Comics Review: "DONALD DUCK: MAGIC AND MAYHEM" Has Lots of Magic and Mayhem

DONALD DUCK: MAGIC AND MAYHEM

FANTAGRAPHICS/Disney

STORY: Alberto Savini

TRANSLATION: Daniele Mittica

DIALOGUE: Joe Torcivia

PENCILS: Vitale Mangiatordi; Mattia Surroz; Emilio Urbano; Libero Ermetti; Mario Ferracina

INKS: Tommaso Ronda; Mattia Surroz; Roberta Zanotta; Stefano Porcu; Mario Ferracina

COLORS: Francesca Vivaldi; Annalisa Ferrari; Francesca Dramis; Connie Daidone

LETTERS: Paul Baresh and Ben Horak with Arancia Studio

DESIGN: Justin Allan-Spencer; C. Hwang

EDITOR: David Gerstein

COVER: Libero Ermetti with Arancia Studio

MISC. ART: Francesco D'Ippolito with Arancia Studio; Mirka Andolfo; Marco Mazzarello with Valeria De Sanctis

ISBN: 979-8-8750-0045-4; hardback; 6.9" × 9.3" (February 2025)

116pp, Color, $19.99 U.S.

Donald Duck: Magic and Mayhem is a 2025 hardback graphic novel starring Walt Disney's classic character, Donald Duck.  This book was published in March by Fantagraphics under their line of “Disney Originals.”  I think that “Disney Originals” are collections of new and recent comics starring Disney characters, likely originating from Europe.  This line is different from Fantagraphics' other line, “Disney Masters,” which reprints Disney comic books produced by comic book writers and artists from North America and from around the world who are considered masters storytellers in the Disney comic book tradition.

2024 was the 90th anniversary of Donald Duck's first appearance, which occurred in the 1934 animated short film, The Wise Little Hen, which was part of Walt Disney's “Silly Symphonies” line of animated shorts.  1934 was also the debut of the black and white animated short film, Orphan's Benefit, which introduced Donald as the comic foil of Disney's headline character, Mickey Mouse.

In 2024. a quintet of European Disney modern comics masters (likely all Italian) produced a suite of Donald Duck stories to celebrate his anniversary.  The plots kicks off with Donald finding himself having a hard time, but fate downloads an unusual app onto his smartphone.  When activated, the app frees the “Smartphone XL-Genie,” and this genie tells Donald that he will grant him one wish (and only one wish) each day.  With the words “App-Racadabra!,” Donald can experience his fondest dreams and wackiest wishes.  Will Donald's own foibles and imperfections, however, turn these fondest dreams into one nightmare scenario after another?

The five stories included in Donald Duck: Magic and Mayhem are as follows:

Chapter 1: “App-Racadabra!”

Chapter 2: “The Price of Fame”

Chapter 3: “Keep Perfectly Calm!”

Chapter 4: “How Hard Can It Be?”

Chapter 5: “The Luckiest Duck in the World”

Donald Duck: Magic and Mayhem also stars Uncle Scrooge McDuck, Daisy Duck, Cousin Fethry Duck, and, of course, the nephews:  Huey, Dewey, and Louie.  [I have to add this note.  This graphic novel is my first encounter with “Fethry Duck,” a character that apparently debuted in 1964!]

THE LOWDOWN:  I have been reviewing various Disney comic books produced by American publisher, Dynamite Entertainment, most or all of which I assume are American originals.  I almost always get a lot of visits and even more hits on my blogs when I review Disney films and publications, which is also the case with the Dynamite titles.  I decided to see if I would have similar luck with a Fantagraphics Disney title.  After discovering the existence of Donald Duck: Magic and Mayhem, I used some Amazon gift card credit and purchased it.

Editor David Gerstein offers an excellent short “Foreword” to Donald Duck: Magic and Mayhem.  In it, he talks about the way Disney has portrayed and depicted Donald for the majority of his existence.  Donald wants to lead a normal life, but finds himself involved with adventure that often becomes misadventure.  He is beset by bad luck, but he also usually seeks the easy way out.  He assumes that he can do anything, which inevitably leads to more dramatic disasters.  And as everyone who has ever seen him in film, television, and/or comic books knows, Donald is – as Gerstein puts it – “recklessly feisty and 'wreck-lessly' cranky.”

In the opening story, “App-Racadabra,” Donald gets in trouble merely because he wants to test his pancake-making meddle against the vlogger, “Doug Delish.”  The problem is that Donald is trying to make his magical recipe and Doug's at the same time.  Disaster ensues, and that's where the Smartphone XL-Genie comes into the story.  Afterwards, Donald uses the genie to fix things that he broke or to make himself better.  I am not spoiling things by telling you, dear readers, that this all leads to Donald learning that he really just needs to be himself.  This happens in this graphic novel's final tale, “The Luckiest Duck in the World,” the only one of the five tales that actually pits Donald against Uncle Scrooge.

I feel that I've spoiled enough.  What I want to tell you is that is if you love Donald Duck and/or Donald Duck comic books, this book is a treat that your imagination will want to have.  It's also a steal at the cover price of $19.99.  The creative teams that produced these five tales are true practitioners of the art and magic of Disney comics.  I found myself engrossed in these stories, especially the final one, and the art and colors are superb and look and feel like they belong in classic Disney comics.

I envy the readers in Europe who get to see these comics first, but I am glad that Fantagraphics is brings these “Disney Originals” to North American readers.  Please, support high-quality American graphic novels, and buy this or any of Fantagraphics' other Disney publications.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Fantagraphics Disney books and of Disney comic books in general will want to read Donald Duck: Magic and Mayhem.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

DONALD DUCK: MAGIC AND MAYHEM is available at Amazon.

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