Walt Disney's Donald and Mickey in Metropolis and Faust

by Luciano Bottaro, Francesco Artibani, Paolo Mottura

In the tradition of The Prince and the Pauper and Mickey’s Christmas Carol , Disney’s top stars dive back into wild spoofs of great literature! Donald meets demons in the perilous past ― then Mickey gets roboticized in the far-flung future! First, it’s Goethe… Duckburg style! Long ago in medieval Europe, alchemist “Dr. Donaldus Faustus” (Donald Duck) can’t stand the feud between his uncle, Duke Scrooge MacDuich, and the brawling Beagle Barons. Donald turns to wacky Witch Hazel and demons of the underworld to help him make peace… but these magic misfits just might prefer war! Next, in a retelling of Fritz Lang’s classic film, the future city of “Mousetropolis” is powered by the world’s highest-tech factory. But that factory runs on the low-tech muscle of poverty-stricken peasants… and “undercover boss” Mictor (Mickey Mouse) discovers a plot to replace them with robots if they object! The Phantom Blot is in charge―and Minnie’s next in line to go metal! Full-color illustrations throughout

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

224 pages, Hardcover

Published September 17, 2024

About the author

Luciano Bottaro (born 16 November 1931, died 25 November 2006) was an Italian cartoonist, particularly known for his work on Disney comics.
Bottaro's comics had a simple and angular art style and often abounded with surreal tone. His works have been published in a number of European and South American countries. Some of his Disney duck stories have only recently appeared in North America, through the publisher Fantagraphics.
Bottaro was born and lived most of his life in Rapallo, a small town on the shores of the Italian region of Liguria. His collaborators and pupils from the Bierreci studio - which he founded in 1968 - are sometimes referred to as the 'Rapallo school' of Italian cartoonists.
Bottaro began working for the Disney production in 1951. This makes him a member of the first generation of Italian (and European) Disney cartoonists, alongside the likes of Giovan Battista Carpi and Romano Scarpa, and almost a contemporary of the American (back then anonymous) master Carl Barks. Bottaro illustrated Disney comics, especially featuring Goofy, Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge, till the middle of 80's. Many of his stories were co-created with writer Carlo Chendi, another founding member of the 'Rapallo school'.
Outside of Disney, Bottaro worked a lot for the French publisher Alpe, for which he created Pepito, his most famous original character. Pepito got its own magazine in 1954, also featuring other Bottaro's series, such as Saturnino and I Postorici.

Reviews

[Artur Coelho · Rating 4 out of 5]

É sempre agradável ler, ou reler, estes comics Disney criados por argumentistas e desenhadores italianos. Os argumentos são divertidas variantes sobre histórias bem conhecidas, e diga-se, a homenagem a Metropolis é brilhante, quer em termos narrativos quer gráficos. Se alguma vez se perguntaram como é que a estética do cinema expressionista alemão dos anos 20 do século XX seria com o estilo Disney, não precisam de ir mais longe. Mas o maior deleite destas leituras é a curiosa elegância que os desenhadores italianos transmitem aos simples cartoons Disney, tornam-nos mais sinuosos, fluídos e visualmente ricos. Como disse, é um deleite de leitura.

[Yami · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ya habia leido previamente uno de los comics de esta serie que trataba de dracula y me encanto su diseño, y este tampoco se queda atras, la historia es simple y pasable, y lo fuerte de este comic es su diseño

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought the Metropolis was well done as it had the same atmosphere at the original and stylish artwork, but I had no patience for the Faust which was more of an annoying parody.

[chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really fun.
I want to read more of the old Italian Disney comics.