SCREAMLAND – #1 Review

Rating: 2/5
Publisher Name: Image
Publisher Website: www.imagecomics.com

Writer: Harold Sipe and Christopher Sebela
Pencils: Lee Leslie
Colors: Buster Moody
Number of Pages: 32
Price: 2.99
Color: Color
Safety Content Label: A – Appropriate for age 9 and up.

Publisher’s Blurb:
“DEATH OF THE PARTY,” Part One
In a world where movie monsters are real, most of them are just looking for work in an industry dominated by 3D, CGI and other scary acronyms. Forced to hustle their past glory on the convention circuit, Wolfman Carl London and “Space Path” star Travis Walters put their scheduled appearances aside to stop the screening of a legendary monster porn film that threatens to ruin the careers of feature creatures everywhere.

Reviewer’s Comments:
I am a devotee of the classic horror genre. I remember sitting on my dad’s lap and watching marathons of black-and-white monster flicks, wondering how Vincent Price managed to keep his House of Wax smelling so tolerable, and how Abbott and Costello got to meet Frankenstein, Dracula, the Wolfman, the Mummy, the Invisible Man, and Dr. Hyde (and I hadn’t ever even been able to conclusively spot a ghost). It’s possible that this familiarity with the genre has biased my review, but I suppose nostalgia attracted me to the first issue of Screamland in the first place.

Screamland presupposes that the creatures made popular by Universal Studios in the 1930s and 1940s are in fact real beings, forced out of Hollywood by a new generation of glittery vampires and teen wolves. Now unable to find steady work, these relics of the silver screen have been relegated to the convention circuit to make some quick cash and reconnect with a glimmer of their glory days. When word hits the convention that the Invisible Man will be showing a homemade porno from the 1970s featuring most of the monsters on the circuit, Carl London (a wolfman) and Travis Walters (a William Shatner knockoff) attempt to warn the others of the screening.

While this story is largely depressing, the biggest offense is that it’s just plain boring. Despite the fact that I was invested in the idea of these characters before I started reading, I found myself plodding through this book thinking “is it over yet?” There was so much exposition spent walking around, small talking, and introducing us to characters, that there was very little forward motion in the plot. The writers never spent time making Carl and Travis likeable, nor did they make me want to root for them. Mostly, I just felt kind of bad. While I did ultimately appreciate the backup covering the origin of the Invisible Man, it just felt like too much in addition to the main story. Frankly, I almost skipped it. Travis seemed out of place, as the only human main character. I’m unsure why they chose to feature him instead of one of the many other classic horror monsters, but they didn’t, and it fell flat. In the end, I was left with a cliffhanger that I didn’t care about featuring characters I didn’t care about. The idea behind Screamland is strong, but the execution was severely lacking. Ultimately, it ranks as forgettable, if not just plain bad. I may flip through it again in a few issues to see if improvements have been made, but I won’t be running to my shop to buy it anytime soon.

Screamland #1 arrives in stores this Wednesday.

Last Mortal – #1 (of 4) Review

Rating: 4/5
Publisher Name: Top Cow/Image (Minotaur Press)
Publisher Website: http://www.topcow.com/

Writer: John Mahoney and Filip Sablik
Pencils: Thomas Nachlik
Number of Pages: 32
Price: 3.99
Color: Black & White
Safety Content Label: NR – Not Rated

Publisher’s Blurb:
Alec King is a born loser. A small time criminal who has never succeeded at anything in life and whose fear of failure has crippled him. When his only friend, Brian, the brains and charm of their two-man operation, convinces Alec to help him with a hit contract on a mayoral candidate his life unravels to rock bottom.

But sometimes we need to hit rock bottom to begin the climb towards a better day…

Reviewer’s Comments:
This weekend at Heroes Con in Charlotte, I stopped at the Image booth to chat with some folks to learn about some new titles coming to shops in the next few months. On a whim, I decided to talk with John Mahoney, and learn a little more about his book, Last Mortal. To be honest, I hadn’t ever heard of this title before, but part of what I like about Image is that they provide large-scale exposure to less-known talents. Unsurprisingly, not everything is so spectacular, or even good. However, the Last Mortal team seemed excited about this book (a lot of vendors could benefit from engaging convention guests instead of acting like the whole event is a chore) and so I decided to pick it up.

I wasn’t disappointed.

The ouroboros, the serpent eating its tail, symbolic of destruction and life, death and rebirth, an icon of existential immortality. What happens when the serpent has devoured itself? Does rebirth mean a fresh start?

