I’ve always liked the Disney comics, whether they were published by Gold Key, or Gemstone or Gladstone or Gearloose or whomever. I always thought they were fun comics for kids. I love what Carl Barks did, and the same with Don Rosa. I also like the ones that aren’t by them. I even like the sillier ones like Moby Duck. I liked all the expensive hardcover and trade collections too, but I always wanted to see the comics targeted more towards kids because I think they can help grow a new generation of comic readers.

So I was glad when Boom! picked up the license for their Boom! Kids line of comics (which already includes The Muppets and the Pixar titles). They’re putting them out on a regular schedule, picking up with the old numbering and pricing them at a good $2.99 – aiming them squarely at the kid market. It’s a good, smart play on their part.

In Donald Duck And Friends #347, “Double Duck” finds Donald Duck in trouble with Daisy (for falling asleep at a James Pond movie featuring Quacky Galore) and with the law (for failure to pay a parking ticket he doesn’t remember). His questions about the ticket raise even more questions and before you can think of your own duck pun, it’s revealed that – holy Dollhouse! – Donald’s really a secret agent who’s had his memory wiped.

There’s a playful urgency to Fausto Vitaliano’s script (translated by Saida Temofonte). He keeps the action moving and drops in Gladstone Gander, Uncle Scrooge, and a reference to Huey, Dewey and Louie. The art by Andrea Freccero is visually striking with bold lines and an animator’s bag of facial expressions. I think the denizens of Duckburg are the hardest Disney characters to draw well, and Andrea makes it look easy. The art looks fresh and modern and is a bit of a shift from the classic Barksian style, all made to pop off the page with some sweet coloring. It’s easy to see why he’s considered one of the best of the current generation of Duckmen. I’m eagerly awaiting the next issue but, more importantly, so’s my much younger son.

[Artwork: A gun-toting duck from Donald Duck And Friends #347, © Disney]