macmcentire

Rewatching DuckTales! Our heroes fight crime by committing crimes of their own in episode 74, “The Billionaire Beagle Boys Club.” This part four of the “SuperDuckTales” five-parter than originally aired as a prime time made-for-TV movie on ABC.

Thanks to a Beagle Boys scheme, Scrooge relocated his money bin to a mountaintop, and he hired bumbling accountant Fenton Crackshell to help make the move. Scrooge then had a security robot built, only for it to go out of control. Fenton donned a robot suit of his own to become the heroic Gizmoduck. But now the Beagles have hacked Gizmoduck’s suit and forced him to bring the money bin to them. The Beagles hide the bin inside a mock donut factory, and Ma Beagle goes on a wild spending spree. Without his money, Scrooge falls on hard times. He’s forced to sell his mansion, and the buyer is… Ma Beagle!

Ma Beagle tries and fails to impress Duckburg’s high society snobs, while Scrooge tries and fails to find evidence that her newfound fortune is really his. Scrooge and his family stay over at Launchpad’s, while Huey, Dewey and Louie sneak into the mansion in their own search for evidence. They discover Megabyte Beagle controlling Gizmoduck with a remote. They grab some evidence and make a run for it. Scrooge returns the next day with the police. Ma Beagle has already paid off the mayor, though, and Scrooge is the one who gets arrested.

After a failed attempt to bust Scrooge out of jail, the boys get an idea for getting Gizmoduck back on their side. They switch Megabyte’s remote with a toy remote. Gizmoduck doesn’t want to help, feeling remorse for what the Beagles had him do, so the nephews use the remote to make him rescue Scrooge from jail. They pull off the rescue and Scrooge learns Gizmoduck didn’t betray him.

The Beagles make a run for it in that giant truck thing the money bin is attached to, driving the building through the city. Gizmoduck chases them, only for the entire building to go off the city docks and into the ocean. A grizzled old sailor tells Scrooge he better act fast, because in treasure hunting the law is, “finders keepers.”

To be continued!

Humbug: What’s this evidence that Scrooge wants to get from his mansion? His money, of course. He says he’s memorized the serial numbers of every dollar he’s ever made.

Junior Woodchucks: When the three nephews sneak into the mansion, they wear matching dark green stealth suits. This leads to jokes about the boys not being able to tell who is who.

Fasten your seatbelts: Launchpad is back living in that little shack by the airfield. He has hammocks strung up all over the room when Scrooge, the boys, Mrs. Beakeley, Webby, and Ducksworth all move in with him.

Maid and maiden: Mrs. Beakeley tries to get Scrooge out of prison by using Ma Beagle’s methods: A grenade baked into a pie. The plan, for lack of a better word, backfires.

Your move, creep: Gizmoduck’s only real high-tech wonder this time is his awesome strength, busting through prison walls with his fists. When the money bin crashes into the ocean, Gizmoduck doesn’t follow, saying he can’t do water.

Foul fowls: Not only did Ma Beagle pay off the mayor, but the Beagle Boys show up at the courthouse to all sit on the jury. Both Bebop and Bankjob show up dressed as judges. Also, this is the second and final appearance of Megabyte Beagle. The Disney Wiki doesn’t say that he’s the only Beagle Boy not to have a “B” first initial. Instead, it merely states that it’s “rare” for a Beagle Boy to have another initial.

Down in Duckburg: Look closely and you can see the snobs from “The Status Seekers” and the wacky characters from the Explorers Club prominently seen in “The Lost Crown of Genghis Khan.”

Reference row: The phrase “billionaire boys’ club” has had several uses over the years. I suspect this episode’s title uses it in reference to the 1987 miniseries, based on the true story of a criminal Ponzi scheme that ended in murder. The internet informs me that today, Billionaire Boys’ Club is the name of a successful fashion brand.

Thoughts upon this viewing: This is the fourth act in a five-act story, so here’s where the characters are at their lowest points before bouncing back for the finale. A lot of it is goofy sitcom stuff, but it works when taken as part of a whole.   

Next: Aliens of the deep.