Alec King is our serpent. Alec has never done anything good with his life: a criminal, a liar, and a failure. He’s paralyzed by the past and unable to make good for the future. We see glimpses of Alec trying to make amends, but ultimately, he’s back in the gutters. But this time, he’s really screwed up and the only way out is to end it all. But when Alec decides to put a bullet through his skull, everything changes. Alec has caused destruction, but can he break the cycle and build a life? Through death, will there be a new day? Or is the serpent destined to devour itself once again?

I don’t want to say too much and ruin the story for you, but Last Mortal is outstanding. John Mahoney and Filip Sablik develop a strong sense of our main character’s motivations and push us forward through a strongly crafted narrative.  This issue is mostly backstory, providing us with a solid foundation of who Alec is and setting up the pieces for the rest of the story arc. For a 4-issue mini, the pacing is good, and the reveals unfold impeccably, significantly raising the stakes for issue #2.

Pencils and inks by Thomas Nachlick were gritty and expressive, providing an engrossing background for the dialogue. This book is in black and white, and beyond just being great to look at, provides an additional layer to the thematic components of dualism, the ouroboros, and the light and the darkness.

Mahoney and Sablik’s letter at the end of this issue is a nice addition that provides readers with the original feeling I sensed from John at the Image booth: passion. The creators of Last Mortal aren’t just doing this for a paycheck; they’ve spent years drafting and crafting to provide readers with their vision of Alec and his story. Often times we burn through a comic and move on. The writers provide us with a context for this story, and I think that this history and perspective is just as important as the content itself.

Last Moral was a joy to read, and I hope you’ll all go pick it up. Last Mortal #1 is in stores now and #2 will hit stores on June 29th, on Minotaur Press, an imprint of Top Cow and Image.

Uncanny X-Force – #11 Review

Rating: 4/5
Publisher Name: Marvel Comics
Publisher Website: http://www.marvel.com

Writer: Rick Remender
Pencils: Mark Brooks
Inks: Andrew Currie & Mark Brooks
Colors: Dean White
Number of Pages: 32
Price: 2.99
Color: Color
Safety Content Label: PARENTAL ADVISORY – 15 years and older. Similiar to T+ but featuring more mature themes and/or more graphic imagery.

Publisher’s Blurb:
“Dark Angel Saga” pt. 1. Apocalypse is dead. His heir, Archangel, has picked up where his predecessor left off, amassing an army of En Sabah Nur’s greatest servants! The only hope X-Force have of saving Warren Worthington from the dark entity that inhabits his soul, rests in a dimension where Apocalypse, and his technology, took over the world, the solution lies in—The Age of Apocalypse! However, before X-Force can obtain the thing capable of saving their friend, they must defeat The Amazing X-Men!

Reviewer’s Comments:
Once in a while, I’m wrong about things. Not often, but once in a while. One of those times would be when I complained about X-Force getting a reboot. It wasn’t even that old, and the content had fallen so down hill, I thought they should just cancel it.
But I will admit, Uncanny X-Force has surpassed my expectations and become a relatively strong wetworks companion to the X-Men franchise.

The main difference this time around the block? A better team. For whatever reason, there was a lack of diversity in the last incarnation. I think that this was a weakness, especially when you consider the type of covert operations the team dealt with; they didn’t even have a telepath…or an exit strategy. Uncanny X-Force has dropped off some extra baggage and picked up Psylocke (who provides some heart and keeps Angel under control), Fantomex (who not only has style, but also a getaway car), and Deadpool (who provides the book some much needed comic relief).

Something I actually liked with the previous X-Force that has been continuing in Uncanny is the fact that this team has been largely dealing with the 90s villain crowd. And if there’s one story arc that Marvel has made sure to get its money’s worth from, it’s the Age of Apocalypse.

Not that I particularly mind, seeing as it’s awesome and all.

Last issue, we discovered that not only are Angel’s metal wings causing some real problems for the team, but that he’s becoming a new incarnation of Apocalypse. So X-Force takes it upon themselves to break Dark Beast out of prison (who was put there literally weeks ago by Wolverine in the previous X-Men arc) to cure Angel. Of course this means that the team has to cross over into the Age of Apocalypse timeline. X-Force arrives, but approximately 13 years after the end of the original Legion Quest/AoA story. There’s a new ruler, but some familiar faces all the same. I actually quite enjoyed this issue, but the final cliffhanger wasn’t much of one, as the big surprise was on the cover.

