Donald and Mickey : Treasure Menace in Venice Review
In this one shot, IDW takes a look at some classic comic book stories from the past, featuring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.
Treasure Menace in Venice
W: Jan Kruse A: Ben Verhagen
First Published in Dutch in Donald Duck Weekblad # 34 (2001)
Scrooge is angered with a theatre manager that failed to turn a profit after getting a 100,000$ loan following a string of bad luck. Scrooge soon decides to take Señor Castrafo’s family hotel back in Venice and vows to make into something profitable
He sends Donald and his great nephews to Venice to look around the property as they find that the hotel has been run-down, covered in cob-webs as Donald begins imagining how this theatre will make a grand hotel. Donald accidentally knocks over a statue during the clean-up revealing a piece of paper in one of the busts.
The nephews read the clue and figure out that the clue meant a well and not the nearby water in the streets of Venice. Donald accidentally falls in the water as a nearby gondola driver overhears their conversation and decides to report back to his missus. Soon, the news spread across town as many hear about how they found the treasure.
Donald gives them money to go get diving gear as the nephews talk with a pigeon feed seller as they learn that the theatre they own is cursed. The nephews learn about Carlo Catasafro and how his comedic play based on the Doge led to his downfall and the family’s move to the USA. The seller suggests that they run back to Duckburg before the curse gets them.
Later on in their room, Donald and the nephews get visited by a spooky figure, implied to be the ancestor as they soon follow him in town before getting distracted by a costume party. The ghost soon makes its way to the theatre looking around for the treasure with the metal detector. But he soon finds a suprise as he gets spooked by the real ghost ( revealed to be Donald), jumping onto a nearby palo.
The polo slowly begins to sink as the well moves up, Donald finds something. What could it be ? Read the full story to find out
The Terrifying World of Tutor (Part 1 of 2)
W And A : Andrea “Casty” Castellani
First Published in Italy’s Topolino #2839 (2010 )
In this two parter Mickey story, we start with our hero and Eega Beeva discussing a nationwide crisis at the UN as the reporters ponder what caused a large number of disappearances throughout the world. Countries begin blaming each other as Mickey try to calm them down so that he can explain what has been going on.
On his most recent to his Aunt Melinda on the outskirts of Mouseton, Mickey and Eega discover that Melinda’s bees have suddenly vanished. Sega suspects that the queen might have migrated and searches throughout the nearby fields. One of the neighbours overhears suspecting Martians did this, he goes back inside to get some proof as Mickey ignores his claims and suspects one of Melinda’s competitors might be behind this.
On a visit to one of the nearby farmers, MacArnold reveals his bees have also vanished in a rather humorous way.
He also reveals every bee in the entire country has vanished showing them a map of all the affected farms. Mickey and Eega soon get back on the road into the nearby forest. Eega gives Mickey an translator ring to help him talk with some nearby critters to see if they have seen where the bees have vanished. The animals mainly ignore the two as a mosquito bothering them lands them in the slammer.
The mosquito finds them in the cell landing on Mickey’s nose, in exchange for some sweets, he is willing to tell them what is going on. Ramon the mosquito soon tells them that he heard from a fly that all the bees have went on to another world. Other insects have also disappeared slowly as suddenly news reports report that even mammals and fish have vanished suddenly such as tigers, cods and monkeys.
Mickey soon hears loud knocks from the farmer from way back with his proof that Martians were responsible for the disappearance of the animals. The photo shows a UFO as suddenly they appear over the skyline of Mouseton taking the horses off the planet.
With the situation getting more and more insane by the minute, Mickey and Eega must figure out who is controlling the spaceships and what animals might be next. The story continues in the next issue of Donald and Mickey but for the rest of this chapter, be sure to read the full issue.
Livin’ the Dream
W: Janet Gilbert A: Francisco Rodriguez Peinado
First Published in Sweden’s Kalle Anka & Co #24 (2014)
For our final story of the issue, Donald and the nephews are enjoying some take-out as they crack open some fortune cookies. The boys all get the same message * You will dream of your future*
The boys decide to stay up for the night to prevent their future from being scary. One of them insists on listening to classical music but another says they might dream of going to a operata concert and it might happen. The boys go through various means to stay up by drinking coffee and putting their webbed feet in cold ice.
Will they be able to stay up and prevent something scary from happening ? Stay tuned to find out
FINAL THOUGHTS
Ever since Donald and Mickey went bi-monthly, it made me miss seeing the Donald and Mickey comics monthly when they had their own separate series rather than the combined book. Sometimes it’s too much Mickey or too much Donald every time an issue appears , it’s quite hard to know what you are getting yourself into at times.
For this month, we have a long Donald story and a short Donald story themed around his nephews with one half of a Mickey story sandwiched in-between. The Terror of Venice story was the best part honestly, it showed Donald and the nephews solving a mystery without the assistance of their great uncle. It also shows that Donald can take of himself in dangerous situations like dressing up as the ghost to spook an intruder in his room.
The Mickey story, however, was more of the same. It is another Casty two parter, thanks to Comics and Stories showing a lot of his Mickey work, they have honestly begun to feel the same to me. The mystery barely interested me until the mid-point when the UFOs showed up, that picked up my interest a lot. I would like to see some other Mickey stories by other writers and artists in the future. Maybe some Vicar would do the book some good.
Overall, Donald and Mickey continues to show the best of both worlds when it comes to the adventures of Duckburg’s bad luck ridden duck and Mouseton’s ace detective. The stories themselves were either good or predictable but it is still an issue worth picking up if you like Donald Duck or Casty’s work.
RATING: 6 out of 10