Disney Masters

Fantagraphics launched the Disney Masters Series with Vol. 1: The Delta Dimension in May 2018. Since then they have published a few new volumes in the Disney Masters series each year. Volumes have been alternating between the central character and story being Mickey Mouse related or Donald Duck/Uncle Scrooge.

Fantagraphics presents Disney Masters – acclaimed artists from around the world working in the grand Walt Disney tradition. Many of these stories are new to American readers and appear here for the first time in English. Fresh new artwork, fresh new adventures, and fresh new laughs!

Disney Masters Vol. 19: Trapped in the Shadow Dimension

Book Description:

Mickey Mouse is up against menacing shadows, monster robots, and a dimension of danger in epic comics adventures by modern-day Disney fan favorite Andrea “Casty” Castellan!

All of Mouseton is swooning over the odd “Mr. Benevolence,” a masked philanthropist who can’t stop doing good ― or can he? Mickey thinks he’s behind the vanishing of the atomic genius Dr. Einmug ― and the arrest of Einmug’s otherworldly helper, Atomo Bleep-Bleep! But things get strange when the villainous Pegleg Pete turns up where Mickey least expects him: a “Shadow Dimension” in which fiction becomes fact!

Walking in the footsteps of Disney giants Floyd Gottfredson and Romano Scarpa, Italian writer/artist Andrea “Casty” Castellan is among today’s most inspired and beloved Mickey Mouse comics creators. After many reader requests, Fantagraphics Books is thrilled to present the first Disney Masters volume by the beloved Disney cartoonist Casty!

And “Trapped in the Shadow Dimension” is just the start! Also: in this volume, Scrooge McDuck squares off with “The Terrible, Terrible Triple-Dimensional Beagle Boy”… while in “The World to Come,” Mickey and Minnie are headed to far-off Illusitania for royal intrigue, robot war… and a showdown with that dastardly, poetic secret agent, The Rhyming Man!

Disney Masters Vol. 19: Trapped in the Shadow Dimension will be released by Fantagraphics in May 2022.

This volume of the Disney Masters series is 192 pages and features Disney Master Andrea “Casty” Castellan.

A short biography on Andrea “Casty” Castellan is included in the back of the book.

Disney Masters Vol. 19: Trapped in the Shadow Dimension is available in hardcover and Kindle\Comixology versions. A link to buy this book can be found at the end of this review.

Included Stories

There are 3 stories included in Disney Masters Vol. 19:

• Trapped in the Shadow Dimension
• The Terrible, Terrible Triple-Dimensional Beagle Boy
• The World to Come

Mickey Mouse and his friend from the Delta Dimension, Atomo Bleep-Bleep, travel to the Shadow Dimension to search of the missing Dr. Einmug. They are going to discover the secret behind Mr. Benevolence who acts like a gracious philanthropist to the world, but he may just be too good to be true. Will Mickey and Atomo Bleep-Bleep find their missing friend and escape the Shadow Dimension? You will have to read Trapped in the Shadow Dimension to find out.

We get a great modern Scrooge McDuck story with The Terrible, Terrible Triple-Dimensional Beagle Boy. Gyro invents a super advanced 3D printer that Scrooge wants to capitalize on with selling with the intent on the buyers getting addicted to the microtransactions that come along with owner the 3D printer. The Beagle Boys get their hands on an giant version of the 3D printer to print a giant Beagle Boy to rob Scrooge’s money bin.

The World to Come is an epic multi part adventure involving Mickey Mouse and Eega Beeva versus super spy and evil genius, the Rhyming Man, and his quest to become king of the world via super computers and giant robots.

Final Thoughts

This is the first Disney Masters volume from Fantagraphics dedicated to stories from writer/artist Andrea “Casty” Castellan. I loved his modern takes and storylines for Mickey Mouse that still brings a nostalgia feel of the popular Mickey Mouse stories of the past by Floyd Gottfredson and Romano Scarpa. The Scrooge McDuck story in this volume was my favorite as Scrooge trying to get rich off of microtransactions is so on brand for his character and hilarious to me. I hope Fantagraphics releases additional Andrea “Casty” Castellan Disney Masters volumes in the future as the stories were fun reads with great looking art work.

I love the Disney Masters series because we get treated to stories and illustrations from more great Disney comic creators besides the legendary Barks and Rosa. We may have never had a chance to read these stories outside of Fantagraphics’ Disney Masters series.

I am definitely looking forward to reading future volumes of Fantagraphics’ Disney Masters series. A big thank you to Fantagraphics for sending us this book to review so that we can continue our education and journey through the history of Disney Comics.

You can purchase Disney Masters Vol. 19 at the link below:

Order: Disney Masters Vol. 19: Mickey Mouse: Trapped in the Shadow Realm

The next new release volumes in the Disney Masters series has already been announced and are available for preorder:

Order: Disney Masters Vol. 20: Donald Duck: 20,000 Leaks Under the Sea

Order: Disney Masters Vol. 21: Mickey Mouse: The Monster of Sawtooth Mountain

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