Remender does a great job of giving each of the team members some personality that I think was lacking in the previous volume. They bicker, the joke, but they all have a mind of their own and aren’t so ready to blindly follow orders from Wolverine and Cyclops. The art is fantastic, and I think that the colors are spectacular. This is a darker book than others, but there’s a certain vibrancy that is beautiful to look at.

A great start to a new story arc, and I can’t wait to see who the new big boss in town is. Wouldn’t it be ironic if it were Cyclops?

X-Factor – #220 Review

Rating: 3/5
Publisher Name: Marvel Comics
Publisher Website: www.Marvel.com

Writer: Peter David
Pencils: Paul Davidson
Colors: Brian Reber
Number of Pages: 32
Price: 2.99
Color: Color
Safety Content Label: T+ TEENS AND UP – Appropriate for most readers 13 and up, parents are advised that they might want to read before or with younger children.

Publisher’s Blurb:
“Forgive Me, Father, For I Have KILLED!” Hoping to be absolved of recently committed sins before she gives birth, Wolfsbane goes to confess…but it isn’t forgiveness that awaits her. In fact, she’s going to have to face her demons head on. Literally! (Oh, and that baby she’s carrying? Turns out that it’s not quite what she expected either.) The next X-citing chapter of X-FACTOR begins here!

Reviewer’s Comments:
Sometimes, it’s hard to keep track of what everyone is up to in the Marvel Universe, especially when it comes to a certain uncanny group of mutants. Something that I always appreciate about X-Factor, and Peter David as a writer, is that he lets his characters exist. He chose not to relocate them to Utopia. In general, you’ll never see a team member pulling a Wolverine and appearing in several places at once, even though Jamie is probably the only Marvel character who feasibly could. The continuity, characterization, and plot development centers on X-Factor Investigations, and this book is the only reason I’ve survived Marvel Event-burnout.

This issue focuses largely on Wolfsbane (Rahne), who is very pregnant (and comically so when you see her in wolf-form wearing a strapless top). We get some really great time between her and Shatterstar, who finally start to clear the air about their feelings over Rictor and each other. We also see some development about what is going on with Rahne’s wolf–baby and what that might mean in the near future.

Rahne is a character that I continually feel bad for, and it seems like she’s one of the few characters who have never escaped the comic book “refrigerator”. If you’ve been keeping track in the last few years, you’ll remember that since she joined X-Factor Investigations (and temporarily left for X-Force) she has:

• struggled with her religion
• been implanted with visions of killing Jamie
• contemplated suicide
• had an ugly breakup with Rictor
• gets shot
• gets captured by the Purifiers
• gets injected with an overdose of heroin
• is hypnotized into ripping off Angel’s wings
• gets shot again
• eats her father
• gets impregnated by a now-dead Wolf Prince
• thinks she turned Rictor gay

and now is finding out that her baby is starting to warp reality and demons want to kill it. I think that about sums it up? You can let me know in the comments if I forgot anything.

It makes me a little sick to think that we’re heading into another arc focusing on how much it sucks to be Rahne Sinclair. I’m desperately hoping that we can finally move forward with her as a character, because I think that we can all agree that she’s been through enough, while we’re getting no development on any other member of the team.

With all that said, my biggest problem with this book is the art. I think that X-Factor struggles with keeping a consistent artist on this title, but this issue drawn by Paul Davidson was especially problematic (not as problematic as say, Pier Gallo on Superboy, but still). There were moments that were fine, but then there are some panels that were just distracting from the story. At first I thought it was just style choice, but then it started to seem more like it was a rush job. Certain figures were distorted, whether the proportions were off (misshapen heads and eyes not the same size), not contextually accurate (glassy and lazy eyes not focused on the action), or just plain odd (why does Shatterstar look like Bruce Jenner?). It was a mess, and I had to deduct a full point from my review because of it.

Peter David does a fantastic job on this book, but I think that we need, and deserve, some art to match. I’m interested to see how this issue’s final splash page reveal turns out next month, and what it means for X-Factor.

iZOMBIE – #14 Review

Rating: 4/5
Publisher Name: Vertigo
Publisher Website: http://dccomics.com/vertigo

Writer: Chris Roberson
Pencils: Michael Allred
Colors: Laura Allred
Number of Pages: 32
Price: 2.99
Color: Color
Safety Content Label: MATURE READERS

Publisher’s Blurb:
In part two of “5 Brains, 5 Months,” enter a world that’s strange even to a zombie girl detective: the world of competitive skeeball! While Gwen is busy with the unfinished business of the latest brain she’s eaten, Ellie tests her new ghost powers, while Spot continues going underground. And in the “Dead Presidents” backup, we visit the headquarters of V.E.I.L. and meet the mysterious head of the team.

