COMICS PORTAL: Is Uncle Scrooge ‘Earth’s Mightiest Duck’?

The House of Ideas has been up to some very interesting things lately, and the most recent of those took place this past Wednesday when they published the first issue of Uncle Scrooge: Earth’s Mightiest Duck!

I never quite understand it when Dynamite! Entertainment publishes Disney characters’ stories instead of Marvel. After all, Disney OWNS Marvel, so it’s like borrowing money from your sister when they do this. They should get the very best deal possible!

Instead, so many Disney properties—way too many for me to list here—are published by the aforementioned Dynamite! And they are doing a great job of it, too! Apparently, Marvel sometimes takes notice, and they put out a comic focused on a Disney character. The latest one is Uncle Scrooge: Earth’s Mightiest Duck. It’s written by Jason Aaron, a name familiar to many fans of Marvel, with several artists handling the art chores.

So, what is this mini-series about? Here’s the description:

The planet has been conquered by alien invaders, the CONNOISSEURS, nefarious hoarders of the rarest antiquities from throughout the cosmos. As they tear the Earth apart, pillaging its fabled treasures, only the world’s greatest adventurer can possibly stop them. But SCROOGE McDUCK is facing a battle unlike any he’s ever fought, trapped inside his own mind, fighting to preserve his most precious memories. From writer Jason Aaron (UNCLE SCROOGE & THE INFINITY DIME, plus some other things) and an extravagance of all-star artists comes the most epic adventure in Duck history.

Yes, that story does sound much more like a Marvel tale than one Dynamite would publish, especially calling Uncle Scrooge “Earth’s Mightiest Duck.” I always have to remind myself that this character is one of the oldest ducks in the comics, regardless of who publishes it. I always used to wince when I watched him take on ninjas and monsters and any other kind of foe in the Duck Tales animated shows. Uncle Scrooge is a senior among seniors. He shouldn’t be able to battle giant robotic enemies as he does in this comic. (When he dives into his money bin, I give that a pass because he loves his coins so much!) He’s not really a superhero, after all!

This isn’t the first time Uncle Scrooge has appeared under the Marvel banner, but I don’t understand the reason for competing against Dynamite, which releases so many books with Disney characters. Why give away the rights to your characters, then publish “duck tales,” if you will, under another banner? Is Disney so very popular that Uncle Scrooge will sell so many copies of his comic even when up against another version of himself?

When the owner of the local comics shop I frequent asked me if I wanted this Marvel title, I was stunned. Marvel is publishing Uncle Scrooge, too? I did tell her to pull it for me, and I have read it, and it has, as I previously stated, more of a House of Ideas feel to it than the ones I’ve bought and read from Dynamite!

Is that a good thing? I guess so, if you want to read different takes on “Earth’s mightiest duck!”

Of course, when the Uncle Scrooge story is being told by Dynamite, the book is called Duck Tales. When it comes from Marvel, it’s Uncle Scrooge and something. Also, as I mentioned, the tone of the story is very different!

I can’t help but wonder if there isn’t some bean counter at Disney trying to see if the sales would be higher if Marvel published Uncle Scrooge instead of Dynamite. I hope not!

I remember the days when Pixar was flying high, from Toy Story on for several years. I was such a huge fan of all they did, so much so that I would be in the theater the opening weekend for all their films.

That was until I went to see Brave. It was nothing like the movies I had previously enjoyed—no plot twists, no fascinating characters, nothing that kept my attention like the films that grabbed my attention and wouldn’t let go! I remember walking out of the theater and thinking, “Well, I won’t be in such a rush to see Pixar films any longer!”

Another turning point for me was the Lightyear movie. Buzz Lightyear was my favorite character in the Toy Story films, and when I heard they were going to tell the story of that character’s real-life adventure, I was intrigued. However, the reviews from the people I trusted to tell me if a movie is good or not were universally negative. So I held off.

Recently, I finally got to watch Lightyear. And now I know firsthand what the critics were talking about. The story was dull, the characters weren’t very interesting, and I felt really unsatisfied with the movie. I mean, it struck me odd that the movie about the toy was so much more interesting than the film about the “real” character. Yikes!

I literally live very close to Disney World in Florida, and I am always worried that Disney wants to be the one and only entertainment monopoly in the world. They had their own properties to use, but that wasn’t enough—they bought Marvel, they bought the Muppets, and they were gobbling up all kinds of entertainment companies for a while. But the quality of their products has fallen off in recent years, so the lines aren’t quite as long as they used to be. And the demand for their books, toys, and app has dropped precipitously. That’s the thing about fads—they can last a long time or a short time, but eventually, they often fade into a lesser light.

So, while the title of the Marvel book makes me think that Uncle Scrooge will “hulk out” (a very Marvel concept), I doubt such a thing will take place in this comic mini-series. What is more likely to happen is that Scrooge McDuck will actually outwit the aliens (the name Connoisseurs makes me think it is a veiled poke at Collectors, a famous portion of the comics fandom). But we’ll see, won’t we?

What do you think? Do you buy the Disney comics? Are you as interested in them as you used to be? What can Disney and Pixar do to bring fans like me (and maybe you) back into the fold? Whatever your opinion, be sure to share it on our Discord Server!

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