• * * * *

Want more? Check out my new ongoing serial, THE SUBTERKNIGHTS, on Kindle Vella. A man searches for his missing sister in a city full of far-out technology and hidden dark magic. The first three chapters are FREE, so give it a shot! Click here for a list of all my books and serials.

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Dr. Doom has escaped from Hell, and in issue #508 he’s possessing our heroes’ minds. Only in comics, I guess.

Recap: After the big battle between Reed and Dr. Doom in issue #500, Doom was sent to Hell and Reed’s face was irreparably scarred. Reed then took over Latveria in hopes of dismantling everything Doom had once built. Both neighboring nations and U.S. troops led by Nick Fury threatened to march on Latveria to stop Reed. For the final phase of Reed’s plan, he trapped Doom and himself in a Mobius room – a pocket dimension where Reed could keep an eye on Doom and keep him out of trouble, for all eternity. When Reed’s teammates learned of this, they attempted a rescue, only for Doom to use his rarely-seen possession/mind-swapping powers to put his mind in Sue’s body. Got all that?

This issue begins with a big fight, as Doom-in-Sue’s-body attacks everyone with invisible force fields, arguing the whole time about how Sue’s teammates always took her great power for granted. Doom-in-Sue’s-body manages to outfight Ben and Johnny in such a way that the two destroy the portal machine leading to the Mobius room. Doom-in-Sue’s-body escapes, and the UN troops open fire on the FF, thinking they’re working with Doom. Nick Fury steps in at the last minute and saves the FF, saying he knows there’s no way that’s really Sue.

Doom-in-Sue’s-body escapes from the castle and out into the Latverian streets. He sees Latverians happy to see him, but then realizes they’re happy to see Sue. As Doom-in-Sue’s-body realizes that the FF took over Latveria in his absence, Reed, Ben, Johnny, and Nick catch up to him. More fighting, as Ben and Johnny use their powers to put pressure on the force fields, causing feedback to overwhelm Doom-in-Sue’s-body. Just when it seems Doom is defeated, he then transfers in mind into Johnny’s body. Doom-in-Johnny’s-body flies off, while Reed and Fury have a quick talk. Reed insists that non-lethal ordinance be used against Johnny, adding that without Doom’s body, there’s nowhere for Doom’s soul to go. Fury says that even if they find a way to stop Doom, Reed will still be responsible for causing an international incident in Latveria.

 Doom-in-Johnny’s-body returns to the castle, only to find all his weapons, technology and fortune gone. Reed and the others catch up to him again, with Reed saying “You have nothing now!” They fight some more, destroying a painting of Doom’s mother, which Reed says is all that was left. Reed fires a weapon that opens a tiny portal to deep space, creating a vacuum in the room. “I won’t even leave you the air in the room, Victor,” Reed says. Doom-in-Johnny’s-body escapes the vacuum, flies up to Ben, and then Doom transfers his mind from Johnny to Ben. Doom-in-Ben’s-body snaps Johnny over his knee like he’s Bane with Batman. He tells Fury that Fury has to kill him in order to save Johnny. Reed tries desperately to think of another way out of this, but with Sue still weak and the vacuum gun recharging, it seems there is no other way.

For a moment, Ben’s personality reemerges, pleading with the others to kill him rather than let Johnny die and let Doom run amok with Ben’s strength. Reed is the one who fires the shot, blasting a huge hole in Ben’s chest. It looks like Ben is dead, but then he come to, barely hanging on. He says he can feel that Doom is gone and not coming back. He tells Reed, “This ain’t yer fault.” Ben says that even though he and others screwed up Reed’s plan, they won anyway. He asks Reed to give his love to the kids, and says he always thought he’d die on Yancy Street, and not someplace as distant as Latveria. His final words are, “What a revoltin’ development this is.” And then he dies.

Cut to six weeks later, where we revisit the Fantastic Four gift shop seen at the start of this story arc, only now it has an “Out of business” sign on the front doors. A news report states that Latveria just held its first democratic election in many years. Despite this, public opinion has turned against Reed and the FF because of Reed’s actions in Latveria. Sue and Reed have a chat over the phone. It appears they have separated, as Reed says he hopes she and the kids are okay, and that he hasn’t heard from Johnny. He says that he turned all his patents over to the government in exchange for dropping the charges, which is making money tight for the family. Reed then admits his biggest mistake was not letting the FF in on his agenda in Latveria, so he promises no more secrets. Then he admits he’s got a new plan – to bring Ben back from the dead.  

