It's OUT and We're IN!

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!  

Betwixt and Between, and Bordering on Bewildered!

Yep, that describes out situation as of Thursday, February 04, 2026.  One day AFTER closing on our old house sale. One day BEFORE closing on our new house purchase. 

Technically speaking, I suppose we are homeless - owning neither property at this odd moment, but with time enough (given the snow, various people's availability, a WEEKEND with two non-business days falling in the thick of it, and the unexpected-yet-somehow-always-expected vagaries of real estate transactions) we will have until Wednesday, February 11, 2026 to move and vacate!  

I expect utter chaos... and it's a race to see which lasts the longest: the chaos, or the frozen mountains of snow that have been here for about two weeks and counting!  

Meanwhile, until all our computer stuff is packed up, I will attempt to publish and reply to all all the great comments that are stacked in the Comments Queue and address any new ones that arrive.  

Keep 'em coming and keep me happy betwixt and between sale and purchase - and betwixt and between snow and chaos!  

And keep reading - and most of all, keep enjoying!  

On Sale January 14, 2026: MICKEY MOUSE (Fantagraphics) #2 - Legacy No. 332!

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! 

...Sorry, Mr. Rhyming Man... I just couldn't help myself!  Are you a FAN, or giving it a PAN?  ...Heh! Nothing personal about that "folding stuff" up above, eh? ...Um, just hyperbole, you know "exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally" ...Heh? 

...Oh, and do ya think could I call you "Rhymey"?  ...No?  Oh, well...

HAPPY NEW YEAR - 2026!

 HAPPY NEW YEAR - 2026!

We open with Donald Duck ushering in the new year with that little-known Duckburgian tradition (…Golly, Duckburg sure has a lot of little-known traditions, doesn’t it?) of smashing open the Official Glass New Year’s Pineapple!  It’s kinda like the Times Square Ball Drop, only more breakable and with a shorter distance to travel before it’s done!

 So, let’s join him in raising a Glass New Year’s Pineapple, and smashing it to little pieces on the floor! 

And, while you’re at it, please join *me* in another year of Blogging – sporadic as it (…and everything else I do) will be until our move is completed and our lives return to what passes for “normal”! 

We'll get to the joyous backlog of comments very soon.  Please keep ‘em coming, as it remains my favorite part of what we do here! 

Finally, I’ve all but abandoned any thoughts of shuttering this humble Blog, sporadic as it may continue to be.  Thanks for the support you’ve all given me to arrive at that decision! 

 Happy 2026! 

Happy Boxing Day!

 HAPPY BOXING DAY!  

When you miss Christmas, due to the life-crushing, moving-related chaos and disorganization that has come to dominate our lives over the last few months, it's nice to know that BOXING DAY always has your back!  

Sorry to all - Mouse Maestro, Achille Talon, and Scarecrow33 in particular - for not getting to them in anything resembling our old standard of response time! 

We'll get it together (hopefully) soon. Just know how much I appreciate ALL of your contributions and support!   

Adventures in Comic-Boxing: The Thin Line Between Tragedy and Comedy - and the Power of Writers!

Consider the cover of DETECTIVE COMICS # 419 (DC Comics, Cover Date: January, 1972), a rather stark image for a comic released in late 1971...

Now, consider it again if we replace the grim cover copy with the following headline...

"Remorseful Toy Collector Commits Unique Suicide After Removing His Mint Batman Action Figures From Their Packaging!" 

  

 

Ah, we writers hold such untapped power!  We could rule the world, if only we could find a way to unite!   

...Perhaps it's best we don't! 

BLOT (is) OUT!

On sale today, November 19, 2025, the FIRST ISSUE of MICKEY MOUSE from Fantagraphics' new standard comics line - #1 Legacy Number 331!

It's MICKEY!  It's GOOFY!  It's THE PHANTOM BLOT ...perhaps more than one! It's CASTY! ...and, finally, it's merely me! 

It's also me on the SUPER GOOF backup!  

All this and a two-page Floyd Gottfredson old-timey Sunday strip from 1933!

  BUT WAIT... THERE'S MORE!  

David Gerstein's extremely informative CROSSTALK column on Mickey and The Phantom Blot!

 SO, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!   

Blot out to your favorite comics retailer (...as I did today), and have yourself a Blot-ing Good Time (...as I *also* did today) with MICKEY MOUSE (FANTAGRAPHICS) #1 LEGACY NUMBER 331!

Unlike Mickey, I can't quite promise that you won't "have a care in the world" but, like that legendary "spoonful of sugar", it will definitely "make the medicine go down" much sweeter!  

...or maybe scarier?  

 ...See ya in the Comments Section!