How many of you remember Disney's Darkwing Duck? It was a "spin-off" of their popular cartoon series "Duck Tales"! If you don't remember it perhaps this will help jog your memory:
"Darkwing Duck" was a series that I did not get to watch a lot of episodes of during my childhood. I often had to watch television after 8 pm and often it would be shows that my grandmother wanted to watch. This did not leave a lot of time for cartoons. This made me wonder what the hub-bub was about. I did, however, knew who many of the main villains and core cast were from the very few episodes that I had watched. It also helped that someone talked about this series a lot (see below).
A few weeks ago I was perusing the graphic novel shelves at the local library when I came across this cover:
This is the first volume cover for the graphic novel collections that were published by Boom! Studios. This edition is plotted by Aaron Sparrow, written by Ian Brill, and illustrated by James Silvani. This edition collects issues 1-4 of the series.
I decided that since I had not had such a deep relationship with the show, but I had known an old friend that had (she talked a LOT about it!), I would give it a shot. I went in without a lot of the nostalgia that most people would have and I still have to say that I enjoyed the book. The characters I knew were all there and the plot made sense in terms of why there had been a lapse between the series and the comic book. This made me feel that a fan, such as the friend, would greatly enjoy the series.
From a non-fan perspective, I have to say that the story is still enjoyable. You are given the opportunity to catch up on the "action" of the series and get acquainted with the main core cast over this first volume. There is no moment where I was scratching my head going, "Who in the world is this?" or "What the heck is going on? Did I miss something from not watching the cartoon?", which is nice when you are coming in a little blind to a series. My favorite character, even in the few episodes I had seen, will always be:
Gosalyn Mallard
This character always seems to be about getting into mischief, but she also bring a heart to the episodes I have seen and this graphic novel collection. She always is the one reminds Darkwing why he is a superhero and that he has a place in the world. She also always has a great sense of humor, which is another reason I like her as a character.
The artwork, as you can see in the above picture, also is done very well. In comparison to the cartoon, I have to say it is pretty spot-on. Nothing feels out of place or jarringly off from what one would remember it as. It also does not suffer from becoming hyper-stylized, which some updates can suffer from. It feels like you are just stepping into an episode of the show that you missed, which was nice for me, since that was partially the reason for reading the collection. It gave me the opportunity to feel like I was just rejoining a show that was still running instead of feeling like I missed out. It was a nice feeling, especially as I start this process of going through things that I have missed or not got the pleasure of enjoying because of my past. This was a step in the correct direction, in my opinion.
WHO I RECOMMEND TO: Disney Fans, Darkwing Duck Fans, Cartoon Lovers, Children, Nostalgic Adults, and Comic Book Geeks!
WHO I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS TO: "high brow" readers, written word enthusiasts, live-action television fans, and Disney haters!
Darkwing Duck: Volume 1 may be purchased:
(If you have a preferred place to purchase books online let me know and I will add it to the regular list of places mentioned to purchase books!)
You can find me on GOODREADS at https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/59000535-cassandra-winters
Love Darkwing Duck ! I have the entire tv series on dvd and all thee action figures. Oddly I dont have any of the comic books :/
ReplyDeleteI found that I enjoyed it. I may have to give the tv series a chance, since I haven't really seen it. Hmmm maybe a future review to do since it fits the blog :-)
DeleteYou should do it! Here check it out ,this is an old post from my blog and the picture quality isnt so great but you still get the idea http://greenplasticsquirtgun.blogspot.com/2012/07/daring-duck-of-mystery.html
DeleteI've been trying to get her to watch it for awhile lol. This is one of my favorite cartoons of all time and am happy that Cassie enjoyed the comic.
DeleteBro Midnight, I liked seeing the old toys. As I said in my reply to your posting, I wish they made more! I am also going to bookmark your site to look at, so thanks for linking me to it!!!
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