Unstable molecule: Reed has put posters around Latveria that are a picture of his face with the words “truth, justice, mercy” below him. He says he was trying to free Latveria, but this looks pretty oppressive.

Fade out: What is this gun that can blow a hole in the Thing’s chest? It’s one of Doom’s last remaining weapons, originally designed to be able to shoot through Sue’s force fields. At the start of the issue, Doom-in-Sue’s-body disables the gun before it can get a shot, so I guess Reed does a quick repair job on it.

Clobberin’ time: At the start of the issue, Ben says it was worth it to let Dr. Doom escape the Mobius room if that meant getting his best friend Reed back. This nicely foreshadows the end of the issue.

Flame on: Although it looks like Doom-in-Ben’s-body is breaking Johnny’s back, the captions state that only Johnny’s collarbone is broken.

Trivia time: She’s not named in this issue, but the winner of Latveria’s first democratic election is Lucia Von Bardas. Her story is later told in the 2004 Secret Wars event. She was revealed to be secretly funded by the Tinkerer, and later became a villainous cyborg.

You’re probably suspecting that Dr. Doom isn’t really dead. You’d be right. He’s going to make a big comeback during the build-up to the controversial Civil War mega-crossover.

Fantastic or frightful? A wild issue, with the FF basically all fighting one another, and in increasingly brutal ways. In terms of this overall plot, this is our transition from act 2 to act 3, and I know things are going to go to some interesting places before it’s all over.

Next: Getting the band back together.

• * * * *

Want more? Check out my new ongoing serial, THE SUBTERKNIGHTS, on Kindle Vella. A man searches for his missing sister in a city full of far-out technology and hidden dark magic. The first three chapters are FREE, so give it a shot! Click here for a list of all my books and serials.

Rewatching DuckTales! One of the reasons I wanted to do this series on this blog is to revisit the Gizmoduck episodes, and we finally meet him in episode 71, “Liquid Assets”… except we don’t.

What’s all this, then? The second half of the 10-episode season two is a five-parter known as “SuperDuckTales.” Like the first half, these five episodes originally aired as a two-hour made-for-TV movie. Except not in syndication this time. These episodes aired on prime time on ABC, as movie on Wonderful World of Disney. Not only that, but this was in May, the all-important sweeps month where the networks brought out their best to get those sweet ratings. Not only that, but this was Mother’s Day that year, with a big push to get the whole family to watch. All this plus the introduction of a new main character meant that even though the series is winding down at this point, someone at Disney was intent on keeping DuckTales going.

Here’s what happens: As part of an elaborate plot to give a birthday gift to their mom, the Beagle Boys mess with some blueprints at City Hall, tricking everyone into thinking the city’s new super-highway must be built across the land where Scrooge’s money bin is. When construction workers show up at the money bin, Scrooge tries to get the mayor to turn them away, but instead gets the old “you can’t fight City Hall” treatment. Scrooge is faced with the conundrum of having to physically move all his money, with a speech about how he prefers liquid assets over frozen assets.

Cut to a bean factory, where hapless accountant Fenton Crackshell is a literal bean counter. He longs for a better career, and he has a crush on hot coworker Dandra Dee. He finds an ad from Scrooge asking for help counting his money during the move. Fenton decides he’s the perfect choice to be Scrooge’s new accountant. Fenton shows up at the interview (it’s some sort of audition, with a bunch of accountants all showing up). Scrooge throws Fenton out, but he keeps coming back for more, not taking no for an answer. Frustrated Scrooge fires a shotgun at Fenton (!) and Fenton impresses Scrooge by counting all the shells as they fly past him. He gets the job.

Cut to a trailer, where Fenton lives with his mother. Fenton wants to celebrate the new job, but s his perpetually-disappointed mother wants nothing to do with him. It’s also here where we establish that “Blabbering blatherskites!” is an expression Fenton uses all the time. Later, the Beagle Boys as real estate agents, offering Scrooge a deal on mountaintop land as a new home for the money bin.

