at the beach with Goofy. He absolutely wanted to use sun lotion. So he started, but then he suddenly looked at the bottle and said..."
Mickey with flat ears: " 'Hyuck! I didn't know there were cows on the sun.' "
Mickey with normal ears: "I said: 'Nonsense, there are no cows. How did you come up with that crazy notion?' "
Mickey with flat ears: "And then Goofy said: 'But on the bottle it clearly says: Sun milk' "
Mickey: "Hihi! Erm... wasn't that a great one?"
Mickey while the boxes explode all around: "Eeek!!"
For me, it's just the perfect WTF moment to top off a WTF story. :D
Julian:
Very sorry about the delay in getting this comment published!
That’s very interesting, regarding what Mickey’s joke was. My guess is that every translator made up their own joke, just as I did.
Since you have so many interesting things to say, I'm going to suggest that you leave another comment with your e-mail address. I will not publish it, but will respond – and we can have more of a dialogue.
That applies to anyone, with whom I’m not presently in communication with. Hope to see an e-mail address from you soon.
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