EVERYBODY: Up an' At 'Em, Out an' Buy 'Em!!!
THE DATE: Wednesday, January 14, 2026.
THE PLACE: Your Local Comic Shop - or the Online Provider of Your Choice.
THE THING TO BUY (Without Fail): MICKEY MOUSE (Fantagraphics) #2 - Legacy No. 332!
Here it is, just so we're "on the same page"... or COVER, as it were! ...And WHAT A COVER IT IS!
Accept no substitutes... Unless you somehow failed to get MICKEY MOUSE (Fantagraphics) #1 - Legacy No. 331 back in November!
Then, it's okay to get 'em both!
BUT THIS ONE'S GONNA BE A GOODY! (...and, as the translator and dialogue writer for this great Italian story, I oughta know!)
A perfect melding of three of the comics Mickey Mouse's greatest creators: Bill Walsh and Floyd Gottfredson, and Casty!
Walsh and Gottfredson, of course, for The Rhyming Man from the amazing newspaper strip continuity "The Atombrella and the Rhyming Man" ... and Casty for his time-exploring documentarian Uma as seen in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories 713-714 (2010)! And writer Francesco Vacca does a fantastic job of bringing those two worlds of different eras together!
When writing the American English script for this special story, and in order to lend authenticity to the story and fidelity to the original creators, I read both original stories by Walsh and Gottfredson and by Casty and studied them carefully before proceeding.
I wanted to get everything right and, once you read The Rhyming Man's first line, you'll *know* I did my homework! It's truly an HONOR to work with these characters and, especially as we have a (hopefully friendly) competition with other publishers, editor David Gerstein (the "Secret Weapon" that those "other guys" don't have) and I do everything we can to make these the best Disney comics they can be!
We hope you'll all agree, once you read MICKEY MOUSE (Fantagraphics) #2 - Legacy No. 332!
Oh, The Rhyming Man, he has a plan,
To throw the whole world a curve.
With sinister rhyme, he'll wreak havoc with time.
Does this villain ever have nerve!
Mickey, Goofy, and Uma, they know it's no rumor,
And set out to stop this fiend cold.
Will they succeed, or will he do the deed?
Let's hope it's the Rhymer who'll fold!
...Oh, and do ya think could I call you "Rhymey"? ...No? Oh, well...
23 comments:
I preordered my copy!
I can't wait to review!
…And WE can’t wait for your review!
I read the first issues and I liked it. Looking forward to read the second issue
To whet your appetite before the main course, I have this review: https://themousemaestro.blogspot.com/2026/01/mickey-mouse-and-amazing-lost-ocean.html
I hope you'll like the second issue (and the third) as well! I think you will. Do let us know.
Mouse Maestro writes: “To whet your appetite before the main course…”
“Whet my appetite”, MM?”
Why “Mickey Mouse and the Amazing Lost Ocean” is a full gourmet meal in itself!
HERE is a link to MM’s wonderful review for your reading pleasure.
Now, we eagerly await his review of “Mickey Mouse and the Ripples in Time”!
To digress, I love story titles in which the starring character’s name is part of the title! “Mickey Mouse Outwits The Phantom Blot”, “Donald Duck and the Ghost of the Grotto”, “Bugs Bunny and the Rocketing Radish”, to name a few of my favorite stories and their titles. That being the case, “Mickey Mouse and the Ripples in Time” was both my title, and my tribute to those grand titles of old!
We also have "Donald Duck in Ancient Persia", "Mickey Mouse in Death Valley", "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day", "Uncle Scrooge, the Lemonade King", as well as numerous Simpsons episodes where the lead character is named, like "Bart Gets an F" and "Homer's Enemy".
Yep, that’s what I was going for, Deb! I just love the classic feel to them! And cover captions, too! Like Gold Key used to do in the ‘60s.
Sitting indoors surrounded by a foot or more of snow, I finally have the time to comment on MM 2! First off, I admired the cover--all the Fantagraphics A covers have been splendid so far. On "Ripples in Time": the Rhyming Man is a cool villain, though I'm sure as translator you empathized strongly with Uma when she said those rhymes were really getting on her nerves! All the translators of Rhyming Man stories should get a per-word bonus for the challenge of preserving the sense of a line while giving it both metre and rhyme. Not as bad as translating Rosa's "Quest for Kalevala" while preserving the Kalevala metre, but still a headache. I don't have much to say about the story, since this first half was mostly set-up, but both the rhyming and the look of the RM make him a distinctive villain. Enjoyed his dialogue, and also enjoyed the "shakes rattle and bowl us over"!
