By Sam King

Uncle Scrooge and his duckling nephews are back in another issue of DuckTales. This time they try to retrieve the stone sculpture of two-headed Janus’ horse from Hades and Dewey is saved from turning to a life of botanical crime. The issue is light and fun, while hitting all the right family tones that the show has been bringing to its’ audiences.

In the first adventure, Dewey has begun trimming hedges by moonlight. Huey becomes suspicious and discovers his secret. Looking out for his brother, Huey plots a way to turn Dewey back to a path that doesn’t involve plant vandalism, with the help of his trusty Junior Woodchuck guidebook. The next adventure takes Donald Duck along with Scrooge and his nephews to Hades. This is the location, not the Disney character, although it does include some of the fun mythological dangers that are usually paired in the underworld with Hades. They have a run-in with the hydra and Cerberus as they pursue a horse-headed rock sculpture.

This issue keeps things fun and brings forth two good stories that focus on sibling love and drama paired with using information we learn from our family that helps us when we need it most. The pacing of each story is right on the mark and each delivers a satisfactory episodic piece, which was one of my bigger complaints about the previous issue. The issue maintains the characteristics and art style from the current animated series, so there are no major changes in that area.

One of the things that is most enjoyable about these issues, is that even with watching just a handful of episodes, a young fan could pick any of these up and have fun. None of the issues so far directly continue any of the show’s big plot lines and none of the issues have been cliffhangers continued in another issue. Each one stands on its own, which means that missing one issue here or there, at this point, will not ruin anything. Also, families can pick and choose which issues they would like most, since none seem to follow any particular timeline or plot arc. They are standalones that just add more stories for the characters to be a part of.

As usual, DuckTales delivers fun for a young audience. While I think it would be neat for the stories to branch into a longer arc at some point, it seems like the episodic stories might be more convenient and beneficial to young readers overall. The issues succeed at adding more fun, which is particularly good for waiting in between weeks for new episodes as the first season appears to be nearing its end soon. Kids will get their fill and be able to double enjoy one of their favorite shows, while still getting quality family tones included that aren’t overly preachy.  

Score: 3/5

DuckTales #10
IDW Publishing