THE DISNEY LONGBOX: MICKEY MOUSE #12 REVIEW
FOOLPROOF
FIRST PUBLISHED IN : KACZOR DONALD #40 (2011)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN : POLAND
FIRST TIME PUBLISHED IN NORTH AMERICA
Mickey learns from Chief O’Hara that Pete has been released from jail on parole as a model citizen. O’Hara warns Mickey not to go after him but Mickey, being the ever elusive detective , decides to tail Pete in case he is up to no good as usual.
After a suspicious stop at a pawn shop, Mickey trails Pete through several visits at local stores and factories where Mickey, after hearing an odd sound, soon gets caught by various cops called by a mysterious source and ends up getting blamed for robberies held at those very places.
Mickey soon figures out that Pete has been setting him up this entire time as he could commit crimes while pinning it on someone else. But that phone ends up giving him away as Pete’s nearly perfect plan crumbles at the palm of his hand.
BRIDGE ON THE RIVER AI-YAI
FIRST PUBLISHED IN : TOPOLINO #1063 (1976)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN : ITALY
FIRST TIME PUBLISHED IN NORTH AMERICA
The star of this story is a character born in the Sunday Mickey Mouse newspaper strip published in the US as a pet sold to Goofy to give him a friend to talk with. But turns out this bird is in fact a super-genius that has helped his rather dim-witted owner earn more respect and more money. His stories have been published in the past few Mickey Mouse issues. But this story is from the Italian Mouse Maestro himself, Romano Scarpa.
In this story, our pal Ellsworth has an adopted son named Ellroy who is quite good with a yo-yo. However , a slip of the feather causes it to cause chaos throughout Mouseton, injuring Ellsworth in the process.
They soon make their way to Mickey’s house to relax until an old friend of Ellsworth’s drops in un-announced but his intentions are rather malicious than friendly.
After being framed for a mistake Ellsworth did in the past and jailed, the old friend wants Ellsworth to feed him for the next 99 years ( the same amount of time as his sentence). Ellroy soon flies over to Mickey to gain his help and figure out a way to get Ellsworth out of this rather sticky situation.
SAFETY FIRST
FIRST PUBLISHED IN MICKEY MOUSE ANNUAL #6 (1935)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN : ENGLAND
This short comic is a gag about Morty and Ferdie dirtying their faces to avoid getting a kiss from Clarabelle.
SONG OF THE SQUINCH
FIRST PUBLISHED IN : KALLE ANKA AND CO #26 (2013)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN : SWEDEN
FIRST TIME PUBLISHED IN NORTH AMERICA
WRITER’S NOTE: The 1930s newspaper comic strip has touched upon a similar plot about Clarabelle being involved in a scam over her money with a gentleman trying to woo her to get his way.
This story begins with Mickey walking over to Clarabelle’s with a large sum of money she asked him to withdraw from the bank, unaware of the reason. He soon finds her talking to a person she borrowed some money from wanting his monthly installment , while his young assistant insists on taking it right away , Mr. Squinch however says he would rather pick it up the next morning as agreed.
Mickey, however, smelling a rat, asks Clarabelle if he could stay over for the night in case the duo tried anything. She is angered by his assumptions that Squinch is up to no good but lets him stay over for the night.
The young assistant, breaks in through the window to snatch the money while Squinch sings a serenade to Clarabelle to keep her busy.
Will he get away with it or will justice triumph ? Check the story out for yourself to find out.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
FOOLPROOF -I really loved the first story, but I do have one minor complaint, its a very small nitpick but it bothered me throughout the entire story, I am not a fan of how the artist drew Mickey’s nose. It stuck out a little too much compared to other versions I have seen over the years. It’s more along the lines of Mortimer’s nose in some panels. It’s nice to see a story where Pete almost got away with one of his schemes if it wasn’t for that phone.
BRIDGE ON THE RIVER -When I was first introduced to Ellsworth in Mickey Mouse #1, I really didn’t like him since he felt like a really stuck-up jerk to Goofy but as I read more of his stories, I grew to like him. When I first heard there would be a full story with him , I was excited to see what could be done with the character. This title did not disappoint as Scarpa was one of the best Mouse writers out there.
SAFETY FIRST -These British Mickey stories have been very odd , it feels like the artist has just copied poses from model sheets of the US comic strip and added long bits of text to make feel like a comic. It’s a rarity for sure.
SONG OF THE SQUINCH – This story has some very gorgeous art and it reminds me of the Goofy and Horace story from last week’s Walt Disney Comics and Stories issue. Sticks closely to the American designs of the characters with some added European charm. Some great fighting poses from Mickey and the assistant , very well drawn. Can’t wait to see more of this artist in the future.
CREDITS :
WRITERS : NOEL VAN HORN ( STORY 1) ROMANO SCARPA (STORY 2) WILFRED HAUGHTON ( STORY 3) LARS JENSEN ( STORY 4)
ARTISTS : NOEL VAN HORN (STORY 1) ROMANO SCARPA ( STORY 2) WILFRED HAUGHTON ( STORY 3) FABRIZIO PETROSSI (STORY 4)
EDITOR : SARAH GAYDOS
ARCHIVAL EDITOR : DAVID GERSTEIN
PUBLISHER : IDW
CREDITS :
WRITERS : NOEL VAN HORN ( STORY 1) ROMANO SCARPA (STORY 2) WILFRED HAUGHTON ( STORY 3) LARS JENSEN ( STORY 4)
ARTISTS : NOEL VAN HORN (STORY 1) ROMANO SCARPA ( STORY 2) WILFRED HAUGHTON ( STORY 3) FABRIZIO PETROSSI (STORY 4)
EDITOR : SARAH GAYDOS
ARCHIVAL EDITOR : DAVID GERSTEIN
PUBLISHER : IDW