Book Review: Darkwing Duck: Campaign Carnage by Ian Brill

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Creative story with some well done laughs

Cons: Nothing for this Darkwing fan

The Bottom Line: 

Politician Duck

Faces villains and brings laughs

Entertaining book

"I Am the Change You Can Believe In.  I Am Darkwing Duck!"

In a move that has greatly sadden many Darkwing Duck fans, Disney has canceled their license with Boom! Studios for comic books.   That makes Campaign Carnage one of the last Darkwing Duck stories we might ever see.  At least it was entertaining.

These comic books are based on characters from the Disney afternoon show from the early 90's.  They follow the adventures of Darkwing Duck, a super hero inspired by Batman, but without quite the same charm and sophistication.  Instead, he's as likely to cause more chaos than good before he saves the day in the end.  But he has an ego big enough to make up for it.  The resulting antics always provide laughs.

When a new villain in town kidnaps the mayor, he decides enough is enough, and he resigns.  Never one to avoid the spotlight, Darkwing Duck immediately throws his hat into the ring.  But can the superhero keep the city safe from the new villains that seem to pop up over night and campaign?  And what will happen when Launchpad also enters the race?

While entertaining, the first part of the book seemed out of place with what was coming.  However, everything came together in the end, and it all made perfect sense.  Beside, it's hard to complain with Darkwing and his friends entertaining.

And entertain they do.  There are the usual gags and laughs along the way.  Plus there's plenty of danger and some interesting new villains.  In a nice nod to the series, some of the one off villains show up as well for cameos.

The illustrations continue to be great at capturing the characters as they look in the series and showing us the action.  For those looking for Disney cameos in the background, I didn't see quite as many as previous volumes, but the ones I did gave me some laughs.

There are two bonus stories at the front of this book.  "Toy with Me" finds Darkwing facing off against arch-nemesis Quackerjack who has found a way to turn people into toys.  Meanwhile, "The Untimely Terror of the Time Turtle" features a new villain who has found a way to travel through time.

The ending of this book sets up a cross over story with DuckTales, a story that wound up being the swan song for these comics.  You can bet I'll be reading it.

I have to mention some of the swipes made at politics here.  They are spot on and especially timely as I read this during the 2012 election.  Kids may miss it, but adults fans will appreciate it.

Campaign Carnage is just as much fun as the best of Darkwing Duck has always been.  Fans will be pleased.