In a word... yes!
In two words... Yes! Yes!
In three words... YES! YES! YES!
Do I make myself clear?
Fantagraphics kicks-off its new Disney Masters line of hardcover collections with a true winner!
But, what is "Disney Masters"? Allow me to quote from the back cover of the book...
"Fantagraphics' unprecedented new series, Disney Masters, brings you the work of the best Disney cartoonists from around the world - many in English for the first time."
Previously, Fantagraphics has brought us "Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse by Floyd Gottfredson", a heretofore "impossible dream" collecting all the years of Mickey Mouse newspaper strip continuities by the great Floyd Gottfredson - from 1930-1955!
This incredible effort was followed-up by similar collections of the comic book work of Carl Barks...
...And Don Rosa!
That is A LOT OF GREAT STUFF, folks!
With the "Big Disney Three" of Gottfredson, Barks, and Rosa either under their belt, or otherwise ongoing, it is only natural that this extraordinary publisher turn its attentions to those other talents that have made the Disney comic the stuff of legends...
And, who better to feature in the inaugural effort than "The Maestro" himself - Romano Scarpa!
In the pantheon of Disney comic creators, Italy's Romano Scarpa would rank third overall, directly behind the aforementioned Gottfredson and Barks - and his work was unquestionably influenced by both!
Indeed, while most creators would seem to have had a preference for "The Mickey Mouse Group of Characters" (as did Gottfredson, Paul Murry, Casty, etc.), or "The Donald Duck Group of Characters" (as did Barks, Rosa, William Van Horn, etc.) Romano Scarpa was an extraordinary creative force with both!
Mickey Mouse by Scarpa.
Donald Duck by Scarpa.
Uncle Scrooge by Scarpa.
As a sequel to this unforgettable adventure, Scarpa gives us "Mickey Mouse and the Bleep-Bleep 15" - Story and pencils by Romano Scarpa. Inks by Rodolfo Cimino. 63 Pages. Translation and dialogue by Jonathan H. Gray. Reprinted from Italy's TOPOLINO # 257-258 (1960).
Like his mentor, Dr. Einmug, Atomo speaks with a German accent!
By this time, you may be thinking that Atomo Bleep-Bleep is Romano Scarpa's own version of "Eega Beeva", Floyd Gottfredson and Bill Walsh's eccentric source of miracles from the year 2447... and you'd be RIGHT!
Mickey's "Bleep-Bleep-less" adventure takes him on a treacherous journey to the supposedly-fictional-but-actually-real lost city of "Shan-Grilla"...
...Where he finds an "Old Friend" as the "New Guy in Charge"!
No more spoilers... except maybe this!
So, join Mickey, Minnie, and Peg Leg Pete...
...Oh, and did we mention Peg Leg Pete?
...in Fantagraphics' Disney Masters Mickey Mouse "The Delta Dimension" Romano Scarpa!
...And ain't that the ever-lovin' truth!
While I love 'em all, I feel Scarpa's best work was on Mickey Mouse... and three of Scarpa's very best Mickey Mouse adventures, from what the book notes as his "Golden Age" of 1953-1963, are found in this volume!
True to the words of the back cover, two of these stories have never before been printed in American English... but, in order to include them, Fantagraphics MUST include our first tale - which HAS been printed in the USA... but only in DIGEST FORM, so it's still a great delight to read it in full size!
Without further ado, we open with "Mickey Mouse in the Delta Dimension" - Story and pencils by Romano Scarpa. Inks by Rodolfo Cimino. 72 Pages. Translation and dialogue by David Gerstein. Reprinted from Italy's TOPOLINO # 206-207 (1959).
Freakish weather phenomena, like cotton candy snow and a precipitation of glowing lights, lead Mickey and the Mouseton Police to a mysterious blackmailer, who threatens that the next storm will be one of acid!
The trail leads to a strange place called "The Delta Dimension" and to Mickey's old pal Dr. Einmug, from this ultra-classic Gottfredson tale - and his newest "discovery", the sentient atom-child known as "Atomo Bleep-Bleep"!
The incredible places to which this tale takes us is proof-positive of the extraordinary imagination of Romano Scarpa. Sorry... No Spoilers! ...Awright... mebbe just this li'l one, eh?
As a sequel to this unforgettable adventure, Scarpa gives us "Mickey Mouse and the Bleep-Bleep 15" - Story and pencils by Romano Scarpa. Inks by Rodolfo Cimino. 63 Pages. Translation and dialogue by Jonathan H. Gray. Reprinted from Italy's TOPOLINO # 257-258 (1960).
