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The astounding endeavours of Fantomallard
-Gentleman Thief-
Page with soundtrack
The Phantom of the Opera
by Andrew Lloyd Webber
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On the Italian Disney comic book TOPOLINO n. 2972 November 2012 the saga dedicated to the adventures of Fantomallard it is for the first time published. These stories created by the good Duaney artist and writer Marco Gervasio are titled THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF-. All these adventures taking place in the first decades of the 1900 and their shown some of the most remarkable ventures, sometimes even with a decidedly mythological and legendary flavour, of Fantomallard and Dolly Paperika. A sort of "Iliad, Odyssey and Arthurian cycle" dedicated to the gentleman thief from Duckburg in which philological and plausible elements of his history and life time are mixed with mythical-legendary events. These adventures are show in a perfect old style and with several references to famous characters from letterature and history comics like Fantomas, Arsène Lupin, Diabolik, Zorro, etc..
This adventure is well develloped at it shows accurate representation of the outfit and location of that period. Very interesting are also some of the Fantomallrd's machinery "Steam Punk" style which remind the one used at the end of the 19th century in the famous TV serial and relevant movie Wild Wild West |
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| The first adventure of this saga is titled THE PINK MOUNT. In this story the double identity of the smart gentleman thief is shown. He pretend to be awkward and meddler when he is Lord Quackett but he is smart and synister avenger when he act as Fantomallard. On a frame of this story it is also shows the Fantomallard's business card wich it is sometimes left as signature of his robbery. |
| A more colorful variat of Fantomallard's business card it is shown in the adventure BRUTFAGOR. In this case in the card is also printed the french write Je Vous attends mon ami ! (I'm waiting for you my friend!) having Fantomallard left this card (after the robbery of the Brutfagor's mask inside the Louvre museum) as a challenge to the belgian detective Hercule Paperot who intend to reach Duckburg to capture the misterious gentleman thief Fantomallard. |
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This first story of the Fantomallard saga is also correlate by a very interesting interview made by Barbara Garufi to the stories' author Marco Gervasio. The six page of the article are correlated with new drawing and general news about the main characters of the saga and historical information about the origin and the first appearance of Fantomallard in the Guido Martina's Italian Disney stories during the late 60s early 70s. |
| In the second part of this saga titled THE FANTOMALLARD ESCAPE the gentleman burglar is unmasked and arrested by the detective Pinko. Of course at the end of the story Fantomallard escapes from the prison and he also let to pretend that he was wearing the rubber mask of Lord Quackett so that the stupid detective was still confuse about the true identity of the misterious masked thief.
Also this story is correlate with a full page article by Mara Ghinelli with some informations about the main characters appearing in this saga. |
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| In the third part of the saga titled FANTOMALLARD ON BOARD the gentleman burglar and his fiance are making a rash robbery on board of a cruise-ship. Also in this case Fantomallard was able at the last moment to escape from the detective Alcmeone Pinko. But the unluckly detective at least arrested another thief which incredibly was the ship's capitain.
Also this third story is correlated with an interesting article by Mara Ghinelli where several informations an curiosity about this saga are given. |
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| In the fourth part of the Fantomallard saga which is titled BRUTFAGOR the gentleman thief and his fiancè are in Paris where a misterious "Ghost" named Brutfagor is acting inside the Louvre museum. Of course this story takes reference to the famous European TV serial of the 60s titled Belphegor -The phantom of the Louvre). In this story it is clear thta the two Duckburgian thiefs seem very familiar with the city of Paris. This is a possible sign of some kind of link with this city maybe due to the fact that the Fantomallard's mother family Lamont are very likely from Paris.. Also this fourth adventure is correlated with a page by Mara Ghinelli where general information about Fantomallard are given.
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| Because of this fourth story of the Fantomallard saga the front cover of the Disney comic TOPOLINO n. 2975 has been also dedicated to Fantomallard, Dolly Paprika and their friend and inventor Copernicus Gearloose
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| In the next story of the series THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- titled PLEASE BE SILENCE the TOPOLINO editing and Marco Gervasio made an interesting tribute to the silent cinema. In this " mute" story the characters don’t talk with the classical clouds but all the scene are represented in perfect silent cinema style with a lot of action and some explicative frames.
The story is also correlated by a FANTOMALLARD QUIZ page with some questions about the previous adventures of the same series dedicated to the gentleman burglar.
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| The first story of the series THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- THE PINK MOUNT has been also published in Germany on the comic book Lustiges Taschenbuck n. 453. For this edition a very awesome cover is created and titled DIE LEGENDE DES ERSTEN PHANTOMIAS
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| Also in Germany on the comic book Lustiges Taschenbuck n. 533, dedicated to Phantomias, titled ALES AUF ANFANG, the adventure DER EDELMANN HINTER DER MASKE (THE NOBLE BEHIND THE MASK) related to the origin of the gentleman burglar is published.
In this book there is also an introductive letter "write by Phantomias himself"
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| In Germany in september 2020 on the special comics book Lustiges Taschenbuck PREMIUM n. 35, titled Die Legende des ersten PHANTOMIAS, have been reprinted the first 15 episode of the Fantomallard's saga plus the three short story of one page each.
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In 2019 in France is published a comic book of the serie MICKEY PARADE GEANT with the story of the first encounter between Fantomallard and Dolly Paprika, translate as DOLLY PAPRIKA & FANTOMIUS LA RENCONTRE!.
The story is introduced by an article about the origin of the two characters and some information by Marco Gervasio who is the creator of the Fantomallard'saga. |
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| Being the France the home country of Fantomas, the name of the duckburgian thief remains Fantomius. Also Dolly Paprika maintains the original name and she is sometime also called Lady Paprika.
In France the Fantomallard'saga has been translate as LES EXTRAORDINARIES AVENTURES DE FANTOMIUS -GENTLEMAN CAMBRIOLEUR- |
| In the 2021 in France is published for the comic serie MICKEY PARADE GEANT a beautiful set with four volumes with all the Fantomallard saga by Marco Gervasio so far published at that time. |
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| This collection titled FANTOMIUS GENTLEMAN CAMBRIOLEUR L'INTEGRALE is included in a carton box with two beautiful images of Fantomallard drawn by Marco Gervasio. |
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The collection, besides the Fantomallard's saga adventures, re-prints other important stories related to the gentleman thief history and the origin of the character: PAPERINIK IL DIABOLICO VENDICATORE (THE DIABOLICAL DUCK AVENGER), PAPERINIK ALLA RISCOSSA (THE REVENGE OF DUCK AVENGER), PAPERINIK E IL RITORNO A VILLA ROSA (DUCK AVENGER AND THE RETURN TO VILLA ROSE), PAPERINIK E L'OMBRA DI FANTOMIUS (DUCK AVENGER AND THE FANTOMALLARD'S SHADOW) , PAPERINIK E IL TESORO DI DOLLY PAPRIKA (DUCK AVENGER AND THE TREASURE OF DOLLY PAPERIKA), PAPERINIK E IL SEGRETO DI FANTOMIUS (DUCK AVENGER AND THE SECRET OF FANTOMALLARD).
Unfortunatelly the important story PAPERINIK TUTTO COMINCIÒ COSÌ (DUCK AVENGER IT ALL STARTED LIKE THIS) is not present in this colection while it has been re-printed the Danish story THE LEGACY (FANTOMIALD LA LEGENDE) which show the alternative "macrocephalus" version of a Fantomallard who is not related with the original one created in Italy by Guido Martina and his life and time saga by Marco Gervasio. |
| The first five stories of the saga THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- have been also published in Brasil on a special comic book titled SUPERPATO O LEGADO. This volume also includes an interview to Marco Gervasio O BIÒGRAFO DE FANTOMIUS and the reprinting of some Duck Avenger stories as for instance PAPERINIK IL DIABOLICO VENDICATORE, PAPERINIK E IL CASTELLO DELLE TRE TORRI, PAPERINIK E IL CASTELLO DEI SEGRETI. |
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| The first 24 adventures of the saga THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF Have been published in Brasil on three issue of the special hard cover comic book titled FANTOMIUS LADRAO DE CASACA. |
| In June of the 2020 the adventure of Fantomallard's saga dedicated to the origin of Dolly Paprika ha been published in Greece in the number 311 of the comic book MIKI MAOYS. |
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The first four stories of the saga THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF have been also published in Italy in October of 2014 in the first issue of the comic book Series DEFINITIVE COLLECTION edited by PANINI.
This issue is dedicated to the Disney character of Fantomallard and also contains unpublished drawings by Marco Gervasio, an interview to him and an interesting and detailed biography of Lord Quackett.
Very eye-catching and intriguint image on the cover, also made by Marco Gervasio, mingled by the funny image of a far-fetched as unlikely modern bottle of orange D.O.C. instead of the usual bottle of Champagne! |
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The next four stories of the saga THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF were again published in Italy in June 2015 on the second volume of the
Series DEFINITIVE COLLECTION published by PANINI.
This second number
dedicated to Fantomallard contains not only the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth story of the saga
but also unpublished drawings by Marco Gervasio, an interview and an interesting and detailed biography
of the Fantomallard girlfriend and accomplice Dolly Duck.
Very beautiful the cover also by Marco Gervasio with aother of the extravagant marchinery used by the gentleman thief and his accomplices. |
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The other four other stories in chronological order of the saga THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF were again published in Italy in February 2016 on the third volume of Series DEFINITIVE COLLECTION published by PANINI.
This third issue dedicated to Fantomallard contains in addition to the stories of the saga from ninth to twelfth also unpublished drawings by Marco Gervasio, an interview and the interesting and detailed biography of Copernicus Gearloose .
Very nice also a full page drawing dedicated to the Quackett family. |
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The next four stories in chronological order of the saga THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF were again published in Italy in August 2016 on the fourth volume of Series DEFINITIVE COLLECTION published by PANINI.
This fourth issue dedicated to Fantomallard contains in addition to the stories of the saga from 13th to 16th also unpublished drawings by Marco Gervasio, an interview and the interesting full page drawing dedicated to the Gearloose family. |
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The next three adventures in chronological order of the saga THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF were again published in Italy in December 2017 on the fifth volume of the series DEFINITIVE COLLECTION published by PANINI.
also this number dedicated to Fantomallard contains in addition to the stories of the saga from 17th to 19th some unpublished drawings by Marco Gervasio. |
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In the sixth volume of the DEFINITIVE COLLECTION published in Italy in the 2018 by PANINI have been reprinted other three adventures of the saga dedicated to Fantomallard LE STRABILIANTI IMPRESE DI FANTOMIUS –LADRO GENTILUOMO-.
also this number contains in addition to the stories of the saga from 20th to 22nd some unpublished drawings by Marco Gervasio. |
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| In the 2020 the volume zero of the DEFINITIVE COLLECTION dedicated to Fantomallard is published. In this volume have been reprinted the four adventures by Marco Gervasio about Duck Avenger and Fantomallard which were the prelude of the Fantomallard saga: DUCK AVENGER AND THE FANTOMALLARD'S SHADOW, DUCK AVENGER AND THE TREASURE OF DOLLY PAPRIKA, DUCK AVENGER AND THE SECRET OF FANTOMALLARD and DUCK AVENGER AND THE PAST WITHOUT FUTURE. |
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| In the 2021 the seventh volume of the DEFINITIVE COLLECTION dedicated to Fantomallard is published. In this volume four adventures of the saga are reprinted: THE SEVENTH ART, ON THE TRACKS OF COPERNICUS, FANTOMALLARD BACK HOME and THE LIGHT OF ZEUS. |
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| In the 2023 the 8th volume of the DEFINITIVE COLLECTION dedicated to Fantomallard is published. This volume includes the four adventures plus the introduction of the short serie: THE BEGINNING AND THE END. |
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| In the 2024 the 9th volume of the DEFINITIVE COLLECTION dedicated to Fantomallard is published. This volume includes the two adventures in two episode each THE NIGHT OF FANTOMALLARD and THE DAWN OF FANTOMALLARD. |
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| In the march of the 2018 the italian publisher PANINI print the beautiful volume LE STRABILIANTI PAPERE DI FANTOMIUS -LADRO GENTILUOMO- (THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF). The book reprints in a larger format some of the adventures with both Dolly Paprika and Lady Mustard, the two Fantomallard patners who act together the gentleman thief in differnt time period.