On "Memento": another journey in time! I do like archaeological settings for stories. Minnie was annoying here, but the message of honoring the regular, everyday person's life was welcome. The archaeological and geographical setting reminded me of another story drawn by Noel Van Horn, Paul Halas's 2005 story "A Worthless Trinket"--you won't have seen that one, I read it in Journal de Mickey. That one has my favorite single Goofy panel at the end! In terms of art, more than text.
Now, on to U$ 464 and Korhonen's Klondike Journals, which I will read this evening in English for the very first time!
This story certainly feels fresh and unpredictable. In fact, when I first saw Uma I thought she was Minnie Mouse. I really appreciate the extra commentary in the text boxes as the story unfolds--keeps the reader up to speed without being overly intrusive. The Rhyming Man's rhymes are a joy to read, and I know they look deceptively easy, but I have translated rhymes before (in French class) and it is no simple chore to preserve the meaning and intent of the original while producing a rhyme that works in English. As for the story itself, it's a little hard to predict where exactly it's going--and that can be a good thing--but the part of the story that is here is definitely intriguing and makes the reader want to know what comes next. So, yes, you've got me on board with this one!
I also note that the other stories in this issue are good reads as well--kind of like the old Christmas Parades that I was referencing in an earlier post, in which the entire issue works together to make a pleasing whole. They may be separate and unrelated but when you put them together they shine like a multi-faceted diamond. So glad you are back online, Joe!
Elaine:
Couldn’t agree with you more on the Fantagraphics “A” covers! They routinely do what other publishers attempt with varying results – make the “A” covers the BEST ONES, and the other covers lesser or experimental ones.
But, gee… aren’t I just saying that Fantagraphics and David Gerstein are simply UNSURPASSED in the “Modern Era” of American Disney comics? “…Hello, Newcastle? Your delivery of COAL is here!”
I do indeed “empathize strongly with Uma when she said those rhymes were really getting on her nerves!” But, as you say, strictly from the translator’s and dialogue scripter’s perspective! The RHYMES themselves were a joy to create, while the International road to get there was the rub!
On that topic, I did something in Part Two that I HOPE will not be cut! It was a bit from a ‘90s comic that made me laugh out loud when I saw it – and I was on a HOMEBOUND COMMUTER TRAIN at the time! It always stuck with me and, like my 1966 Victorian Inkblot gag, I finally found a perfect place to apply it! We’ll say more about that when we examine Issue #3, so mentally bookmark that one for two months, okay?
I hope you enjoyed Fantagraphics FOURTH issue of UNCLE SCROOGE as much as I am reading it in small chunks right now!
THIS should have been the FIRST ISSUE, rather than the overly long and drawn out “Sinister Secret” of the first three issues! Said “Sinister Secret” being that it should only have been TWO ISSUES instead of three, and would have worked far better without the unnecessary diversion of the “Gideon” subplot! I daresay that Carl Barks would likely have completed it in ONE!
Better to have opened BIG with Kari Korhonen’s near-perfect Rosa homage, than with a story that was predictable up until its LAST CLIMACTIC FEW PAGES which, admittedly, really made the whole thing worthwhile! …Fantagraphics never COMPLETELY lets you down, even if the “journey” isn’t all it COULD be!
Better to have opened BIG with Kari Korhonen’s near-perfect Rosa homage, to compete with Marvel’s “Infinity Crime” - the “Crime” therein being burdening Carl Barks’ greatest comic book creation with an overabundance of annoying and unwanted Marvel references and concepts. It fails even as a stated “homage” to Rosa, due to the (…all together now) “overabundance of annoying and unwanted Marvel references and concepts”. In contrast, Kari Korhonen packs his Rosa “homage” with references and concepts too, but ALL of them firmly steeped in Barks and Rosa!