As Scrooge plans to physically move the entire bin, Fenton encourages him to invest his money rather than keep it all in a bin. Scrooge again insists on keeping his money liquid. Fenton takes that literally by dumping all the money in a nearby lake. Thanks to amazing counting powers, Fenton can tell in an instant it is all accounted for. Scrooge, Fenton, and Scrooge’s nephews watch over the money while pretending to be camping.

Launchpad, meanwhile, transports the money bin building to a new location (it’s on the back of some impossibly huge truck). The Beagle Boys set off dynamite to cause an avalanche, and then somehow make off with the entire building. They present the building to Ma Beagle for her birthday, only for them all to find it empty. Scrooge then impersonates a tax man, dropping all sorts of fines on the Beagle Boys for owning an unregulated money bin. Launchpad sneaks the building away (I guess?) while the Beagle Boys investigate Scrooge’s campsite and learn the location of the money.

There’s a lot of comedy bits as the Beagle Boys connive ways to get Scrooge’s money out of the lake. Finally, Big Time Beagle says the best plan is to do nothing, because Fenton is such a screw up that he’ll play into the Beagles’ hands without knowing he’s doing so. Sure enough, when the Beagle Boys override the nearby wooden dam with termites, Fenton tries to save the day by using termite-eating woodpeckers. The woodpeckers destroy the dam, losing all the money, and Scrooge is furious with Fenton.

To be continued!

Humbug: Scrooge’s exact fortune is given in this episode as “600 sentillion, 386 zillion, 947 trillion, 522 billion dollars and 36 cents.”

Junior woodchucks: Huey, Dewey and Louie were initially not invited to Scrooge and Fenton’s camp, but they went anyway. They say whenever they get a strict rule, the “unstrict” it.”

Fasten your seatbelts: Not sure where Launchpad got this huge money-bin-moving truck. It looks like that big thing they drive the space shuttle around in.

Pro-rata: When the show introduced Bubba the cave duck as a new main character, I wondered how much story potential they could get out of him. Someone must have had similar concerns, because Fenton is given tons of story potential before he ever becomes Gizmoduck. This includes his jokey banter with Scrooge, as well as his own cast of supporting characters with his mom and Dandra Dee. Also, we learn Fenton is a “near graduate” of the “banana bran business brochure course.”

Foul fowls: The Beagle Boys in this one are again the classic trio of Big Time, Burger, and Bouncer, with a quick appearance by Ma Beagle. Big Time takes off his cap at one point, and we see he’s balding underneath.

Down in Duckburg: The money bin is on the other side of town from Scrooge’s mansion, rather than right next door. Also, we see Scrooge’s worry room, where he paces in a circle around a statue when he’s worried, causing deep grooves in the floor. The nephews join him in his worrying in one scene.

Reference row: Dandra Dee is named after ‘60s model turned actress Sandra Dee.

Thoughts on this viewing: Another all-jokes-all-the-time episode. I wonder if someone on the DuckTales production wanted the show to be nothing but hacky comedy rather than treasure hunting adventure. But don’t worry, we’re about to get into some outrageous robo-action!

Next: Your move, creep.  

* * * *

Want more? Check out my new book, MOM, I’M BULLETPROOF, now available for the Kindle and the free Kindle app. It’s a comedic/dramatic/romantic superhero epic!

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Except I was busy this week, so here’s some She-Hulk pics instead:

* * * *

Want more? Check out my new book, MOM, I’M BULLETPROOF, now available for the Kindle and the free Kindle app. It’s a comedic/dramatic/romantic superhero epic!

Rewatching DuckTales! The five-part “Time is Money” tale comes to an explosive finale in episode 70, “Ali Bubba’s Cave.”  

