REVIEW: "Uncle Scrooge and the Horn of Plenty"

It's an unusual story I bring you this time, and one which I translated myself. Uncle Scrooge and the Horn of Plenty was written in 1982 by Osvaldo Pavese, and illustrated by something called the Francest Bargadà Studios. 

(The "F" flag refers to the old French currency, the Francs. In an official localization, this would have 

been changed to a $ sign, but I do what I can.)

We open at sea, with some prety darn decent art. This story has a very Barksian vibe, helped greatly by Donald's characterization. Seeing him at the steering wheel of a sailing ship naturally brings this oft-reproduced Barks painting to mind, too. Also, the mythical island they are looking for is called “Erinia”, which is the name of a real Greek island. It is hard to tell what Pavese was thinking — on the one hand, this shows he did his research, but on the other hand, well, Erinia exists and we're pretty sure it is not populated by centaurs, giants and co. Quid? 

Why the turnip-bashing? I like turnips. Involving disliked vegetables in a Greek-themed treasure quest may be a call-back to Barks's Golden Fleecing, although, unlike in the Barks tale, the turnips in Horn of Plenty never really tie into the main plot beyond the nephews intending to use the Cornucopia to eat something else at last.

The island as seen from the sky is a striking picture, though perhpas the island seems a bit small in comparison to the apparent size of Scrooge and co. I find the childish, petty conflict between Donald and Scrooge endearing, and Scrooge's likewise childlike enthusiasm about finding Greek Mythology creatures even moreso. (Also, you'd think Huey, Dewey and Louie would have learnt something from Golden Fleecing and not doubt the existence of the creatures so thoroughly, but ah well. Continuity was never the strong point of Disney comics before Don Rosa.)

So after being knocked out by rocks, they meet this Centaur fellow. His design is nothing special, but his dialogue (in the original Italian) is poetical and grandiloquent, which I tried to carry on to this version. Also, grumpfh. Prophecy. Why is there always a prophecy? And the hints dropped by the Centaurs and Co. (which fly right above Scrooge's head every time) about wanting to keep the Horn are all but obvious, but I couldn't really help it.

More obvious hints that everybody misses. Bah. Also, those duck-faced satyrs look very odd. I'm pretty sure something like the one in the bottom right panel would tumble over and fall. On the other hand, Scrooge's oblivious, dream-like happiness still amuses me.

…So on the one hand, Scrooge is moving away from “likable obliviousness” to “pretty damn thick” here. On the other hand, I don't know if that was Pavese's intention, but maybe Scrooge is being “too clever by half” here, because giving ceremonial weapons to new citizens actually was a thing in Ancient Athens, so…? (Also, this blacksmith looks like Fergus McDuck. …No reason.)

Ah yes, the Giant. I don't quite know what to make of him. From what develops later, it's clear he's based on Polyphemes in the Odyssey, but then, why isn't he a cyclops? Not to mention that as far as Giants go, he is a pretty bland Giant. Forget Willie — freakin' Gustav had more personality than this guy. The Francest Bargadà Studio folks also can't seem to keep his height straight from one panel to another, as you can see.

This sequence, on the other hand, is pretty nice and dynamic. You really get a sense of motion despite the image's actually being, well, just a static image. The Giant isn't anything special, but I like his confused expressions.

The reference to Barks's September Scrimmage in the second panel here is mine, of course. On the other hand, what does belong to the story is the design of that goat. I can't quite place why but I really like that goat. Very graceful. 

Also, will fiction stop portraying setting people's bottoms on fire as harmless slapstick? Seriously, it's fire. This sort of thing can lead to serious injury. It would be bad enough if the Giant's bouncing attempts to light it off succeeded, but the last panel here clearly shows they haven't, so the fire would have realistically long ago burnt through his clothing and started  consuming him, weren't this a children's comic.

Again the graceful goat. Either way, although the story naturally doesn't expound on it, I think we're meant to assume that the Giant dies (if not from getting a boulder twice the size of his head smashed into his skull, then from the subsequent rockslide). This is… unexpectedly dark — even Homer didn't kill Polyphemes off entirely.

Seriously, that goat. Look at its satisfied smile in the first panel as it parades Scrooge & Co. around. I want that goat as a pet. On the other hand… (sigh) Brigitis. 