Better to have opened BIG with Kari Korhonen’s near-perfect Rosa homage, than to have been put to involuntary sleep by Dynamite’s DuckTales “…Not Pony Tales, or Cotton Tales, They’re DULL-TALES!”, which frittered away (…without the benefit of “Fritter O’Way” – the poor man’s Azure Blue) its FIRST FIVE ISSUES with an odd, serpentine-circular-path of a tale that never even leaves Duckburg! Like “Flintheart Glomgold’s Sinister Secret”, this too would have benefited from being shorter… MUCH SHORTER! By that fatal fifth issue, it was clearly time for me to reassess the DuckTales efforts of Dynamite – a publisher that has produced MANY other series that I’ve really enjoyed. And, by “reassess”, I mean – and in no uncertain terms – DROP IT! Fantagraphics’ regrettably delayed entry into the already oversaturated Disney comics book market, made that “dropping decision” all the easier!
…How’s that for a “review”?! Maybe more of a “Personal Perspective Provider”, if you will. We’ll discuss Scrooge more in our NEXT (hopefully) POST!
Scarecrow:
You write: “This story certainly feels fresh and unpredictable.”
Absolutely! But, in contrast with my “Personal Perspective Provider” above, this one would have been TOO “fresh and unpredictable” to have been a FIRST issue!
I think David got the sequencing just right with Mickey. Open with something classic-but-not-repetitive with other such stories , then HIT ‘EM in the SECOND issue with something, as you so keenly say, “fresh and unpredictable”… AND have ‘em wanting and waiting for the THIRD issue! In fact, of the most recent two standard Disney comic book lines (IDW and Fantagraphics), MICKEY MOUSE was the best out of the gate in both cases!
“In fact, when I first saw Uma I thought she was Minnie Mouse.”
Quite understandable, considering the number of years since we last saw Uma! The end of 2010, just over FIFTEEN YEARS AGO! That’s why I wrote extensive captions to reintroduce her – and for The Rhyming Man as well. There was no need for such explanatory exposition in European printings because these characters had been used all-along. In fact, I took EXTRA CARE with this story, rereading both the 2010 Uma story, and Gottfredson’s original Rhyming Man newspaper strip adventure before beginning the translating and dialoguing!
I firmly believe that’s what separates us members of the “Disney Comics Core Four” from the rest. We CARE about the characters and stories and GO THOSE EXTRA MILES (pleural) to ensure that we present the best possible American English versions of this material that can be! David allowing my re-introductory captions AND font-ing (if that’s a word) The Rhyming Man’s speech balloons as Walsh and Gottfredson did in the original strips are but two examples of that! Not mention that my opening line for The Rhyming Man is a “direct descendant” of Walsh and Gottfredson’s! It’s all about authenticity!
“I really appreciate the extra commentary in the text boxes as the story unfolds--keeps the reader up to speed without being overly intrusive.”
As noted above – and so glad you appreciate their value. I really HAVE FUN with them, rather than merely crank out dry exposition. Especially so in the abovementioned re-introductory captions and the final cliffhanger caption! I even have a caption, in the role of the “Omnipresent Yet Unseen Narrator”(…or “OMYUN”, as I used to call that very useful voice), lapsing into rhyme - then quickly catching itself by stating that “…All that rhyming can be infectious!” Sometimes I “hear” those captions as William Conrad’s “OMYUN” for Rocky and Bullwinkle. Sometimes as William Dozier’s “OMYUN” for Batman (TV, 1966). And sometimes even as my own voice – or some other imagined voice! Whatever best suits the occasion. Look up some of the other stories I did “T&D” for and you’ll see it often.
Kari Korhonen's “Klondike Journals” (whether his own choice, or David’s) also make great use of captions for the many Barks and Rosa references peppered throughout the story in the concurrent UNCLE SCROOGE! Captions are vital, but becoming a lost art in contemporary comics… but NOT AROUND HERE!
“So glad you are back online, Joe!”
And thanks be to you, Scarecrow, and ALL of you who helped me reach that decision!
Overcame an unexpected computer issue to post my review!
https://themousemaestro.blogspot.com/2026/01/ripples-in-time-part-i.html
So far, all of the new Fantagraphics Disney issues have been winners in my book. The latest Mickey Mouse is a treat for long-term fans who’ve been following Gottfredson and Casty’s work. The back-up by Noel Van Horn speaks to an oft-overlooked truth…history tends to remember the wealthy and powerful, yet not so much the “average Joe”. The Sunday strip with Ellsworth could have been an 8-10 page story on its own.
