Darkwing Duck #4 (Boom Kids! – Brill / Silvani / Dalhouse)
Now an ongoing! No exaggeration, no hyperbole…this is not the last issue of the series, but just the end of the first arc! As the villain behind Quackwerks’ takeover of St. Canard is revealed,the events he’s set in motion may be too much for even the Masked Mallard to overcome! This is the one fans will be talking about for years to come, and leads directly into next month’s DARKWING DUCK #5! Ships with a special “pulp” variant by Amy Mebberson!
The ongoing Darkwing Duck series is one of the latest additions to the Boom!-distributed Disney line. And it is another piece of evidence in my case that the House of Mouse’s executives got a best-case scenario when they decided to start working with the folks at Boom!
As a series, Darkwing Duck has upped the adventure quota from the two decades old series that I loved, but still is absolutely family friendly and outside of some cartoon violence has nothing questionable at all. The writer Ian Brill finds and rides the balancing point of a great superhero adventure filled with grit, suspense and pretty devious bad guys while keeping the storyline clearly inside the “PG” corral that is native to Disney properties. Given what I have seen from Mr. Brill here (and I am looking forward to his upcoming Rescue Ranger book!), I would not be surprised to see him working on Disney / Pixar screenplays in the future.
The art is exactly what you would expect and to be honest exactly what you remember if you were a Darkwing fan from the days of old. This is a compliment for artist James Silvani who has captured the spirit the cartoon here in the comic book medium.
This issue closes up a 4-part arc, so stepping in right now might make you a tad fuzzy (imagine catching only the last 20 minutes of a great action flick), but you should be able to get a hold of all four issues at your local independently-owned comic shop! And hopefully a trade will be out soon!
Bottom Line: Solid Family Fun!
Issue Grade: B+
Series Grade: A
