The key component to longevity and the near-universal appeal of the Star Wars franchise has always been its simplicity. A student of international artistic influence, George Lucas distilled richer, headier works down to a pastiche of oblique references and mythological constants and a critical focusing by undersung contributors Brian De Palma and Marcia Lucas resulted in a tight, perfectly-accessible adventure film that seismically redefined how popular media was packaged and presented. Beyond simply being a defining achievement in special effects, the polished gleam of binary morality at its core stood in as a radical contrast to the storytelling environment of the 1970s with its grim post-Vietnam ambiguity and despair. 'Star Wars' was the Happy Meal waiting to happen. Its hero plucky and apolitical, motivated by primal narrative impulses of thirst for adventure and romance beyond his station, his opposition unsubtlely dressed by John Mollo by way of Hugo Boss in Gestapo uniforms, pop narrative shorthand later reused by Lucas and Spielberg in their Indiana Jones films. Only a few decades removed from the very real Third Reich, Lucas needed little world building to immediately communicate the partisan lines the audience would be asked to sympathize on. Some distant conception of a Galactic Senate is mentioned to be finally dismantled. An instantaneous Holocaust is bloodlessly committed.
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TALES FROM VADER'S CASTLE Celebrates Spooky Stories in a Galaxy Far, Far Away
Press Release
IDW Publishing invites readers of all ages to explore the creepiest corners of the Star Wars universe in Star Wars Adventures: Tales from Vader’s Castle, a thrilling five-part comic book event with new issues hitting stands every Wednesday in October. Fan-favorites Cavan Scott and Derek Charm team up with an incredible roster of guest artists for this special miniseries, just in time for Halloween.
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Dark Horse Reveals New Original Graphic Novel Based on Disney "Ralph Breaks The Internet"
Press Release
Ahead of San Diego Comic-Con 2018, Dark Horse is proud to reveal Disney Ralph Breaks the Internet—Click Start: Choose Your Own Internet Adventure! This new graphic novel serves as a prequel, and bonus short sequel to the feature film Disney Ralph Breaks the Internet(premiering November 21, 2018).
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Review: DuckTales #10
By Sam King
Uncle Scrooge and his duckling nephews are back in another issue of DuckTales. This time they try to retrieve the stone sculpture of two-headed Janus’ horse from Hades and Dewey is saved from turning to a life of botanical crime. The issue is light and fun while hitting all the right family tones that the show has been bringing to its’ audiences.
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Review: Tangled #3
By Sam King
IDWs new ongoing Disney comic expands on the adventures in the Disney Channel animated show, Tangled: The Series. The show began with a made-for-TV movie entitled Tangled: Before Ever After, in which Rapunzel gets her magical hair back. The second season premiered recently under a new title: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure. The show was renewed for a third season, but the comic continues to carry the original series name.
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Review: DuckTales #9
By Sam King
Duck Tales #9 is another generally stand-alone issue containing two episodic stories. It is based on the new animated series reboot that is being aired on Disney Channel and Disney XD. While not creating any long-term stories thus far, it is still a fun one for general fans of the show and characters. At some point, I would like to see at least one longer arc or some more tie-ins to the actual show, but this is not that point. The series is very good for casual readers to pick up and dig into with just curiosity since it is not fully reliant on having watched every episode to date.
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Review: Walt Disney Treasury of Classic Tales vol. 3
By Sam King
This is the third volume collecting comic strips based on Walt Disney films. This is also the first volume of the collection that I’ve read. The volume concentrates on comics that ran during the 1950's and 1960's, so it features stories that are not as familiar to modern audiences as those done during the “Disney Renaissance.” Instead, this volume pulls together 101 Dalmatians, Swiss Family Robinson, Darby O’Gill and the Little People, and several others that are less recognizable to the average Disney fan.
Read MoreBig Hero 6 Comics Coming from IDW this Summer
Press Release
Debuting on Disney Channel on Saturday June 9, Big Hero 6 The Series will usher in new adventures of legendary superhero team Big Hero 6 -- Hiro, Wasabi, Fred, Go Go, Honey Lemon and Baymax -- for viewers. To coincide, IDW will be bringing even more excitement to readers in an all-ages comic book series! The fun kicks off this July with the first issue of an ongoing series.