The book includes: THE MASK OF FU MAN ETCHU`, THE RINGS OF CAGLIOSTRO, DOLLY PAPRIKA and interesting drawings and a article also made by the italian Disney artist and writer Marco Gervasio. |
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| In the october of the 2018 is published in Italy by PANINI a beautiful box which includes the first six number of the DEFINITIVE COLLECTION dedicated to the Fantomallard saga. |
| The special box also includes an awesome collectible lithography always drawn by Marco Gervasio. |
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| In the October of the 2019 has been always published by PANINI another different box which can be also used to collect the first six issue of the DEFINITIVE COLLECTION dedicated to Fantomallard. |
| This box includes another awesome collectible lithography always drawn by Marco Gervasio. |
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| The first six volumes of the DEFINITIVE COLLECTION dedicated to the Fantomallard's saga have been reprinted in 2021 with different covers. |
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| The first six volumes of the DEFINITIVE COLLECTION dedicated to the Fantomallard's saga have been reprinted in 2021 with different covers. |
| In the October of the 2019 in the number 3 of the Italian comic book CLASSICI DISNEY titled FANTOMALLARD PLANETARY THIEF seven adventures of the Marco Gervasio's saga are reprinted. This stories are linked together by some new short stories (FANTOMALLARD AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 THEFTS) always written by Gervasio and well represented by Sergio Cabella. |
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| In the July of 2022 is published a special number of the Italian comic book CLASSICI DISNEY titled THE MYSTERIES OF FANTOMALLARD. In this interesting comic book are reprinted sevral adventures of the Fantomallard's saga selected by Marco Gervasio.
As in the other CLASSICI DISNEY the reprinted adventures are linked each other by new short stories also created by Marco Gervasio. In these short links some new informations about the character of the Mad Ducke of Duckburg and Spokius Spektrus are given . |
| In the January of 2024 is published the special comic book LE IMPERDIBILI DISNEY-FANTOMALLARD-GENTLEMAN THIEF . This beautiful book reprints the first four adventures of the Fantomallard's saga and several pages of articles by Marco Gervasio with information and curiosity about this saga. |
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| On April of 2024 the second issue of the special comic book LE IMPERDIBILI DISNEY- FANTOMALLARD-GENTLEMAN THIEF is published. This beautiful book reprints the following five adventures of the Fantomallard's saga and several pages of articles by Marco Gervasio with information and curiosity about this saga. |
| The third volume of the special comic book LE IMPERDIBILI DISNEY- FANTOMALLARD-GENTLEMAN THIEF is pubblished on august 2024. This book reprints the following five adventures of the Fantomallard's saga and several pages of articles by Marco Gervasio with information and curiosity about this saga. |
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| The fourth volume of the special comic book LE IMPERDIBILI DISNEY- FANTOMALLARD-GENTLEMAN THIEF is pubblished on december 2024. This book reprints the following four adventures of the Fantomallard's saga and several pages of articles by Marco Gervasio with information and curiosity about this saga. |
| In the sixth story of the series THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- titled THE CURSE OF THE PHARAOH the good artist and writer Marco Gervasio offers us a great adventure that shows the gentleman thief, his girlfriend and their friend Copernicus struggling with the mummy and its alleged curse of the pharaoh Tutanquackmon's treasure which has been exhibited at the Museum of Duckburg. Clear historical references to the famous discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun took place in that period by a team of researchers and archaeologists assisted by Howard Carter and financed by Lord Carnarvon (respectively Howard Paper and Lord Papervon in the Gervasio story).
Also this adventure is correlated with a well-designed five-page editorial titled THE FANTOMALLARD ROARING '20s where Garufi Barbara tells us about that period by combining the colorful drawn from the various stories of the saga with black and white vintage photos of the various characters and historical events including Louis Armstrong , the Titanic, airships, tennis (Lacoste), fencing (Nedo Nadi in this story "ducktomized" in Naduck) and Charles Lindbergh with his plane "Spirit of St. Louis" during his first Atlantic non-stop flight also remembered in the first strip of Mickey Mouse in the newspapers of the 1930 written by Walt Disney.
during the preparation of this adventure the editorial staff of the Italian comic book TOPOLINO made a great video viewable from the site http://http://www.topolino.it/video/la-maledizione-del-faraone/
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| In the seventh story of the series THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF titled THE EIGHTH WONDER OF THE WORLD Marco Gervasio proposes
another magical adventure full of philologicalreferences. The script is clearly inspired
to "King Kong"" by Schoedsack and Cooper (who also appears in the final sequence).
Several references are placed ranging from Frankenstein to Superman, Spiderman to
Nagai anime and of course the Nautilus Jules Verne. From the point of view of the
philological references in a cartoon the two sisters Scrooge Mc Duck
Matilda and Hortense are shown with the Hortense's husband Quackmore Duck. Another tribute to Don Rosa appears in the cartoon in which the name of the theater is D.U.C.K. THEATRE In addition also the Scrooge Money Bin is shown on the Duckburg
hill.
Definitely wonderful is the editorial of Barbara Garufi
FANTOMALLARD ALWAYS IN THE MIDDLE ... where are shown with beautiful drawings, several cutaways and technical detailed information of the amazing machines created by Copernicus and used up to
now by Fantomallard in the various episodes of the saga: The special car, the special side car, the aerostatic baloon, the aerocycle, The Phantomarine, The Elevator, the gyro-rotors and the pocket glider.
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| On the occasion of this seventh story of the series THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- Marco Gervasio also realizes the stunning cover of the comic book TOPOLINO
n. 3037 Dedicated to Fantomallard his partner Dolly Paprika and their friend
accomplice and inventor Copernicus Gearloose with on the background some of their special
machinery.
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| The eighth adventure series THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- titled FANTOMALLARD ON THE SNOW, published in the TOPOLINO n. 3039 Gervasio shows the thief gentleman and his partner involved in one of their classic robbing against the various rich and snob guys from Duckburg. The story is set in the mountain
near the winter house of Fantomallard, the Ermine's House (called in this story
Woodchuck's House!?) Situated on Dark Peak in the Shadowy Mountains. In this adventure
Fantomallard is again struggling with the clever Belgian detective Hercule Paperot
while in the final vignette another famous detective Ducklock Holmes and its
collaborator Dr. Duckson are shown (clear reference to Sherlock Holme and Dr. Watson)
This part of the story is placed in a somewhat "legendary" narration on the life of Fantomallard as it is unlikely that a theft committed in a hotel in Duckburg in the 1920s had such an international impact as to be reported in European newspapers and in Time.
This adventure also shows a slight change of appearance of Fantomallard without the two
characteristic "wild tufts" above his head. This configuration makes it even more
similar in the aspect to the Italian dark comics character Diabolik. This story is followed by an interesting editorial by Barbara Garufi on the Winter Olympic sport, with several vintage images and some beautiful drawings by Marco Gervasio.
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| The ninth adventure of the saga THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- title THE MASK OF FU MAN ETCHÙ, published in the Italian comic book TOPOLINO n. 3072, it is show Lord Quackett, Dolly Duck and Copernicus in China engaged in the theft of the precious and mysterious golden mask of Genghis Ghat. In this story the talented Gervasio introduces us to the intriguing character of Jen Yu better known as Lady Mustard a former gir-friend and accomplice of Fantomallard and the fearsome criminal Dr. Fu Man Etchù a clear tribute to the famous evil genius Dr. Fu Manchu created by the British writer Sax Rohmer (Arthur Sarsfield Ward) at the beginning of the 1900.
Always great the attention to detail and the vitality of the characters typical of the stories created or designed by Marco Gervasio. Also in this case the adventure is preceded by a short but well-structured editorial by Mara Ghinelli working for the editorial staff of the Italian Disney comic book TOPOLINO.
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| Dedicated to this ninth story of the saga THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- is the cover of the comic book TOPOLINO n. 3072 which shows a great representation of Fantomallard and Dolly Paprika drawn by Giorgio Cavazzano and colored by Marco Gervasio.
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| The tenth adventure of the saga THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- THE BUTTY OF THE BARKSERVILLE, published on TOPOLINO n. 3073, shows Lord
Quackett and Dolly Duck in England to take over the hidden treasure of
Hugo Barkserville. In this beautiful adventure Fantomallard and his partner are likely to being arrested by the skilled investigator Paper Holmes and his friend Dr
Duckson.
The story is well structured and there are several cross-references, as a tribute to Conan Doyle's novel THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, and the reference to Carl Barks, who in
time had also parodied the same adventure.
Gervasio traces quite closely (with the necessary simplifications) the plot of the novel,
outlining a Paper Holmes interesting, apparently similar to the other Disney character of Ser Lock created by the Studio Diaz, but actually has the same vision of the true Holmes so that at the end of the story for simple logical deduction he is able to guess the true identity Fantomallard .
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| In the eleventh story of the saga THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- THE DOGE'S TREASURE, published in the TOPOLINO n. 3075, Gervasio shows Lord
Quackett and Dolly Duck in the magical city of Venice, struggling with the lost treasure
of the Doge and a mysterious and fearsome secret society called "The Guardians of Venice".
But it is not only the adventure plot itself to capture the reader's attention but two other passages of the story:
a childhood flashback of John Quackett and the relationship with his father and the final
,feuilleton style, with the appearance of two mysterious characters whose roles are still well
unclear but that go to delineate more markedly a continuity, however, already present in the
stories of the character.
Again there are references to movies or old Disney stories
like the motorized gondola that leaves the canal as in the 007 film MOONRAKER and the reference to the character of Paperin Hood who appeared on the parody of Romano Scarpa THE LEGEND OF PAPERIN HOOD.
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| In the twelfth story of the saga THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- titled THE NOBLE BEHIND THE MASK, published in the TOPOLINO n. 3107, Gervasio shows us the origins of Fantomallard in various flashbacks placed both during childhood of John Quackett in London in 1895 and in Duckburg during the 1910.
In the the parents of John Quackett his older brother Henry Quackett are shown. The old custom of Henry used during masquerades, will become many years later the outfit of Fantomallard. This beautiful story is also shown the first encounter between Copernicus and Lord Quackett and the first mission carried out by the gentleman thief. As for his style Marco Gervasio also fits into the adventure interesting and important philological references to stories of other writers as Barks and Don Rosa as well as the first adventure of Duck Avenger created by Guido Martina.
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| Well made by Marco Gervasio the sequences about the time when Lord Quackett for the first time assumes the secret identity of Fantomallard wearing tights base and the mantle of a party costume belonged many years before to his older brother Henry Quackett.
