Gyro and the Surprise Staycation From Italian Topolino 2960, 2012 (First USA Publication) WRITER Augusto Macchetto ARTIST Andrea Freccero COLORIST Disney Italia LETTERER Amauri Osorio TRANSLATION AND DIALOGUE Erin Brady
Charleston! from Italian Topolino 3202, 2017 (First USA Publication)
WRITER & ARTIST Enrico Faccini COLORIST Disney Italia LETTERER Amauri Osorio TRANSLATION AND DIALOGUE Erin Brady
Little Helper Takes Out the Trash! from Italian Topolino 3302, 2019 (First USA Publication) WRITER Federico Rossi Edrighi ARTIST Lorenzo Pastrovicchio COLORIST Disney Italia LETTERER Amauri Osorio TRANSLATION AND DIALOGUE Erin Brady
Thanks to IDW Publishing for the review copy!
With many schools closed, parents are looking for things for their children to do. With that in mind, I turned to Disney comics to see A) if it is something parents should give their kids to read and B) if it is entertaining enough to read together.
This issue is broken into three stories about Gyro Gearloose, a character I remember from the old Ducktales cartoon (if you watched the show, you’ll catch the reference in this review’s title). Each one digestible if you are inclined to split up the issue into smaller chunks. The first story is titled Gyro and the Surprise Staycation, which is ironic given that is the situation many of us are facing now but the story first was published in 2012 (this is the first publication in the United States). The story is has a good message for kids about making lemonade out of lemons. There are enough fun twists that an adult will enjoy the story. Charleston! is told entirely with actions and relies on physical humor that children will likely enjoy more than adults. Unlike the first story, it features a little cartoon violence played for comedy. Little Helper Takes out the Trash is another almost word free story focusing on one of Gyro’s robots. Like Charleston!, younger readers will appreciate this story more, but it does have a fun stinger at the end.
The characters in this comic are drawn in Disney style, but the art is a little less polished than what you would find in a Disney cartoon like Ducktales. That minor quibble aside, this is definitely a book that can help ease the kids are at home blues. As can be expected with Disney, there is nothing objectionable in the comic that young readers can’t be exposed to and it has a nice positive message. I think parents could easily enjoy reading the first story with their kids, especially if they are familiar with Scrooge McDuck and his money bin. The two others have little or no words, so children can peruse those on their own.
DISNEY COMICS AND STORIES #11 is now available.
Have you read the issue? What are your thoughts? Feel free to chat with me on Twitter or leave a comment below!