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Review: Walt Disney Showcase #2
By Sam King
This series is basically the result of bringing Italian Disney comics to America. This is a pretty cool comic for major Disney fans like myself, but even I found a couple things kind of interesting about this that I wasn’t expecting. If you love Disney, knock yourself out and pick it up. If not, you’re probably better off with some of the other Disney titles that are out there depending on what you like. Each Walt Disney Showcase issue so far is a republishing of a foreign story that American audiences are now getting the opportunity to enjoy. There is no real continuity here as each seems to be a stand-alone story you can pick up and enjoy without reading prior issues.
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Review: DuckTales #8
By Sam King
DuckTales the comic series takes the characters from the 2017 reboot of the original cartoon that ran from 1987-1990 and puts them in new adventures. Having owned and watched every original DuckTales episode, I guess you could call me a pretty big fan of the "franchise" in general. I’m in the middle of the reboot and couldn’t pass on the chance to review the matching comics. I wouldn’t say that the new adventures beat out the originals, but for a fresh audience, it isn’t that bad.
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Comic Bastards Podcast - 019 →
By Dustin Cabeal
Click here to listen to this week's show
019 - This week is an audio-only podcast, but looking at the low amount of views I might just be doing an audio podcast going forward. I'm sick as hell this week and not in a rock'n'roll kinda way. Also, I'm shaking things up by talking about Bendis signing to DC and Disney attempting to buy Fox. I ran long and reviewed three books as well.
Comics/manga covered on this episode:
- Prison School vol. 8
- Umami #1
- Kid Lobotomy #2
‘DuckTales: Treasure Trove’ Graphic Novel Coming From IDW
Press Release
IDW Publishing, in conjunction with Disney Publishing, is bringing Scrooge McDuck and his young triplet great-nephews Huey, Dewey, Louie, plus Webby, back in a cleverly written, comic book series to coincide with Disney XD’s new animated comedy adventure series “DuckTales” debuting Saturday, September 23 with two new back-to-back episodes (7:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m., 5:00 p.m., 8:00 p.m., 10:30 p.m., EDT).
Read MoreReview: Star Wars Builders - Millennium Falcon
By Dustin Cabeal
We've arrived at the end of our video review series for Star Wars Builders, the final book is Millennium Falcon. That's right, I'm building the Millennium Falcon. Be sure to check out Droids and Starfighters.
Read MoreReview: Disney Magic Kingdom Comics #2
The cover quaintly shows the Mickey and the gang celebrating the 60th Anniversary of Disneyland. Off to the side, Scrooge McDuck bugs out over the cost of the cake. I feel his pain. The cover price for the comic comes to $6.99. Granted, the book’s sixty-seven pages of Disney goodness does mean more for one’s dollar. I’m just shocked the price of comics now has reached the price that paperbacks were when I was growing up. The times they are a changing…
And although times change, the fun of Mickey, Donald, and Goofy still manage to cause one to break out into a wide grin. Smile you will because the collected stories reprinted in this volume center around the theme parks. The editorial staff did an excellent job collecting tales that represent, as indicated in the foreword, the past, present, and future of the parks.
The first adventure takes place via a dream flashback. Scrooge takes his nephews to Disneyland and has his memory triggered by a building. Readers see how Scrooge quested for cinnamon in order to take over as proprietor of an emporium. The pace moves fast and the outlandish things Scrooge will do for his cinnamon challenge will provide the entertainment one needs when not at a Disney Park. Read carefully to see how the first part of the story cleverly doubles as a great ad for visiting Disneyland.
Tale two features Donald Duck and his nephews climbing the Matterhorn and tussling with the criminal Beagle Boys. A comedic ram steals the show and warms readers’ hearts.
Giorgio Cavazzano illustrates the last selection in the collection, and this story is one giant metfictional mindtrip. Mickey gets coldcocked on the train ride back home from visiting his aunt. He awakens in the Disney Park as it prepares for the 30th Celebration. Meanwhile, Pegleg Pete concocts a plan to steal the payroll from the park employees, and Fred, who plays Mickey, is in on the scheme.
This last story is so crazy and out there that I loved every minute of reading it. The creativity involved coupled with Cavazzano’s illustrations made every bit of this story worth the price of the collection. Hands down, the strange plot makes it one of the best comic book stories I have read in the last six months. The story is so wacky, I would use it as an example in a class teaching comic book writing.
Score: 4/5 - f2 (don't delete)
Disney Magic Kingdom Comics #2 Various Writers and Artists Publisher: IDW Publishing Price: $6.99 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital