Woo woo! Ducktales is back in a big way on TV, with an all-star cast, which means it is coming back to comic books. The tales of Donald Duck’s extended family have been a mainstay in comics for almost as long as there have been comic books in America. This new series from IDW captures a bit of that spirit while remaining true to the style of the latest TV series.
Cover by Marco Ghiglione
Written by Joe Caramanga
Illustrated by Luca Usai and Gianfranco Florio
Colored by Giuseppe Fontana and Dario Calabria
Lettered by Tom B. LongWoo-oo! In ‘The Great Experiment of the Washing Machine,’ Donald and the Nephews visit a top-secret lab, chock-full of crazy inventions to make life easier… but might make them SHORTER, instead! And then, learn ‘The Chilling Secret of the Lighthouse!’
This first issue features two stories, both by Joe Caramanga. They’re pretty typical Duckbergian fare, focusing on the triplets Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and their uncle Donald Duck. Beyond those four characters, no other series mainstays appear. No Launchpad McQuack, or Webby, who has been made a lot of fun in the latest series. Most importantly, there’s no Uncle Scrooge.
This means that instead of the adventures of the world’s richest duck and his family, what we really get are the adventures of the world’s unluckiest duck and his three plucky nephews. Fortunately, this new comic draws the characterization from the new cartoon, and the triplets are a lot more distinct from each other than they have ever been. Huey (the red one) is an excitable adventurer. Dewey (the blue one) is sarcastic and impetuous. Louie (the green one) is totally laid back, but also sort of a scheming huckster.
The distinction between the trio is the source of most of the fun in the story. They have a great dynamic, and their attitudes extend to the roles they take in the adventures. Huey, for example, is the only one patient enough to stay behind and cover for the other two ducks as they explore the bowels of a mysterious lighthouse. The differences even extend to the visuals. Louie, for example, always has half-lidded eyes, which makes it easy to remember that he’s easygoing.
As for the adventures themselves, they’re pretty forgettable. The first one is about a lighthouse which Donald has been hired to clean, but holds a secret. The second was so forgettable, I had to read it twice; it’s about the boys going undercover as mad scientists to scope out a high-tech washing machine.
While the character dynamics are a fun change, the flat adventures are a real bummer. We know that these ducks have it in them to feature in great comics, going all the way back to “The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck.” We also know that Ducktales has the capability to tell intriguing mysteries. The new cartoon is getting a lot of mileage out of exploring the extended duck family tree, while also finding time for fun adventures and memorable villains.
The conflicts here never click. Not every Ducktales story needs to be about the Beagle Boys or Magica de Spell, or even a team-up with Darkwing or Gizmoduck, but a number one issue sets the tone, and the tone of this issue is… fine. Competently executed. The writing isn’t riotously funny, or swashbuckling adventure. It honestly reads like filler, more like an issue fourteen than a number one.
That’s a shame, because interest in “Ducktales” is at an all-time high. Fans of actors like David Tennant, Danny Pudi, Ben Schwartz, and Lin-Manuel Miranda have all tuned in to the new show. That’s a prime time to show the world what the ducks can do in the pages of a comic. As it stands, I wouldn’t even be enthusiastic about buying this comic for a little kid. It doesn’t do enough to grab their attention.
With all that in mind, it is a competently executed book for the most part. This is especially true with the art. With two credited pencilers and two credited colorists, there’s a lot of room for inconsistency, but not only does the book manage to keep the same style throughout, it matches up with the rather unique pixelated animation style of the new show. It’s easy to transition between these ducks in any medium.
Continued belowOne exception to that though, is the lettering, which I found hard to follow. Lettering is one of those aspects of comic book storytelling you only notice when it is extremely unique for good or ill. Unfortunately, this lettering was tough to follow. I found myself zooming in a lot on words that were a bit too thin, written in white font on red boxes. Kids comics often blow words up; even in books for older kids like “Adventure Time” you see an easy-to-read font. It’s not a dealbreaker, but it did hurt the overall book.
There are a plethora of good “Ducktales” comics out there, and plenty of good work by these creators, but something didn’t gel. I won’t speculate, but this latest attempt at “Ducktales” seems like it came together too fast. It needs something else, either more direction or more of a hook, more something. At least we know that somewhere, sometime, we’ll be able to enjoy the adventures of Huey, Dewey, and Louie.
Final Verdict: 5.5 – A forgettable comic that misses most of its opportunities to shine.