Time has passed and the incredible little genius atom-boy "Atomo Bleep-Bleep" has not only adapted to life outside the Delta Dimension, but is visiting Mickey, and has become a playmate to Mick's nephew Morty.
An accidental sneeze releases the force of Atomo's "Mesons" (a liquid force that he expels from his mouth - seen here from a different story)...
...And turns a toy rocket into a device that can travel at light-speed and "...steal the gravity and momentum away from any object it touches" - suspending said object (or person) in mid-air, mid-run, or mid-anything!
Hey, I TOLD YA Scarpa had a great imagination!
Needless to say, this device gets into the wrong hands, as so many super-scientific marvels are wont to do, and adventure ensues! Again... No Spoilers! Except the one I just showed ya below!
By this time, you may be thinking that Atomo Bleep-Bleep is Romano Scarpa's own version of "Eega Beeva", Floyd Gottfredson and Bill Walsh's eccentric source of miracles from the year 2447... and you'd be RIGHT!
In our final story, lest you begin suffering from "Bleep-Bleep Fatigue", Atomo abruptly goes home to the Delta Dimension - not unlike the way Eega abruptly returned to 2477 in the original Gottfredson strip...
...Leaving Mickey to get on with our final adventure: "Mickey Mouse and the Fabulous City of Shan-Grilla" - Story and pencils by Romano Scarpa. Inks by Rodolfo Cimino. 65 Pages. Translation and dialogue by Dwight Decker. Reprinted from Italy's TOPOLINO # 288-289 (1961).
Mickey's "Bleep-Bleep-less" adventure takes him on a treacherous journey to the supposedly-fictional-but-actually-real lost city of "Shan-Grilla"...
HOO-BOY!
So, join Mickey, Minnie, and Peg Leg Pete...
...And Atomo Bleep-Bleep and Dr. Einmug...
...Oh, and did we mention Peg Leg Pete?
...For the adventures of a lifetime, courtesy of the genius of Maestro Romano Scarpa...
...in Fantagraphics' Disney Masters Mickey Mouse "The Delta Dimension" Romano Scarpa!
As the back cover says:
"It's Mickey Mouse at his crime-fighting and swashbuckling best!"
...And ain't that the ever-lovin' truth!
While all roads may have led to Romano Scarpa in this perfect "first-of-series", Fantagraphics has some real treats up their "Disney Masters" sleeve! If you can believe it, the NEXT VOLUME even TOPS THIS ONE!
If you thought Romano Scarpa was something, wait until you get a dose of Luciano Bottaro!
Contained herein is some of the WILDEST STUFF you've ever seen in a Disney comic! And, if you've read as many of 'em as I have, you know that's quite a statement coming from me!
I translated and dialogued the titular lead story, so I KNOW what's coming - and IT IS INCREDIBLE!
The second and third stories in this volume are translated and dialogued by Jonathan Gray and Thad Komorowski. So, if you like what we do at IDW, you'll love it here - combined, as it is, with the incredible creative energy of Luciano Bottaro!
And, if you don't know the name of Luciano Bottaro BEFORE reading this book, you'll NEVER FORGET IT afterward!
Indeed, following Bottaro, you'll need a full volume of "The Relative Sanity of Paul Murry's Mickey Mouse Serials of the 1950s", just to restore your equilibrium!
11 comments:
One additional comment on this extraordinary book…
As (…all together now) “Horrifically Busy” as I almost always seem to be of late, I read this book – from cover to cover – in LESS THAN THREE DAYS!
I *NEVER* DO THAT… So, that’s just a hint of how compelling this volume was!
…Your thoughts?
I agree, Joe, that this book (and the second volume) truly are great! In fact, I read it cover to cover in just one day! But I'm certainly not as "Horrifically Busy" as you are. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.
Your dialoging of Uncle Scrooge's Money Rocket was great, by the way! And I caught one of your famous "Bertram references" in the name of the valuable metal Donald receives.
Thank you, George!
I, too, am looking forward to the rest of this incredible series.
“Uncle Scrooge’s Money Rocket” was a tremendous amount of sheer fun to work on – from start to finish! Two of my most famous “Bertram References” were in this story, and in “The Wonderful Wishing Crown”! …And, to think, it all started with a throwaway “restaurant parody sign”, way back in 2008’s UNCLE SCROOGE # 375!
And, unless something unexpected occurs, expect to find another one in the Carpi volume “King of the Golden River”, as I also dialogued that one… and also behold one of the most amazing “Scrooge chases Donald” bits at story’s end!
