matt_zimmer | More Disney Comics Reviews

Escape from Forbidden Valley:

I have to say that I am kind of bummed that Escape From Forbidden Valley by Don Rosa is a sequel to a Barks classic I haven't ever read. Good News: Everything is re-examined and I was able to jump into the story with no problems.

Why do I love Don Rosa so much? Despite the fact that his stories contain a dry wit unlike any other Disney writer except for Carl Barks he never forgets first and formost that he is a Disney writer. The scenes with the dinosaur adopting Donald were histerical AND cute in the best Disney fashion. I also loved the nephews telling Donald that they didn't see his spanking because they didn't want to embarrass him. Considering the smart-alec kids who dominate the majority of pop-culture it is refreshing to have Huey, Dewey and Louie look out for their uncle as much as he looks out for him. They are geniunely nice kidsand I appreciate it.

Only part of the story that fell flat were the nephews trying to ascertain why Scrooge always gives Donald a hard time. I got that Rosa was trying to go for a touching scene of character exploration but it was kind of dropped outside of the gag at the end and didn't exactly tell us anything revelatory. Still this is a dinosaur adventure first in formost and on that level it worked brilliantly so who cares? Score: ****.

Somewhere in Nowhere:

The last Scrooge story plotted by Carl Barks was pretty good. John Lustig really gave a Barks feel to the dialogue and Pat Block's artwork was really good too. I loved seeing McSwine again and wished Barks had used him more. The character of Sally was kind of boring though and I wish the nephews had appeared in this Yukon story as Barks had originally planned. Actually, the whole text explaining Barks' original outline and him writing Pat Block to tell him he was dying of leukemia was so sad and touching. I was so happy to hear that Barks was a pretty spry guy in his mid-nineties but I have always felt that if anyone deserved to live forever it was him. Story: ****. Text: *****.

North of the Yukon:

One of my favorites Barks' classic works so well because of Soapy Slick. It may just be me but I've always found Scrooge ramming his head into a guy while he's fighting to be histerical as was him punching him with gloves filled with gold. That snow-dog was SO cute and it really showed what a great guy Scrooge is when him chose to save him rather than the note that would save his fortune. I liked how at the end of the story the media turned out to not be COMPLETELY useless and Scrooge got his fortune back anyways. One of my favorites: ****1/2.

The Golden Christmas Tree:

This was the first time I had ever read this Barks story and I have to say I was kind of disappointed. The story seemed to be kind of random with the plot being kind of disjointed and moving in every direction. Barks was able to get across the spirit of Christmas MUCH better in You Can't Guess and A Christmas For Shacktown. Still a mediocre Barks story is better than just about any comic book out there. ***.