The scenes are a remarkable tribute to the early history of Duck Avenger (THE DIABOLICAL DUCK AVENGER) which are modeled on the sequence in which Donald for the first time is wearing the costume Fantomallard to become Duck Avenger.
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| As a tribute of this twelfth story of the saga THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- The TOPOLINO n. 3107 cover shows an awesome drawing of Marco Gervasio dedicated to the origin of Fantomallard.
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| This thirteenth episode of the saga dedicated to the gentleman thief THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- titled THE CAGLIOSTRO'S RINGS, published in the TOPOLINO n. 3108 offers us interesting references to the life of Lord Quackett alias Fantomallard before
he meet his current partner Dolly Paprika.
Excellent the narrative sequences of this articulated hunt of the Count Cagliostro's treasure, who as general plot shows similarity with an episode of the adventures of Arsène Lupin.
Interesting for every lover of stories Duck Avenger is the Latin phrase SURSUM CORDA used by Guido Martina in history DUCK AVENGER AND THE SCHOOL OF KRIMEN and by the trio Mainardi, Perini and Migheli in the history LUDWIG VON DRAKE AND RETURN TO THE SCHOOL OF KRIMEN .
Particularly well made the final with the mysterious and dangerous character of the Supreme Guardian leader of the sect the Guardians of Venice that seems to be actually the accomplice friend of Fantomallard... double identity!? ... or a relative?!
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The fourteenth episode of the saga dedicated to the gentleman thief THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- titled THE TREASURE OF FRANCIS DRAKE, published on
TOPOLINO n. 3139 shows some philological references and characters only briefly mentioned in
Barks, Don Rosa and Guido Martina stories. It is in fact shown for the first time the character of the Made Duke (only mentioned by Barks) that we now know to be the Duke Richard Quackett ancestor
of Lord John Quackett alias Fantomallard. From this story we know then that the Mad Duke
arrived in New Albion (modern Duckburg) with the crew of Francis Drake (shown in some
Adventures of Don Rosa as the first European to set foot in the area). The Duke Richard Quackett after
aving stollen part of the treasure of famous pirate remain with the settlers other in the area acquiring land and build several castles including his famous Castle of the
Mad Duke.
In this story is also shown the criminal Howard Drake heir of the corsair Sir
Francis Drake, and it is also finally revealed the true identity of the mysterious Supreme Guardian who is Cartesius Gearloose twin of Copernicus.
Cartesius was probably a friend or
student/assistant of Spokius Spektrus having his secret laboratory in the basement of the Castle of the Three Towers created by Guido Martina in one of the first stories of Duck Avenger.
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| The cover of the TOPOLINO n. 3139 is dedicated to the fourteenth episode of the Fantomallard saga THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF-. This cover made by Marco Gervasio shows Fantomallard with the portrait of his ancestor the Mad Duke.
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Marco Gervasio in the fifteenth episode of the saga dedicated to the gentleman THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- titled FANTOMALLARD OF EGYPT, published on
TOPOLINO n. 3142 provides us with additional elements on the character of Henry Quackett brother
of John. In fact, the story begins with a flash-back in 1916, when the architect Henry
Quackett departed for a study tour mysteriously disappears.
In the 1922 during a trip in Egypt Lord
Quackett and his girlfriend Dolly Duck accidentally foud the brother of John in
the Sahara Desert to the ancient people of Atlantis. This people lived with their Queen Altinea hidden
from civilization in a huge and still gorgeous underground palace. Henry felt in love with the Queen
after having help his brother and Dolly to escape from Atalntis decided (so far) to remain in
Atlantis. The story is a clear tribute to the famous italian movie of Mario Mattioli Totò
Sheikh (1950).
The story offers us a typically legendary narrative of the vicissitudes of the gentleman thief with his brother who even lives in the ruins of Atlantis and in the end with a Scrooge McDuck who while he is traveling around the world decides, for fear of < b>Fantomallard?!, to secretly return to Duckburg to install an anti-theft device in the Depot.
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In the sixteenth episode of the saga dedicated to the gentleman thief THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- titled THE THIEF AND THE BILIONARE, published on TOPOLINO n. 3145 Marco Gervasio imagines a series of events in a decidedly legendary context by making Fantomallard interact with a Scrooge McDuck who has suddenly returned to Duckburg and who resides in an unlikely modern warehouse in a Duckburg of the 1920s. The story, although well structured, therefore falls into those adventures with a mythological flavor on the life and adventures of Fantomallard and consequently on the history of Duckburg.
According to the myth, the famous billionaire is cleverly manipulated by the perfidus Cartesius Gearloose, who pretending to be his twin brother Copernicus father of Ratchet, thus friend of Scrooge, convince the rich duck to install inside his money building some new security systems created by him.
But the real scope of the criminal Cartesius is to steal the precious candy striped rubin and to get reveng against his twin brother Copernicus and Fantomallard.
In this adventure several references to past stories are made, both from Gervasio and from Barks (candy striped rubin), Martina (hypnotic lamp, and the robery of the Scrooge matress, Castle of the three Towers), as well as Don Rosa (Ratchet Geraloose, Titanic cruise, money bin hold by the Scrooge's sisters, final return of Scrooge to Duckburg in the 1930). Amongs the famous reference to the story of Guido Martina the one related to the oring of Duck Avenger is the intent of Fantomallard, both declared to Scrooge both transferred to the heirs by meand of the famous diary, to steal the matress of Scrooge while he is sleeping on it!
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The seventeenth episode (in two parts) of the series dedicated to the gentleman thief THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- titled DOLLY PAPRIKA, published in the TOPOLINO n. 3194 shows us the firts moments of the relationship between Lord Quackett and Dolly Duck starting with their very first fleeting encounter in 1913 during one of the many boring costume parties. The story then takes up in 1920 when Lord Quackett in the outfit of Fantomallard meets again Dolly during a robbery at the Countess De Snob's house, expanding what already mentioned by Gervasio in his history DUCK AVENGER AND THE PAST WITHOUT FUTURE.
Interesting the Dolly Paprika red, with fox ears, costume which takes its cue from the Red Fox jewel belonged to Lucrezia an eccentric friends of Dolly. In the story both the mother and the sister of Dolly Duck are also shown, they manage a dance school. Very Interesting the references to Richard Quackett alias Mad Duke to Sir Francis Drake to the Junior Woodchucks as well as to the birth in 1920 of Donald Duck and his twin sister Della of which a paragraph in a newspaper reports the announcement by their mother Hortense McDuck sister of Scrooge.
As a presentation of both the parts of the story the publisher proposes two interesting introductions dedicated to the St. Valentine day.
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| Because of the St. Valentine day the story in two parts is introduced by two interesting articles. |
| dedicated to the seventeenth episode of series THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- the cover of the TOPOLINO n. 3194 shows a beautiful drawing by Marco Gervasio, dedicated to Fantomallard and Dolly Paprika as well as to the St. Valentine day. |
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The eighteen episode of the saga dedicated to the gentleman thief THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- titled NOTRE DUCK, published in Italy on the comic TOPOLINO n. 3210 reveals us the mysterious identity of the famous Phantom of Notre Duck, character who appears in a famous story of Carl Barks. Marco Gervasio reveals us as Henry Quackett, John Quackett's brother, because a natural disaster had to leave the city Of Atlantis under the Sahara desert in which he was
refuge years before. Having himself designed and built the Notre Duck cathedral, he decided to disguise himself
and wearing a black outfit he start to commit several thefts to help the Atlantis peoples to rebuild their
destroyed city. The only coins Henry hold for himselfs serve for his personal hobby project
to made "monetary" scale model of Notre Duck.
Interesting is
The origin of the black costume of the Phantom that was used in 1700 in Paris by a royal tax collector relative of John and Henry's mother. He worn the black costume scare the debtors when collecting taxes. At the end of the story a partial image of a Scrooge mask brings us back to the moment when the Phantom in the Barks story reveals his face that appears to be identical to the Scrooge one. However, given the notable difference between the physiognomy of Henry Quackett and the Ghost of Barks' story, the latter is certainly another character.
Also interestingly are the many sequences of the story that are closelly relate to Barks adventure and the initially tribute to the three boys who are protagonists of Stranger Things.
In this adventure the reasons that forced Henry to carry out the thefts to help the Atladians rebuild their city are decidedly mythological-legendary. This story is also followed by a brief article with an interview to Marco Gervasio.
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The nineteenth episode of the saga dedicated to the gentleman thief THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- titled WITHOUT MASK, published on TOPOLINO n.
3225 shows us a Lord Quackett in action at the resort of Ocalulu in the Sandwich Islands
about four hours of sailing from Duckburg. In this adventure Lord Quackett acts during the day
practically without his usual black costume (apart from some sequences in which the thief gentleman is disguised
by Fantomallard but using a commercial costume) and uses instead several disguises including
a very curious sailor one very similar to the Donal Duck outfit.
This story the detective Pinko is back again who, as always, is masterfully cheated by the smart thief.
Dolly Paprika instead, remaining in Duckburg, and she is practically not involved in the actions except at the beginning where in Villa Rose she talk with the wife of Pinko pretending that Lord Quackett is in bed influenced. She also appeared and at the end of the story when near the coast of Duckburg she retrieves his boyfriend with a special steam jet water-scooter.
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The twentieth episode of the saga dedicated to the gentleman thief THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- titled THE CHALLENGE OF FANTOMALLARD, published on the TOPOLINO n. 3237 shows us a Lord Quackett and Dolly Duck engaged in a decidedly mythological adventure. The story fits fully into those very legendary events about the life of the Duckburg thief who in this narrative faces a challenge against the most world famous detectives: Paper Holmes and his assistant Duckson , Hercule Paperot, Chick Paper with his two assistants Rob and Bob, the famous writer Jane Purple and of course the unmissable detective Pinko legendary enemy of Fantomallard. This adventure takes place at the wax museum of Duckburg managed at that time by dr. Ecks who is one of the three crazy scientists invented by Gottfredson (Professors Ecks, Doublex, triplex whom years later they will perform disturbing experiments of forced hypnosis in a manor near Mousetown. Together the already known Holmes, Paperot and Pinko Gervasio also shows us the detective Chick Paper with his two assistants Rob and Bob from New York. These are based from the Italian comics chracters Nick Carter and his assistants Patsy and Ten, the novelist writer Jane Purple who is inspired by Jessica Fletcher of the TV serie (Murder, she Wrote).
There are also numerous tributes by the author to several Disney authors showing in the museum the wax statues of many little known characters: in addition to the above mentioned Dr. Ecks we find the The Bat, Eli Squick, and the Pirate Orango by Gottfredson; Grandpa Beagle of Barks and Don Rosa; a half-bust statue of Cornelius Coot , and some Gervasio characters shown in previous adventures of Fantomallard including Fu Man Etciù, Lady Mustard, and the actors Douglas Fairbarks, Fred Duckster and Gloria Squackson as well as the gorilla Gong.
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| Dedicated to the twentieth episode of the saga THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- the TOPOLINO n. 3237 the cover by Marco Gervasio, shows an awesome Fantomallard. |
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In the twenty-first adventure of the saga dedicated to the gentleman thief THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- titled THE NIGHT OF THE GEMS , published on the TOPOLINO n.3273 Lord Quackett is engaged in several night missions to try to steal some precious gems from several rich nobles of Duckburg, including the apparently clumsy Count Abbondazio Contini boyfriend of Lucrezia friend of Dolly Duck. Strangely enough, anytime Fantomallard try to steal the gems these have been already stolen by someone else, and Fantomallard only gets to be blamed for all thefts.
