Mickey’s Inferno from Papercutz

About a month ago we got the fourth volume of Papercutz’ series called Disney Graphic Novels, and the first one under the logo title Great Parodies. But the actual title of the book and the story inside is Mickey’s Inferno.

Mickey’s Inferno was originally published as a serial in the Italian Topolino way back in 1949 and was the start of a long series of Italian parody stories adapting classic literature. And this story is a parody of Inferno, the first part of Dante Alighieri's 14th-century poem Divine Comedy.

Written in rhyme it’s hard to do a direct translation of the comic story, so the English translation is more of a script adaptation than a real translation. I don’t know much Italian, so I can’t do a comparison to the original text – but we now have two different American editions of this story so it’s fun to do a little comparison of those.

The first American edition was a cut and remounted version in Gemstone’s Walt Disney's Comics  #666 in 2006.
 

Gemstone layout (left) and Papercutz using the original layout (middle and  right)

And the text in Gemstone’s version is quite different from the one in Papercutz’ book.

Italian Topolino (left), Gemstone (middle), Papercutz (right)

Italian Topolino (left), Gemstone (middle), Papercutz (right)

The Gemstone version got an entire sequence of the story cut out, but the Papercutz’ one is actually not 100% complete either. Even if the total number of pages is a few more than the original Topolino serial, a few panels are cut and others are extended.

Under is the last page of the first part and the first page of the second part as they originally were printed. In the 1-part version used by Papercutz the panel with Goofy about to be chopped to pieces is cut out and the intro panel for the second part is cut too.

Topolino last pg. of part 1 (left), Topolino first page of part 2 (middle), Papercutz 1-part version (right)

"X-Mickey: In the Mirror" from Papercutz

The second volume in Papercutz’ series of Disney Graphic Novels is out. Even if the series title and volume numbers are not written on the cover or spine, the editorial page inside made sure to point out that series is called "Disney Graphic Novels", and that this is #2. That’s also how they are titled and numbered on online bookstores.

The first volume was a comic adaptation of the movie Planes, and I wrote a short blogpost about that one last year. The second volume is titled X-Mickey: In the Morror and contains stories from the first volume of an Italian series of X-Mickey comics.

Originally this series ran for 30 issues in Italy from 2002 to 2004. But part of the series has been translated and published in lots of different countries. In fact it’s not even the first time it’s published in English. The English translation was first available for in-app purchase in a Disney Comics app for iOS (not sure if this is still available), and then they were added to comiXology. Currently there are 8 digital issues for sale on comiXology, I’m not sure if more stories were/are available from the iOS app but I doubt that is the case. So the digital English translated comics are far from complete. At least the official ones, I have seen scanlations (fan translated comics) of this series floating around the net.

Looking at the preview pages on comiXology, it looks like that is the same translation as used in Papercutz book.

Inside "X-Mickey: Inside the Mirror"

X-Mickey is sort of a spooky horror inspired series, but there’s also a lot of humor. In it we find Mickey traveling through portals to another dimension and meeting new characters that are special for this series. Most notable is the Goofy-lookalike werewolf named Pipwolf, but we also have Manny that looks like an albino Minnie and several other characters that are recurring throughout the series.
 

Toppersby, Pipwolf and Manny - recurring characters in X-Mickey

X-Mickey used to run in the Norwegian monthly Mickey Mouse comic (not published anymore), so I’ve read a good deal of the stories – but not all. In the Norwegian issues the stories were not printed in the chronological (Italian) order, they were often cut and the issues featuring X-Mickey also had other "classic" Mickey stories. And instead of using the original great cover art, they made new covers by using art from the stories.
 