Reviewer’s Comments:
I should first mention that I would read anything drawn by Mike Allred; he could illustrate the Patriot Act and I’d read it. Actually Mike, can you get working on that public service for us?

If you haven’t been reading this Vertigo title, iZombie (not to be confused with Xombi, which also feels like a Vertigo title) follows Gwen, a zombie, and her friends (a ghost and a were-terrier) through the supernatural world of Eugene, Oregon. Working by day as a gravedigger so that she may feast on deceased brains once a month, Gwen seeks to understand her own life, while helping fulfill the last wishes of her last meals. But of course, this book wouldn’t be complete without vampires, talking chimps, and monster hunting love interests, now would it?

In this issue, Gwen enters the macabre world of Skeeball and we begin to see some of the mystery surrounding our likely villains, Amon and Galatea, start to unravel.  What is Gwen’s connection to Amon and why does he want to help her so badly? What is Galatea doing with all those corpses? What is happening in the catacombs where spot is trapped? While this book reads more like a teen drama than a monster action-fest, I actually enjoy this aspect, and Chris Roberson develops an interesting and complex cast of characters. This Buffy reminiscent group is a nice vacation from the comics I typically read, and I’m sincerely enjoying figuring out Eugene’s mysteries along with Gwen.

Another nice addition to this book is The Dead Presidents, a short introduced last month that, based on solicits, will be entering the main fold of iZombie next month. All I’ll say about The Dead Presidents is that I wish Allred had been able to get away with such a thing when he tried to add a resurrected Princess Diana to the X-Statix roster (yes, this really almost happened).

It comes to no surprise to me that Roberson and Allred are getting accolades for their work on this book, because it is no doubt something special, and I cannot wait to see what they have in store for us as the many developing plotlines begin to converge.

SECRET SIX – #34 Review

Rating: 5/5
Publisher Name: DC Comics
Publisher Website: http://dccomics.com

Writer: Gail Simone
Pencils: J. Calafiore
Colors: John Kalisz
Number of Pages: 32
Price: 2.99
Color: Color
Safety Content Label: T+ TEENS AND UP – Appropriate for most readers 13 and up, parents are advised that they might want to read before or with younger children.

Publisher’s Blurb:
He’s been a man of honor seeking his righteous path. But now, Bane has looked into the abyss and seen only the futility of his quest. His one lifeline has been Scandal Savage, but will she be enough to stop his descent – or has the obsession taken over Bane again?

Reviewer’s Comments:
There are very few comics on the market that I look forward to each month; even fewer who manage to provide quality content without fail. Gail Simone’s Secret Six is one of those books. I would be remiss if I didn’t comment on yesterday’s news of the DC relaunch after Flashpoint, mostly because this is the only DC book I read this week.  News being reported says that Gail will no longer be writing Birds of Prey, but I sincerely hope that she is able to guide Secret Six through the re-launch, because she has built both this book and its characters from the ground up in the past 34 issues. I would hate to see such a masterpiece fall apart so quickly.

When we last left our heroes…err…villains…err…maybe anti-heroes…they had followed Ragdoll into Hell to get back a “Get Out of Hell Free” card that he stole, so that Scandal might bring her girlfriend Knockout back from the dead. Upon their return, this issue ties up some loose ends and signals a calm before the storm, cementing the Secret Six as more than a team, but a family. Now that Knockout has returned, what does that mean for Liana, Scandal’s current squeeze?

Of particular highlight in this issue, we seem some new developments in Bane, a character who has been regaining respectability very slowly since his adaptation in the Batman and Robin film. Those who have never read Batman comics might not know that Bane is incredibly sane, calculating, and…believe it or not…compassionate. The man who broke the Bat is not just a drug addicted killer, but has developed as a father figure to Scandal (whose real father isn’t probably the best model) and an individual who seeks to learn to express love in his life. This issue signals probably the most those walls have ever been torn down.

It’s awkwardly heartwarming. And I think Ms. Simone is just screwing with us.

While I have a slight fear that, with news of the relaunch, this issue may be the catalyst for Gail Simone’s final arc on Secret Six (I sincerely hope it isn’t), I am excited to say that I think this is going to be one of her best. As always, Gail manages to take C- and D-list characters and turn them into gold. If you told me that I would have an emotional attachment to characters like Bane, Catman, and yes, even King Shark, I probably would have laughed; however, Gail seems to make it work every single month. Six’s resident artist, J. Calafiore, once again provides art that fits the tone of this book well, somehow balancing the gritty mercenary lifestyle of the Six with their softer and stranger familial bonds that somehow remain intact. Secret Six #34 is a great issue, a great book, and if you’re not reading it…well…you can just go with Junior Merkel to Hell.