Brigitis. Brigitis is a strange turn for the story to take, especially with nothing hinting at her existence previously. I mean, unexplained lookalikes are no strangers to Disney comics, but… why? This isn't a historical parody story, Pavese! The real Brigitta McBridge is presumably minding her own business back in Duckburg, even now! So… why? And why does Brigitis have to be in love with Scrooge just because she looks just like Brigitta, or the other way around? See, this would make sense if the story was actually All Just a Dream, but it's not. 

Also, in the original, Scrooge seems to be rejecting Brigits's proposal on the basis that she looks like Brigitta, and therefore must be just as insufferable. This is so overwhelmingly stupid that I broke my usual rule of not tampering with dialogue, and had Scrooge protest on the more reasonable grounds that madam, I've only just met you a minute ago, fercrissake!

That helpful Centaur also turns bloodthirsty pretty quickly. It's, again, surprisingly dark, but very mythological. Break not the Faerie's rules and all that. 

It was all just a dream, except, oh, it wasn't, blah blah blah. We have ourselves a conclusion. I'll admit, those final three panels are surprisingly moving, and Scrooge losing the last two jewels from Erinia without even noticing they were there at all is a nice touch. This particular “Dream… Or Not?” ending seems to be more about why Scrooge won't think to come back, than it is about leaving the actual facts ambiguous. Which, okay. Fine. I'm still sick of the trope, but fine.

Something odd is that it's clear the idea was that the Erinians were using the Corncupia as their primary source of food, hence their desperation to get it back. This made the Giant come across as all the more of a jerk, since with his goats and all, he could probably feed himself without the Horn. But such a plot point seems like it was setting up something — namely, Scrooge realizing he can't just waltz in and take away those islanders' livelihood just to get some more shinies. Only that never happens, because Scrooge gets the Horn taken away from him by Brigits Ex Machina before he even considers the morality of bringing it back to Duckburg. Blah.

So… that's Uncle Scrooge and the Horn of Plenty. Is it a masterpiece? No, by far. But it is nicely drawn (Giant proportions notwithstanding), creative, and evocative. The overall atmosphere is very Barksian, to me, especially the sequences with Donald at the beginning and end. It's a romp I wouldn't mind seeing IDW publish one of these days, unlikely though it may be. 

REVIEW: "Shiver Me Timbers"

Joe Torcivia (go check his awesome blog, by the way) once asked me if I'd review one of his “scripted stories”. This prompted me to finally get my hands on an American IDW Uncle Scrooge issue, Uncle Scrooge #406. Since all three stories in there are pretty good, I'll review them all, but before that, non-American readers are going to ask what I mean by “scripted stories” (don't all stories have script, after all ?). 

Well. Nowadays, American readers will never get their hands on European stories as their readers first discovered them, except through scanlations. Why is that ? Well, all the foreign stories printed in American comics are not only translated, but rescripted by another author (the most illustrious being Geoffrey Blum, David Gerstein, Joe Torvicia, Jonathan Gray and the late Chris Barat). I have had numerous arguments on the Internet on this matter, because I don't really support this method, first because it stops the readers from having a clear opinion of the original author's work (a good rescripter can make a piece of junk into an okay story… which is nice and all, but then we're going to believe the original author was much better than he actually is). And also, there is a continuity problem. I'm very set on continuity, as you may know, and it really bothers me that we have two slightly different, overlapping versions of the same events. It's Donrosatian attention for details, of course, but it is a fact that through no plausible contortion of Time can Donald have both said on day X “Hello, uncle Scrooge” and “Nice G weather today”. I chose an inconsequential example because I wanted to ridicule myself a little, since I'll admit all this is pretty over-the-top. But sometimes it's a little bit more important. Like this, from The Eternal Knot, which GeoX already reviewed: 

I am told that Scrooge citing examples from his family is the translator's idea, whereas in the original he was just talking “in general”. Well, assuming I'm a Don Rosa clone who wants to make a Duck family tree, except not just from Barks stories… what do I do ? Do Aunt Molly and Cousin Clem exist, or not ? Since this is their only mention ever and they only exist in one of the two possible things Scrooge said (and that the version where Scrooge didn't cite them is, since it's the oldest one, the most likely to be canon) ? Gah ! And it's not just a thought experiment, because I did attempt once or twice to build such a tree. 

