It’s taken longer than I expected, but the Disney-fication of Marvel Comics appears to be nearing it’s conclusion!
DONALD DUCK BECOMES WOLVERINE
Come this July 31st, What If…? Donald Duck Became Wolverine #1 will arrive at local comics shops! Yes, it’s really (and finally) happening!
Here is the description of this comic:
“Travel to the near future where chaos rules as Pete-Skull transforms Duckburg into a super-hero-less wasteland. Only Old Donald Duck can turn the tide, but he’s given up his battling days and prefers naps and his grandma’s apple pie over fighting villains. But when Mickey-Hawkeye comes knocking at the door with Goofy-Hulk at his side, Wolverine-Donald has to make a choice! Will a trip down memory lane change his mind to save the world? Or will the lure of the backyard hammock and a long nap keep him from popping his claws one last time?”
Luca Barbieri (writer) and Glada Perissinotto (artist) will be telling this story. Here’s what Barbieri had to say about it in the Marvel news release: “Donald Duck and Wolverine are two characters that seem almost impossible to make coexist, but in fact they possess very similar personality: they are both hot-tempered and unlucky, but in adversity they do not lose heart and always show that they have a big heart! Once this point was focused, writing the story turned out to be easy and fun!”
Word is that this tale is based on the “Old Man Logan” story… loosely based, I should say.
NOT ALL MARVEL FANS ARE HAPPY ABOUT THIS
I remember the outpouring of emotion that took place when it was officially announced that Disney (a staggering entertainment colossus even today) was buying Marvel.
Many of my friends and other fans went apoplectic about this. The House of Ideas, which had been known for pretty “adult” (in a mostly good way) and groundbreaking storytelling, was going to answer to a huge organization that had largely been known for “sanitizing” stories like The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. After all, at that point, Disney was the video version of an “all ages” comic—safe for readers/viewers from the littlest ones to the most senior fans with decades of “experience.”
Wolverine and the X-Men were all big at that point, and many of my most Marvel-icious buddies moaned and groaned to me by the hour regarding how all this was doing to “Disney-ize” their favorite comics company and characters. They considered the future of the House of Ideas in jeopardy. I remember memes showing up online that had the Mickey Mouse-like logo with part of it replaced by the Death Star from Star Wars. So many people were terrified that this would be the crumbling conclusion of Marvel.
Well, it took several years (around a decade?) for it to happen, but what they were afraid of apparently has arrived!
Yes, there have been several covers and images of Disney animals (particularly Mickey) wearing Iron Man’s armor or carrying Captain America’s shield during the last few years. Some of it has been official, others not so much. (By the way, do NOT attempt this in real life! Disney apparently has an army of lawyers scouring news and social media, just looking for some chance to take an offender to court! I read about a day care center that had someone paint Mickey and Donald and others on their walls. Disney demanded they paint over them all in order to protect their copyright!)
There are at least four different covers for this issue, and they range in scope from an apparently angry Donald/Wolverine jumping directly at us, the readers, to Donald/Wolverine using his adamantium claws to carry marshmallows or cook hot dogs on a grill.
Once this bit of news hit the Internet, well, the reaction was predictable. “How can they do that to Wolverine? He should be cutting his foes to shreds, not cooking for an outdoor party!” said one. “One poster noticed that the length of the claws varied, much like the height of the ears on Batman’s cowl. “When he’s mean, oddly enough, the claws are tiny! What’s that all about?” said that person.
Others, most likely parents with small kids, rejoiced, saying, “Finally a version of Wolverine my kids can enjoy!”
ANOTHER MARVEL COMICS UNIVERSE?
One friend of mine started looking ahead. He noted that we have the “regular” Marvel Comics Universe and now the “Ultimate” Marvel Comics Universe.
If this goes over big, can the “Disney” Marvel Comics Universe be far behind?
You know, one where Hulk-Goofy and Hawkeye-Mickey (I always thought he’d be Iron Man or Captain America) and Wolverine-Donald gather with other “Animal Avengers” to take on a feral version of Thanos, among others.
Because I’m interested in behind-the-scenes workings, I’m fascinated that many of the other Disney properties are NOT coming out from Marvel, but instead are published by Dynamite Entertainment. Darkwing Duck, Hercules, and the Disney villains are coming out in comics from THAT company, not the House of Ideas. I can never figure that out! Isn’t it like borrowing money from your sister? Cheaper/better, right? And Marvel does sell better than Dynamite, correct? So, maybe the heroic Marvel-like “Disney-verse” will also come from Dynamite? Could be! I just don’t get it!
My biggest concern about Donald becoming Wolverine is, what will he do for 22 pages? He’s not going to hack and slash at others the way some prefer Logan do it. Get mad and throw a hissy fit? Yeah, I can see that! But he’s more likely to be screaming and shouting than cutting and attacking!
I knew a fan who once told me he had developed the best super-hero! The guy was a combination of Wolverine and the Flash. He could cut you to pieces so fast that you wouldn’t even see it coming! Then your pieces/parts would just fall to the ground before you could even think about it. I reminded this person that he thought Superman was too powerful, right?
So, if you want to see “Animal Avengers” from Dynamite, hey, be sure to buy multiple copies of What If…? Donald Duck Became Wolverine from Marvel this July. It is show business, after all, and money talks! Hey, if it helps the comics industry come out of its current, struggling state, I guess I’m for it!
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