Daring duck of mystery
Champion of right
Swoops out of the shadows
Darkwing owns the night
Somewhere some villain schemes
But his number’s up

(3-2-1)

Darkwing Duck (When there’s trouble you call DW)
Darkwing Duck (Let’s get dangerous!)
Darkwing Duck (Darkwing, Darkwing, duck!)

Dynamite Comics’ fourth comic series featuring the Terror that Flaps in the Night has arrived. Today, we will take a look at Darkwing Duck #1.

Release Date: March 5th, 2025

Writer: Daniel Kibblesmith

Artist: Brandt&Stein

Colorist: Dearbhla Kelly

Letterer: Fabio Amelia

Editor: Nate Cosby

Covers by: Tad Stones, Brandt&Stein, Ciro Cangialosi, Mark Bagley, Nicoletta Baldari

Dangerous Covers

Dynamite teaming up with the creator of Darkwing Duck, Tad Stones, for the Darkwing Duck Kickstarter and hiring him to do covers for this series was a dynamite move on their part. Tad Stones is so beloved by multiple generations of fans who grew up watching his work on several shows of the Disney Afternoon. Darkwing Duck fans will be purchasing at a minimum the Tad Stones cover each month to own great artwork from such an admirable and inspiring Disney Legend. Tad’s enthusiasm for the past Dynamite Comics Darkwing Duck series as well as his contributions to this new series is a very big deal for Darkwing fans. We love you Tad! Tad’s cover for Darkwing Duck #1 features and reminds fans that Darkwing Duck has the all time best villains rogue gallery.

All the covers for this first issue are very dangerously fitting for this series. I applaud Brandt&Stein’s cover for having Megavolt shock Darkwing and going the funny route. There were too many variant covers in the previous series that went for serious Batman covers when this is supposed to be a fun and funny series. I love Ciro Cangialosi from his work on covers from Dynamite Comics’ first Darkwing Duck series as well as his work as the illustrator on Dynamite Comics’ Negaduck series. Ciro’s Darkwing Duck covers are always must owns. Nicoletta Baldari and Mark Bagley’s covers feature artistic action covers of the St. Canardian Guardian. I love Baldari’s art style on Darkwing. I ended up preordering the Tad Stones, Brandt&Stein, and Ciro Cangialosi covers. A very dangerous splurge purchase was also made on the metal variant version of the Tad Stones Darkwing Duck #1.

Official Synopsis:

He is the terror that flaps in the night! The fowl that felons most fear! A legend in his own time (and his own mind)! He is… DARKWING DUCK!

But how did this avian exemplar develop his redoubtable reputation? What lessons did he learn in his early days of crime-busting and foe-foiling? His legion of fans (or, at least, his adopted daughter, Gosalyn) want to know – and DW is more than happy to tell her the whole (possibly embellished) story in this unauthorized (and unorganized) autobiography!

My Recap

*STOP READING HERE IF YOU WANT TO AVOID ALL SPOILERS*

This new Darkwing Duck comic series story arc is titled Year One, and this first issue is Part One of Twelve which will be really exciting news for Darkwing Duck fans to hear that we will be getting at least twelve issues for this comic series. Part One is titled “Hi, Voltage!” and features classic Darkwing Duck villain, Megavolt. The first five pages has a very cinematic look to them. Darkwing Duck crashes his Ratcatcher motorcycle through a window of a debonair party of the high society of St. Canard who are all wearing masks. DW refers to the party leader as his arch nemesis, but the character has no face and Darkwing does not know his name. It turns out that Drake was reading a slightly exaggerated Darkwing bedtime story to Gosalyn. Gosalyn asks if it all really happened. Drake may have embellished some details. Drake realizes that he should really get an arch nemesis if he wants to be a legendary hero because all serious heroes have an arch nemesis. This comic appears to take place not long after the events of the pilot episode of Darkwing Duck, “Darkly Dawns the Duck”.

Drake wants Gosalyn to go to bed, but there is literally a carnival going on right outside her window. Darkwing gets notified of a crime at St. Canard Energy Research. Launchpad is assigned to watch Gosalyn and make sure she stays in bed which is no short task. Darkwing arrives at the St. Canard Energy Research to find Megavolt trying to steal a Max-Capacity Super Battery. Megavolt hilariously does not recognize Darkwing even though he says they have fought on multiple occasions. After zapping DW with the battery, Megavolt heads to the carnival for a battery recharge. Gosalyn and Launchpad happen to be at the carnival as well after Gosalyn talked LP into wanting some cotton candy. We get a Keen Gear from Gosalyn which was something that I noticed was missing from Dynamite Comics first Darkwing Duck series.

Darkwing decides that he wants Megavolt to fill the role of his arch nemesis which is an idea that Megavolt is strongly against. A fight breaks out between DW and his want to be arch nemesis on one of the carnival’s rollercoasters. Darkwing wants Megavolt to fill out a questionnaire of an arch-enemy compatibility quiz. Darkwing gets an idea to plug the Max-Capacity Super Battery into the outlet on Megavolt’s suit. This action drains Megavolt’s powers. Megavolt turns down Darkwing’s invitation yet again to be his arch nemesis as he is hauled off to jail. We get a preview silhouette to the villain that Darkwing will face in the next issue…Dr. Reginald Bushroot.

I am genuinely excited for the next issue of Darkwing Duck when Darkwing Duck goes up against Bushroot. Maybe Bushroot will want to be Darkwing’s arch nemesis.

Review

This is the Darkwing Duck comic that fans have been waiting for. I enjoyed the previous Dynamite Comics Darkwing Duck comic series, but this one definitely has a different feel to it. Daniel Kibblesmith being so familiar with the characters delivered on the authenticity of our favorite characters. Darkwing Duck, Launchpad McQuack, Gosalyn Mallard, and Megavolt acted like the characters that we live and were scripted to say dialogue that those characters would actually be expected to say. I heard the voices of Jim Cummings, Terry McGovern, Christine Cavanaugh, and Dan Castellaneta in my head as I read each panel. The comic had the same humor and heart of the original animated show, and I found things to laugh at on each page. As someone that was ten when the Darkwing Duck animated series first aired, I felt like this comic was written with the ultimate Darkwing Duck fans in mind as the target audience. If you can create something that excites even the most obsessed of the Darkwing Duck audience, then you have successfully created something that any audiences familiar with Darkwing will love. This issue #1 is an excellent issue to pull Darkwing fans into the complete series.

Brandt&Stein bring their unique art take on the St. Canardian Guardian and his family. The comic has an early 90s Disney Comics look and feel to it. I enjoyed the contrast differences in the art from when Darkwing Duck is talking about himself from his own point of view to when he is living his real life adventures. There are a lot of panels that will get a double laugh not just from the dialogue that the characters are saying but from the hysterical animated facial expressions that the characters are making. The colors of the comic by Dearbhla Kelly reminded me of the color styles that you would find from the Darkwing Duck comics in the classic Disney Afternoon Adventures magazines of the early 90s.

Darkwing Duck enthusiasts will be thrilled to find this comic series to be authentically Darkwing.

The next dangerous adventure from Year One of the Daring Duck of Mystery and the Champion of Right will be available at your local comic book shop tentatively in March. Preordering your books at your comic book shop is always recommended. Be sure to check out the other current Dynamite Comics Disney releases: DuckTales and Zootopia.

You can read our interviews with the Darkwing Duck creative team below:

Daniel Kibblesmith Interview

Brandt&Stein Interview

Let us know what you thought of Darkwing Duck #1 in the comments below. What cover(s) did you get?

Don’t forget to follow @DuckTalks and @DynamiteComics for all of the Disney comic news.