On the other hand… after repeated exposure to them, I kinda warmed up to these rescripting because often, they are damn good ! As I said before too, my idea solution would be that all those talented authors that are busy doing the rescripting be instead hired to write script to new Disney stories. 

At any rate…

This is 2003's Shiver Me Timbers, written by Jan Kruse and drawn by Bas Heymans, and here rescripted by Jonathan Gray. The story opens as the Ducks (including Scrooge) travel to Codfish Cove for a fishing weekend. This feels more like a Donald thing to do, obviously, so the opening dialogues are about justifying why Scrooge tags along too, since we'll need him later when this turns into a treasure hunt. The justification (fishing fish is free, buying fish costs).

Bas Heymans's distinctive art is excellent at this atmospheric stuff with the realistic-looking ship an the old sailor. However, though a three-master would be kinda original, describing it as a "ship out o'time" seems odd. For us it would be, but for the fantasy world of Donald Duck & Co., it appears it wouldn't. Moby Duck sails a similar, wooden, sail ship on a daily basis, and both Donald Duck finds Pirate Gold and its sequel South Sea Shenanigans feature the Ducks and Yellow Beak traveling aboard such a ship. I can admit that it would still get a few odd looks, but it wouldn't be enough spookiness to chase an entire crew of sailors out of town !

This reminds me of Barks's Let Sleeping Bones Lie where Scrooge tries to convert a giant dinosaur fossil into a fast-food restaurant. I'm not sure it's intentional, but it is quite similar.

What the…? You can be sure of one thing, this is one piece of dialogue that Jonathan Gray can be held responsible for. Aside from the weird “ain't” and “o'” that I feel would belong more in Pete's mouth than in Donald's, space-kidettes ? What on Earth is that supposed to mean ? 

Similarly, I'm 90 percents sure that Donald calling Super Goof is Gray's idea. And aside from the fact that I'm naturally unsympathetic towards it because continuity blah blah blah… there is a clear logical fallacy here. Because whereas Donald just yelling "HELP" would justify Scrooge's answer, any Super Goof fan knows that his super-hearing allows him to hear cries for help from absurdly long distances.  Which means that Donald was perfectly justified in trying to yell HELP, and Scrooge is wrong to tell him to stop.

That image of the island and the ship, and its colorization, are both flawless. Congratulations. 

Bas Heymans really knows how to make striking perspective. Bravo again, quite loudly.

Turns out the ghost is just a hand/glove. “Well, I can safely say that I am currently terrified beyond all reason.” might be a rescripting line, but I find it delightfully hilarious in its nonsensicality. It's lines like that that make me reconsider my opinions about these things.

Hilarious allusion, too (for those who don't know, Scrooge is quoting the Donald Duck theme song in the left panel), even though I am once more quite sure that it wasn't there in the original. On the right, wha Scrooge says rhymes, so I wonder if he's still singing or not. Perhaps.

It's weird how in the comics, the other characters pick up on the weirdness of Donald Duck's voice much less often than in cartoons. I guess it's because, since you don't really hear his voice in the comics, we have it less on our minds, and thus allusions are considered harder to get. The point being, this one allusion to his quacking tendencies is welcome !

I like the Moby Duck allusion, though why does he say “our pal” ? Moby Duck is his uncle, not his friend. As for the “Gravity Falls” allusion… other than the fact that it's a very weird pun since it's a pun on a pun… It can be taken three way. Either:

• There just happens to be a location in the Duck universe known as Gravity Falls (it's possible, I guess);
• Donald is referring to the TV series, in which case sorry, no, not possible, because the TV series premiered in 2012, which means that in 2003 Donald couldn't have heard about it;
• This is a hint that the TV series takes place in the same universe as the usual Disney comics… which is possible too, but it's weird because if there's any Disney property whose style wouldn't mash up well with Disney comics, it's Gravity Falls. 

And the thing is, if it's either #1 or #3, we are faced the continuity problem, since this is all a rescripting thing. Is there a location named Gravity Falls in the Duck Universe, or not ?!?

