Friday, May 17, 2024

There's next year's Halloween costume right there!


This story made me wonder if the Beagle Boys had acheived folk-hero status in Duckberg, as dressing up like a burglar doesn't seem to raise any eyebrows. Then again, I don't think I've ever seen a devil costume outside of an old Three Stooges. From 1990, Walt Disney's Donald Duck Adventures #7, "It's in the Bag!" Story and art by William Van Horn.
A not-so-friendly bet goes predictably awry, as Donald bets the nephews he could get scads more candy then them at Halloween. The boys scoff that Donald couldn't lug a pound of candy around without collapsing from exhaustion, and it's on: Donald throws on a handy devil suit, from when he was a tamale salesman in La Jolla...are we sure this isn't Daredevil's secret origin? Donald gets 'trick' repeatedly, from locals who think he's too old to be trick-or-treating. When outright theft fails, Donald is forced to change tactics, and tries to hit up the upper-crust section of town...where a burglar is already making the scene! A fun one, where Donald comes up on top in the end.
Another burglar strikes, in "Bedtime Spooks," then it's first aid vs. archaeology in "Duck-ankhamen," where the boys tape Donald up like a mummy to get their Junior Woodchuck badges-slash-shut him up for five seconds. Donald then falls into a dig, proving a local professor's pet theory about a connection between ancient Egypt and Duckberg...somehow. The details are still fuzzy, but a mummy's pretty good proof, right? And the safety pin, why, that's been around for...thousands of years...Someone is so fired. (Dialogue by Bob Foster, art by Vicar.)

3 comments:

Mr. Morbid said...

You make a solid point about the Beagle Boys. How the hell aren’t they being watched & followed by the cops 24/7? I can’t imagine purposely dressing up as a criminal would endear you to local law enforcement.

H said...

The Beagle Boys are generally too dumb to be any threat- plus, they seem to only go after Scrooge so let him deal with it.

William Van Horn’s one of the good ones- I’ve enjoyed his non-Disney stuff too, especially Nervous Rex. If it’s not Barks or Rosa, you can rely on Van Horn for a good Duck story.

Mr. Morbid said...

I mean Trump was also considered to be “too dumb to be a threat “ and look how that turned out?

Maybe they simply know their place as a steady but ultimately ineffective source of conflict?