The McDuck Journals in Uncle Scrooge #4 is a fantastic issue as well. If Don Rosa and Daan Jippes had been working together, “The Klondike Years” probably could have been the end result. It has Jippes’ sense of pacing and humor along with Rosa’s eye for detail and McDuck history.
While what you all do at Fantagraphics is clearly superior, I have enjoyed the Marvel and Dynamite Disney comics as their own thing (although the constant flashbacks in the first five issues of Dynamite’s DuckTales were often maddeningly pointless). They’re telling stories for their own audiences, whether it be members of the Merry Marvel Marching Society or folks who are nostalgic for DuckTales but aren’t Barks/Rosa DuckFans.
FIRST PART (comment broken down into two parts because of character limits)
To be honest, I don't think its length was any downside in the case of "Sinister Secret". It might be because I'm well accustomed to the length of Italian stories - and because the way Disney comics are published in my country differs a lot from the standard American issue format. When you get your comics in 250-page digests, with all parts of a story in one book rather than spread over three issues, they rarely feel too long.
This actually makes me wonder... Recently, DC Comics has been very succesful with its "DC Compact" initiative: the best stories from their catalogue printed in very cheap, widely available digest-size editions. I wonder if publishing Disney comics this way could increase their popularity and sales in the US the way DC Compacts sell. For example, if someone in the States just copies German Lustige Taschenbücher 1:1, ensures they are well translated, and makes them available in supermarkets or similar places... Well, there's probably an awful lot of economic and licensing reasons for which that would not be viable, I guess. Anyway, here's a link to the Lustiges Taschenbuch site to give you an idea of what I had in mind: https://www.lustiges-taschenbuch.de/ausgaben/alle-ausgaben/ltb-606#preview
Back to the "Sinister Secret". As I wrote in another comment (which might have gotten lost owing to Joe's moving-related chaos :) ), my main issue with this story is the portrayal of Scrooge, whom I find a bit too "goody-two-shoes" for my tastes.
He was a great character in Barks stories, albeit with visible flaws (or rather: he was a great character because of them); Rosa would later make him much more heroic, which tendency might also be noticed in recent works of other authors. I don't want Scrooge suddenly behaving like the comically villainous Guido Martina's Scrooge from old Italian stories (though his dastardly criminal ways could be weirdly entertaining in their own fashion), but this Scrooge here, who stoically accepts parting with a huge part of his money for the sake of Huey, Dewey and Louie, and ends the story with a speech about the role of family, seems a tad off to me. It IS obvious that Scrooge should do what he did to save his grand-nephews, and it is completely in line with his character to do so, but I would expect a bit more wailing, complaining about being a "poor old man", saying a sentimental goodbye to each and every one banknote and coin... you know what I mean. He should do the right thing, but his greedy tendencies should manifest in some way, too, though he would ultimately keep them in check given the high stakes. At least that's my opinion.
SECOND PART (comment broken down into two parts because of character limits):
As for Kari Korhonen's "McDuck Journals"... They are a great series, that is true. They are not completely in line with Rosa and Barks chronology, and they don't have to: Kari Korhonen has full right to do as he pleases when he tells his story - just like Rosa purposefully ignored some Barksian details and stories that did not fit his vision. I was lucky to attend a meeting with the author when he visited Poland, and if I recall correctly, he said that it was not his intention to strive for 100% alignment with the Rosa and Barks timeline and canon. Instead, he just preferred to tell his stories in his own way, though at the same time paying extensive homage to those two great artists.
Overall, I believe that Egmont's recent apprehension to greenlight longer stories might have affected some of "McDuck Journals"; Mr. Korhonen's concepts are so charming and interesting that I would love to see them developed over some more pages, perhaps with a length similar to Rosa yarns rather than standard ten-or-so-pagers. As it is, out of the instalments I've read, my favourite is Scrooge's adventure as a young boy in Scotland and London. I don't know if it will be included in the next "US" issue, but if not - I hope you'll be able to enjoy it at some later date.