Well, anyway. The Ducks discover that an evil wizard is behind the whole thing, and that to lift the curse they have to find him. Anyways, things spiral into madness from there. It's often hilarious and always engaging, but I can't help but wonder what went through Kruse's mind. Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman and the Knights of the Round Table and an evil sorcerer and blah blah blah ? What's all that doing in a pirate ghost story ?!? There's not much more to review here aside from that, except that the Headless Horseman is very dissimilar to his standard Disney portrayal.

I do wonder one last thing: how does the chef know the name of the pirates-turned-seagulls ? I don't think those are supposed to be anthropomorphic seagulls, so they can't have told him…

Well, anyway, good art and a delightfully wacky plot make this story a very enjoyable read. As for Gray's localization, it has its ups (very up) and its downs (mindscrews).

REVIEW: "Voodoo Hoodoo"

Haunted Mansion comics may be nice, but it was time I got back to more traditional Disney comics. Now, I had read Voodoo Hoodoo a couple of times in the past, but in French translations (since, as you may have grasped in the comments of the ‘Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ post, I’m French). For the purpose of doing this review, I got around reading it in its original American printing, and a bunch of things suddenly struck me about it.

So there’s this rumor of a zombie hanging around in Duckburg. Donald hears said rumors and goes ask an… expert on ghost stuff who… I dunno… see for yourself.

Original version.

“Censored” version.

These two panels are, to me, the most puzzling thing in the whole comic. For various reasons.

• First: who IS this guy ? Barks throws him in like he’s some regular friend of Donald’s, which we of course know he isn’t. And where does Donald know him from ?  What kind of a name is Bop Bop anyway ? Why is he riding that ridiculous little  motorcar, with an oversized trumpet under his armpit ? WHY ? Also, if he’s that scared of a mere zombie, how comes he’s an « expert on ghost stuff » ? We need more information !

• Second: the words “done fer“ seem to have been written by someone other than Barks. Did the editor censor the word “dead” ? Seems likely to me, as I know more recent reprints have “dead” written instead, in Barks’s usual lettering font. 

• Third: is Bop Bop supposed to be black ? I mean, the coloring of the first printing seems to be designed to make us think so, but his facial structure is more similar to non-black Gottfredson characters like Joe Piper than to Barks’s depiction of black people later on — first of all, his black people are, well, black (their skin is inked on, Barks didn’t just draw the outlines and wait for the colorist to do the rest). Of course, on the other hand, there’s his accent, which, yeah, it could be an afro-american accent, but it could just be a low-class accent with no ethnic connection. THEN AGAIN, if he’s a low-class, why does he wear this fancy billionaire suit ? The “censored” version has a less ambiguous coloring. And his grammar is slightly better, but not much. It's so weird.

What was bound to happen happens: Donald meets the Zombie, whom apparently the editors in charge of the reprinting also thought was racistly depicted, and they had Barks re-draw his face without the big nose. (Same goes for Foola Zoola later). I’m not sure about this: on one hand, I don’t think it’s particularly offensive in Bombie’s case. A big nose is a cartoon/comic standard (just look at Asterix, for instance). If you look up any Donald story featuring “real” humans (aside from Dangerous Disguise and Ancient Persia, which are really special cases), there’s a good chance they’ll have noses at least as big as Bombie’s. On the other hand, I actually think Bombie and Foola Zoola look better with a smaller, more realistic nose; it makes them look like more “serious” characters. Bombie's misadventures you take more seriously than those of, say, Witch Hazel. And Foola Zoola, with his small, triangular nose, is much more threatening. He also looks more his age with those wrinkled lips. And those pointy teeth look so unspeakably silly. Here is a comparison:

This is silly.

This is eerily chilling.

…

So, you probably know how this goes. The zombie gives Donald a voodoo doll that stings him, and, persuaded that he's under some kind of curse, Donald goes to his Uncle Scrooge's.

So, here are my thoughts about this little part of the story that has turned, in the fans' eyes, into its biggest problem. At the time, Scrooge wasn't established as a “good guy”, and thus apparently, the curse was put on him when he tried to throw a voodoo tribe out of their property to turn it into a rubber plantation. To “justify” it, Don Rosa, in his Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, based a whole story arc on how this was Scrooge's only dishonest deed ever, how he always regretted it and how Bombie the Zombie and his curse are metaphorically an allegory of his remorse. The arc Rosa did is, on its own, wonderful, but… bah. He is missing the point.

