Written by Nicolas Pothier
Art by Johan Pilet
Published by Fantagraphics Books
I believe I’ve said it before in at least one of my reviews but I really love European Disney stories! On hand today, as usual from Fantagraphics, we have Mickey Mouse Versus the Mouseton Society of Evil. Originally published in France, the story is credited to Nicholas Pothier and the art and color to Johan Pilet.
This adventure only runs 51 pages but it’s an epic 51 pages.
Set in a science fiction future, the Disney characters here both are and aren’t exactly our old friends. Mickey Mouse, for example, is now Space Ranger MOU-53 and his eyes aren’t quite the same as usual. His pluckiness, however remains intact.
Our number one villain is The Phantom Blot, only here he’s the REVENANT Blot. Why? Don’t know. The online dictionary defines “revenant” as “a person who has returned, especially supposedly from the dead.” It gives “phantom” as a synonym. So why the change?
Anyway, the Blot allows himself to be caught in order to break this future Disney World’s most vile villains out of prison to form the Mouseton Society of Evil. Technically it should be New Mouseton. His supergroup of big bads includes Emil Eagle, Prosthesis Pete (a marvelously funny name for the former Peg-Leg Pete), pirate Dr. Adenoid Vulter, the hypnotist Spectrus and, of course, several Beagle Boys. The prison itself is cleverly called @lt@crz! At least in English.
Which brings me to the person who I think is the unsung star of this production and that’s the English translator, Jonathan H. Gray, himself a cartoonist as well as an art instructor. Humor doesn’t always translate well, and rarely translates directly between languages. The fact that there are so many great, and even topical jokes that land here tells me that’s Mr. Gray at work.
When the Blot assembles his newly escaped team and starts his big plan, Mickey calls in his old friends as well, with his personalized mouseka-version of a bat signal, and they consist of his usual crew—Donald, Goofy, Minnie, and Pluto. Pluto, here, is a K-9 style robot named Plutørøbo. Minnie is, of course, a slick and resourceful agent herself, Donald hints at being a sometime Duck Avenger, and Goofy is…well…Goofy.
As far as the bad guys, let’s just say that they’re all pretty much in character, which means bad guys’ll be bad guys, leading to so many unexpected twists that the reader actually starts to expect them.
The Phantom Blot has long been a personal favorite of mine and I’m a big fan of his short-run Gold Key series in the 1960s. (Was the Blot the first super villain ever to star in his own comic book? Not sure.)
Space travel, giant robots, a crab monster, a powerful device called the Deus Ex Boxina, and a rather Deus Ex Machina save via a surprise guest star toward the end all make for an exciting package all around.
After decades of Disney forcing all of the international licensees to stick slavishly to their house style in comic books, there have been so many brilliant and original depictions turning up over the past twenty years or so and yes, this is yet another one. The entire album is just plain fun, loaded with colorful energy and an endlessly inventive use of traditional comic book visual sound effects.
If I have an issue with Mickey Mouse Versus the Mouseton Society of Evil at all, it’s the same as I have with any and all of Fantagraphics’ Disney albums and that’s the price. I suppose it’s a necessary evil these days but I can’t help thinking that at 51 pages, back in the day this would have been just one story in a 25 cent Disney giant from Dell, rather than $24.99.
Booksteve recommends.
