DONALD DUCK: THE CASE OF THE MISSING MUMMY #1 REVIEW

[Blake Petit]

Review by: Blake M. Petit Blake@comixtreme.com
Quick Rating: Great
Title: The Case of the Missing Mummy & The Mummy’s Ring

YOU choose the course of Huey, Dewey and Louie’s adventure!

The Case of the Missing Mummy By: Pat and Shelly Block
Color: Scott Rockwell
The Mummy’s Ring by: Carl Barks
Colors: Susan Daigle-Leach
Cover Art: Pat Block
Publisher: Gemstone Comics

When I was a kid, “Choose Your Own Adventure” and its younger cousin, “Pick-A-Path” books, were all the rage. You’d read the first few pages of a story, then get a choice as to what the main character (usually “you” – these were the only books I’d ever read written in the second person) should do next. You turned to the page indicated by your choice, and the adventure unfolded. While this is an idea that’s been done before in comics once or twice, this is the first time (to my knowledge) that it’s been attempted with the Disney characters, and fortunately, it’s very well done to boot.

In “The Case of the Missing Mummy,” Pat and Shelly Block have crafted a nice, entertaining little story very much in the spirit of those earlier books. Donald Duck’s latest job – he’s got a new one every week, it seems – is as night watchman for the Duckburg Museum, and it suits him very well. Naturally, of course, that job is jeopardized almost immediately when a priceless Egyptian mummy is stolen right out from under his beak! Enter Huey, Dewey and Louie: junior detectives. There are a plethora of clues and suspects in this mystery, and between you and the kids, you investigate them all.

Basically, the reader here gets to select which clues and suspects the boys investigate, ultimately leading them to the resolution of the mystery. If there’s any real flaw to be had in this comic, it’s that (unlike the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books) the story only actually has one ending – no matter which trails you follow, you eventually come to the same conclusion. The adventure comes in following different paths of clues and suspects, trying to eliminate them all before the grand finale. This small caveat aside, it’s still a very strong story, and a lot of fun to read.

Gemstone decided to fill out this one-shot special with a reprint of a Carl Barks tale, “The Mummy’s Ring.” In this one, Donald and the boys are mere museum patrons when a bizarre homeless man foists a strange, ornate ring onto Huey’s hand. The curse of the ring strikes as he’s kidnapped, and Donald and his brothers have to race across the ocean to rescue him. It’s a fine, classic-style Barks adventure, although it could have done with a minor coloring alteration. While I realize that in the past colorists really didn’t worry about keeping the colors of the boy’s clothes consistent, these days they’ve become pretty standardized: Huey is in red, Dewey in blue and Louie in green. It would been a little less jarring if they’d corrected Huey’s hat from blue to red.

Then again, maybe I’m the only one geeky enough to care about such a thing.

Anyway, this is a really fun comic, and out just in time to be a grand Halloween treat for your kids.

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