MICKEY MOUSE #3 (Legacy Number #333 - funny how that works out, eh?) from Fantagraphics, concluding the "Ripples In Time" / Rhyming Man and Uma adventure, is OUT as of March 18, 2026.
We are (finally) IN our new house and the literal construction dust is finally beginning to settle (...mostly onto the floors and furniture - necessitating more and more clean up) but, at last, we can begin discussing both - or any topic of your choice once again.
Hopefully, more MICKEY than HOUSE... just to keep me from more sobbing!
12 comments:
Congratulations, Joe! It's been a long haul for you I know!
Thanks so much, Scarecrow!
It’s been (as you say) a long, bitter, and unexpectedly troubling haul – and we’re nowhere near out of it yet – but the mere fact that you can leave this very welcome comment, and that I can reply to it, shows significant progress!
Now, everyone go read the conclusion of Mickey Mouse “Ripples in Time” and let’s dissect it right here! :-)
It’s got some flaws that become more pronounced seeing it now in print, but I still think its great! Reading it brought me back to when I first read such sci-fi oriented stories as Cecil Beard and Paul Murry’s “The Strange Case of Professor Zero” - much less one of my all-time faves “Trapped in Time” - and, of course the more contemporary thrill of reading Casty!
And, oh my goodness, I’ve just turned in a long script where Scrooge meets Duckburg’s version of H.P. Lovecraft – which, admittedly required its share of research on my part! Don’t know where, or when, it’ll appear but I’m looking way forward to seeing that one on the printed page!
May your new home treat the two of you well, once you have settled in completely! And then may there be No More Upheavals on the House Front Ever.
I'm not the ideal reader for a time travel story. One of my brothers and I, who both read a fair amount of sci fi, agree that we avoid time travel stories/movies, on the grounds that the author can do whatever the heck they want, since all the logic goes in circles. I did watch Arrival for the acting and the aliens, but the plot just annoyed me. But given that prejudice (or rational, fact-based stance, however you want to view it), I did find the Ripples in Time story pleasant enough. As always, I appreciate it when Casty gives us a new female character, since none of his female characters are limited by gender stereotypes. I loved the panel with the evidence of Goofy and Mickey's time travel in the past. I honestly (given my prejudice/rational stance) can't be bothered to try to figure out what Uma knew when regarding the Omnidisc. Presumably she knows that Professor Marlin will be Chronodirector, since that's why she tells Mickey to tell the professors about the Omnidisc.... Ah shoot, the circular logic of time travel stories just gives me a headache.
On the backup story: it was kind of fun to see a Mickey story apparently set in Jellystone Park, where the real bears are very friendly!
The best news of the week was David Gerstein's assurance on Feathery that the coming pause in the publication of the monthly Fantagraphics comics will only be temporary, with the comics probably resuming in July. Since these comics are just about the only good news in my life right now outside of the immediate circles of friends/family/church, I very much want them to continue!
Welcome back, Joe!
So, given all factors and considerations I can think of, it seems that you have in all but name confirmed that "Zio Paperone e la maledizione delle maledizioni" by Gualtieri, Nucci and Cavazzano is going to appear in one of the forthcoming US editions! (INDUCKS link: https://inducks.org/story.php?c=I+TL+3458-1). This is an interesting choice, as this story is the opening one in a sub-series of Disney "imaginary ghost stories" with various characters from Duckburg and Mouseton that are all presented by the aforementioned "Duckburg's version of H.P. Lovecraft", that is: Lord Mortimer Hatequack (at least that's his name in Italy and in Poland; no idea how he's gonna be called when he debuts in the States).
So, after this one is published, all other comics from the cycle will become available for printing in the US... as you can see on the list, there is a plethora of creators working on them, some of those creators being the most prominent ones in the Italian Disney world: https://inducks.org/subseries.php?c=Lord+Hatequack+Presenta%3A+L%27ora+del+terrore.
Elaine:
As regards time travel stories, I believe that Casty's opus magnum in this respect is " Topolino e la marea dei secoli", a really epic yarn where it is shown how time travel can (profoundly) affect reality. Perhaps it will one day see the light in the US - as I think it might be interesting even to "time travel sceptics" :)
INDUCKS link: https://inducks.org/story.php?c=I+TL+2918-2P
Elaine (you write):
“ May your new home treat the two of you well, once you have settled in completely! And then may there be No More Upheavals on the House Front Ever.”
Thank you, and I especially like the capitalization on those last few words! AMEN!
Personally, I *love* time travel stories, illogic, repeating tropes, and all, so I approached “Ripples in Time” with the greatest of relish! But *I* have two problems with how the final, post-me, printing was handled!