I feel obligated to clarify that Atomo's mesons aren't a “liquid” force, they're a bunch of oversized particles (which, being roundish and bluish, look like water droplets); as Wikipedia will inform you (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meson) such particles really exist, though the sort of outlandish things they do in Atomo's use thereof just mayyy be a bit of artistic liberty.
I envy you folks who finally get to see Shan-Grilla (…I mean, owing to being bilingual I'll get it too when I muster up the moolah for this book, but…), because believe it or not, we Frenchmen, who have generally seen a lot more Scarpa than the United States, have never had a version of that particular story. Which was made all the more tantalizing by the fact that the scholarly articles of our Carl Barks Library made sure to mention it profusely in the Bottlecaps for Tralla La commentary and make it sound as great as possible… Ha! Speaking of which, isn't it a bit of a waste that "Shan-Grilla" wasn't translated as "Tralla La", thus bridging two great Duck and Mouse tales? If the original's “Felonia” could be made into Brutopia by skillful translators in the Fabergé Egg story, this would surely have been an option. Not that San-Grilla is a bad play on Shangri-La, of course — and to boot it's one that fortunately works in both Italian and English! How often does that happen?
Oboy, Money Rocket really is a great one. And to boot, I have a special nostalgic fondness for it, because French publishes apparently liked it so much, they published a tie-in novel version (with original illustrations at that, not lame resizes of Bottaro's original art) in a children's literature collection. This version was soberly entitled Scrooge in Space, and was one of two such Scrooge novels I had as a child. (The other, the somewhat-cumbersomely-titled The Junior Woodchucks Save Scrooge, was a far less successful attempt at an original plot.) If it interests you to see the cover, here is Scrooge in Space on sale on Amazon: https://www.amazon.fr/Picsou-dans-lespace-Bibliothèque-rose/dp/B000X46CS2
Cheers!
Achille:
Thank you for the information on “Mesons”… maybe I shouldn’t simply categorize everything I read in a Romano Scarpa story as completely bizarre fantasy.
The “spitting” illustration I published, from “The Chirikawa Necklace” in IDW’s MICKEY MOUSE # 8-9 - a story which would have been perfect to include in this volume if there had been room – sure made the mesons look liquid to me. The notion that they could be so easily expelled by a SNEEZE, did nothing to detract from that assumption.
Funny thing is, if I had done the translation and dialogue for this story, I’d probably have researched that, rather than “get something wrong”. As it was, I simply read it, and took it at (spitting in the) face value!
As for “Shan-Grilla”, it’s hard for me to believe that we in the USA would have gotten ANY such story, dating back as far as 1961, before France – or any of the more "comics-appreciating-countries" of Western Europe, for that matter!
Of course, it’s impossible to read “Shan-Grilla”, and not think of Carl Barks’ ultra-classic “Tralla La”, let alone the inspiration for both – the 1937 film “Lost Horizon”!
While it’s an interesting (and even logical) thought, I dunno if I’d have preferred that “Shan-Grilla” and “Tralla La” be one and the same. To me, the look, feel, and fabric of “Tralla La” was so well-defined by the original Barks story, and furthered by Don Rosa’s sequel, that it wouldn’t be easy for me to accept Scarpa’s version as being the same place.
Besides, isn’t the world large enough to contain TWO lost cities of untold peace and joy? Three, if you count the one Ronald Colman found? …I’d like to think so, at least!
If you ask me, “Shan-Grilla” has MUCH MORE in common with THIS 1967 MICKEY MOUSE STORY, than with “Tralla La”, if you swap “high in the mountains” to (as that Disney movie put it) “Under Da Sea”!
…No spoilers, but I'd say that anyone who’s read both, would very likely agree!
“Money Rocket” is perhaps the most wonderfully oddball story I have ever had the pleasure of working on! I hope, one day, you get to see my version of it!
Finally, HERE is Achille’s link for the “Scrooge in Space” book!
Achille: That book sounds rather intersting! It seems that it's for sale on the American Amazon, as well, (https://www.amazon.com/Picsou-dans-lespace-Biblioth%C3%A8que-rose/dp/B000X46CS2), although for the rather high price of $179.10. I wonder, do you have a link to the cover of The Junior Woodchucks Save Scrooge as well?