You see, this rationalization is all based on the fact that what Scrooge did is evil. And the thing is, Barks's story really doesn't support this interpretation. First, there is the fact that Foola Zoola is this evil witch-doctor who is basically the villain of the story, and for that matter wouldn't look out of place in a line-up of Disney villains also including Jafar, Cruella De Vil, Maleficent and the likes. And then, there's the fact that everyone else in Africa seems to fear and hate this tribe, too; and there are also those rumors that Foola Zoola leads raids and plunders to nearby villages that the Ducks hear at the airport. Had Scrooge succeeded in getting rid of Foola and his men, he would have been seen as a savior by literally everybody else on the planet. 

Why this is uncomfortable is because it implies that the Voodoo Tribe is unredeemably evil, and that Scrooge's “Those savages were made” line and its next-of-kins are right. And they sound so despicably racist to modern ears ! But what one must understand is that though it's racist from our point of view, in this universe of fiction, all those things are true. You just can't blame characters who appear to us as racist, when through some whim of a racist author, the universe they are in really works like that.

Do bear in mind that I'm not saying Barks was racist, or that this story was especially racist, but it just contains clichés that are racist — namely, the evil voodoo tribe and its evil leader. It's racist from our point of view… but in-story, it's not: the evil voodoo tribe is evil, and making us feel sorry for them is missing the point.

This is one of my favorite bits in the story. At the sight of that second panel, I am filled with an indescribable mix of laughter and empathy. Poor thing. You just want to hug old Bombie.

This whole quiz sequence is as hilarious today as it ever was, since those things certainly didn't improve since 1948. I find this ever-moving presenter pretty hilarious, contrasted with the unmoving Bombie. This is one sequence that would render beautifully in animation.

This is probably unintentional, but I find it worth noting that it is a talking dog making the statement that “clams don't talk” as though it was elementary. 

The panel on the right, with its realistic scenery and shadowing, seems serious; complete with Donald's conqueror pose, if you forgot for a minute that it's a waterfowl you're looking at, this could seem to be from a genuine adventure story/movie.

Isn't this guy strange ? He's got dog ears, but a human nose. He must be a hybrid, I guess. 

Isn't this surreal image pretty funny ? It is to me. Also, notice how Bombie seems to be wearing the quiz presenter's very suit.

Carl Barks was generally a pretty good artist, but there is something weird with the proportions here. Either Donald suddenly grew a foot or two in height, or the native is a pygmy, which is unlikely. 

There is the bit I was talking about earlier -- Foola Zoola and his tribes are definitely villains.

Here's another place where Rosa's version and Barks's just don't add up, not just in terms of symbolism and morality, but in terms of facts. For one, here it is obvious that Zoola and Scrooge were old rivals who knew each other for quite a while. In Rosa's versions, they see each other for, what, thirty minutes maximum. Zoola's “Dear old friend” isn't really logical then. And also, that weird idea of Rosa's that Scrooge looking like Donald was the result of a disguise. Well, it's funny in itself, but the way this dialogue here plays, this is not a possibility that was, actually, left open. In Don Rosa's version, Scrooge only disguises himself after introducing himself to Foola under his regular appearance -- Bombie is tricked by Scrooge's disguise, but not Zoola. Thus, it doesn't make a shred of sense that Zoola would, genuinely, confuse present-day Donald with the Scrooge he knows. No, the way Foola Zoola puts it here, it's very clear that in the days the two knew each other, Scrooge  genuinely did look like Donald.

There's some good tension here, but the stake seems kind of ridiculous in comparison. I mean, you're gonna be shrunk to the size of a mouse. I can see why it would be unpleasant, but there's nothing to be too tragic (for Donald) or sadistic (for Foola) about. It's nothing too deadly or harmful, especially considering that in the Disney Comics world, anthropomorphic mice exist, which means there already are facilities arranged for 10-centimeters-tall people.

This denouement always fell flat for me. I mean, what are  the odds that Bombie somehow only bounces on people ? 

Well, anyway, a good story with not a doubt, with mostly great art, a good story, a good character, and a lot of creativity. There is however some confusing stuff (Bop Bop, I won't forget you!), as well as some vaguely racist stereotypes, but nothing too drastic.