On Sale June 21, 2017: UNCLE SCROOGE # 27 from IDW.

Don't you "flutter-by" your local comic book shop without picking up a copy of UNCLE SCROOGE # 27 (Legacy Numbering # 431) from IDW!

...And a very special thank you to "Darlene Decibel, Screaming Cheerleader", from the Mickey Mouse epic "Night of the Living Text" in WALT DISNEY'S COMICS AND STORIES # 733, for assisting with the introduction of this post!  Darlene has been a particularly good sport - and quite a trooper - as her own turn to scream... er, shine, in "Night of the Living Text", has not yet received a post at this Blog, despite being one of my favorite Mickey stories of all time!  Yes, really!  

We'll get around to it, Darlene... I promise!  But now, back to UNCLE SCROOGE # 27!  

Gosh all whilikers, there's a lot of EMPTY OCEAN SPACE in that "SPLASH PANEL"!  I guess that's WHY they call it a "SPLASH"!   

In it, you'll find Part One (of Two) of "The Bodacious Butterfly Trail" (Ah, now you get all that "flutter-by" intro jazz?), a 1962 Italian odyssey - with the emphasis on "odd" - written and drawn by the great Romano Scarpa, with translation and dialogue by the also great Thad Komorowski -- whose last name, while having more letters than my own, still managed to fit into the cover's credits banner... while mine failed to do so for the last few issues to which I contributed!  

I gotta get assigned to books with fewer original creators, or one's without long, hyphenated names! 

...Geez, I sound like Daffy Duck in "Show Biz Bugs"!  

...But, at least I'm a NICE "Little Devil"!  

Seriously now, we start off with a good Scarpa gag, and a bodacious Bertram reference from Thad...

...while learning that, each Mardi Gras, the citizens of Duckburg play bodacious jokes on one another.  I only bring this up because it MUST become important later in the plot.  At least I'm taking some really bodacious BETS on this... So, who's in on the action?  

Then, there's bodacious Brigitta MacBridge...

"Would-Be Wooer"... Nice one, Thad!  ...Or David! (See comments!)

...Who's got a new bodacious business.  

Meanwhile, we have Donald and his nephews, who are on the titular "Bodacious Butterfly Trail"!  

But WHY are they bodaciously doing it?  

WHO are they bodaciously doing it for?  

WHAT in the bodacious name of Mother Nature is this?  

Don't step on my lines, Kid!  

Love the expression on the butterfly! 

And WHAT is in the bodacious, cliff-hanger-ing treasure chest the boys just found... in their inimitably bodacious manner?  

...SORRY, but No Spoilers - bodacious, or otherwise - from me! 

Honestly, there's a LOT of disparate (and bodacious) elements scattered throughout this story, as Romano Scarpa was wont to do - especially during this period.  I'm hoping he will tie them together in Part Two.  Indeed, was this even originally a two-parter, or was it segmented by our bodacious publisher IDW?

Our friend "Huwey", who's always good for some bodacious comments, notes in the previous post's Comment Section that this was the FIRST Italian Disney comic story to be published in Germany.  

Finally, we can always count on Thad for a bodacious animation reference!  This time for POPEYE, discussed within THIS POST!  

"Stealin' Ain't Honest, This Duck is th' Don-est, sez Popeye the Sailor Man!  Toot-Toot!" 

That last joke might be "...All he can stands!" 

And, hey... Anyone thinking about UNCLE SCROOGE # 7's "Mummy Fearest" about now?  

This bit looks (and sounds) familiar!  Doesn't it?  Gracious, that's bodacious!

I guess if Romano Scarpa can't bodaciously borrow from himself, who can?  

We close with a bodacious three-page Egmont Magica De Spell story...

...in which she receives a GENIE, complete with lamp, three wishes, and the whole bodacious deal... by MAIL ORDER?  

I've checked Amazon.com for something similar, with no luck.  Perhaps she's using Tigris and Euphrates.com?  

By now, we've seen SO MANY bodacious "Genie takes things literal" stories and gags, that I'm probably not spoiling anything!  

This can only end badly, though "bigly bodacious", for poor Magica!  ...But, Scrooge (and we readers) will have ourselves a bodacious ball!  

Bodacious Disclaimer: 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 bodacious opinions are strictly my own.

Then, let's all meet back here in the Comments Section and see who can come up with the most bodacious comments, this side of Snuffy Smith!  

(Everybody SING!)  "Oh, oh, oh, Great balls o' fire, I'm bodacious..."

Back to Back Bertrams... And a Big Beeping Surprise!

From its humble beginnings as a parody of the “Beefsteak Charlie’s” restaurant chain in the pages of Gemstone’s UNCLE SCROOGE # 375 (2008)…

…Yes, really, look it up.  Oh, wait, I’ll show you right here…

…The name “Bertram” has become a “go-to” in present day American Disney comic book dialoguing.  