With clever intuition the gentleman thief realizes that the Count Contini and the other riches had staged the thefts of the gems to collect the insurance money as well as to sell the gems with a lowe prise to a mysterious foreign buyer. The money obtained would be used by the noble to pay the debts caused by a bankrupt investment in the shares of the company PETROL OIL. Discovered the trick Fantomallard with a mask pretends to be emissary of the foreign buyer and takes possession of the gems, thus wiping the small group of rich villains who for fear of being under the vengeance of Fantomallard prefer to get arrested and go in prison.
Interesting the final twist in which it turns out that the rich stranger is none other than the South African Flintheart Glomgold treacherous adversary of Scrooge Mc Duck and now also decided to take revenge on the gentleman thief.
In this adventure set in 1925 Marco Gervasio introduces as usual different references to stories and places typical of Duckburg including the lighthouse of Capo Quack and just the appearance in the last cartoon of Flintheart Glomgold. Very nice and welcome the homage that the author makes to the manager of this site when Fantomallard manages to escape in pursuit of Pinko using a secret opening along a wall in SALIMBETI STREET!
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| Dedicated to the twenty-first episode of the saga THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- the TOPOLINO n. 3273 has a beautiful cover always by Marco Gervasio, with Fantomallard. |
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The twenty-second episode (in two parts) of the saga dedicated to the gentleman thief THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- titled THE TWO AVENGERS, published on TOPOLINO n .3275 shows us Lord Quackett struggling with an amazing time adventure in which the gentleman thief is forced to go in the future (using a pocket watch of the time invented by Copernicus) right at the time of Duck Avengers his heir.
Fantomallard in fact must find and save Dolly Paprika which in turn has traveled in the future by inadvertently operating the cuccu clock other contraption invented by Copernico Gearloose and already used by Duck Avenger to return to the future when in story DUCK AVENGER AND THE PAST WITHOUT THE FUTURE he goes precisely at the time of Fantomallard in 1920.
Dolly Paprika was in fact kidnapped by a mysterious criminal who asks for his release the famous golden nugget "duck egg" in possession of Scrooge. Once in the future the gentleman thief, thanks to a diary that Duck Avenger has left in the basement of the Villa Rose ruins, discovers the true identity of his heir and decides to ask for help to Donald Duck to "borrow" the Scrooge's nugget and save Dolly Duck. After going to Gyro Gearloose great-grandson of Copernicus the three go to the emergency shelter in a cave near Villa Rose where Fantomallard kept his larger special machinery.
Restoring a special drill rover Fantomallard and Duck Avenger penetrate the Scrooge's Money Bin where they are captured by the efficient protection system of the nugget. After the arrival of Scrooge the two manage to persuade him to lend the nugget guaranteeing the return. The delivery of the nugget takes place at the disquieting black island off the Bay of Duckburg (already shown in the story DUCK AVENGER AND THE ISLAND OF THE MONSTERS) where Fantomallard discovers that the mysterious kidnapper is the criminal billionaire Flintheart Glomgold who happened to have seen Dolly Duck appeared in his time and because when he was young he discovered her secret identity he decides to kidnap her to get revenge both of Fantomallard and Scrooge. After several adventures, both the gentleman thief and his partner, with the help of Duck Avenger, manage to escape from the island and cheat the perfidious South African tycoon. Before returning to their time, however, the two thieves wisely decide to forget this adventure in the future by taking a dose of Coco Nonos provided by Duck Avenger.
The story fits into the typical context of mythological-legendary events that see Fantomallard grappling with paradoxical time travels even interacting with Donald Duck, Duck Avenger, Scrooge McDuck and Flintheart Glomgold acting in an unlikely current time of 2018!?
In this story Gervasio inserts many references to old stories including the first adventure of Duck Avenger, the saga of Don Rosa in which Scrooge because of the nugget decides to move away from Glittering Goldie and the two above-mentioned stories of Duck Avenger. Interesting the emergency shelter already shown by Michelini and Scarpa in the history DUCK AVENGER AND THE RETURN TO VILLA ROSE and the nice tribute to some classics of time travel Doctor Who, The Time Machine and Back to the Future when Flintheart Glomgold talks about its scientists working on time travel experiments.
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| Dedicata to the twenty-second episode of the saga THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- the TOPOLINO n. 3275 shows an interesting cover by Marco Gervasio with Fantomallard and Duck Avenger. |
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| The 23rd episode of the saga dedicated to Fantomallard THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- titled THE SEVENTH ART, published on italian Disney comic TOPOLINO n. 3280 shows the return of some characters and villains appeared in some previously episodes. The two movie actors Gloria Squackson and Ducklas Fairbarks, who they also acted in a movie as Fantomallard and Dolly Paprika, Jen Yu alias Lady Mustard the skilled female-thief who was the former girlfriend of Fantomallard and Flintheart Glomgold the evil south african tycoon already seen in the two last previously episode of the saga. The story focuses on the attempt of Flintheart Glomgold, in complicity with Lady Mustard, to steal a precious pearl necklace in the possession of Gloria Squackson. The attempt thanks to the ability and the disguises of Fantomallard and Dolly Paprika fails miserably leaving the two treacherous criminals only with a vulgar imitation of the real necklace. Interesting is the ending in which a strange phone call to Villa Rose portends a possible problematic situation of Coperninus Gearloose and therefore a sequel directly connected with this adventure.
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| During the twentyforth edition of ROMICS, the comics convenction in Rome from the 4th to the 7th of October the 2018, the artist and writer Marco Gervasio, who create the Fantomallard saga, is awared with the Gold Romics as "Master of the comic". |
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The episode number 24 of the saga dedicated to the gentleman thief THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- - titled ON THE TRACKS OF COPERNICUS , published on the TOPOLINO n. 3318 is set in the Costa Rica area of ??Puerto Limon and the mysterious island of Tortuga. In this story Lord Quackett and Dolly Duck go in search of their friend Copernicus Gearloose strangely disappeared at the end of the previous adventure of the saga. After some investigations in Puerto Limon, the two thieves discover that their inventor friend was transported to the island of Tortuga and they decided to reach the mysterious island too.
In the forest of the island they are picked up by two guardians aboard a fire-breathing mechanical dragon built in the style of the typical Copernicus machinery. The two are taken to a strange laboratory facility where they meet their friend who tells them they had to go to the island because he is urgently called by his son Ratchet Gearloose who, financed by a magnate, was secretly working on the project to desalinate water of the sea.
The story does not convince the two smart thieves who soon discover that the Copernicus who welcomed them is none other than the evil twin brother Cartesio Geraloose and that the tycoon is the equally dangerous Flintheart Glomgold. The two have imprisoned the real Copernicus and have forced his son to invent the desalination pills in order to use them in a reckless way desalting a large quantity of sea water and then reselling it as drinking water.
Even Fantomallard is imprisoned together with the others while the shrewd Dolly Paprika pretends to have joined Flintheart Glomgold in order to sabotage the dangerous plan. At the end the group manages to escape and to make the dangerous formula disappear leaving Cartesio and Flintheart Glomgold with a "handful of flies".
Interesting in this adventure is the presence of Ratchet Gearloose, a character invented by Don Rosa in his saga about the life of Scrooge to whom Gervasio explicitly refers. Worthy of note is also the joke in which Fantomallard blesses of being a sort of Robin Hood that devolves to the needy even the entire proceeds of his thefts, which of course is not believed by the shrewd Flintheart Glomgold
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In the 25th episode of the saga dedicated to the gentleman thief THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- - titled FANTOMALLARD BACK HOME, published on TOPOLINO n. 3344, John Quackett and Dolly Duck spend the Christmas of the 1925 in London at the villa of the Ducke Andrew Quackett and Marie Lamont which are the parents of John. A carillon containing the "caliph's unicorn", a family jewel given years ago to Howard Quackett, John's grandfather, by the Prince of Ducklat, has just been stolen from the house. This jewel is now used by Andrew Quackett to purchase the Ducklat diamond mine.
For the investigation, John's father hires the famous investigator Paper Holmes together with his inseparable assistant Doctor Duckson. The smart London investigator, despite not having the material evidence, is the only one to have guessed that Fantomallard is actually Lord John Quackett. After some investigations and sidings, both the skilled investigator that Fantomallard and Dolly Paprika discover that the author of the theft is Marie Lamont Andrew's wife who took the jewel to deliver it to Dr. Ernest Crumb owner of the Crumb Diamond Corporation company rival of the Quackett family in the negotiation for the purchase of the diamond mine.
Marie Lamont thus confesses to her son that she had to blackmail deliver the "caliph's unicorn" to Dr. Crumb as he learned of a theft committed by Howard Quackett against the grandfather of Dr. Crumb a rich banker who had grown rich behind savers. In fact, John's
grandfather stollen a large sum of money which he then returned to the defrauded savers. To save the good name of the Quackett family and not to let her husband discover that his father had committed a theft, Marie Lamont decided to delivered the "unicorns" to Crumb, unaware that the jewel was an important pawn in the negotiations for the purchase of the Ducklat mine.
Fantomallard then decides to set a trap for the Dr. Crumb to discover the hiding place and recover the jewel, the plan works, even if in the end the gentleman thief is saved in extremis by the intervention of Paper Holmes who having sensed the moves of Lord Quackett alias Fantomallard had stalked him secretly. The jewel then returns to Andrew Quackett's hands and the perfidious Dr. Crumb is arrested by Holmes for blackmail and theft.
Interesting in this story is the indication of another relative of Lord Quackett precisely his grandfather Howard and the fact that despite having understood who is behind the mask of Fantomallard the investigator Paper Holmes decides to keep the secret thus becoming almost an accomplice of the gentleman thief from Duckburg.
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In the episode number 26 of the saga dedicated to the gentleman thief THE ASTOUNDING ENDEAVOURS OF FANTOMALLARD -GENTLEMAN THIEF- - titled THE LIGHT OF ZEUS, published on TOPOLINO n. 3363, John Quackett and Dolly Duck are in the Netherlands visiting the Van Der Duck castle museum. The two thieves intend to take possession of a precious 125 carat diamond called "The Light of Zeus". While visiting the museum a clumsy villain tries to steal the diamond but is chased and stopped by Lord Quackett who returns the diamond to Gribaldo Van Der Duck grandson of the count who owns the castle.
Having entered into confidence with the count, the two duckburgian thieves discover that the Van Der Duck family is in financial crisis and that the count has therefore decided to transform the castle into a paid museum, but above all he needs to sell the diamond. This information makes Lord Quackett desist from his theft plan because the gentleman thief steals only from the reach peoples. John Quackett and Dolly Duck then decide to help the count by agreeing to accompany his secretary Miss Parquet the next day to Amsterdam where she will give the diamond to a diamonds worker in order to increase its value.
On their way to the diamond expert, the three discover they are being followed and thus decide to quickly get the secretary down and then sidetrack the pursuer. Miss Parquet delivers the diamond to the expert and goes to meet the two duckburgian thieves and the count's grandson who wants to have confirmation that the diamond has actually been left in good hands.
