Disney LongBox Reviews: Mickey Mouse #15
The Weregoof’s Curse
First Published in Topolino #1102 (1977)
Country Of Origin : Italy
First Time Publshed in North America
Mickey is once again babysitting Ellroy as he is up to mischief trying to capture the gopher that had been raiding Mickey’s garden. As he comes close, Mickey stops him saying that even a pest has the right to live.
Mickey soon notices Mrs.Spite yelling at the top of her voice nearby. She blames Ellroy for what happened to her cat as he is the local troublemaker. Ellroy tries to tell her he did not kidnap her cat as she blames Mickey as well thinking he is covering up for Ellroy.
Ellroy runs off frustrated thinking Mickey dosen’t believe him as Mickey found a strand of red cat hair near him. Goofy soon walks over to Mickey’s finding the newspaper headline funny proclaiming that a werewolf version of himself is on the loose in Mouseton.
Mickey notices that cat hair is falling out of Goofy’s clothes as he walks away, Later that night, Ellroy asked Mickey about werewolves as they suddenly hear one outside. The werewolf runs amok grabbing whatever cats he can find as the boys follow him.
They soon run into Casey who dosen’t believe the kidnappings are being caused by a werewolf and tells Mickey to find proof.
We soon see Goofy, who has in fact become a werewolf enter the metro station as it is revealed that Pete and his mean girlfriend, along with his zany cousin Portis are the cause of this sudden change. What happened to Goofy ? What do Pete and his mooks want with all these cats ? How can Mickey stop all of this ? Read the issue to find out.
FINAL THOUGHTS :
Once again, Disney Mickey Mouse brings us a classic Romano Scapa tale that involves science and transformations. To see Goofy in a more villanous role is rather unusal even if he is not in control of his body. Scarpa’s art in this is still as wonderful as ever although some of his Mickey faces are a bit odd at times.
But the real star of this comic is Pete’s cousin Portis, he has a more feline appearance than Pete or Tabb do which does make him more unique rather him being a clone of Pete. The tale itself makes a good comic to read next Halloween.
A Goofy Look at Fear
First Published in Donald Duck #44 (2004)
Country of Origin : Holland
First Time Published in North America
Horace and Goofy have finished their day at the carnival as Horace is amazed that Goofy did not find the Haunted House attraction frightening at all. Horace convinces himself that everyone must be afraid of something, even our lovable Goof.
He decides to rig tricks in the local abandoned house as he invites Goofy over for a special poker game. Goofy enters the house, impressed that the door opended by themselves. Will Horace be able to finally scare Goofy off or will he himself be spooked by what lurks inside the ghostly halls of the mansion. Read the tale to find out
FINAL THOUGHTS :
This was a beautifully drawn and coloured story featuring Goofy and Horace.. It is a bit on the short side but gets to the point. This is the start of Goofy’s seemingly immunity towards the supernatural or the occult since in future comics, he would go up against characters like Witch Hazel thinking all of their magic was hocus pocus.
Jonathan Gray turns out yet another wonderful script full of his humour.
OVERALL THOUGHTS :
This issue felt like it would have been perfect for Halloween but due to the Mickey Mouse Shorts mini series, this release feels out of place since the other Disney titles will be delving into holiday or winter themed stories ( Aside from Disney Duck Avenger of course).
Romano Scarpa once again invents crazy characters that remain lovable to this day, In this case it’s Pete’s cousin Portis (New character means he will be important later on ) With his quirky design and outlandish plans, I’m sure he will pop up in future IDW titles.
CREDITS:
ARTISTS: Romano Scarpa ( Story 1) Michel Nadorp ( Story 2)
WRITERS: Romano Scarpa (Story 1) Jos Beekman (Story 2)
EDITOR: Sarah Gaydos
ARCHIVAL EDITOR: David Gerstein
PUBLISHER: IDW Publishing