Walt Disney Comics & Stories #728 Comic Book Review

Issue 728 of IDW Publishing’s Walt Disney Comics & Stories features 3 stories that have never been published in the US before, the comic book consists of “The Search for the Zodiac Stone: Chapter 8 of 12: Spectrus” from Italian Topolino 1787, 1990, “Unwashed Wolf” from Dutch Donald Duck 10/1989 and “Woe Is He!” from Finnish Aku Ankka 11/2011.

The main story of this issue is the eighth part of “The Search for the Zodiac Stone” series, called “Spectrus” and sees the Duck Avenger try to outwit “Spectrus”, who is a Criminal Magician, who steals Donald’s latest Zodiac Stone, resulting in Donald Duck bringing his alter ego into the fold to get it back and deal with the crook.  It’s been one of the better stories from the Zodiac arc, as it wasn’t directly connected to searching for one of the pieces, which having a 12 piece chapter does means its a story that will cover a whole year.

“Unwashed Wolf” is a quick story featuring the Big Bad Wolf, who is suffering from personal hygiene issues, which are giving the Three Little Pigs a heads up.  A nice bonus story that helps bring some classic characters into the series.

And the third story features Uncle Scrooge, called “Woe Is He!”, where Uncle Scrooge is feeling a little down and doesn’t think he has enough money, when he bumps into Magica De Spell, who isn’t feeling right and is helping people.  This was a good story which showed a different side to the usual Uncle Scrooge comic book with them working together rather than against one another.

This issue also comes with a California Adventure variant cover, which is a great nod to the park.

This is another good collection of different stories, with a Big Bad Wolf, Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge story included, its why this series can be much stronger, but I’ll be honest, I’m looking forward to when the Zodiac Stone arc is over (which is another 4 months away), while the stories aren’t interconnected too much and can just be picked up, its a long time for one story to spread along.  But taking that issue away and looking at the 3 stories on their own merit, its another strong issue and anytime the Duck Avenger is involved, it is always that little bit better.