Donald Duck: Christmas on Bear Mountain by Carl Barks
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This book is an odd duck, pardon the pun. Some stories really hit their marks while others meander with sight gags going on for too long. Plus, there’s some 1940’s sensibilities that are cringe-worthy when viewed with historic presentism, which I’ve seen several reviewers go on about. But perhaps the strangest part for me is the lack of sympathetic characters. I will admit, I am used to the representation of Huey, Dewey, Louie, and “Unca Donald” from DuckTales (Whoo Hoo!). In Carl Barks’ comics Donald is a neglectful, if not abusive parent, the triplets are brats, and Daisy is a witch with a capital “B.” These comics are definitely not the wholesome, “golly gee,” tooth-rotting saccharin of the Mickey Mouse Club.
My favorite part of this book was definitely the comments at the end by other authors, which might show what sort of nerd I am. I also loved picking up on references that were used in the current DuckTales reboot. The creators are huge fans of Barks’ Scrooge comics, and it shows in their work.
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