On Tuesday, August 7th, Fantagraphics will be releasing the fourth volume in their Disney Masters series. Disney Masters Volume 4: Donald Duck: The Great Survival Test is be a compilation of Donald Duck comics by Daan Jippes and Freddy Milton, and it is available in hardcover format or Kindle/ComiXology.

The previous Donald Duck volume was Disney Masters: Volume 2: Donald Duck: Uncle Scrooge’s Money Rocket. I read through that volume last week and really enjoyed it. You can read my review on that book here.

Our friends at Fantagraphics were nice enough to send us an advanced copy of The Great Survival Test ahead of its officially release next Tuesday.

Collected Issues

The previous Donald volume included several collected issues that make up three main stories. It was the first time that any of those Italian comics stories had been published before in the United States.

This volume includes 18 Donald Duck comic stories by the Dutch and Danish team of Dann Jippes and Freddy Milton. These stories were originally published in the Netherlands. Some of these stories have been republished in the United States in the Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories comics.

List of stories:

• The Great Survival Test
• The Success Test
• A Clean Case of Competence
• The Do-Gooders’ League
• Donald’s Happy Birthday
• Copious Quantities of Cod Liver Oil
• Disco-Ducks
• Haste Makes Waste
• Allworth and No Play
• Going to Sea
• Rewarding Formula
• Sauce for the Duck
• Arrested Development
• Coat of Harms
• The Right Man on the Wrong Spot
• Scooting to Success
• Bet You Didn’t
• The Briefcase Case

Official Synopsis

Huey, Dewey, and Louie find themselves tested by more than just harsh weather conditions in this new series highlighting classic comic book creators.

Watchful uncle Donald Duck doesn’t want Huey, Dewey, and Louie taking on a daring Junior Woodchuck mission at 20 degrees below zero. But Donald’s “survivalist” nephews insist they can stake out the coldest night of the year in an abandoned trailer in the wilderness ― so Unca Donald vows he’s gonna teach them a lesson! Daan Jippes and Freddy Milton were the first to continue Barks’s art and storytelling style in new stories. And, “The Great Survival Test” is just the start of the mayhem! From Donald’s war with Lucky Gladstone in “The Briefcase Case” to Daisy’s race against time in “Coat of Harms,” an amazing collection of Duck Family adventures is here! Full-color illustrations throughout.

Thoughts

This book is full of great Donald Duck stories. Unlike the previous volume, Scrooge McDuck only has a cameo appearance in only one of the eighteen stories. This is great because even though I love me some Scrooge McDuck, we get more of other great characters like Gladstone, Daisy Duck, and Gus Goose. We also meet a lot of the citizens of Duckburg.

A lot of the stories in this book have to do with Donald Duck’s odd jobs around Duckburg and his relationships and experiences with the people that live there. I don’t think I have seen any other character have more jobs than Donald Duck. We also see stories where Donald tries to reach his nephews valuable lessons and Donald ends up learning the lesson in the end. Gladstone and Donald have quite the rivalry, and we get to see multiple competitions in this book between the two of them. I love the Gladstone character even more after reading the stories from this book. We also get treated to two stories where Donald Duck makes no appearance at all with a story featuring Daisy Duck and another story featuring Gus Goose.

I love the Disney Masters series because we get treated to stories from other great Duck comic creators besides the legendary Barks and Rosa. Dann Jippes and Fred Milton bridged the gap between the Carl Barks and Don Rosa Duck comics.

I am looking forward to reading the next duck volume in the Disney Masters series, Disney Masters: Volume 6: Uncle Scrooge: King of the Golden River.

You can purchase Volume 4 at the link below:

Disney Masters Volume 4: Donald Duck: The Great Survival Test

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