The Norwegian cover for "In the Mirror" is re-used art from the story

So the stories were not presented in a good way, and at first I didn’t like the series at all! I thought it was weird looking and far from the same as the Mickey stories I grew up loving. But after reading a bunch of stories and getting to know the characters and universe I started to like the series more and more. You just have to think of this as a separate series from the other Mickey-stories and not get too caught up in canon and continuity and stuff. Now I actually look forward to reading this series in English. From the vague talk in the editorial page in vol.2, it sounds like they are planning more issues with X-Mickey. If they do I really hope they keep to the original Italian order, and publish the volumes as complete as possible. Unfortunately only two of three stories from the Italian #1 (or #1000 actually – the original numbering went from #1000, #999… to #971) are printed in the first Papercutz issue. The supporting stories are not as interesting as the main ones, but I would still like to read them.

The future of Papercutz’ "Disney Graphic Novels"

Pre-release covers for "Disney Graphic Novels" vol.3 and 4

Two more issues are announced for this year. Vol.3 will be Minnie & Daisy: Best Friends Forever, scheduled for July – and vol.4 will be Great Parodies: Mickey's Inferno, scheduled for December.

The one I’m really curious about and that might be good news for Disney comic fans is Mickey's Inferno! Gemstone already printed a remounted and cut version of this story in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #666. I also got two different Italian prints, but they I can’t read without serious dictionary help. So I’ve wanted an uncut, uncensored and original layout version that I can read for a long time! And Amazon currently list that the book will be 88 pages, so that sounds promising. I’m also curious if this print will get a new translation. The story is written in rhymes and is not easy to translate, but Dwight R. Decker did a great job for the Gemstone print I think.

New series of graphic novels from Papercutz

The first book in the new series from Papercutz just came out. The series is simply called "Disney Graphic Novels" and doesn’t seem to be tied to any particular theme, character or series of comics other than being under the Disney logo. The first book is a comic adaptation of the movie Planes from DisneyToons Studios.

Book #1 in the new series of grapic novels from Papercutz, published September 2015

The movie is a spin-off from Cars and was originally intended as a direct-to-video movie like most DisneyToons movies. But as it got a theatrical release I guess some people had high expectations thinking it was a new Pixar masterpiece, and the result was a lot of negative reviews. I though the movie was okey though, I don’t really have any negative to say about it. Still, I can’t say I find this comic adaptation that interesting, but that goes for most new movie adaptations I guess. When I was a kid I used to love them, they used to come as an attachment to the weekly comics in Norway. And that’s where I got to know the story of the movies for the first time. Now days I watch the moves first and the comic adaptations seems a bit pointless. But at least they are a lot better than the line if "cinestories" that Joe Books are currently publishing. They consist of thousands of screengrabs from the movies with speech balloons inserted, and are completely useless in my opinion.

The Planes book from Papercutz is available in both hardcover for $12.99 and in a paperback edition for $7.99. But a digital version of the same story (in English) has been available for two years on comiXology. And the digital version is only $3.99. So the first volume in the new Papercutz series doesn’t really bring anything new on the table.

Cover of the comiXology comic with the same story

Personally I’d rather see this adaptation collected in a new 800 page monster book from Joe Books! In contrast to the cinestory books from the same publisher, I really liked those collections!

Disney-Pixar Comics Treasury and Disney Princess Comics Treasury, published February 2015 by Joe Books

But to get back on the Papercutz series… In the back of the Planes book they are announcing the next books in the series. #2 will be X Mickey, #3 will be Minne & Daisy BFF, #4 is a secret (they probably don’t know yet) and #5 will be a new Planes book.

#2 and #3 are already listed on Amazon with release dates March 29, 2016 and July 5, 2016. The dates can still change, but it doesn’t look like there’s going to be more than 3-4 books a year.

Pre-release covers of book 2 and 3 in the graphic novel series from Papercutz

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If you are in need of more comic stories based on Planes, they do exist! In the USA one of the magazines in a series based on Cars was dedicated to Planes. And another original comic story was printed in the short-lived attempt to start up Comic Zone again. But even more are published in Europe.

Disney/Pixar Presents: Planes, issue #16 (Sep/Oct 2013) and Disney Comic Zone #2 (Oct 2013)

And if you want more Disney comics from Papercutz, they have been publishing Disney Fairies comics since 2010. 

Disney Fairies #3 and #4, published in 2010 by Papercutz