Undead potatoes have taken over the city of St. Canard! Taters with teeth are trying to devour the townsfolk as sinister spuds latch on to other unfortunates, turning them into mindless couch-potatoes! Halloween Night is ruined and the authorities are completely clueless as to what dastardly deviant is responsible!

Well… actually, they’re fairly certain that this is the work of Dr. Reginald Bushroot, a.k.a. … Bushroot. The brilliant botanist turned half-duck/half-plant usually can be found at the root of any vegetable-based villainy. Yet how can that be the case when Bushroot is locked up in St. Canard’s brand-new, state-of-the-art, escape-proof penitentiary from which no escape is possible? No one knows…

Thankfully, The Justice Ducks have been summoned to deal with the crisis, including the world’s greatest superhero… Gizmoduck! Still, one question remains – where is St. Canard’s protector, Darkwing Duck?

(Well, actually several questions remain. The most pressing of which involves stopping the zombie potato menace. But some people are probably wondering just where the heck Darkwing Duck is too! Probably.)

 

I suspect there is little I can say at this point to persuade the uninitiated of the glories of Disney Darkwing Duck. Still, if my misspent years as a comic reader have taught me anything, it’s the importance of one man standing up for what is right in the face of overwhelming odds. And it is not right that this book should be canceled a mere eight issues into its triumphant return.

I don’t want to say goodbye to this series, which has shown more heart, more creativity and more of what makes the comics medium so magical than any comic I’ve read in recent memory. Still, if Darkwing Duck must come to an end, Messers Sparrow and Silvani have at least been allowed to end the series on a high note. Of particular note is Aaron Sparrow’s brief essay at the end, where he explains how a one-shot silly story about monster vegetables slowly transformed into a two-part tale of redemption.

That is the magic of Disney Darkwing Duck in a nutshell. This was not a just funny talking animal book. This was not just a superhero satire with numerous sight-gags for the obsessive to seek out in the backgrounds of every panel. Every issue of this comic was a labor of love and it showed.

I shall be sorry to see it go. Yet part of me hopes that the talk of an upcoming Disney Darkwing Duck Vol. 2 is not just talk. So please – if my word as a critic has ever meant anything to you – buy this book. Check out the TP collection of the first four issues. And tell the management of Joe Books LTD that you want more.