Comics Review: Disney's "DUCKTALES #3" is in the Clink

DUCKTALES VOLUME 1, ISSUE #3

DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

STORY: Brandon Montclare

ART: Tommaso Ronda

COLOR: Tommaso Ronda

LETTERS: Fabio Amelia

EDITOR: Nate Cosby

COVER: Ivan Bigarella

VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Francesco Tomaselli; Carlo Lauro; Alan Quah; Ivan Bigarella; Tomasso Ronda

32pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (March 2025)

All Ages

Based on “Uncle Scrooge” by Carl Barks

“Four Corners of Your World” Part Three: “The Duckburg Clink”

“DuckTales” was an animated television series that ran from 1987 to 1990.  Produced by Walt Disney Television Animation and Tokyo Movie Shinsha, DuckTales was syndicated to American local television stations and ran for 100 episodes.  The series also yielded a theatrical spin-off movie, DuckTales The Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp (1990).  In 2017, a second “DuckTales” series ran for 69 episodes over three seasons (2017-2021).

DuckTales was inspired by and based upon the Uncle Scrooge comics book and other comic books set in the world of Donald Duck that Carl Barks, legendary comic book writer-artist, created mainly from the early 1940s and into the 1960s.  The TV show followed the adventures of Donald Duck's uncle, Scrooge McDuck; his three grandnephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie (who were also Donald's nephews), and a close group of friends.

There were several DuckTales-related comics publications and comic books published on and off over a period from 1988 to 2020.  Dynamite Entertainment brings DuckTales back to comic books with DuckTales Volume 1.  It is written by Brandon Montclare; drawn and colored by Tomasso Ronda; and lettered by Fabio Amelia.

DuckTales Volume 1 #3 (“The Duckburg Clink”) opens at night in a jail cell in the Duckburg City Jail.  There, we find Uncle Scrooge!... and the Beagle Boys!  It seems that earlier that night, Uncle Scrooge and the nephews went treasure hunting in Craven Caverns, which is near the jail.  Meanwhile, the criminal matriarch, Ma Beagle, was leading her sons, the “Beagle Boys,” in a jail break that took them down an underground path.  Paths cross, and Uncle Scrooge lands in the clink.

For as long as Scrooge McDuck has been a successful tycoon, he's had to deal with swindlers, burglars, and every other kind of chiseler (including Flintheart Glomgold) who wants to get their hands on his hard-earned fortune. The most infamous group of those scheming miscreants that hound Scrooge's every step is the infamous family known as the Beagle Boys.

Now, opposing forces must become supporting forces if Beagle and Duck families are going to be freed from incarceration in Duckburg's jail.  Will this union work?

THE LOWDOWN:  Since July 2021, Dynamite Entertainment's marketing department has been providing me with PDF review copies of some of their titles.  DuckTales Volume 1, Issue #3 is the latest.

I thought the first issue of the new DuckTales comic book series was more an introductory chapter than a first chapter of a serial.  With the second issue, writer Brandon Montclare really began the storytelling simply by digging into the legacy and world Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge comic books (sometimes called the “Duck universe).

The late comic book writer-artist, Carl Barks, left a back list and a character catalog that is rich with storytelling potential.  Flintheart Glomgold, who first appeared in Uncle Scrooge #15 (cover dated: September 1956), and the “Beagle Boys,” who first appeared in Walt Disney Comics and Stories (cover dated: November 1951), are characters from which a savvy writer can spin Disney comics gold.  Later Disney comic book creators, such as Don Rosa, and also the “DuckTales” television series writers added to the Duck universe.  Montclare deftly taps into the past, and this time the result is “The Duckburg Clink,” which reads like a classic Disney comic book. 

Artist Tomasso Ronda continues to present beautiful art and engaging storytelling.  His art looks as if it has stepped from a Disney animation reel, and Ronda illustrations make the story pop with suspense and fun.  Ronda will be well remembered for his run here by Disney comic book fans for capturing the colorful magic of the wonderful storytelling worlds of Disney.  Fabio Amelia's lettering completes the spell in making Issue #3 fit right in as an true Disney comic book.

DuckTales #3 is an impressive third issue.  It suggests that this series has staying power, and I hope that you, dear readers, help it stay around.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Disney comic books and of DuckTales will want to try DuckTales Volume 1.

A

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Tuesday, March 11, 2025

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