I gave this one a LOT of thought, especially on the matter of “what year it was at what time” – and a number of other places where the seams (thankfully) don’t show! I just couldn’t see how “Future Mouseton” could be so advanced by the year 2053 in a story that explicitly says it takes place in 2026 (…or rather, 2025 way back when I scripted it)! A fair amount of debate ensued with 2053 winning the day (…or would that be the YEAR?)! Way back when, in the IDW days, I used to throw around the phrase “Editorial Prerogative” and that’s exactly what happened here – good sport that I am, and all that sort of rot! :-)
But one thing I REALLY OBJECT TO was naming the facility that The Rhyming Man visits in 2053 “OMNIBOOK LIBRARY”, when I explicitly named it “Antiquarian Disque Shoppe”!!!
Why does this bother me so much? I’m sure you can tell by just looking at the entirety of page 10! Then, on page 11, Uma even CALLS IT a “library”, when I had “disc store”!
Um… A *library* would not charge $45,000.16 to take out a collection of Omnidiscs… even if you didn’t have an active library card – or whatever its 2053 equivalent! However, a *Disque Shoppe*, analogous to a present day *Book Store*, would!
Not only does this modification not make sense, but it completely undermines Francesco Vacca’s original gag… and makes it seem like *I* did the undermining!
I’m not one to air “our dirty laundry” out in public. Lotsa stuff I simply never share with regard to general professionalism, but this one just really got under my skin for its illogical needlessness! In fact, I regret calling it out even as I write this, but it’s still nicer than most of what you get on (anti) Social Media!
Otherwise, everything changed or shortened was fine as printed, even if I didn’t necessarily agree with the changes made. So, hope we’re all good on this, okay?
Finally… OH, YES! In these …er, um… tumultuous times, we need these floppies MORE THAN EVER! Long may they continue to “flop” their way into our unsettled hearts!
T.:
That is indeed the story I just turned in! …And I absolutely LOVED it!
I called it “The Curse of H.P. Hatequack”. Let’s see what it emerges as!
As for the character of “Lord Mortimer Hatequack”, I retained “Hatequack” keeping in line with the original, but made the name “Lord Horace Percival Hatequack” to accommodate the “H.P.”. The original name of Howard Kingsport, I left as is.
For what it’s worth I see Hatequack very definitely being played by Christopher Lee, and maybe Richard Dreyfuss for Kingsport (both older and flashback-younger).
The fact that Hatequack becomes the host of his own subset of ghost stories is FASCINATING! I would imagine not unlike Rod Serling for TWILIGHT ZONE and NIGHT GALLERY, Boris Karloff for THRILLER (…now, a reprint collection from “New Gold Key”, if I might be allowed a plug for something I’ve become involved with), or Alfred Hitchcock for ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS! Funny thing is, I know SO MUCH MORE about Serling, Karloff, and especially Hitchcock that I could “write them” in character! To do Lovecraft (Hatequack) in that role may require a bit more research – but I’m up for the challenge, and hope those stories fall to me, if imported!
And I’ve GOTTA push for that Casty story! I’ll be telling David about that!
I’m glad you’re getting settled in.
I like the Gold Key styling of the cover to this issue, right down to the font used for the blurb’s lettering. As much as I far prefer the comics from the Gladstone days on, I have a soft spot for those old Whitman comics that I grew up with, happily reading them on summer vacations especially. We had copies of “Donald Duck in Ancient Persia”, “The Pixilated Parrot”, “The Weighted Crate Mystery” and “Adventure on Bomb Bird Island” at my grandmother’s summer cottage that I would reread on each visit.
I have to reread the first part of “Ripples in Time”, as I’ve forgotten the previous issue. The backup story with Mickey, Goofy and the Beagle Boys disguised as bears really made me think of something Gold Key would have printed. It was silly fun, and I liked the art in both stories a lot.
Deb:
As an original “Gold Key Kid”, experiencing the changeover from Dell firsthand, you can imagine how much I LOVED that cover styling!
This is all David’s doing! He must be the one writing these, and he’s doing a fantastic job! The only “input” I’ve had to that particular aspect of things is that David once asked me if I preferred a cover with, or without, the captioning and, naturally, I said “with”! …And it was not even this cover, rather a cover (and story) that has yet to see the light of day!
Of course, I’d relish the chance to write one of those “Gold Key style” cover captions – especially for one where I “T-and-D’ed” the cover story! But maybe it’s more of a thrill (for me, anyway) to read ‘em as if it were 1966 all over again! Besides, I’m also writing columns under the “official” Gold Key banner (…even though only one of ‘em has seen print yet), so I’ll content myself with that – absolutely!
And hey… *I*, too, reread the first part of “Ripples in Time”, before reading the second part… and I *scripted it* (…and even *made up* some of it), so it’s normal! Everyday life tends to erode short-term memories… it certainly does with me! Looking forward to your comments when you take in the whole thing!
Finally, the beagles-as-bears sounds like something Bob Ogle or Vic Lockman would have come up with back in the day and drawn by Murry or Strobl… so, yeah!
And, to Everyone:
Make sure you read the “Thad-tastic” 6th Fantagraphics issue of UNCLE SCROOGE… on sale TODAY! March 25, 2026.
My copy is on its way!
Can't wait to see what you think, MM!
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