Here’s what happens: Picking up from after the last episode, Scrooge is on the run after the Beagle Boys took over his money bin and framed him, and he owes Glomgold $10 million for a diamond mine land deal. Also, he sent Bubba the cave duck back home to prehistoric times. Arriving at his newly-bought island, Scrooge finds Glomgold built a wall around the diamond mine. Glomgold and the Beagle Bous are on the other side, mocking Scrooge, Launchpad and the nephews. Scrooge and company return to their plane, which causes a cave-in, which sends them underground. They’re in caves that might connect to the mine.

Back in dinosaur times, Bubba and his pet triceratops Tootsie return to their time. Bubba misses Scrooge and his new family. He accidentally fires up the time machine, and goes on a romp through various time periods. In the present, Scrooge and the boys explore the underground caves, fighting off giant monsters who happen to live down there. Bubba uses a drawing to tell the time machine’s A.I. (in the form of a weird eyeball robot) where to find Scrooge. He arrives just in time to save everyone from the monster.

Bubba leads everyone to the diamond mine, where Glomgold and the Beagle Boys are waiting. They try burying Scrooge underground with a giant boulder, but Scrooge uses a natural steam vent to break free. Scrooge gets a huge diamond into Glomgold’s hands to pay for the land, but he’s too late. He missed the deadline, and now Glomgold owns the land, diamond mine and all. All Scrooge gets is the useless island off to the side. Then the natural steam vent blows a second time, blasting all the diamonds off Glomgold’s land and onto Scrooge’s island. Scrooge then has a recreation of Bubba’s cave built behind the mansion, so Bubba is here to stay.  

Humbug: My thesis is that the series-long arc of DuckTales is Scrooge learning his family is more important than his money. This one ends when Scrooge gets the diamonds, but then we’re told he spent “a fortune” on creating a new home for Bubba.

Junior Woodchucks: The boys’ Junior Woodchuck guidebook reaches new heights of convenience by somehow knowing these specific underground caves are home to giant monsters.

Fasten your seatbelts: Launchpad’s subplot in this episode is him bringing the plane in for a safe landing instead of crashing it. He wonders what went wrong, only for the plane to end up in the caves, giving him an opportunity to crash it through a wall to help everyone.

Everybody walk the dinosaur: Bubba shows a lot of problem-solving smarts in figuring out how the time machine works. His new home is located on the mansion grounds but not inside the mansion, which is a convenient way-out for all the upcoming episodes that he won’t be in. Where’s Bubba? In his cave.

Foul fowls: The Beagle Boys leave Glomgold behind at the end of the episode, suggesting they won’t be in cahoots anymore. We’ll see how long that lasts.

Reference row: The title refers to Ali Baba, a folk hero who to stole from the 40 thieves by snaking into their hideout with the phrase “Open Sesame.” None of that is in this episode, thought. It’s just a pun.

Thoughts on this viewing: The ongoing plot of the past five episodes wraps up simplistically, but that’s the type of show this is. Even though our new hero Bubba will appear in some upcoming episodes, this five-parter was his moment in the spotlight. His presence challenges Scrooge to dig deep and develop new levels of forgiveness and understanding. And he smashes stuff real good.

Next: DuckTales, as told by William Gibson.

* * * *

Want more? Check out my new book, MOM, I’M BULLETPROOF, now available for the Kindle and the free Kindle app. It’s a comedic/dramatic/romantic superhero epic!

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. To defeat someone as dark as rotten as Dr. Doom, must you become as dark and rotten as he is? That’s the dilemma facing Reed Richards in issue #507.

After the big battle between Reed and Dr. Doom in issue #500, Doom was sent to Hell and Reed’s face was irreparably scarred. Reed then took over Latveria in hopes of dismantling everything Doom had once built. Both neighboring nations and U.S. troops led by Nick Fury threatened to march on Latveria to stop Reed. For the final phase of Reed’s plan, he drove his family away with some awful behavior and left what looked like a suicide note behind. We begin this issue with a tense standoff, where Sue turns her and her teammates invisible in front of Nick Fury and the U.S. troops. Meanwhile, Reed stands alone in Doom’s lab, flashing back to happier times with the family. He presses a button, activating a machine that makes him disappear. Then a self-destruct countdown starts.