The next morning, an upset Miss Parquet informs Lord Quackett and Dolly Duck that the diamond has disappeared from the safe and that the expert denies having ever received it. In the meantime, the count's grandson has already reported the theft and the Amsterdam police detective Van Groot takes Miss Parquet to the police station to interrogate her. The two thieves therefore decide to investigate and went to the diamond expert laboratory they discover that while he deny having received the diamond, he seems not completely sincere. Miss Parquet is then accused by the count's nephew of theft and decides by herself to recover the diamond from the expert's safe. Naturally John Quackett and Dolly Duck convince the secretary that it is better if they will take care of the recovery of the diamond, and so the same night wearing the costumes of Fantomallard and Dolly Paprika penetrate the expert's laboratory to retake the diamond.
To their surprise, the two thieves discover that the diamond is not in the safe and that they have fallen into a trap as the police arrive immediately. Being able to escape from the window the two begin to make assumptions about who may have organized the plan and tried to frame them and after some verifications they reach the room of the count's secretary forcing her to confess that she is the person who planned the theft in complicity of a thief who pretended to be detective Van Groot, while the diamonds expert was only deceived by the secretary who simply asked him to deny having the diamond in case any stranger contacted him. The accomplice then removed the diamond from the safe before Fantomallard and Dolly Paprika arrived, hoping that they would be arrested and accused of the theft. The wily secretary then tries to escape but is stopped by the count's grandson who also came to the hotel and listened to her confessions. Everything then ends for the best with the two duckburgian thieves who in the count's castle are thanked and clearly believed to be two people so honest that they would not be able to steal even a nut from a squirrel!
The story as always masterfully scripted and drawn by Marco Gervasio is also correlated by an introductory page by Barbara Garufi.
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Of the long episode number 27 in 4 issue plus a prologue published in the TOPOLINO n. 3398-3399-3400-3401-3402 each episode has a different title: THE BEGINNING AND THE END, THEFT IN THE FUTURE, DYSTOPIA, THE END ... AND THE BEGINNING. The story begins in October 1929 with Lady Mustard who sneaks into Villa Rose to steal the precious mask of Gengis Ghat in possession of Fantomallard. The thief inadvertently triggers a fake alarm of explosion of the Villa and in panic she activates the cuccù of time, thus finding herself in the future at the time of Donald when he had not yet become Duck Avenger
Fantomallard discovered the theft and the "time future" escape of Lady Mustard and thus he decides to go to the future to retrieve the mask and bring the thief back in 1929. Arriving in the future, the gentleman thief finds himself in an abandoned Villa Rose which will go as a prize for a lottery, Lord Quackett reaches the city and manages to track down Lady Mustard . He discovers that she has hidden the mask at the Duckburg museum among other oriental finds from a thematic exhibition organized by Scrooge McDuck. Lady Mustard, however, is in the meantime arrested for car theft and thus Fantomallard now not only has to recovering the precious mask, but he must also find a way to free the reckless thief.
After a quick search, Lord Quackett discovers that at that time there is a nephew of Copernicus a guy named Gyro Gearloose who is also an inventor and then decides to go to his laboratory hoping for some help. Arriving at the laboratory he witnesses a quarrel between Scrooge and his nephew dressed as a sailor, the gentleman thief immediately feels sympathy for that young duck so mistreated by his rich uncle, and pretending to be a private detective convinces both Gyro and Donald to help him in recovering the mask from the museum pretending that this mask was stolen by a thief from the museum it belongs to and then hidden among the other finds in the Duckburg museum. Donald then helps him enter the museum by neutralizing the alarm system with a device invented by Gyro and using the sleeping gas against Gladstone who had been recruited by Scrooge (having received a refusal from Donald Duck) to guard his collection of oriental artifacts on display in the museum. Retrieved the mask Fantomallard in greeting him compliments Donald Duck and perhaps already hopes to be able to meet him again.
Lord Quackett with a special pencil which cuts /welds metal bars makes Lady Mustard escape from prison and back at Villa Rose they are preparing to return to their time using a special pocket time clock created by Copernicus. But while he is starting to go back the past, Lady Mustard snatches the mask of Genghis Ghat from Fantomallard’s hands and hits the gentleman thief damaging the time clock. Fantomallard is therefore still in the future but still manages to make the clock work damaged but when he returns to his time he discovers that the Villa has been abandoned anyway and that he actually returned not on October 29 but a year later!
Lord Quackett immediately realizes that in a few months the situation in the city has precipitated due to the great crisis and both his and Scrooge absence (Scrooge McDuck is since the 1903 around the world for business), in some way in fact Flintheart Glomgold has managed to be elected governor of the city by making the citizens believe they have defeated Fantomallard. The gentleman thief soon realizes that the South African tycoon is ruling the city in a despotic manner and has established a regime of terror by imposing absurd taxes on citizens and an oppressive police control. On his way to the city, Lord Quackett finds Copernicus in his old laboratory who tells him how Flintheart Glomgold took over the city and how, knowing his secret identity, he forced Dolly Duck to leave Villa Rose which was placed under close surveillance. The two then have been obliged to move to the other den of Villa Lalla.
Disguised as a policeman Fantomallard is accompanied by Copernicus to the port where they are picked up by Dolly Paprika on board the Fantomarine. Lord Quackett can finally hug his partner again but he has two unexpected surprises in fact because of the emergency situation in the city both Lady Mustard and the detective Pinko have joined them to try to overthrow the Flintheart Glomgold regime and prevent him from transporting the money obtained by the unjust taxes to the citizens of Duckburg. to South Africa. The group then prepares to attack with the Fantomarine the ship that is carrying the money of the evil tycoon and after a couple of attempts they succeed and return to the city hiding in Villa Lalla in the Bay of the Dunes.
The group then confronts Flintheart Glomgold in front of all the citizens, revealing his intentions and returning the stolen goods to the citizens who indignantly force the rich tycoon to leave the city and return to South Africa. Fantomallard, Dolly and Copernicus return to Villa Lalla where they are persuaded to host Lady Mustard who swears she has now become their faithful accomplice. Lord Quackett also points out that he will soon have to return in the future as he has found a person who deserves to become his heir and who will therefore ensure that he is the one who "wins" the lottery and becomes the owner of Villa Rose (events narrated in the history DUCK AVENGERS IT ALL STARTED LIKE THIS)
In the latest frames of the adventure Flintheart Glomgold on the ship that takes him back to his country does not give himself up, however, and already plots on how to take revenge on the gentleman thief. Each episode of the story is also related as always from an introductory page by Barbara Garufi.
The story imagined by the author falls within those decidedly legendary events on the history of Fantomallard and the city of Duckburg, since, as can be seen from the story of Barks UNCLE SCROOGE AND THE MONEY CHAMP which took place in the 1950s, none of the citizens of Duckburg seems to have ever heard of Flintheart Glomgold which is unlikely if these only twenty years before managed the power in the city. These events are therefore to be interpreted as part of the series of myths relating to the events of the gentleman thief and probably take their cue from the mismanagement of the city of Duckburg during the great crisis by some shady local figure. The gentleman thief's time travel narratives and interactions with a Donald Duck set in the present time fall into the same legendary vein.
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| Dedicated to the twenty-seventh episode of the Fantomallard's saga the TOPOLINO n. 3399 shows a beautiful cover by Freccero, with Fantomallard, Dolly Paprika, Copernicus and Lady Senape. |
| The four issue of episode 27 are reprinted in the TOPOLINO EXTRA entitled FANTOMALLARD-THE BEGINNING AND THE END- . The issue is also correlated with a preface by Andrea Salimbeti and a long interview with the artist and writer Marco Gevasio and the director of the TOPOLINO comic book Alex Bertani. |
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| In addition to the double interview, the volume also includes some of Marco Gervasio's study and proposals on what should have been the possible cover of the comic. |
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The episode number 28 is divided into two stories of two episodes each entitled THE NIGHT OF FANTOMALLARD and THE DAWN OF FANTOMALLARD published respectively in the Italian comic books TOPOLINO n. 3466-3467, 3469-3470 . The story takes place in December 1930 on the same day of Scrooge's final return to the city. Fantomallard and accomplices manage to get hold of the precious painting of Sleeping Beauty owned by the Tycoon Doug Duckan of Calisota City who took it to Duckburg to sell it to Scrooge.
The gentleman thief is then hunted by the inevitable detective Pinko but as usual Fantomallard manages to escape ridiculing the clumsy detective.
Because of this other failure Pinko is downgraded to the rank of agent until he manages to capture the gentleman thief. Determined to take revenge, the policeman tries to focus when he discovered Fantomallard during the last adventure that saw them allied against Flintheart Glomgold. Pinko remainding some elements understand that one of the lairs of the gentleman thief is probably Villa Lalla even if he cannot realize that Lord Quacket could be the mysterious Fantomallard.
After having received a photo attached to an anonymous letter that would reveal the true identity of the gentleman thief, Pinko goes with many agents to Villa Lalla to capture the gentleman thief and his accomplice. The two thieves attempt a desperate escape but Dolly Paprika falls from the Air-sled and is captured by the agents and arrested. Fantomallard then goes to his friend Copernicus but when he arrives near his laboratory he discovers that he has just been arrested as well by Pinko agents. This time for Fantomallard the end seems to have come, also because by now all its secret lairs have been discovered and surrounded by the police.
The gentleman thief then decides to take refuge in the basement of Notre Duck no longer inhabited by his brother Henry and where for several years Fantomallard has kept an outfit, various masks and emergency gadgets. Thanks to the undergrounds of the old city of Duckburg connected with those of Notre Duck cathedral, the shrewd thief disguised as a lawyer manages to meet Copernicus and organize his escape. Unfortunately, the situation seems more complicated for Dolly Paprika who is about to be transferred to the Song Song maximum security prison, but on the way Fantomallard who had disguised himself taking the place of one of the two drivers manages to free her. The trio of thieves then reach the dungeons of Notre Duck to elaborate a plan with which to make the police believe that they are extraneous to the facts and that in reality they are also victims of Fantomallard and accomplices.
Lord Quackett then goes to the police station explaining to Pinko that he, Dolly and Copernicus have been kidnapped and held prisoner by the gentleman thief and his accomplices who have taken their identities to be able to carry out thefts in their villas. After freeing his accomplices captured by the police Fantomallard before escaping he freed them. Same days later Fantomallard, in order not to get the unfortunate Pinko punished too harshly, makes him find the famous painting of Sleeping Beauty that he had stolen a few days earlier. The day after the rightful owner of the painting, the wealthy tycoon Dunkan informs Scrooge, who has meanwhile returned to his warehouse, that he no longer intends to sell him the painting but that he will sell it at the Baltimore museum.
Meanwhile, elsewhere Jen Yu reads the news of Lord Quackett exoneration and is happy all in all. At Villa Lalla, our thieves who were narrowly saved from the dangerous story wonder who could have communicated their true identity to Pinko, doubt becomes certainty when behind the photo that unmasked Fantomallard note the symbol of the South African coin used as an emblem by Flintheart Glomgold. Also this minisaga is preceded on TOPOLINO n. 3465 from an interesting introductory editorial by Barbara Garufi.
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| Dedicated to the episode 28 of the Fantomallard saga the Italian comic book TOPOLINO n. 3466 shows a beautiful cover, drawn by Francesco D'Ippolito, with Fantomallard, Dolly Paprika and Lady Mustard. |
| The four episode of the adventure n. 28 have been reprinted in the special edition comic TOPOLINO EXTRA titled FANTOMIUS-LA NOTTE E L'ALBA- (FANTOMALLARD- THE NIGHT AND THE DAWN-). In this volume some pages by Marco Gervasio related to the backstage of this story are also present. |
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In the 29th episode of the saga,entitled FANTOMALLARD STRIKES AGAIN, in Duckburg a universal exhibition of technology is organized by Scrooge Mc Duck, where a rich European tycoon Roman Duckovic will exhibit the prototype of a mini-battery with an inexhaustible charge.