But, despite numerous dropped-in references, today marks the first time we've "bopped along with Bertram" for two consecutive weeks! 

Last week's IDW DONALD DUCK # 21, released on June 14, 2017...

...And this week's IDW UNCLE SCROOGE # 27, dialogued by Thad Komorowski and released today: June 21, 2017! 

The latter as a throwaway gag by the great Romano Scarpa, establishing Scrooge in his bin filled with money…and the often strange things he does with said money! ...And isn't it a coincidence that all three "Bertram" sightings illustrated in this post have to do with beef?  

And, while you’re at your local comic book shop picking up UNCLE SCROOGE # 27 from IDW, make sure to stop and check THIS out…

If you thought my heart stopped the day I saw THIS COMIC…

...Imagine what I must have looked like when I spotted LOBO / ROAD RUNNER!  So much so that I bought both covers! 

This might very well be “the comic I waited for ALL MY LIFE, but never knew it”!  …Of course LOBO has not been around for “ALL MY LIFE”, but you know what I mean! 

One story in "Lobo-Style", and one story in "Animated-style"!

In fact, I’m gonna settle in with a “Jumbo Deluxe Big Bertram” and read it right now!  ...Da-rool! Da-rool! 

Beep-Fraggin’-Beep!  

R.I.P. Adam West.

It is with great sadness that we note the passing of actor Adam West, on June 09, 2017, at the age of 88. 

Adam West was one of those rare personalities who was universally beloved, particularly by those of us who were children of the sixties!  His uniquely zestful personality and acting style pretty much made him a favorite to everyone! 

When Adam West burst into our living rooms each Wednesday and Thursday evenings as BATMAN, there had never been anything like it before – and did he, and the series he would be forever associated with, ever arrive at the perfect time! 

Premiering on January 12-13, 1966, almost literally bisecting the final television season to broadcast a steadily-dwindling number of prime-time series in Black and White, Adam West’s BATMAN shattered any final lingerings of television as it was during the previous decade-and-a-half. 

While other fantasy-oriented prime-time network series such as VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, LOST IN SPACE, THE WILD WILD WEST and sitcoms like BEWITCHED, I DREAM OF JEANNIE, GET SMART, THE ADDAMS FAMILY, and THE MUNSTERS had started the ball decidedly rolling in the imaginative direction that 1960s television would best be remembered for, it was BATMAN – thanks to Adam West and the talented actors, writers, and directors that fashioned this unique series – that boldly announced that the Sixties “In-Color” had arrived!  

Adam West was the PERFECT Batman for the sixties.  Resolute, melodramatic, even “square”… but FUN!  Always FUN! 

But, having run my own personal DVD “West-Fest” in the days following his death, it becomes apparent that Adam West did not “create” this particular performance type FOR the character of Batman and his alter-ego Bruce Wayne – but had pretty much practiced it throughout the years leading up to the series.  Indeed, the 1966 television persona of Batman might very well have been created to suit the singular talents of Adam West – rather than the other way around.    

Consider the Three Stooges film “The Outlaws Is Coming”, co-starring Adam West.  There, his male-lead character IS unquestionably the Bruce Wayne / Batman persona… in a film released in 1965, the year PRIOR TO the BATMAN television series.  

In PERRY MASON’s “The Case of the Bogus Books” (1962), West’s character somehow manages to be “square” (though heroically-intentioned) even though he carries around a guitar! 

And, in THE OUTER LIMITS’ “The Invisible Enemy” (1964), he turns in a performance that, at times, would make William Shatner blush!  A performance not all that far from the Batman in his future! 

Funny that my three-item “West-Fest”, intended as nothing more than my usual sort of tribute to a favorite departed figure – with an emphasis on his pre-Batman roles, ends up revealing all the more about exactly what went into creating his forever-unique take on the Caped Crusader! 

Over the last quarter-century, Adam West enjoyed a tremendous resurgence in popularity, which I believe began with his guest-voicing role in the BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES episode “Beware the Grey Ghost”. 

From there, he went on to many live action and voice acting roles – the most famous and enduring of which would be “Mayor Adam West” on FAMILY GUY! 

Aw, heck… HERE is his extensive list of credits at IMDB!   

The final, full-circle steps of the resurgence of both Adam West and his version of Batman was this comic book…

...This amazing classic series Blu-ray release...

…And this new animated DVD, featuring the voices of Adam West, Burt Ward, and Julie Newmar!  (…With one more like it, guest-starring William Shatner as Two-Face, to come!) 

  

I got to meet Adam West once, and he was every bit as wonderful as one would imagine him to be!  That story is contained in THIS POST. 

Rest in Peace, Adam West.  Forever a beloved hero to legions of fans!