50 GIRLS 50 – #1 (of 4) Review

Rating: 4/5
Publisher Name: Image
Publisher Website: http://www.imagecomics.com/

Writer: Doug Murray/Frank Cho
Pencils: Axel Medellin
Colors: Nikos Koutsis
Number of Pages: 32
Price: 2.99
Color: Color
Safety Content Label: NOT RATED

Publisher’s Blurb:
Hot on the heels of his blockbuster New Ultimates run, FRANK CHO teams with Co-writer DOUG MURRAY (The ‘Nam) and artist AXEL MEDELLIN (ELEPHANTMEN) to unleash a new universe-spanning sci-fi epic! Join in the fantastic voyage of the Space Vessel ESS Savannah and her beautiful crew as they fight their way from hostile aliens and exotic worlds, searching for the wormhole that will take them to their ultimate destination: Home.

Reviewer’s Comments:
“10 ships. 50 women. 1 way home.” Glancing through the Image previews for the week, 50 Girls 50 instantly caught my attention. Maybe because I love campy sci-fi, maybe because I love strong female leads, or maybe it is a combination of both, but this premiere issue is exactly what you would expect: Action, comedy, and gratuitous nudity!

I would best describe 50 Girls 50 as Star Trek: Voyager meets Starship Troopers meets The Women (a reference that is admittedly a little out there, but connected to comics because Annette Benning is married to Dick Tracy and Meg Ryan’s last face lift makes her look like the Joker.)

As populations balloon and natural resources run scarce on Earth, a group of 50 women are chosen to traverse a wormhole across the galaxy with ten ships, including the flagship ESS Savannah, to seek out new solutions to save humanity. When the maiden voyage returns through the wormhole to find that they haven’t reached Earth, the Savannah crew must make the best out of a bad situation as they seek a way home.

Frank Cho and Doug Murray team-wrote this issue, providing not only a context for 50 women being shot into space, but distinct personalities for each of our main characters. Pencils for this book were provided by Axel Medellin, a relatively unknown illustrator, chosen for this project through a contest ran by Image. This contest clearly paid off, as Axel’s work is on par with many other artists on tap in the industry, and develops a style and set of mannerisms for each character, as opposed to drawing each as a typical, bland archetype. These women are not bimbos, but of course there is some eye candy (disintegrating armor and some strategic mud wrestling); however, that is not really what this book is about…I think…

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this inaugural issue of 50 Girls 50 and I highly recommend taking a look through when it hits the comic shop tomorrow. With a final panel cliffhanger reminiscent of certain classic scene from Alien 3, this book is sure to be a delightfully campy romp through the science fiction genre.

GREEN LANTERN CORPS – #60 Review

Rating: 4/5
Publisher Name: DC Comics
Publisher Website: http://www.dccomics.com

Writer: Tony Bedard
Pencils: Tyler Kirkham
Inks: Matt “Batt” Banning
Colors: Rod Reis & Nei Ruffino
Number of Pages: 32
Price: 2.99
Color: Color
Safety Content Label: T+ TEENS AND UP – Appropriate for most readers 13 and up, parents are advised that they might want to read before or with younger children.

Publisher’s Blurb:
John Stewart and Kyle Rayner figure out their roles in the coming end the “War of the Green Lanterns” – but what that means will rock the Corps to its core!

Reviewer’s Comments:
Since solicits began for the War of the Green Lanterns, DC has been promising the death of one of the human Green Lanterns. This should come as little surprise, as characters come and go from the mortal plane almost daily within the DC Universe. However, the events in Green Lantern Corps #60 come as a little more shocking, a little more sad, and with a lot more consequences than the norm.

Yes, there is a death in this issue. It’s outrageous, upsetting, and definitely worth reading. If you haven’t been reading the Green Lantern books, but are interested in starting, I would say you should probably wait another month for this event to wrap, because I have a feeling there’s going to be a very pretty reboot to match the demand from the new Green Lantern film.