Inspector Pinko, who has now convinced himself that Lord Quackett is hiding behind the mask of Fantomallard, hopes that the gentleman thief will try to steal the revolutionary battery in order to finally have the opportunity to arrest him.
Meanwhile at Villa Lalla Dolly Paprika receives a visit from her friend Ortensia Mc Duck and her husband Quackmore Duck. The two tell him that they have decided to temporarily leave Duckburg as they are disappointed by Scrooge's behavior after his return to the city, and that their twins (Donald Duck and >Della) will continue to stay on their grandmother's farm.
Lord Quackett who has begun to consider leaving his thief activity, decides to "punish" Scrooge by organizing the theft of the mini-battery which could be very useful for Copernicus's devices.
On the day of the exhibition attended by Scrooge, Duckovic, by Pinko and his agents, by television, and by numerous visitors, Lord Quackett leaves the room suspiciously, followed by Pinko. Suddenly the room is invaded by a thick blanket of smoke and a guy dressed as Fantomallard takes possession of the mini-battery and escapes out the window, chased by Pinko and his agents.
After a brief chase, the police manage to block the fugitive's car, only to discover that the thief is not the real Fantomallard but the actor Ducklas Fairbarks who actually has a fake mini-drums and who was filming a scene for a new film about the gentleman thief. The actor justifies himself to Pinko by saying that his agent was contacted by Scrooge to produce a new film about Fantomallard; which clearly later turned out to be false.
Pinko, realizing that he has been led astray by Lord Quackett and his accomplice, returns to the exhibition where in the meantime the real mini-battery has also been stolen. Pinko then has Lord Quackett and Dolly Duck searched but finds nothing.
Leaving the exhibition, the two thieves explain how they managed to get rid of the mini-battery by inserting it into a sort of radio-controlled mini-drone controlled by Copernicus. However, the drone was intercepted by another mysterious thief who, mocking Fantomallard, took possession of the revolutionary battery. Another challenge that the gentleman thief will have to face.
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| Dedicated to the episode 29 of the Fantomallard saga the Italian comic book TOPOLINO n. 3541 shows a very beautiful cover with Fantomallard on his special car. |
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Episode number 30 of the Fantomallard saga is the continuation of the previous one. In fact, the story begins with Quackett, Dolly and Copernicus at Villa Lalla wondering who could have deceived them by stealing the battery prototype.
Meanwhile in the newspaper there is an announcement that in the city art gallery there will be an exhibition of a painting entitled "wealth" by the famous painter Elisabeth Ducket, she was friend and classmate at Duckbridge college of John. In fact, Beth's brother Tommy arrives at Villa Lalla and personally brings to his friend the invitation to the exhibition where his sister's painting will be exhibited.
Tommy informs John that his other college friends will also be present at the event and that Beth has in the meantime gotten married to Roger.
On the day of the event, in addition to Tommy, Beth and Roger, Quackett sees his other friends and classmate Annabelle, Bill Bull and Arty.
Shortly before showing the painting an unusual event happens, the room remains in the dark before thirty seconds due to a blackout. But the surprise comes when the cloth is removed from the painting, in fact this is not the real painting of Beth but an anonymous portrait of Scrooge McDuck. The theft is reported and the investigations conducted as always by inspector Pinko who immediately accuses Fantomallard and reminds Quackett to still suspect that he is the true Gentleman Thief.
Surprising those present, Beth's brother, Tom Ducket offers to participate in the investigations as he holds the qualification of private detective. Thus begins Tommy's investigations who first goes to visit the organizer of the exhibition, Ted Quacker. Arriving at the apartment Tommy finds the organizer tied and gagged with Fantomallrd observing them, despite appearances the gentleman thief convinces Tommy that he is not the perpetrator of the thefts and he did not attack and tie up Ted Quacker. Reasoning on various clues of what happened Tommy and Fantomallard understand that the exchange of the painting took place before the day of the exhibition and that the thief is certainly one of the guests, but that he was present in Duckburg several days before the inauguration in order to prepare the plan.
The following evening at Villa Lalla Quackett and Tommy inform the rest of the group of their conclusions and the fact that only one of them could have arrived in Duckburg a few days before the event. After viewing a newsreel filmed at the exhibition, it turns out that their friend Arty was among the audience disguised with a big mustache and that inspector Pinko will carry out a search that same evening at the large Duckdorf hotel where all the guests are staying.
Despite the video, Arty denies his involvement in the theft but his concern is clearly evident. In fact, that same evening Arty tries to make the painting disappear but is surprised by Fantomallard who also discovers that in the same safe in which he hid the painting there was also the perpetual battery and the model that the gentleman thief had used to try to steal it a few days earlier at the exhibition. Fantomallard then forces Arthur Sinclair to confess even if the true instigator of this theft is still a mystery. Fantomallard then escapes with the special battery while Arty is arrested and Tommy Ducket takes credit for having solved the case by discovering the real thief of both thefts.
The story ends with the departure of Quackett's friends and with the touching farewell between John and Beth.
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Episode number 31 of the saga dedicated to the gentleman thief entitled THE BLACK ACE is still the continuation of the previous ones.
A mysterious thief who calls himself "Black Ace" is carrying out sensational thefts against some wealthy inhabitants of Duckburg. At the city golf club Lord Quackett reads about the exploits of this new Fantomallard emulator while the radio announces that the Black Ace has launched a challenge to the famous gentleman thief as to which of the two will be able to steal the most valuable stolen goods during the night.
Fantomallard therefore decides to accept the challenge and that same night develops an ingenious trick to mislead the police: Dolly Paprika disguised as Fantomallard goes to the villa of Von Gold, a famous jewel collector, having Pinko chase her with his agents.
Meanwhile, at the Duckburg museum, the real Fantomallard, who has replaced the guardian, steals the very precious "red volcano" diamond without too many problems. Returning to Villa Lalla, however, the gentleman thief has a nasty surprise! The Black Ace has entered the villa and forced the safe, dismayed Lord Quackett also discovers that the diamond just stolen from the museum is actually a fake and even more serious that his secret diary which he kept in the safe was stolen.
Returning to the Villa Dolly Paprika and Copernicus learn of the daring theft and the first suspicions inevitably fall on Lady Mustard but Lord Quackett > excludes it because the Modus operandi is not her. The urgency now is to recover the diary, which is fortunately feasible as Copernicus has inserted a radio wave beacon in the binding.
Following the directions of the signal Fantomallard and Dolly Paprika arrive at an old abandoned theater where Silvus, a famous illusionist of the past, held his shows. Exploring the interior, the two thieves fall under the stage where they find only the cover of the diary containing the beacon, evidently discovered by the skilled Black Ace.
Suddenly the two thieves hear a creaking behind a wall and hidden behind a secret passage they discover that the magician Silvus has been living inside the old theater for two decades now but apparently he is not the mysterious one Black Ace. In fact, the former magician says he glimpsed an individual who, after tearing the cover of the diary, mumbled the name of Sunny Duck, an old high school from Duckburg.
Having reached the school, now in ruins, the two thieves begin to look for clues of the recent presence of some individual. Following tracks in the dust, the two end up in an underground warehouse where they find a card with a Black Jack. The clue shows that they are on the right path and in fact behind a secret passage they discover the hideout of the Black Ace with all his stolen goods including the recent "red volcano" diamond.
In addition to the diamond, the two find an old class register where each name is associated with a black card. Among the names in the register there is also an old acquaintance of Quackett with whom he recently had to deal, the scoundrel Arthur Sinclair “Arty corresponding precisely to the Black Jack card.
In fact, suddenly Arthur arrives, surprised by the presence of the two thieves. 's former college mate, he confesses that he managed to get out of prison after paying a high bail and that he continued his work as a thief within the criminal organization managed by a skilled professor.
The head of the organization also enters the scene and turns out to be none other than Krimen the Latin professor at Paperbridge college in London, the one from whom also a young Lord Quackett he learned the first rudiments of the art of theft. Krimen then says that he reconstituted the Krimen school in Duckburg and that he assigned Arty as the final exam the theft at Villa Lalla (of which he had managed to find out the various alarms when he was recently among the guests during a dinner at Lord Quackett ) and the challenge to Fantomallard.
After finding the diary in the safe and thus discovering the true identity of Fantomallard, Arty neglected the valuables by handing the precious document to Krimen who he decided to use it to get revenge on his former student who discovered and ridiculed him during the Paperbridge days. Krimen at this point discovers the more criminal side of his personality by trying to physically eliminate Fantomallard and Dolly Paprika by throwing very sharp metal cards at them, one of the tricks copied by the wizard Silvus.
The two manage to avoid the cards thanks to their skill and a device from Copernicus but Krimen first manages to escape using other smoke and hallucinogenic tricks, only to be thwarted by Arty himself disappointed by the fact that Krimen has always considered him as a simple pawn to achieve his goals. Taking advantage of the situation Fantomallard and Dolly Paprika manage to trap and tie up the two criminals who, after calling inspector Pinko, use a good dose of COCO-NONO powder to make Krimen and Arthur Sinclair lose their recent memory.
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| The Italian comic book TOPOLINO n.3600 of November 2024 contains, in addition to the aforementioned story of the Fantomallard saga, also the first part of the editorial DRAW WITH THE ARTISTS OF TOPOLINO in which Marco Gervasio teaches the reader how to draw Fantomallard and Lord Quackett. the other three parts of the editorial are published in the following numbers 3601, 3602, 3603 of TOPOLINO. |
| Dedicated to the thirtieth episode of the Fantomallard saga, the Italian comic book TOPOLINO n. 3581 shows another splendid and captivating cover with Fantomallard. |
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| On the Italian Disney comic book TOPOLINO n. 3379 August 2020 starts a mini saga, always created by Marco Gervasio, placed during the first years of the 1900. These adventures are completelly dedicated to the young Lord Quackett during the period when he was attending the british college of PAPERBRIDGE (DUCKBRIDGE). The first story of this saga is titled DUCKBRIDGE- THE NIGHT OF THE BROTHERHOOD and is shown a eighteen years old John Quackett,
nicknamed by his class mates Quacky. The young Quackett is a bully and arrogant as well as a classist towards his roommate Tom Ducket of non-noble origins and of a family no longer wealthy.
The saga therefore takes place between 1903 and 1907 in a typical setting of an English college reserved mainly for students from wealthy families but in rare cases also open to particularly deserving students from a scholastic point of view who are able to pay the substantial tuition with scholarships. In the saga there are therefore references to secret brotherhoods and to the typical mandatory sport disciplines of the Anglo-Saxon colleges.
Also for this saga some narratives and events are decidedly surreal and legendary, falling within that series of myths surrounding the figure and the adventures of the gentleman thief. |
| In this mini series, the first story entitled THE NIGHT OF BROTHERHOOD shows us the arrival at the prestigious college of DUCKBRIDGE of the young eighteen year old Lord Quackett -for his friends Quacky- and his classmates among which Tom Ducket "Tommy" a young admitted to the College, although not being of noble origins and modest family, thanks to his academic results and the good principles that have made him to obtain a scholarship.
