Moby Dick, Disney Parodie Collection 1

Moby Dick, an amazing first issue for the new Disney Parodie Collection series from Panini Comics

As a child, I read like the vast majority of children baby mouse, becoming attached to those unique characters, who still remain an essential part of our training today. Among the many stories that followed in those years, my favorites were the parodies, narrative arcs inspired by the great classics of literature or cinema, such as Moby Dickthe stupendous work of Artibani, Mottura and Andolfo.

I think parodying is quite a challenge. You have to take a known work, keep the spirit and enhance the most exciting parts, and adapt it to a different register, in case Disney even to an audience that, theoretically, is also less accustomed to a certain literature. I say theoretically because it should be aimed at younger people, but when I speak of Disney parodies who knows why the most prepared are the alleged off target, thirty-year-olds and over like yours truly.

Why all this preamble? Because in these days a new bimonthly series of Sandwiches Comicsentirely dedicated to these little jewels, baptized Disney Parodies Collection. If a good start is half done, then we are in an iron blow with this first issue, Moby Dick.

Touch a novel like Moby Dick it is an act of courage. The work of Melville is considered the progenitor of the modern American novel, thanks to an incredibly engaging narrative structure and written in such a way that it is still exciting today, after more than a century. Not to mention the role of Ahabwhich has become the quintessential embodiment of extreme obsession.

Francesco Artibani took courage and embarked on Pequod. Indeed on Pikuodthe captain’s whaler Quachabsduck with an adamantine character determined to capture Moby Dick, the bank whale. No mistake, it’s really the bank whale, despite being white.

Quachabs he is a duck that hunts Moby Dick across the seas, determined to capture the gigantic cetacean to take revenge for the misfortune he threw upon him when, years before, he sank his vessel, depriving him of his Number onehis first coin, his talisman, by swallowing it. Moby Dick is his obsession, a fixed nail that is further enhanced by the fact that in the belly of Moby Dick the treasures of all the ships affected by the white cetacean, which has earned the animal the name of bank whale, are kept.

It is normal that the term surprises you, but consider that Quachabs has the features of Scrooge McDuck and it all makes sense. Artibani has succeeded in the difficult task of combining the atmospheres of Moby Dick with the canons of the most famous comics ducks. Quotations and tributes to the work of Melville are inserted with small and amusing tricks (such as the inevitable “Call me Ishmael“, incipit of the novel), but the real master’s touch is to convey a sense of tension and imminent tragedy typical of the work of Melville in the comic context of an opera Disney.

It’s a difficult balance to strike, but that’s the secret to not depriving Moby Dick due respect for the original work, bringing new readers closer to this classic. All the charm of Melville is readapted with a smile to the world of Goslingswith a Donald Duck protagonist who with his usual bad luck and clumsiness combines all of them, accompanied on this marine adventure by his family.

Creating a contrast between the dialogues and the captions more ‘literary‘ is for almost the entire book a source of entertainment, revealing itself in the finale of an impressive poetic, the authorial touch that delicately seems to wink at the more adult readers, as if to say that Artibani he knows they are there and dedicates one last message to them, a piece of advice from a friend enclosed in the moral of the narration.

In addition to Artibani’s narrative brilliance, Moby Dick it is so fascinating due to the essential contribution of two artists of the caliber of Paolo Mottura and Mirka Andolfo.

Mottura he realizes the drawings, with an incredible intensity. It passes with agility with a fun cut Disney to an epic vision, tragic in some points, which comes very close to the dramatic spirit of Melville. In the scenes of daily life the comic register chosen by Artibani is made very well by Motturabut the quality bar soars dramatically with the ‘action’ parts, such as the battle with the squid or the encounter with Moby Dick.

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In these points, due to the intensity and setting of the tables, we see a more mature, dynamic approach. The part dedicated to the clash with the whale has all the power of the famous Moby Dick 1956 film with Gregory Pecka strong similarity that is also enhanced in the way it is portrayed Quachabsmaniacal and bordering on madness in some points, a duck determined to defy the wrath of the sea in order to achieve its goal.

Mottura was masterful in portraying this story, in every respect. The tables in which the comic and amusing expression is necessary are the classic Disney vision, but the class of the designer emerges overbearingly when it is necessary to aim for dynamism, for the epic of Melvilleand there Mottura goes wild, with an impressive verve in creating a spectacular layout of the tables, in some cases similar to the decorations of the vintage editions of children’s publishing.

Mirka Andolfo gives the final touch by coloring the register. Although she was flawless and emotional throughout the issue, the suggestive sepia tone of the flashback and the spectacular work in coloring the storm plates are pure emotion, they exalt the story and design beyond all limits.

Moby Dick in this version Disney manages to keep its epic and adventurous heart intact, sweetening it with the typical style of the world of Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse, but creating an exciting and suggestive story. The trio Artibani-Mottura-Andolfo has crafted a treasure that deserves to be kept alongside the original book by Melville. Parody is a term that does not apply to this masterful workgiven the often ironic and derogatory use that is associated with this word today. Moby Dick is a heartfelt and passionate tribute to one of the most beautiful literary works in history.

The next issue of this interesting series awaits us in December, with Prince Ducklet.