If anyone's interested, here's link to that meeting with Kari Korhonen in Poland I've mentioned above; the author speaks excellent English, so you may just skip the translation into Polish, if you wish to save time :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN2zvPuJ9qg
Our great new friend, Mouse Maestro, does a wonderful job with his review of “Ripples in Time”… and does so in a most unusual way! Everybody, go read it HERE!
…And, after you read it, go read everything else he’s blogged! It has my full endorsement! While that and a three-dollar New York OMNY Card will get you on a bus or subway, you’ll enjoy the trip far more!
The only thing that keeps me from an elaborate response in verse is that… WE ARE FINALLY MOVING – IN LESS THAN TWO WEEKS! …And what a relief that will be!!! I will soon – but not quite yet – have to step away from this humble Blog (…and just about anything else I enjoy about life) for a (hopefully) short while, but hey, keep those comments coming in – ‘cause I’ll be back! …Maybe “better-then-ever”, maybe not, but at least the change of scenery will do Esther and I much good!
Anyone who is in contact with me via email, is invited to do so – but the replies during this period will be slowed as well.
Deb:
Really glad you enjoy the stuff we do at Fantagraphics! While I’m naturally partial to the Mickey issues published thus far (…and the next one coming as well – hey, at least I admit it and, in a world of constant agenda-laden spin at least I’m up-front about mine), I honestly feel that the FOURTH issue of UNCLE SCROOGE might be the single best issue that Fanta has put out!
Your perfect observation – “If Don Rosa and Daan Jippes had been working together, “The Klondike Years” probably could have been the end result. It has Jippes’ sense of pacing and humor along with Rosa’s eye for detail and McDuck history.” crystalizes my view of it into two neat sentences! BRAVO! THAT should have been the leadoff issue, and slot the more commonplace stuff behind it!
Perhaps I’ve finally entered my “old-and-cranky” phase, but I cannot agree with you on Dynamite and Marvel. Dynamite’s “flashbacks” were the *best part* of those first five DuckTales issues! They were better drawn (less generic looking), harkened back to Barks and others of his ilk, and even used the classic FOUR-TIERED format – topped off with Barks-era logos, yet! The overall main story was uninspired and went nowhere! If the intent was to reintroduce the characters, it could have been done in a far more interesting fashion! Recall that the opening DuckTales animated entry, “Treasure of the Golden Suns”, (…coincidently ALSO five-parts) introduced the characters, but did so in such a way that fans old and new simply could not look away!
Dynamite has pleased me in the past – and CONTINUES to do so – with some compellingly enjoyable licensed character titles, so my beef is definitely not with them (…but my regular purchase support certainly is). No publisher is perfect, and this is just one of those instances that reads less-successfully (admittedly to *my* personal tastes) than most other Dynamite titles I've sampled!
Speaking of something clearly not in line with “my personal tastes”, the Marvel stuff is strictly not for me. I know all about corporate and creative “synergy”, but Disney and Marvel are two different things and, unlike chocolate and peanut butter, do not “go together” nearly as well. Such projects dim what was great about each one to begin with! So would “Disney-Star Wars”, “Disney-Muppets”, “Disney-Simpsons”, or any other such acquired addition to the Disney stable. Chalk it up to my aforementioned “old-and-cranky phase”, but as they say (trotting out another old warhorse), different strokes for different folks!
…And that’s my “stroke”, though we “cranky old guys” should try our best to avoid *any* type of stroke!
T.:
I’d say "Sinister Secret" is just another of those different strokes” things. Nothing really wrong with it – except as a first issue/first arc! Too commonplace for that… except for the ending climax!
And the "Gideon subplot" remains extraneous filler in my view. The story could have existed just as well without it.
...Now to start defending the story!
As for Scrooge being a "goody-two-shoes" - or would that be a "goody-two-SPATS"? - you write “It IS obvious that Scrooge should do what he did to save his grand-nephews, and it is completely in line with his character to do so, but I would expect a bit more wailing, complaining about being a "poor old man", saying a sentimental goodbye to each and every one banknote and coin...”, I see it as he *KNEW* how he was going to end this game (referring to the great ending climax that I do not want to spoil), so the expected sobbing and wailing was replaced by an inner sly confidence.
I know nothing about the publishing/printing/formatting/price-pointing/production side of things, so I can’t offer any comment on the possibility of an additional product adopting the Lustiges Taschenbuch format, or collecting multiple back issues in a “digest” or “small paperback” form as IDW did.