Tommy is immediately derided and "bullied" by Quacky and his group of noble and reach friends. Precisely for this reason, the rector of the College decides to place Tommy and Quacky in the same room, hoping that the values ??and positive character of the young man of modest family positively influence the arrogant and listless Lord Quackett. A few evenings after Quacky receives the secret invitation to go to the wooden bridge of the College to undergo the admission tests together with other students to the Masked brotherhood, upon reaching the area The group is disappointed to discover that Tommy has also been invited as the mysterious masked master of the fraternity informs them that Tom Ducket's father was once rich and having been a member of the brotherhood also the son has the right by inheritance. The mysterious master then assigns the initiation tests, to be passed by dawn, which consist of removing the statue of the founder of Duckbridge and dismantling the wooden "mathematical bridge" designed by Newton.
Quacky Tommy which belong both to the group that have to dismount the bridger start to dismantling the bridge but when the activity is completed Tommy is jokingly pushed into the water by one of the group thus attracting the attention of the night watchman. The group escapes but Lord Quackett at the last minute, worried by the cries for help from Tommy who says not able to swim, goes back to help the roommate. In the meantime the guardian arrives and brings the two students in front of the rector, who forces them to reconstruct the bridge by dawn and then show up for morning lessons on time anyway.
The young Lord Quackett always arrogant, decides to go back to his room to sleep, leaving all the burden of rebuilding the bridge to the poor Tommy who anyway manages to do the work in time. In the room Quacky finds a note from the Masked brotherhood that tells him that despite being discovered by the night watchman he is admitted to the group because he has saved a companion in difficulty, the message also states that Tommy is not eligible to enter the fraternity. This first episode ends with Tommy returning to the room at dawn and once again being snubbed and denigrated by Quacky but this time Tommy reacts to provocations by Lord Quackett making him understand that he considers him only a rich arrogant and stupid nobleman! |
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| The second episode titled THE DARK SIDE always starts with poor Tommy being taunted even during lessons by Quacky and the his group of "bully" friends from the Masked brotherhood. Back in the room Tommy finds a message from the brotherhood in which he is given another chance to join the group if he can pass the test of spending the night on the "dark side" which is an old abandoned building inside the College which is told to be haunted by ghosts. Lord Quackett doubts that this message is true and in fact, when he reaches his brotherhood friends, he discovers that it is another joke against Tommy, as after making him arrive inside the abandoned building the members of the Masked disguised as ghosts will scare him. The group then reaches the pub near the College where they meet again Tommy who after the daily lessons he works as a waiter to get some money and as usual one of the group ridicules him with another bad joke. Beth who is Tommy's sister is also in the pub with a friend of her. Even in this situation, the strong-tempered sister defends her brother by shaming the rich and arrogant bullies including Quacky who, however, seems to have some sympathy for the young and pretty duck.
The same evening therefore Tommy goes to the old building while the group prepares for the joke, all except John Quackett who in his conscience does not not find this latest joke very cool, so he pretends to have a cold and goes back to the room. Shortly after, however, he decides to intervene in favor of Tommy and, disguising himself in a large jacket and a cap with pilot goggles, enters the old building, scaring the group of false ghosts even before these may scare Tommy. The group angry because of the failure of the joke pursues the mysterious intruder but in the end Quacky manages to escape causing a window to break. Outside the building, John is again surprised by the night watchman who orders him the next day to report to the rector again. Quacky returns to his room just in time before arrival of Tommy who, excited by what happened, tells of how a mysterious masked individual intervened to make the joke devised against him fail. The young Lord Quackett with the usual bad irony always treats Tommy in a bad way but in this case it is to deflect any suspicion that he may be the mysterious ruin of jokes. Meanwhile, in a college building, the Masked ridiculed by Quacky come to the conclusion that only a member of the fraternity could have known about the joke organized against Tommy and in fact here is that the disturbing leader of the group, always covered with the mask with a long beak, declares that there is certainly a traitor among them! This second episode is also presented by an introductory page written by Barbara Garufi of the editorial staff of the TOPOLINO comic book. |
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| In the third story entitled THE WINTER PARTY, Quacky is scolded by the college rector for breaking a window and the evening curfew. As a punishment, in addition to an extra test for the whole class, the young Lord will have to help a girl from the female College in her research in the great library of Paperbridge.
Lord Quackett unwillingly waits for the student in front at the entrance of the library discovering with a mixture of amazement and joy that it is Beth the sister of Tommy. The girl, on the other hand, does not seem to like at all that her assistant is one of the bullies who annoy her brother, but anyway she has to accept the help of Quacky. During the days spent together between the two young student the relationship begins to be less tense so that John invites Tommy's sister to go with him to the winter party organized by the two college a few days later. At first Beth seems interested in the invitation but due to another joke from Quacky against Tommy the shrewd and determined girl decides to decline the invitation and go to the party with his brother.
Lord Quackett returns to his room and finds another message from the fraternity of the masked where he is ordered to steal a copy of the punitive test, otherwise it will be excluded from the group. Quacky decides to carry out the theft and penetrates by forcing the lock into the rector's office, but before he can steal the test the rector returns to the office and Quacky is practically forced to let himself fall from the window over a pile of leaves. While he is cleaning up, one of his class mate tells him to go immediately to the party to see in time another joke, organized by the masked, against Tommy and his sister. Quacky also this time he cannot allow another joke against Tommy, but above all against Beth, and disguising himself as an aviator again he goes at the party making a daring move to prevent his friend Bill Bull from throwing a water balloon at Tommy and sister's heads.
Quacky is then again forced to run from his brethren while Beth her friend Belle and Tommy also leave the party nauseated by the presence of that group of arrogant and rude young noblemen.
Back in the room Quacky finds another message from the masked group inviting him to go to the old "dark side" building at midnight. Reached the place Lord Quackett is accompanied to a basement where in a secret classroom the mysterious head of the brotherhood, always with his face covered by the mask with the long beak, welcomes him to the school of crime!
The ending of the story therefore offers us a link with the famous school of Krimen shown in the italian comic book TOPOLINO n. 835 and 836 by Guido Martina in the adventure PAPERINIK E LA SCUOLA DEL CRIMEN (DUCKS AVENDER AND THE SCHOOL OF KRIMEN) where it is said that the professor of Latin founder of this school for criminals was an old man who died in prison. It is therefore assumed that the mysterious head of the masked fraternity may be precisely the "Krimen", who evidently he was a young professor in the English college of Paperbridge, to whom reference is made in the story of Guido Martina. |
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| In the fourth episode titled THE REGATTA Quacky and the group of the masked begin the lessons at the secret school of crime run by the mysterious masked brotherhood leader who soon turns out to be the unsuspected Professor of Latin at Duckbridge College introducing himself to the masked group under the pseudonym of Krimen. In the next days Lord Quackett splits his time between normal daily lessons and secret nightly lessons on how to steal and crack safes. At that time the usual regatta is being prepared, which involved the team of the College of Duckbridge opposed to that of the College of Duckford, the group of Quacky therefore begins training in the canoe among the inevitable problems since in team is also present Tommy always a victim of bad jokes. During a lesson, the rector of the College informs the students that a copy of the punitive test has been stolen from his office and thus decides to prepare an even more difficult one.
The same evening at the Krimen school the Latin teacher decides to take revenge on the rector and instructs the masked group to steal from his office the cup of the regatta won last year by their college so that the university of Duckbridge this time loses at the table. Quacky having also promised Beth to commit to team up in solidarity with her brother Tommy cannot allow the race to be canceled and his College to lose at the table and then decides to disguise himself again as an "aviator" to secure the cup so that it will be not stolen from the member of the masked group . While he is carrying out the theft, however, he is discovered by his brotherhood friends from the Krimen school and is forced to flee but managing to keep the trophy. Unfortunately in the escape Lord Quackett loses a button on his jacket and the prof. "Krimen " then instructs Bullet to search the students' rooms the next day during the race to find out who owns the jacket who is missing the button.
On race day, both Beth and her friend cheer for the Duckbridge team and despite this losing by a whisker they are both happy with the teamwork done by the boys. Quacky 's usual sarcastic joke ultimately ruins the idyllic situation. Meanwhile the arrogant Bullet searches the room of Quacky and Tommy last, discovering that the mysterious traitor of the masked group is the very unsuspected < b>John Quackett ! Gervasio in this fourth episode finally reveals the true identity of prof. “Krimen mentioned for the first time in the story of Guido Martina PAPERINIK E LA SCUOLA DEL CRIMEN (DUCKS AVENDER AND THE SCHOOL OF KRIMEN) where many years later, ironically, the last scholars of the Krimen school, which in the meantime had obviously moved to America, will have to deal with Duck Avenger heir of Fantomallard
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| In the fifth episode of the Duckbridge mini-series titled THE BOOK OF THE ERRORS Tommy finally discovers that the mysterious individual disguised in aviator outfits, who has helped him on various occasions, is actually his roommate Quacky, between the two then begins a relationship of mutual complicity and friendship.
Lord Quackett must now also convince the rest of the masked group that he is not the masked traitor and in particular his friend Bill Bull who discovered the jacket with the missing button in a drawer in his room. Lord Quackett then agrees with his friend Tommy who, wearing an aviator jacket, intervenes in the garden near the pub while Quacky is talking to Bull thus exonerating his friend.
Bull convinced of the innocence of Quacky confides in him the secret of the power of the brotherhood of the masked and therefore of Krimen which consists in the book of errors, a secret diary in which all the violations of the regulation and the unlawful activities that the various professors have committed are reported . With this book, therefore, Krimen can blackmail most of the faculty to obtain illicit advantages in favor of the brotherhood. Quacky and Tommy then decide to steal the book to expose the evil Krimen . According to the indications that they managed to discover, the volume should be in the library of the Krimen school in the basement of the old building "the dark side" in a location indicated by the professor with the Latin phrase "SURSUM CORDA" Which means "HEARTS ON TOP".
During the night in the secret library, the two discover the book at the top of the shelf hidden inside the cover of the novel HEART OF DARKNESS, but the error diary seems written with an incomprehensible alphabetical code. Lord Quackett then decides to sneak into Professor Krimen's room to look for other writings that could break the code. Taking advantage of the Krimen school's students attending the day after a class wearing masks, Tommy will take over from Quacky so that he can sneak into < b>Krimen’s room.
Unfortunately, the shrewd professor sensed the plan and for the masked lesson he was replaced by another masked student, and after notifying the rector, waits Quacky in the room in order to accuse him of breaking into his room to steal the tests. Lord Quackett tries to clear himself by showing the rector the book of errors but he succeeds only after having realized that in reality the notebook was written in mirror writing from right to left. The rector then fires Krimen who is forced to leave England by moving to America in the state of Calisota where the city of Duckburg is located, where John's family also has possessions.
Quacky also seems to finally make peace with Beth Tommy's sister but she remains hesitant about what still seems to be a dark side in the personality of the young noble. The ending of the story proposes a shocking blow to what a young Flintheart Glomgold who has just arrived from South Africa in England at the College presents himself as a professor, where evidently also having his family of Scottish origins he still has some interest to manage in the United Kingdom.
The presence of this improbable character who, arriving from South Africa, even manages to pass himself off as a Latin professor in a prestigious English college, makes the end of the story decidedly mythological-legendary, always part of that thread of mythical and surreal narratives about the life of Fantomallard..
Also in this story are very interesting the references to the story of Martina PAPERINIK AND THE SCHOOL OF KRIMEN with the famous phrase SURSUM CORDA and the indication that the criminal professor moved to America in Calisota where he opened a new school of Krimen.
