X-Mickey #1: In the Mirror (Disney Graphic Novels, 2) Paperback – March 29, 2016

This was a great little book! I bought the hardcover edition and I must say I was very pleased, nice sturdy book with great cover design and quality. The colors of the book are very vibrant and the dialogues of the story are pretty nifty too! The story itself is a little confusing, but I believe that is just because it is the first story of a whole new universe of stories. The only sort of negative is that there was a preview of the new fairies book instead of the small story that was in the original Italian publication.

Not really what I expected, old school Mickey Mouse comic style, but new story. I felt like I was missing something. Background story maybe? If you dig the old style comics, the art is solid. This was perfectly acceptable, fine value, but won't pick up any more from the series.

I'm old. I still remember the old Gottfredson Mickey Mouse. I guess I'm kinda stuck in the past. This story is pretty good. I don't, personally, think it measures up to Gottfredson in story line but the more modern Mickey is very well drawn. Modern Mickey readers will like it; of that I am sure.

Well, this is certainly an interesting read. Let me start by saying two things: One, I'm a 41 year old, hetero, male Disney fanatic from Texas. I have no kids or significant other (unfortunately), I just love Disney for myself. I grew up with it. I grew up watching it constantly on TV, going to the movies, collecting the merchandise, visiting the parks, and most significantly here, reading the comics. I started off with the Gladstone comics in the 80's (well, okay, I had a few Whitman when I was younger), and I read them on and off after that. I don't mean just because they were published on and off, I mean because eventually there are always too many titles for me to keep up with (financially, and I still live pretty hand to mouth), and so I usually tend to have to give up on purchasing them monthly, and shortly after that, usually whatever company is currently publishing them gives up too. I have no idea why, as they are almost always being published by somebody, but I have no idea how that works. Anyway, my point is, while I'm no expert, I have been a lifelong Disney comics reader, and that subject, along with Star Wars (which is now Disney), is the main reason I've been going to comic shops all my life. LOVE superheroes, but I've only read a few superhero stories in all that time. Mostly Disney, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, which is all Disney now, ha, and then random stuff like the occasional superhero story, usually famous graphic novels or the comics based on the DC animated shows.The second thing I'll mention is that I've worked in comics, albeit independent ones. Just a bit, not enough for it to be a career (though I'm working on my first original graphic novel right now based on my webcomic). I've done some work for GrayHaven comics, which is probably the most widely distributed company I've worked for, as one of many illustrators to contribute (multiple times) to their anthology comics. I've illustrated horror stories, comedies, romance, sci-fi, etc... for Grayhaven. I have an art degree, but I'm still trying to make art my career. This is probably more due to distraction, depression, and lack of effort than anything else.So, that's a bit of background on where I'm coming from when I talk about comics. I'm in no way an expert, even with Disney comics, but I've read a lot of 'em. Most of the time, they seem to be reprints. Not always, but the reprints seem to last longer than the stints of brand new material when it comes to Disney comics. Not sure why. Well,... I guess it's less expensive to reprint stuff, duh, ha. Anyway, lately, it seems most reprinted stuff is from other countries. This gives a refreshing take on the characters, if you're willing to embrace that. I never tire of the old Carl Barks or Floyd Gottfredson stuff, myself, but I'm open to the new stuff too. Granted, some of it can be quite different and weird. This is a fine example. This book is called "X-Mickey: In the Mirror." It's the first X-Mickey book (well, a reprint of it), and it's very, very different and weird.X-Mickey is an Italian series from 1998 (when X-Files type stuff was all the rage, even Archie got an animated series in that vein) that puts Mickey Mouse in a series of supernatural stories with his usually sidekick, Goofy, being replaced here by a werewolf named Pipwolf that is a Goofy lookalike from another dimension. He's Mickey's Guide, and Mickey is now a dimensional Traveler. I'm giving this book 5 stars practically on the curious premise alone and the beautiful product it is itself. Gorgeous art, gorgeous cover and all that. The feature story is 49 pages, followed by the usual page from the Editor, then a couple of short, cute Disney Fairies stories that are described as a sampling of the newest Disney Fairies graphic novel (which is what Papercutz, the company publishing this, has done the most of for Disney so far), then a shot Pipwolf comic that is mostly a plea to send in fan-mail and includes the mailing addresses for doing so. And, actually, there is a third Fairy story in there, but it appears to be just the beginning of a story. I guess this is because the Fairy pages are meant to just be a sampler of another available book. I would have left that extra page out though. Otherwise, always happy to get some Disney Fairy stories. Quite frankly, because Tink and her friends are HOT. There, I said it. I'm a huge Tink fan because I have quite the crush on her.As for the main story in this book, the initial X-Mickey story, it's... pretty crazy. I'm not sure what else to say about it. I, personally, thought it was a bit hard to follow. Mickey is pretty lost and confused throughout too. He was being normal Mickey at the beginning, then he gets swept up into this supernatural world, so maybe it works in that sense. We're feeling Mickey's confusion. Still, I think I was more lost than he was. It's a story about a villain who appears in people's mirrors, and... I guess he attacks them or something. Kidnaps them? Anyway, he causes people to be afraid of mirrors. Mickey is recruited to stop him, though much of the story seems to be about running around and meeting weird characters with weird names, which also gets a bit confusing. I find myself wondering if a bit was being lost in translation. So, yeah, if I was just reviewing the story itself, I would probably dock a star. However, I'm curious to read more of this series and see if things are a bit easier to follow as it goes on. It's a reprint of a very unusual foreign book, so I don't fault Papercutz at all for the story being a bit too confusing or underexplained (that's a good word for it; I felt a lot of things needed to be explained more, and I think a few jokes don't make much sense Stateside either), and I commend them for introducing the comic here, actually. So, yeah, five stars, even though I really hope the next one is easier to follow. I'm a sucker for anything with a werewolf though, so I do look forward to the next book. And, man, do I need to catch up on those Tink graphic novels. I have at least a couple, but there are 18 now, and a Planes graphic novel too, plus Tink and the Great Fairy Rescue and Papercutz upcoming Minnie and Daisy and Disney Great Parodies books! My only regret with getting this one is a regret I have all to often. I didn't even think to check if it was available in hardcover, which it is! I would have opted for that one, but when I saw it on a shelf recently, I just bought it right away. With a Goofy werewolf on the cover, I could not leave it there!Final thought, Admittedly, I wish this book had been much more like a Mickey version of Kolchak the Night Stalker (complete with porkpie hat), though that's pretty much what Archie's Weird Mysteries was, or even more like X-Files itself, but I have to give them credit for originality, and I'm just thrilled Papercutz is introducing us to this 90's oddity and many other great Disney books. I'm gonna try to keep up.

Volume in inglese molto bello per appassionati Disney, specie X Mickey, (storie parallele con trame alternative e affascinantiUna vera chicca ! Consigliato!