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: April 30th, 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
Official Synopsis:
As a costumed crimefighter with years of experience safeguarding the streets of St. Canard, Darkwing Duck is, of course, a seasoned master of wing-to-wing combat. But how, exactly, did this avian avatar of justice become so proficient in the ways of the fist and (webbed) feet? For years the full story has been shrouded in mystery – until now!
In this special Untold Tale of Darkwing Duck, readers will be transported back to DW’s earliest days at the Training Temple of the Venerable One, where the Old Master imparted wisdom and takedowns in equal measure – and where a young Darkwing learned the value of patience, self-control, and standing up to bullies!
My Recap
*STOP READING HERE IF YOU WANT TO AVOID ALL SPOILERS*
Every third issue of this comic series will be a chapter from “The Secret History of Darkwing Duck” which will answer the question of how Darkwing became the hero he is today. This is the third issue. In this issue, we will learn “Where did Darkwing learn Martial Arts?”
This issue is an all about Darkwing story from his past. So there is no Launchpad and Gosalyn is on the first and last page of the issue as she is read the story from the Autobiography of Darkwing Duck by her dad. The current story that she is hearing is boring her so Darkwing goes to the very beginning of the book to find a story with more action. Darkwing reminisces as he loooks at a karate outfit in a glass case which has an orange mask and orange gi uniform.
The story flashback starts with Drake taking a steep snowy trail up a mountain to a temple. As Drake knocks on the door and the door flings open, he tumbles down the mountain to ascend his journey to the temple monastery again. It is a total Drake move. The journey up the mountain is a test of persistence which Drake passes and is let into the temple on a technicality that someone else more worthy arrives at the same time, and the head of the monastery needs someone to do some chores. The blind head monk is referred to as the Venerable One. His friends call him Vinny, but Drake can call his Venerable One.
Drake is wearing the orange karate outfit that we see him admiring in the glass case before the flashback. He has chores like washing dishes and tidying up the meditation sand garden. Drake makes a sand statue of himself which the Venerable One knocks down with a chi clap. The large student that arrived at the same time as Drake becomes his bully who takes every opportunity to make Drake look bad. Another task that Drake is assigned is to dust all of the dust jackets at the monastery library. Drake gets obsessed with a book on the top shelf that is referred to as the Ancient Book of Ancientness. He does not get to read that book yet.
Drake gets told by the Vulnerable One that he will be kicked out of the monastery after trying to get back at his bully by dumping ghost peppers in his soup. Drake decides that he will need to learn from the Ancient Book of Ancientness before he leaves. he climbs the ladder to the book shelf and the book hits him in the head as Drake and the book fall to the ground. He opens the book and understands what the Vulnerable One was trying to teach him. The next day Drake wakes up early and tends to the sand garden. The bully and his followers want to send him home with a few lumps for the road. Drake is skillfully able to defeat them all by dodging their advances and not fighting back. We have seen him do this before in the animated series, The Vulnerable One is impressed by Drake for standing up to the bully and not fighting. Drake can call him Vinny now. Drake gets permission from Vinny to use the chi clap on the bully which sends him tumbling down the mountain side like Drake in the beginning of this story.
Drake shows Vinny that he discovered that the Ancient Book of Ancientness is actually a blank book which taught him to achieve inner calm. That is not the actual Ancient Book of Ancientness as that book is actually in Vinny’s personal collection for safe keeping. The blank book is given to Drake which is actually the book that Darkwing used for his autobiography. At the end of the story, we see that Gosalyn has put on Drake’s karate costume and is practicing some fighting moves.
We get silhouette previews of the villains that Darkwing will face in the next issue, Quackerjack and Lilliput Gooney are teaming up against the Terror That Flaps in the Night.
Review
We got our first issue diving into Drake’s pre-Darkwing past. This story revealed where Darkwing got his book that he has been using for his autobiography. We also get to see early stages of Darkwing learning to be persistent in tasks and keeping calm in his fighting style. I enjoyed this issue for its new pre-Darkwing lore, but I have to say that I miss Darkwing’s great interactions with Launchpad and Gosalyn from the first two issues. There were no classic Darkwing Duck villains in this issue, but we did get the Vulnerable One “Vinny” who could pop up in future the Secret History of Darkwing Duck issues. The art like the previous issues were all on point and dangerous. This Darkwing Duck series could be my favorite Disney series from Dynamite Comics so far.
LET’S GET DANGEROUS!
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 June. 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:
Let us know what you thought of Darkwing Duck #3 in the comments below. What cover(s) did you get?
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