Disney LongBox Reviews: Donald Duck #16

 

The Call of C’Russo

First Published in Lustiges Taschenbuch #330 (2004)

Country of Origin: Germany

First Time Published in the USA

 

The story begins with Donald auditioning for a singing contest to very negative results as the judges tell him to go take a hike. Donald,leaves discouraged until he bumps into an individual named D’mmingo who is the brother of the composer in charge of the contest.

The nephews are also auditioning for the contest and manages to get in. D’mmingo asks Donald to sing for him again as he loves his unique baritone but suggests oiling up his throat to improves his chances with  C’rruso.

D’mmingo soon gives him a breath spray to help with his voice and suggests Donald takes it before bed. Donald does so later that night, as the concotion soon kicks in transforming Donald’s voice into a deep smooth tone as he returns to the contest the next day. He aces and insures a place in the finals replacing his nephews.

The nephews soon bump into and suspect something is amiss since Donald’s voice could not have changed in one day. Donald tells them he needs to get onboard a yacht since the competition will take place on an island and has to leave that night.

Donald makes it onboard as Mr.C’Russo greets him. Donald wonders where the other contestants are as C’Russo explains that they are sociable and would rather practice in their rooms instead. After the two leave, the nephews sneak on board as they hear that Donald’s voice is back to normal as he practices in his room.

The nephews see him take the breath spray again as the boys wonder why the mysterious stranger gave him the spray in the first place. Donald spies on the other contestants as he could not believe they were still singing.

The day passes as the nephews wonder why the trip is taking this long as they hide under the lifeboat. They witness the mysterious man switching vials in Donald’s room and leaving as the boys wonder why he did so. They soon get busted by Donald and forces them to come in.

Donald tells them about the breath spray and why he wants to win so badly.The nephews tell him that it’s still wrong to cheat. Donald then confesses he has been feeling guilty and will give up the prize money if he does win. The nephews are proud of him for saying that.

The boys soon realizes that it could all be for nothing since the mysterious stranger switched the vials earlier so they sneak out hoping he would be asleep elsewhere on the ship. They find him and switch the vials. On their way back to the room, they hear the other contestants. Turns out it was a recording of themselves all along.

The ship suddenly stops as Mr.C’Russo looks menacingly as something emerges from the sea , what is this mysterious object ? Is it take an take over the world kind of evil object or is it just an plain evil object ? Will Donald ever win that contest ?

You will have to find out dear readers….. on your own.

 

The Expert’s Choice

Originally Published in Topolino #2385 (2001)

Country of Origin: Italy

First Time Published in the USA

Donald and the nephews are in the woods hunting for mushrooms for their dinner, only problem is that Ludwig Von Drake is the inspector and takes a rather long time to do the inspection to see if they are edible.

OPINIONS 

WARNING: There will be spoilers for the first story for those who wish to finish it before reading this section of the review. You have been warned

THE CALL OF C’RUSSO:

This tale was certainly an oddity in the Donald Duck canon since there are very rarely any tales involving the paranormal without Scrooge onboard. This one has them dealing with a pair of spirits that represent a huge Duckthulu type monster that could destroy the world if someone sings beautifully to wake it up. C’Russo wants the world to be destroyed while D,Miggo wishes to save it.

At first I thought D’Miggo was evil but I was proven wrong as I read the story. Later on the ducks began morphing into tentacle clad monsters which really reminded me of an arc in the Boom Darkwing Duck comic where the same thing occurs.

                                     TAKEN FROM DARKWING DUCK #11

Still a very nice story for those that craved something aside from Scrooge standard villains. Hopefully more strange tales will pop up in this series in the future. The art was very nice and this is a rare case where the comic was written in English first and was not translated by someone at IDW.

THE EXPERT’S CHOICE

This tale was just filler to fill in the last page. It’s very standard, I would have been fine if I only got one story in this issue. Not much to say honestly.

CREDITS: 

STORY: MARK AND LAURA SHAW ( STORY 1) RUDY SALVAGNINI ( STORY 2)

ART: FLEMMING ANDERSEN ( STORY 1) MARCO MELONI ( STORY 2)

PUBLISHER:TED ADAMS

EDITOR: SARAH GAYDOS

ARCHIVAL EDITOR : DAVID GERSTEIN

PUBLISHER: IDW AND DISNEY COMICS