labunnywtf's review against another edition

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3.0

Received via Netgalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

This is a very clever collectible item. Mickey and Goofy making their way through Dante's Inferno.

Sadly, I don't see it as much more than a collectible item. It's an odd read. Admittedly, it's been quite some time since I read Dante (and even then, it kind of made my eyes cross), but still. Just a really odd read. Fun, but odd.

geekwayne's review against another edition

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3.0

'Disney Graphic Novels #4: Great Parodies: Mickey's Inferno' by Guido Martina with art by Angelo Bioletti and English translation by Stefan Petrucha is a really weird graphic novel. Sending Mickey Mouse to hell with Goofy seemed like a strange idea to me, so I had to check it out.

I learned from the afterword by Jim Salicrup that this is a reprint from the Il Topolino comics from Italy from the late 1940s and early 1950s. Il Topolino is the Italian name for Mickey Mouse. So, this is an old idea. It was also repeated and condensed in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #666. Still, it may not be for everyone.

Mickey and Goofy are doing a play of Dante's Inferno, when they are hypnotized into thinking that they are actually Dante and Virgil. They then end up in a weird version of Hell where occasional Disney characters show up. This is all accompanied by bad puns and rhymes in the same scheme as the original Inferno. There are levels of hell that get skipped, but others are populated by new reporters who told false stories, or people swimming in vats of hot chocolate, or teachers being pelted by homework from students. The Big Bad Wolf shows up and ends up getting blown up, and Donald Duck keeps showing up to torment Mickey.

I'm still trying to decide if I like this. Part of me appreciates an English translation of an old comic book artifact like this. I also really liked the art. There are some fabulous full pages that are detailed and interesting. The other part of me just feels like this whole thing seems really wrong. Favorite characters in hell and a really odd parody treatment of a classic book are odd. The thing feels like a weird hallucination, but maybe that's the whole point. The imagery remains cartoony and silly, but there is still a lot of torment happening here, so I have a hard time saying this is for kids.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Papercutz and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

the_ghost_penguin_reader's review

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adventurous fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

ljrinaldi's review against another edition

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3.0

Did you spend a summer reading the original Dante's Inferno? (Well as original as you can get to something that has been translated into English). My mother had a family copy of the book, with the Doré illustrations. It was quite impressive, and quite confusing. And Actually, I read the whole Devine Comedy, that summer, but the Inferno, the journey to hell, was the most interesting, and the most confusing. Dante used his novel to poke at people he didn't like, casting them into hell.

Fun, summer-time reading to be sure.

So, when I saw the there was a Parody, using Mickey Mouse, I thought it might be fun to give it a try.

Now, granted, I read Dante over 35 years ago, or so. Some bits still stand out, but most is a soft blur, so I am not going to rate this book on how good a parody it was, but rather on how easy it is to read and understand this at all.

This story was written in 1949, in Italy. Most things refer to things that were perhaps happening in the world at that time. Some are timeless. (although there was one "joke" about a cell phone. I have no idea what it was before.)

The ending of the graphic novel says that reading this will inspire kids to read the real thing. Perhaps. For me, it was all a jumble and confusing, and not funny or fun. :(

I commend Papercutz for bringing this out, and republishing it, but not sure who it would be for. If it a sort of cliff notes for kids, it doesn't appear to stick close enough to the original story to be much help. Perhaps kids will enjoy it. It feels a bit dated to me, using characters from, of course, cartoons from the 30s and 40s.

Thanks to NetGalley and PaperCutz for making this book available for an honest review.

joshrskinner's review

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3.0

Interesting and cute. I feel that if I was a bigger Disney or Dante fan I would have enjoyed it more. I see the appeal of this sort of work, even if this one did not quite hot the mark with me.
Worth a look if you are big Disney fans.

Review copy.

hobbes199's review

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2.0

What could be a great concept is hampered by truly appalling rhyming schemes that are all over the place, and ultimately distract the reader away from the comic as a whole.

The art style is loyal to the 40s/50s Disney comics, with bright colouring and a heavy dependence on the red palette to give the comic a dark look without relying too much on greys and blacks. Lettering is strong, and placement adds to it's retro feel.

Obviously, given the content, this isn't a child's comic -merely a new way of telling an old tale.

Such a shame that the re-written version of Dante's most famous section of the Divine Comedy 'trilogy' is such a mess -especially when you consider the translations and versions that have gone before.

kikiandarrowsfishshelf's review

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3.0

Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley.

Mickey Mouse meets Dante, how can this work? Strangely, it actually does. This is a reissue of a parody produced in the 1960s. In many ways, it is a good way to introduce a Disney fan of any age to Dante, though some of the funnier bits a child would not fully understand. The set-up works, and it is great fun to see Disney characters in place of Dante’s people. As with most parodies, however, it does seem to go a tad too long.
However, the best part of the graphic novel is the closing panels. Absolutely great! Worth reading for that alone, to be honest. At least, if you like Dante.
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