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| Dedicated to the fifth episode of the mini serie DUCKBRIDGE the Italian comic book TOPOLINO n. 3383 shows a beautiful cover by Freccero, dedicated to the young Lord Quackett who will become the future Fantomallard. |
JOHN QUACKETT "QUACKY" E PROF. KRIMEN, DUCKBRIDGE COLLEGE 1903 |
COSTUME AND MASK OF KRIMEN EXHIBITED AT TORINO COMICS IN 2022 |
The saga of DUCKBRIDGE continue in the august of the 2021 and it is presented by Barbara Garufi on the Italian comic book TOPOLINO n.3430 where the main charcaters of the saga are described. A short interview to Marco Gervasio is also part of the presentation. |
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| In the sixth chapter of DUCKBRIDGE entitled THE MYSTERY OF THE DARK SIDE John Quackett "Quacky" and companions begin the new year with a new mystery as during the summer break someone says they have glimpsed a mysterious figure wandering around the old college building where Krimen held his lessons for the secret brotherhood. Another important novelty is the new Latin teacher who has replaced Krimen. It is Flintheart Glomgold from South Africa, albeit of Scottish origins.
The presence of this improbable character who, arriving from South Africa, even manages to pass himself off as a Latin professor in a prestigious English college, makes the story decidedly mythological-legendary, always part of that thread of mythical and surreal narratives about the life of < b>Fantomallard. The new professor immediately seems suspicious as he is not well prepared in the subject and strangely interested in one of the students such Roger Barkserville.
Another interesting novelty is the presence at the lessons of the students of the nearby women's college as it is not accessible for restorations. Quacky then meets Beth again, even if the two have the usual conflicting relationship of sympathy and antipathy aggravated by the fact that Roger Barkserville is interested to Beth and openly woo her. A few days later the group of friends decide to do a "test of courage" and go at night to the mathematical bridge that leads to the entrance to the "dark side" of the old college building. Suddenly Belle, the sister of Tommy says she glimpsed a gloomy figure with a long beak looking out at the door to the "dark side". Quackett immediately thinks of the disguise used by Krimen when he was head of the congregation of the masked and bravely decides to enter the old building.
Once inside, explore the various rooms by going even in the secret underground classroom where Krimen held his lessons without discovering anyone. Convinced that Belle's vision was only due to the suggestion Quacky returns to his friends ... but a shady figure in the shadows is watching him!
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| The sixth adventure of DUCKBRIDGE was published in Italy in the comic book TOPOLINO n.3431 with a splendid cover dedicated to the young John Quackett the future Fantomallard. |
| The seventh episode of DUCKBRIDGE entitled THE LOST LIBRARY continues the legendary and improbable narration about the presence of Glomgold in Duckbridge. The adventure begins with Quacky, Roger and Tommy preparing to go to the welcome party for the female students of the nearby College. Quackett unenthusiastic about the event, but mostly annoyed to see Roger wooing Beth, arrives late to the party with his friends Arty and Bull. Due to his jealousy of Roger, Quacky immediately quarrels with Beth and Tommy and decides to leave party. Surprised by the rain, he runs to take shelter inside the dark side (the old College building) and hearing suspicious noises he goes down to the old secret classroom where Krimen was giving lessons for the brotherhood of masquerades.
In the classroom Quackett glimpses a light coming from a secret passage behind a wall and discovers that a guy dressed in a “plague mask” is looking for a mysterious book in what appears to be the legendary lost library of Duckbridge. After finding the book, the mysterious masked leaves the library closing the secret passage without noticing the presence of Quackett who remains stuck inside this secret room with no possibility of reopening the passage from inside. Luckily Tommy had followed him after the fight and seeing the mysterious masked come out of the dark side, he too went down to the old classroom and managed to free Quackett. The two then wonder who could be the mysterious new masquerade and among the volumes scattered on the ground they notice one about the history of the brotherhood of masquerades where on a page there is the image of the two founding members such Hugo Barkserville and Ironheart Glomgold evidently related to their classmate Roger Barkserville and the new Latin professor Flintheart Glomgold.
The day after the two inform the rest of the group of the discovery and again notice the strange behavior of Glomgold who increasingly looks like a fake Latin teacher and who also shares some "secret affair" with Roger. Quacky and Tommy then decide to solve the mystery and the following night they stationed at the entrance to the dark side to try to surprise the new masquerade. After a long wait, a masked figure appears who, however, turns out to be their friend Bull followed by another masked one who turns out to be Roger. The two then say that the brotherhood is active again with a new master Flintheart Glomgold who for now has recruited Bull as the son of a previous leader of the brotherhood and Roger as great-grandson of one of the two founders of the masked fraternity.
The next day at the cottage pub the group of friends receives the news that Roger's father has invited for the weekend all of them and the "professor" Glomgold at his Barkserville Hall residence for his son's birthday. The whole group of friends is enthusiastic about the invitation except Quackett who decides to stay at the College to investigate about Flintheart Glomgold taking advantage of his absence.
In this story besides the misterious lost library of Duckbridge, Gevasio shows also the image of Flintheart Glomgold's grand grandfather named Ironheart Glomgold while the Italian artist Marco Rota on his adventure THE GLOMGOLD HERITAGE published in Danish in 2015 shows other relatives of Flintheart Glomgold his grahdfather Stoneheart Glomgold and his father Brickheart Glomgold.
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| The eighth episode of DUCKBRIDGE entitled THE SECRET OF GLOMGOLD continues the legendary and improbable narration about the presence of Glomgold in Duckbridge. The adventure begins with the group of friends who, together with the fake professor Flintheart Glomgold , go to the estate of Roger Barkserville's father while Quackett who remained at the College sneaks into Glomgold's office. Checking in the drawers of the fake professor's desk, Quacky discovers a letter from Ironheart Glomgold ancestor of in which he talks about a treasure hidden by Hugo Barkserville (Roger's ancestor) in a secret place in the family villa located in the Duckmoore land which is reported to be protected by a "hellish beast". The indication of the treasure was then drawn by Hugo on a map hidden inside a book in the Duckbridge library.
Quackett realizes that the mysterious masquerade discovered days before while he was looking for a book in the lost library, he was none other than Glomgold in search of the treasure map and it is therefore for this reason that even the fake professor decided to go with the students to Barkserville Hall. In the meantime, the group of friends arrived at the villa of Roger's father, decide before dinner to explore the foggy moor regardless of the legend of the " hellish beast" that wanders in those lands, unfortunately shortly afterwards with the thickening of the fog, the group gets lost in the desolate and mysterious land. In the meantime, Quackett has also decided to join his friends in Duckmoore by taking the next train and then being accompanied by car to Barkserville Hall by a certain Topleton a family friend of the Barkserville. Here the young student surprises the fake professor Glomgold with the treasure map and informing him that his cheat and his true intentions have been discovered, then with a clever move he takes the map from Glomgold’s pocket and runs to look for his friends on the moor. While wandering in the Duckmoore moor Quacket hears a frightening howl and sees a huge dog footprint in the ground, although frightened the young man continues the search for his friends whom he fortunately finds shortly after. Suddenly, however, Glomgold also appears, who in an attempt to recover the map stolen by Quackett ends up in a swamp, permanently losing the map and getting stuck in the mud, the group of students returns then towards home amidst the threats of revenge of the perfidious Flintheart Glomgold . Once in Barkserville Hall Quacky, taking advantage of a moment in which he is alone with Beth, declares his love to her which, even if reciprocated, the young woman makes him understand that can there ever be a lasting history and a future together. Meanwhile, not far away in a house on the edge of the moor Topleton it turns out to be actually a mean individual who with some tricks feeds the legend of the terrible hound to make the Barkserville family escape from Duckmoore and have free rein to search in their their villa for the mysterious treasure.
Interesting in this story is the reference to the famous novel The Hound Of The Baskervilles) by Arthur Conan Doyle which stars was the detective Sherlock Holmes and the surprise ending with the criminal Topleton whose intentions are linked to the tenth episode of the Fantomallard saga IL BOTTINO DEI BARKSERVILLE (THE BARKSERVILLE LOOT) relating precisely to the story of the treasure and the fake hound.
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| The ninth and tenth adventure of the DUCKBRIDGE saga entitled THE NIGHT OF THE VANDAL and THE DREAM OF BETH, published on Italian comic book TOPOLINO n. 3489 begin with the third year of college and with the arrival of a new student Brenda. The new year begins with the art course where Beth proves to have remarkable skills as an artist so much so that the professor intends to show one of the paintings made by the young artist to Gustav Tilt director of the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna who could award Beth a scholarship to continue her artistic career in Vienna.
During the night a strange fact happens at the College, the statue of Lord Quackeron who was the founder of the College is vandalized with red paint and by an unfortunate coincidence Tommy, the brother of Beth, is accused of the act. Unfortunately, the situation deteriorates further when even the art course room is found vandalized with the Beth’s painting irremediably ruined.
After a quarrel between Tommy and Bill Bullet the two are brought to the rector and the inspector of the Academic Senate in charge of monitoring the situation at Duckbridge after the deplorable events which occurred in the previous two years. The two are suspended for a week but the Academic Inspector, considering Tommy also responsible for the vandalism on the statue of Lord Quackeron, revokes his scholarship. The student from a not particularly well-to-do family will therefore be forced to leave the College. After learning of the unjust punishment, Quacky bullies into the rector's office and expresses his disappointment, with the result that he also is being suspended for a week.
Back home John Quacket has a discussion with his father about the importance of certain social values and the injustices to which the people of the lower social class are often subjected. Back at the College, the group of friends try to find the real culprit of the vandalism but for a sort of prejudice Brenda, the newcomer, is unjustly blamed. Meanwhile Quacky secretly works in the evenings at the Cottage pub to try to secretly pay the fee to poor Tommy and convinces the owner of the pub to have one of the walls of the pub decorated by Beth so that she can best express her artistic passion. who learned of the praiseworthy initiatives of Quacky decides to make peace with the young noble and between the two finally blossoms that feeling that had been withheld by misunderstandings and social distances.
The next day while a small group of students is gathered in the courtyard of the College John Quackett accuses Roger to be the perpetrator of the vandalism because he wanted to stop Beth, with whom he is in love, to show his painting to the director of the Academy of Vienna and to deflect suspicions and create confusion after soiling the painting he also vandalized the statue of the founder of Duckbridge. Cornered also due to a false declaration of where he spent the night in which the vandal act happened. Roger is thus forced to confess, definitively rehabilitating Tommy.
That same afternoon, while the students are at the Pub, the famous Gustav Tilt arrives, invited by the art professor, to have a look to the Beth’s mural. He is enthusiastic of the work and immediately offered her a scholarship at his Academy in Vienna. Beth is finally fulfilling her dream even though she is very sad to have to leave Quacky. The evening before departure, the two then meet for a last moving goodbye.
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| In May 2023 is published the comic book of the serie LE STORIE IMPERDIBILI DISNEY. This first issue reprints the first five adventure of the mini-saga Duckbridge. This beautiful album also inclused some explicative pages by Marco Gervasio and a couple of introductive pages by Alex Bertani and Alessandro Sisti. |
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| The second comic book of the serie LE STORIE IMPERDIBILI DISNEY is published in August 2023. This volume reprints the other five stories of the mini-saga Duckbridge. This beautiful album also inclused some explicative pages by Marco Gervasio and a couple of introductive pages by Jacopo Iovannitti. |
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| The adventures of DUCKBRIDGE have been also published in France on the comic book MICKEY PARADE GEANT starting from the n.384 in the October 2021. In France the saga has been traslated as CANEBRIDGE. |
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