That said, I am continually impressed by Geoff Johns’ storytelling. How he manages to weave such complex stories on multiple books every month seems an impossible feat, and War of the Green Lanterns is no exception. A Rogue Guardian, Krona, has taken control of the spectrum’s entities, placing Parallax back in the power battery to control all of the Green Lanterns who have not overcome Parallax infection previously. He has also infected the Guardians with the other entities, seeking to bring down the Corps and show the Guardians how weak they are when they do not embrace emotions. In this issue of the Corps, Kyle and John have been charged with stopping the spread of Krona’s infection.

While I usually hate crossovers, especially those spanning across more than two books, this has been plotted quite beautifully, with little variance, to create a seamless story; the team on this issue is no exception. Bedard writes clearly and gives players the proper characterizations as they battle between their will and their newly embraced emotions. The pencils, inks, and color are clean, crisp, and well suited to a story where there are often 1,000 things happening at once on the page. In short, it’s visually pleasing to read.

Overall, this issue has brought what will likely be the biggest blow to the Corps, and the consequences will likely soon not be forgotten. War of the Green Lanterns comes to a close in next month’s Green Lantern, and while I hope that the franchise takes a little break from the earthquake of blockbuster events that they have been throwing at us since the Sinestro Corps appeared, I have a feeling that things will not be the same when the dust settles.

Uncle Scrooge – #404 Review

Rating: 2/5
Publisher Name: BOOM! Studios
Publisher Website: http://www.boom-studios.com/

Writer: Michele Gazzarri
Pencils: Romano Scarpa
Number of Pages: 32
Price: 3.99
Color: Color
Safety Content Label: A – Appropriate for age 9 and up.

Publisher’s Blurb:
The classic 1966 Romano Scarpa tale “The Fifty Money Bins Caper” is printed for the first time ever in the U.S.! Scrooge McDuck shows some crafty initiative against the ever-looming threat of the Beagle Boys by constructing a fleet of fifty new money bins and hiding his money in a new one each week. This all sounds like a good idea until the construction costs come due! And when the Beagles decide to kidnap Donald Duck to track Scrooge’s coins…it’s not just interest that is compounding here!

Reviewer’s Comments:
Where do I begin with such an epic tale such as Uncle Scrooge #404? In the interest of full disclosure, I have never read or reviewed a book of this caliber. Until this point, my familiarity with Scrooge came from the DuckTales animated series that I remember vividly from my childhood (whose theme will never leave my brain). I was indeed quite shocked to discover that what I initially deemed to be a marketing gimmick for younger audiences actually has existed for over 400 issues. Wow. I was completely ready to take this comic seriously, because how could something that has run this long be bad (a logic I would never afford to anything written by Marvel or DC)? After a few pages I realized that this was not exactly the cartoon I was used to; Where are Launchpad and Gizmoduck, and why is Donald still in the picture? What I discovered was something a little darker than what I expected, and also a little more absurd, too.

When I read the solicit for this issue, I was not exactly sure who Romano Scarpa was, so I did a little research, to discover that he was an Italian artist for Disney, and regarded in quite high esteem within the company, developing many new characters for the company. This issue is, from what I understand, translated and reprinted from a story written by Michele Gazzarri and Scarpa in 1966. This sole fact makes a lot of the odd dialogue and plot holes understandable, but this Golden Age classic is still quite bizarre.

In short, this Scrooge is incredibly abusive (both verbally and physically) towards his nephew Donald Duck, who is more dimwitted than I ever remember. Donald steals an idea from Huey, Dewey, and Louie (Google the Donald Duck family tree if you get confused) that he pitches to Scrooge to build 50 different vaults for his riches, and his loot will be moved to a different one each month to keep the Beagle Boys on their toes. Logically, this makes no sense, when you consider the financial, real estate, and manpower implications of such a plan. Is Duckburg even zoned for construction like this? Of course the Beagles break into a few of the vaults and discover there is no money, all while Scrooge watches via camera, yet does not call the police. I am pretty sure that breaking and entering is still a crime, even if nothing is stolen. Eventually Donald gets kidnapped and tortured for the number of the vault. I won’t spoil the Beagle’s torture tactics, but it made me both audibly laugh and shudder with terror simultaneously. I am not sure if I would give this to a small child.

Golden Age or not, I could not get over the glaring plot holes ripped open in this story, and it would appear that there was no attempt to fix this in Gerstein’s translation. If there is one shining piece to this story, it is Scarpa’s artwork, which is quite clean and simple, yet masterful. It’s no wonder that he was such a success within Disney. Unfortunately, artwork is not really enough to support and sustain a story. It was an alright read, but I am not sure I would recommend it, unless you’re looking for some bizarre, Golden Age Disney fun.