Darkwing Duck #2 Review

Writer: Amanda Deibert
Art: Carlos Lauro
Publisher: Dynamite Comics
Price: $3.99
Release Date: February 22nd, 2023

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THE DISPATCH

Another fun adventure from the Terror that flaps in the night. Darkwing Duck #2 is another exciting romp in the city of St. Canard, this time featuring the terrible toymaker known as Quackerjack. This issue focuses less on the villain, however, and more on Darkwing’s relationship with his daughter, Gosalyn. There are jokes about phone booths and landline phones, which serve as a humorous commentary on how much technology has changed over the years. The real confusing part though is that there are toy rubber ducks in a city of anthropomorphic ducks. Are rubber ducks to them like toy humans are to us? Darkwing’s alter ego, Drake Mallard, mentions “way back in the 1990’s” yet Gosalyn looks the same. Does she not age? Maybe that’s thinking too deeply about a comic based on a cartoon about talking ducks. It is interesting how they point out Drake never really had a technical job during the course of the show, but they also show humorous side jobs of Drake and Launchpad, such as a flashback of them as door-to-door doorknob salesducks.

The pacing in this issue could better. The action in fighting Quackerjack and his toys is exciting, but after Quackerjack is defeated, the ending seems a bit anticlimactic, and it could be difficult to follow without the dialogue. The story flows well, for the most part, but the ending seems kind of abrupt and out of the blue, not really being hinted at earlier. That being said, it seems appropriate that Drake changes into Darkwing in a photo booth, playing at his massive ego. Quackerjack could have had a bit more dialogue though. You can definitely hear the voices of Jim Cummings, Michael Bell, Terry McGovern and Christine Cavanaugh coming through the dialogue of their respective characters.

ART

The art in Darkwing Duck #2 continues to be as good as the first issue, and very much in the style of the show. Quackerjack’s teddy bear is reminiscent of a fearsome version of Winnie the Pooh. There is quite a creative use of onomatopoeias such as “Banana Crashanana”, “Quacker snatch”, and “Launch-slam”. There is a great panel showing Quackerjack with a crazed expression on his face, as well as a heroic panel of Darkwing as he triumphantly shouts his signature catchphrase. This issue utilizes a lot of color and is very bright. In particular, the purple in Darkwing’s costume, the yellow rubber ducks and the blue in a lot of the background images really stand out. Drake Mallard’s home seems to be drawn to match how it looked on the show.

FINAL THOUGHTS

All in all, Darkwing Duck #2 was a good story, though not as strong as the first issue. There could have been more of Quackerjack, and despite the somewhat anticlimactic ending, but it sets up the story for the next issue and leaves readers wondering what will happen next. It focuses on the fact that Darkwing Duck is not just a superhero, but a father as well.