Emma's Comic Blog

The Uncle Scrooge comic series as well as other works by Carl Barks are really interesting expansions on the Mickey Mouse universe. This world is comprised by mainly ducks and dogs, with the occasional mouse and, in Peg Leg Pete’s instance, at least one cat. Uncle Scrooge, while he has some morality, can also be devious and is very stingy with his money, so it’s curious to see a morally grey character be the lead in a series. We’re supposed to want Scrooge McDuck to succeed against Flintheart Golmgold or Magica De Spell because he’s slightly more “good” than they are. When Donald is around him, he’s usually the straight man instead of being easily irritable or prone to bad luck. I’ve only seen a little bit of the new reboot of DuckTales on Disney XD and minimal knowledge of the eighties version, but it looks like as time goes on the triplets each get their own personalities and are more easily distinguishable. Scrooge makes money not to spend it, but to collect it and sho...

During our class’s time in the library, I read through some of the Little Orphan Annie comic strips by Harold Gray. I’ll preface this with a confession: as of the time of this post, I have never seen any Annie movie... Except for Annie from 2014, but no one counts that. The only Annie knowledge I knew was absorbed through cultural osmosis. I wasn't even aware that Annie was a comic until a few years ago.             What surprised me most about the Annie strip was that it had continuity and an ongoing story. Annie goes through many different foster parents before being sent back or running away. It’s also quite sad: even if the strip of the week might have a joke for an ending, the story itself is very depressing as it is telling of even foster kids going through the system today.             One thing that I thought would be distracting was the art style...

The comic strip Peanuts is iconic with a capital I, so much so that it has transcended mediums from comics to television specials to commercials to a theatrical film. Peanuts is recognizable even to those that haven’t read it through cultural osmosis. However, this week while I read through some of the first Peanuts strips, I was very surprised to see how much the franchise has evolved. The characters and themes of the early strips have transformed dramatically since it’s inception.             Charlie Brown, as we know him today, is a shy, kind-hearted elementary schooler who can’t fly a kite or play baseball, but tries his best and loves his friends, his sister, and his dog. Charlie Brown’s original incarnation, on the other hand, is a prankster who tries to act like an adult and wants to be well-liked by girls without trying very hard. Charlie Brown’s iconic canine companion, Snoopy, is less anthropomorphiz...