Disney LongBox Reviews: Donald Duck #17
THE BIG SNEEZE
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN DONALD VAKANTIEBOOK ANNUAL (1980) ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN
FIRST TIME PUBLISHED IN NORTH AMERICA
Donald is currently working as an assistant security guard as his employer tells him that he goofed up while cleaning some of the props and that this would not be forgiven as he demotes Donald to being a Associate Attendant Assistant due to his many mistakes at the museum. How could this day get worse ? Let’s find out together shall we ?
We then cut to a career pigeon named Wheezer on his way home with important information taped on his foot but gets distracted by a female pigeon causing the nephews to fail their test and being demoted to Triple S ranked Woodchucks.
Both Donald and the nephews have had bad days, as the two groups meet up, Donald asks them about the message on the lady pigeon’s leg. After opening it, they discover it is from a professor that is currently stuck on an island called Kooka Boola Island and that the only source of water is a fountain of youth that worsens the quality of his writing.The boys decide to go visit the curator of the museum to see if he could help them find the island.
Turns out he and the professor were old friends. The curator always did wonder where he went, he reads the letter to verify its authenticity and decides to fund the trip to the island to rescue him, Donald volunteers to get his old job back and to get away from his hay fever trigged by dust. He brings along his liquorice drops for the trip.
Many weeks pass by as they finally arrive at Kooka Boola. The captain gives them until sundown to find the professor so they could leave before the monster strikes.But after an ambush from some local sharks,Donald and the nephews soon arrive on the island and find Professor Phineas near the beach. The nephews mistake him for his child but the professor explains that this was due to the Fountain of Youth that he mentioned in his letter.
After Donald sneezes, a louder sneeze could be heard from afar as the professor explains this was the mythical dragon that lives on the island. How will they get out of this fiery situation ? Read on dear folks.
FINAL THOUGHTS: This tale was pretty epic considering this was a solo Donald adventure without Scrooge. Scrooge’s stories tended to be the ones that contains the more mysterious or mythical adventures while Donald’s stories are mostly just normal suburban adventures with him facing against Neighbour Jones, Gladstone or the Beagle Boys. So to see Donald step out of Duckburg and tackle a giant dragon and an island containing strange phenomenas such as the Fountain of Youth is certainly unique considering the age this comic was first published.
It would be decades before Donald has spin-off comics taking him into the paranormal, the superhero world or the spy game. But this story with its clever writing and suspenseful climax will leave you wanting more from Milton.
BATH POOLING
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN ANDERS AND CO #28 (2013)
FIRST PUBLISHED IN DENMARK
FIRST TIME PUBLISHED IN NORTH AMERICA
In this one-pager, Donald prepares an inflatable pool for the nephews to enjoy the rather warm day. Seeing the birds suffering as well, he decides to fill the bird bath which leads to a odd mix-up.
FINAL THOUGHTS: A humorous strip that reminds me of the 1940s Donald Duck newspaper strip , the art from Jiipes is wonderful as usual showing great expressions on Donald showing how he feels about the warm situation.
DOG MEETS DOG
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN TOPOLINO #2872 (2010)
FIRST PUBLISHED IN ITALY
FIRST TIME PUBLISHED IN NORTH AMERICA
Fethery is out taking his pet dog for a walk at Webfoot Park as he sees Donald sitting at a bench reading his newspaper with his Boston Terrier. Fethry measures the dog.
Feeling jealous, he trades his dog for a bigger dog as he compares it to Donald’s again, it seems it grew taller while he was gone. Fethry again goes to change dogs wanting to have a bigger dog than Donald’s. Read the rest of the tale to see if he ever gets a clue about the mystery of Donald’s dog.
FINAL THOUGHTS: The art in this one is quite unique, its unlike anything seen in the IDW issues so far. The character have bigger eyes that give them lots of personality. Another unique thing was that there is no dialogue in the strip, it was 100% visual, perfect for readers of all nations and ages. Perhaps IDW will decide to publish more of these type of stories.
CREDITS :
WRITERS AND ARTISTS : FREDDY MILTON ( STORY 1) DAAN JIPPES ( STORY 2) ENRICO FANCINNI ( STORY 3)
EDITOR: SARAH GAYDOS
ARCHIVAL EDITOR: DAVID GERSTEIN
PUBLISHER: IDW PUBLISHING