Dynamite and Disney will release DuckTales in November, a new comic book from writer Brandon Montclair featuring the famous birds of Duckburg. Montclair spoke with The Beat about the upcoming book and what fans new and old can expect from Scrooge and friends.
Deanna Destito: How excited were you to write DuckTales?
Brandon Montclair: It’s always exciting when an editor reaches out to you because they’re a fan of your work and want to do something together. Nate Cosby reached out to me because he wanted to do a Disney book. I’ve done a lot of Marvel stuff with Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, so I’ve been keeping an eye on direct market kids books. The Dynamite/Disney stuff was well-received. The titles have great creators, and the character pairings are really interesting. I’ve also been wanting to do a monthly series again. You know the story of the tortoise and the hare? I have a couple of original graphic novels, and they’re all about the turtle! So I was interested in getting it back on the shelves. The fast (but it has to be fast) pace of a monthly felt like a good fit.
I know a lot of Disney stuff, but not all of it. And I’ve been lucky in my career to work on stuff I loved and with creators I loved, and most of the time it was both. So I was spoiled. And I didn’t know what Nate had in mind until the next one came along. But when I heard “DuckTales,” I said yes right away. I don’t remember what I was expecting or hoping for. I must have been so excited about whatever it was that I quickly forgot.
Destito: I was an avid watcher of the show as a kid. What can old and new fans expect from this book?
Montclair: The new Dynamite book follows the continuity of the 1987 comics. A lot of the original comics are taken from the classic comics, so we were able to incorporate all of that into the story. So there’s a lot of Carl Barks and Don Rosa in it. That makes sense, because when you have a legacy of legends, you take advantage of that.
For fans of classic comics, the book incorporates the use of flashbacks. Scrooge McDuck’s new adventures bring as much excitement as any hero. But Huey, Dewey and Louie have always wanted to know how their uncle made his fortune. No one tells a story better than Scrooge, so Tommaso Ronda and I pay tribute to the master. The flashbacks (two per issue) are done in the classic eight-page style of Carl Barks, the creator of Uncle Scrooge.
And as for the main story of each chapter… and every time you see your favorite characters from the show… it will feel very familiar. I think if something works perfectly, you don’t mess with it. This is just my opinion, and it’s not the only way to do it. Take The Incredible Hulk, for example. My pitch for the series was that a scientist gets angry, loses consciousness, unleashes the monster inside, and when he wakes up, he hopes he didn’t do too bad, but as the story progresses, he finds out that the monster is actually a hero. In other words, it’s no different from the characters played by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. But Bill Mantlo, Peter David, and Greg Pak (to name a few) have taken the Hulk in all sorts of cool directions.
But again, with DuckTales, I think it’s the perfect setting, and I’d be totally fine telling 100 stories from it without changing it a bit. I’m lucky enough to have a lot of creator-owned work that’s all me, and I’m very lucky to have been able to draw 1000 pages of Moon Girl, a new character in our shared universe, so there’s no creative appetite that I haven’t had satisfied. So the new DuckTales will be similar to the old DuckTales in some ways.
DESTITO: Will there be any fan-favorite characters making an appearance?
Montclair: The first five issues are intentionally focused on the “core four”: Scrooge, Huey, Dewey, and Louie. The title of this story is “The Four Corners of Your World.” On the surface, it’s about Duckburg and the mystery that lies just outside your doorstep. But the title also refers to the four characters that drive the story of the entire series: three boys who hero-worship the coolest uncle imaginable. And how that worship affects an old man who, on the surface, has only cared about money his whole life. That’s what this story is about…more or less…but we also get a glimpse into Launchpad crashing spectacularly, what Webby can actually do, Gyro Gearloose’s mind, the dynamo Gizmoduck, the mysterious Magica De Spell, what sets the Beagle Boys apart (if at all), Doofus getting his big break again, what’s going on behind Duckworth’s stiff attitude, and what’s up with Bubba the Cave Duck.
Destito: Are you planning on introducing anything new to this world?
Montclair: A new story about an old favorite! It’s a love letter to the 1987 show (and the comics that inspired it). That being said, what’s new is what Tommaso and I, and the rest of the team, are able to bring to the table with our own skills and style.
DESTITO: What was it like working with this creative team?
Montclair: We’re still in the early stages of our collaboration, so we don’t know what will happen. But what’s really amazing is that this book is coming together on the page. It usually takes a few issues for a team to find their rhythm, but the first few pages are going as well as the drums are beating. That’s thanks to Tommaso, who worked at the studio that produces many of Disney’s books for the European market. But more than that, his talent is incredible. DuckTales and Uncle Kruge are hugely popular worldwide. I don’t know him yet, but I think it’s the same feeling I have when I write Superman. It’s a character that is so connected to “comics” itself that I’m excited and scared to introduce him (that’s why I work so hard!).
DESTITO: If you could do a DuckTales crossover, what worlds and characters would you choose?
Montclair: There are way too many ways to answer this! The financial squabble between Uncle Scrooge and Richie Rich? Star Wars with Scrooge as Obi-Wan, Launchpad as Han Solo, and Huey, Dewey and Louie as the three Luke Skywalkers… and that’s running out… Who’s going to play Darth Vader? Scrooge trades his three nephews for the seven dwarfs, then realizes that blood is more important than the mining rights to the mountain?
Here’s a great example: Indiana Jones. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg are fans of the classic Uncle Scrooge cartoons — just Google the inspiration for the big rolling boulder in Raiders of the Lost Ark — and when it comes to ancient treasure hunting adventures, Indy might be the only character with as much chops as Scrooge McDuck.
Check out some preview pages here!
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