Cut to Hell (yes, the Hell) where Dr. Doom is held prisoner by two demons trying to get a reaction out of him. He fades away from Hell and enter a domed room with images of his past all around him. Reed is there, and he tells Doom, “You only thought you were in Hell.” Reed explains that they are in a “Mobius dimension” of Reed’s invention. Any door Doom exits leads him back to the center of the room. There is no exit for either of them. Reed says he’s trapped Doom to keep him where Reed can see him.

Nick Fury leads the troops through the Latverian streets, insisting that the castle is their target, and they must hit it with everything they got. In the Mobius room, Reed and Doom argue for a bit. Doom tries the trick where he takes over Reed’s mind, but it would not get him anywhere. Doom says there must be a way out, because Reed would not abandon his family. Reed says leaving his family behind is why he has done this. Reed says the room is Doom’s jail, and Reed is his jailer – for the rest of eternity. Reed says Doom has succeeded in separating Reed from everyone he loves, leaving him only with hate. 

Reed and Doom banter some more, referencing Doom’s origin, and how Reed tried to warn him about the experiment that mangled Doom’s face. Doom then turns on Reed, saying that he’s the real jailer, and this room is punishment for Reed’s sins. Reed says it doesn’t matter either way, because there is no way out for either of them. Then, as if on cue, Sue, Ben, and Johnny come smashing through the wall. Reed tells them to get out before Doom escapes.

In Latveria, we’re reunited with Nadja, the female Latverian soldier from the start of this arc. She’s a civilian now, following Reed’s orders that the army stand down to avoid bloodshed. She jumps out in front of Fury and the U.S. troops. Fury tells her he has no choice but to invade because Reed violated international law. She calls him a hypocrite. She says Doom’s crimes over the years were far worse, but the U.N. always granted him diplomatic immunity. Other Latverians march into the street voicing similar sentiments, hoping that Reed will fight Doom if Doom returns.

The U.N. troops march on anyway, breaching the castle and finding all four of the FF unconscious in Doom’s not-destroyed lab. The FF wake up, and the troops say they’re under arrest. Then Sue cuts loose with a force field, murdering three of the soldiers. Turns out this isn’t Sue, Doom did the switch-consciousness trick on her. Doom-in-Sue’s-body says, “I always said Susan was more powerful than the three of you put together…”

To be continued!

Unstable molecule: Reed has programmed/designed the Mobius room to show images from Dr. Doom’s past all over the walls. I’m assuming this is part of Reed’s talk about showing Doom his “sins.”

Fade out: If the Mobius dimension is impenetrable, complete with a self-destruct, how did Sue, Ben, and Johnny get inside it so quickly? Sue says, “We saw you vanish!” and “Thank heaven we figured out how to follow you.” This suggests an accelerated timeline for the comic, that Sue and company arrived from their meeting with Nick just before the self-destruct went off.

Clobberin’ time: Ben tries to reason with Fury by calling him “Nick,” hinting at their shared past as soldiers. Fury is all business, addressing Ben as “Mister Grimm.”

Flame on: Johnny does very little this issue other than provide backup to Sue and Ben. When the military goons announce the FF is under arrest for international terrorism, Johnny quips, “For a second, I thought we were in trouble.”

Trivia time: Reminder that Dr. Doom learned his mind-swapping/body-swapping trick from the alien Ovoids, way back in issue #10, and he used the power again to escape death at the hands of Terrax the Tamer in issue #260.

The Marvel Wiki insists that the demons tormenting Dr. Doom are the Hazareth Three, the same ones he dealt with to get his jacked-up sorcery powers at the start of this storyline. This would appear to be their final appearance. The Hazarath Three also name-drop Mephisto, so add this issue to the debates about whether Mephisto is the actual  devil, or a devil-like cosmic being.

Fantastic or frightful? This is some truly dark stuff, with Reed creating a nightmare situation to put himself in. Part of me wonders why they don’t stay in the Mobius room longer and really lean into the drama of it all, but then maybe it’s better to only get a hint of it and leave the rest to our imaginations.

Next: One last Thing.

* * * *

Want more? Check out my new book, MOM, I’M BULLETPROOF, now available for the Kindle and the free Kindle app. It’s a comedic/dramatic/romantic superhero epic!