Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Vol. 5 (DISNEY MICKEY MOUSE HC)

This is now the fifth volume of the Floyd Gottfredson dailies from Fantagraphics with a sixth coming out later this year and that's not including the two Sunday color volumes released in 2013. Volume five spans February 1938 to April 1940 with slightly over two years of material per edition and at two volumes per year and forty five years of material we're going to be at this a long time. The big event in this book is obviously the introduction of the Phantom Blot but we also get the first appearances of Inspector Casey , Chief O'Hara and Mickey's pupils in "Mickey Mouse meets Robinson Crusoe" when they suddenly appear on December 22nd. I prefer the look of the classic pacman eyes but I don't deny that eyeballs give the artist more possibilities for expressions.The book opens with `Mighty Whale Hunter' where Mickey, now wealthy from a previous adventure, decides on a whim that he wants to hunt whales and brings Goofy along with him. Mickey is always filled with pluck and energy but in this story he's a bit of an ass. He essentially mocks nervous sailors when a squall hits and stays on deck despite warnings. Fishing is extremely dangerous work and Mickey prancing around like he's on a Sunday picnic is obnoxious even if he does save the day in the end. The story ends with the stock market crashing sending Mickey back into poverty. Desperate for work he goes into the plumbing business as a plumbers apprentice but finds himself wrapped up in a mysteriously shady plumbing scheme. Mickey's corrupt boss, Mr. Piper, has little to no redeeming qualities but I found him mesmerizing in his unscrupulousness. In fact this was probably my favorite story in the book based almost solely on the strength of the Mr. Piper character. For me it was even better than the title story featuring the Phantom Blot and was also easily the most humorous story in the book.The next story gets all Meta as Mickey gets a call from Walt Disney to appear in a Robinson Crusoe movie. The intro to the story refers to the entire tale as "something of a misstep" and I completely agree. Putting aside the racist character of Friday, a relic from a less enlightened era, the story just isn't nearly at Gottfredson's usual level which is a shame because I'm a fan of the Robinson Crusoe tale. The whole story is cringe worthy and I was glad to move onto the mystery of the Phantom Blot. The Phantom Blot is a CLASSIC Mickey Mouse mystery with Mickey helping Captain O'Hara and Detective Casey track down the mysterious and ruthless Blot who's stealing and destroying seemingly worthless cameras. The intro mentions how similar parts of the story are to a James Bond movie but doesn't elaborate. At the end of the story Mickey tries to crash the Blots plane by holding onto the tail and pushing down the aileron. This is so similar to the climax of Octopussy that I have to wonder if the movies writer wasn't inspired by Mickey's actions."The Miracle Master" starts off with the clichéd trope of the genie in a bottle who grants literal wishes and ends with the old `it was all a dream' copout. In between it's pretty clear that Gottfredson was making the story up as he goes along because it's all over the place. It had some potential and brought up some interesting social commentary but in the end it just descended into a gag a day. Sadly it's still better than the final story which prompted the writer of the introduction to say, `the road to Hell is paved with good intentions'. Yeah, this one is not Gottfredson's finest moment when Mickey receives Friday's sorta twin brother Thursday. Thursday seems even more feral than an animal as he eats dishes and tries to cook a painting of a fish. This one is just painful to read but it's a product of its time and I would never want Fantagraphics to omit anything.I absolutely adore these volumes even though I complained about many of the stories contained in this book. Not only is the material (mostly) great but the presentation is top notch. Fantagraphics includes all sorts of extras and these aren't just filler but actual thoughtful essays. One thing I learned that wasn't so great is that the comics are ALMOST full sized. I have no idea why they are almost full sized and not full sized since these are not huge books. Unlike some reproductions that added color these are presented, as they should be, in their original black and white. The covers are sturdy and use thread binding so the books will last. Floyd Gottfredson is a comic genius and this is probably the best presentation ever of his work. His art is near flawless and personifies true Disney magic. These are stories that appeal to readers of all ages so I encourage any fan of comics, Disney or great entertainment to pick them up.

In the mid 1960s I found a comic book in my collection, and where it came from I never knew. It was old. Really old. In fact, it was a 1950s reprint from an original comic first published in 1939, "Mickey Mouse Outwits the Phantom Blot." The first page or two were missing, but I read that comic over and over, because it gave me chills when that faceless, formless bad-guy would put Mickey in peril. It seemed that nothing could stop The Blot, and his machinations for killing Mickey were so devious you couldn't help but fear for the poor mouse's life. Somehow Mickey always found a way, and in the end he managed to get his man. But knowing that doesn't make the tale any less scary or interesting. Quite the contrary; you just HAVE to know how he did it. Plus, another major theme was "WHY?" Why was the blot on this crime spree? Solving that question was the key to solving the mystery and catching the bad guy. Interestingly, the unmasked bad guy in this case bore a striking resemblance to Mickey Mouse's creator and boss: Walt Disney! And what would terrify a cartoon character whose existence is entirely in the form of ink on paper or celluloid? Why... a BLOT from his creator, of course!But there was a twist when reading this new book. It was scarier than the original that I remember. The death-traps were not the same. And it turned out there was a reason for that. It seemed that when the comic was reprinted in the 1950s, the moralists had spoken, and Dell pressured Disney to redraw parts of the strip where the violence was too graphic, the death-traps too scary. So, an artist named Paul Murry redrew Floyd Gottfredson's originals and made the death-traps more "Rube Goldbergian," and less sinister. These substitutions appear in the back of this book. Wow! I'd have never known!I have thought about that comic many times over the years, still able to imagine many of its pictures, so when I saw that there was a reprint in progress, I immediately pre-ordered it. It took a while, but the book came out, and with it were several other Mickey Mouse stories from that era (1930s) which I'd never seen before. It's a wonderful collection of old comics, but it doesn't feel like a museum piece. The comics are as fun to read today as when they were written. And that's not all. This book is filled with important information about the people who created these comics and about the history of the comics themselves, including color reproductions of actual comic book covers designed for the reprints through the years. This is a book not only of comics, but ABOUT comics, and there are many such features to be found therein.The hardback book comes bound in a sturdy cover awash in shades of gray, black, and white, the colors of ink, the source of all comics of that period. My thanks to publisher Fantagraphics and the editors who researched and compiled these stories once again, this time in wide-format hardback that lays flat for easy reading. This book on acid-free paper is a joy to read, and will last a long time.If you like old comics, this is a must-see!Shooshie

This is the fifth part of the quality series and almost as good as the previous books. Most of the stories have been reprinted before, but the whale hunting story is a rarity, especially in its original grey tone glory. The story about Mickey as a plumber's prentice is the best one with lots of jokes about construction professionals. Some of the others are still funny, but I felt some kind of decline in the story telling. At least part of the blame is on Disney who started to change Mickey Mouse as a character and Gottfredsson had follow what happed on the animated movies. Don't get me wrong, these stories are still a mile ahead of the other Mickey Mouse comics and that's why I gave full five stars.

Great!

El trabajo de Floyd con Mickey Mouse fue muy ingenioso.Las aventuras que entretuvieron a nuestros antepasados regresan en ediciones de calidad con villanos clásicos y otras aventuras.Además, el libro viene con contenido extra de la época. Muy bueno para fans del ratón.

Great!!

Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: Outwits the Phantom Blot.Livre arrivé légèrement détérioré suite à un emballage trop léger. Le livre se déplace à l'intérieur du colis et la couverture se corne ou se déchire. Le livre devrait être enveloppé.