But I certainly AM familiar with Lustiges Taschenbuch! It was one of those issues that came into my possession in the 1980s – one that ran the Romano Scarpa Mickey/Blot story we called “The Phantom Blot's Double Mystery”. As just an active fan, I brought that story to the attention of Gladstone (then the new American Disney comics publisher) and they agreed to publish it. BUT FIRST they had to explain the presence of EEGA BEEVA (prominent in the story) to American readers, so they ran the Walsh/Gottfredson debut story of Eega Beeva – followed by Scarpa’s Blot story!
So, it turned out that, long before I was involved with the comics in any professional way, I was directly responsible for the introduction of both Eega Beeva and Romano Scarpa to the United States! And, while this would have happened eventually anyway – because Eega and Scarpa are just too good to deny us unknowing Americans for too long – I take great pride in being such an unlikely catalyst.
I envy your attending a meeting with Kari Korhonen! That must have been something to see! He’s pretty much joined Casty as my two favorite active Disney comics creators! Indeed, my favorite short Scrooge story I ever worked on was one of Kari’s, as you can see HERE! Please forgive the my garish first-year color choices!
And HERE is T.’s link to Kari Korhonen in Poland! Enjoy!
WARNING on that link! The base language (…as I *should* have anticipated, silly me) is Polish! Kari Korhonen speaks in English – so it comes out in a form not unlike the famous HITCHCOCK / TRUFFAUT INTERVIEWS, if you’ve ever heard the many segments of that which often come as bonus features on certain Alfred Hitchcock DVDs and Blu-rays.
It’s okay. The nice thing about having multiple opinions on these stories is that we get to see a different view of what we’ve read. Any appreciation of the Marvel and Dynamite issues I have is from reading them more than once. I will often reread something I didn’t like the first time just to see if it really was awful or if I just was tired or not in the mood to appreciate it the first time. I will be honest and say that an entire Marvel Uncle Scrooge series would get old fast, but I liked the novelty/“one time only” aspect of it. But I respect that you didn’t like it and don’t want to change your mind.
Deb:
You write: “The nice thing about having multiple opinions on these stories is that we get to see a different view of what we’ve read. Any appreciation of the Marvel and Dynamite issues I have is from reading them more than once.”
That may be a key difference. I very rarely read something more than once these days. Life usually doesn’t allow it. In contrast, those ‘60s and early ‘70s comics are burned forever in my mind because I read (past tense) them so frequently! Often twice in the same day… and over and over again throughout the years. That, alas, is an experience that will likely never repeat itself, what with so many collected back issues to read and a regular (though smaller than in past years) supply of new stuff.
“I will often reread something I didn’t like the first time just to see if it really was awful or if I just was tired or not in the mood to appreciate it the first time.”
That DOES tend to be true with me as well, though more so with films and TV series on DVD and Blu-ray. DVD commentary tracks and bonus features (which I put on after watching the film or show in question) and seeing older things again at my Thursday Night Film Group account for that. The only time I really get to reassess a comic anymore is when I’m indexing it for GCD, which forces me to look at it closely for the sake of an accurate index and my usual additional comments (…which, as you might expect, I add a lot of). In both cases, I notice things I may have missed or glossed over before, or even overcome the “moody or tired” feeling I may have had at first go. A VERY VALID point, Deb!
“I will be honest and say that an entire Marvel Uncle Scrooge series would get old fast, but I liked the novelty/“one time only” aspect of it. ”
I agree with you there, except on that “one time only” part! You can hardly call the myriad “What If…” mashup titles “one time only”! Way too many of them! And too many Marvel references and concepts plagued “The Infinity Dime” to the extent that I never bothered to read the second mini-series. I can’t even tell you its name, but it’s lying dormant in a packed-and-sealed-for-the-move box, where it will remain unless or until the spirit moves me to free it from its plastic-bag prison. I expect my personal parole board will not be very lenient toward its case!
And hey, everyone… This is really getting to be like the Comments Sections of old! Lively and interesting in so many different ways! Just want you all to know how much I appreciate that – especially at an upcoming time of moving-forced dormancy! Please keep it up! Thank you all!
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