Aye, George: http://ec56229aec51f1baff1d-185c3068e22352c56024573e929788ff.r87.cf1.rackcdn.com/attachments/large/2/0/7/001256207.jpg
Sorry for the off-topic but I just read that one of the upcomming Scooby-Doo team ups will feature Penelope Pistop (the "Perils" reincarnation of the character) I'm so happy! After "Top Cat" It's my favorite Hanna-Barbera cartoon. I realy like this cover. Maybe Penelope will finaly put that "Pistop fortune" to some good use and hire the Mystery Inc. to finally unmask the Hooded Claw? ;)
P.S. Another of my short stories got on-line in English - hurrah! :
http://meagolicious.com/dollicious-komiks-smacznego-tiramisu
I'll assume Penelope to be about the same proportions as Daphne... But, how will "The Ant Hill Mob" look standing in the same panel with Shaggy and Scooby?
That whole gang of "Seven Dwarfs Surrogates" (as they were depicted on that show, as opposed to the "gangsters" of Wacky Races) could probably ride on Scooby's back, if "Chugga-Boom" (their car) breaks down.
I'm a bit late with my reply, but having read both of the first two Disney Masters volumes, I figured I'd put in my two cents worth:
"Mickey Mouse in the Delta Dimension" is a great book. Scarpa did a good job of unofficially continuing Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse serials for Topolino's readers. Atomo Bleep-Bleep is very much a product of his time, when atomic energy was very much on people's minds.
"Shan-Grilla" and "Trala la", while covering similar ground, are both good stories, but the personalities of the characters drive them differently. Scarpa's "Shan-Grilla" is merely an exotic setting for another conflict between Mickey and Pete, where Barks' story has more of a philosophical angle. Uncle Scrooge is constantly on the brink of a nervous breakdown because of the burden of having an immense fortune. Minnie's motivation is far more shallow (worrying about wrinkles). Both stories show the natives being corrupted by outside influences, but Scarpa's is more straightforward with Pete intentionally getting the residents hooked on his slot machines, where the Tralla Laians' corruption is entirely accidental with the introduction of Scrooge's bottle caps. An interesting scene is where the author who accompanied Mickey on his trip reads his grandfather's journal and is immediately enlightened by it, almost foreshadowing Scarpa's later Donald Duck tale, "The Perfect Calm" (sadly, without the charmingly funny Yetis).
"Uncle Scrooge's Money Rocket" is a fun, freewheeling outer space story, that starts with fast gags right out of the gate, and has a lot of bizarre imagery throughout. Rebo and his generals are the cutest Disney villains ever. They look kinda like space frogs or something. There's way too much going on in this story to recap it all, but seeing Donald's robots not only actually work, but then go on to attack Rebo was really funny. Uncle Scrooge is really awful in both this story and the next one, almost as if he'd just stepped out of a 1948-49 Barks story. Seeing all the tough breaks Donald gets in these stories, it's no wonder the writers decided to give him a costumed alter-ego to get his revenge on Scrooge!
"The Return of Rebo" just feels way too off in terms of Scrooge's personality. He's pretty rotten here, planting fake alien abduction stories in his own magazines to boost sales...what is he, Glomgold or Rockerduck? The seqel really wasn't as much fun as the first one, although we did get to see more of Rebo's cats and the crazy looking Mickey Mouse robots.
"TV Trickery" was a funny meeting between Uncle Scrooge and Witch Hazel, although attempting to summarize it ends up with something that makes even less sense than the story itself did. While not the strongest book in terms of story or characterization, the artwork and spirit of Botarro's work makes this book definitely worth seeking out.
And yes, after this, some nice, "logical" Carl Fallberg and Paul Murry Mickey Mouse stories would be a nice change of pace. I'm also looking forward to the Daan Jippes and Freddy Milton book too, as that combination (Jippes ducks, Murry mice) was what drove Gladstone's earliest Walt Disney's Comics and Stories issues.
Deb:
I couldn’t agree more, on your assessment of “Shan-Grilla” and “Trala la”!
I still say, despite its lost high-mountain setting, “Shan-Grilla” has more in common with the 1967 Murry story “Lost Atlantis” (Gold Key’s MICKEY MOUSE # 115), than Barks’ “Trala la”!
…And, “charmingly funny Yetis” would enhance ANY story they might be in!
I *LOVE* Rebo! Look for a reference to him in an upcoming Goofy story of mine… if it’s not removed or changed before release.
As for the portrayal of Scrooge, I think that Bottaro and perhaps some of the other Italian creators of the time were still doing the Scrooge of “Magic Hourglass”! Eventually, they caught up… kinda sorta.
...I'm looking forward to the Paul Murry volume too! Very much!
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