Disclaimer:
The following article reveals the entire plot for
“Mysterious Crystal Ball”. If you haven’t read the story yet I suggest you do
before you read this blog post.
Also the story I am reviewing was made in very restrictive
conditions imposed by Western Publishing.
For Paul Murry and the other artists and writers at Western Publishing
this was a grueling job they did for many years and I have the up most respect
for them. That said I will criticize the story when necessary but understand
that it is very much a product of its time and should not be expected to hold
up to modern material.
(End of disclaimer)
Hello Folks, been awhile. I’ve been working on numerous
different blog posts for quite some time now but couldn’t find a topic that
truly interested me. When I finally did real life got in the way and prevented
me from working on it. Funny enough this was not what I was working on. I was writing
a comment on this story for Joe’s blog, but when I realized how much I had to say
I adjusted it into a full-fledged blog post.
This is one of the earliest stories by the team of writer
Carl Fallberg and artist Paul Mury. Together (well actually separately since
did not collaborate or know each other, Fallberg wrote the script, Murry drew it)
they sent Mickey on many 3 part serials that bookended Walt Disney Comics &
Stories for decades. While they never reached the heights of Gottfredson and
Walsh these were fun, solidly written, well drawn adventures. When IDW announced
the reprinting of this story I got excited as I feel these 2 men worked loyally
for many years and their work deserves to be occasionally reprinted.
Since this was originally intended to be serialized I deiced
to look at each part individually than have a post of my final thoughts on the
whole story.
Part 1:
The story abruptly begins with Mickey and Minnie at a
carnival. Minnie spots a fortune teller’s tent and want to go in but Mickey, so
repulsed by the idea of such a scam artist, won’t have any of that “bunk”.
Mickey precedes to scold Minnie and convinces her to walk down the midway. This
part along with most of Mickey and Minnie’s interaction in this story is incredibly
outdated. Mickey has no right to talk to anyone, especially his girlfriend in
such a hurtful way over such a little thing.
As this happens the fortune teller and his helper recognize
them as the friends of Chief O’Hara’s and begin scheming ways to get them in
their tent. They mention that the “Professor” will be able help them out.
Mickey wants to go on the Ferris wheel but Minnie has a
funny feeling and doesn’t want to go on. Mickey, being the “gentleman” he is doesn’t
give a rat’s ass and is about to make her go on anyways. Again, he has no right
to make her do anything and this is especially bad considering that Minnie didn’t make
him go into the fortune teller’s tent when she
wanted to. Mickey does try to comfort her but it only makes thing look worse
for him. “Oh, There’s Nothing To Be Afraid Of! Not If You Hold On To Me!
Heh,Heh” Something about that line makes me really uncomfortable. Maybe it’s
because he is yet again, imposing his will on her. Or maybe it’s that weird “heh,heh”
vocal tick that appeared in a lot of Western material.
Luckily for Minnie the fortune teller intercepts saying that
the ride is dangerous. Mickey finally relents and sure enough the car they were
going to go in falls of at the top of the Ferris wheel. Mickey is shocked and
heads back to the fortune teller’s tent for answers. He’s even more surprised when
the fortune teller knows their names. Mickey really shouldn’t be, he could have
found out their names by overhearing their conversation. It becomes apparent
(to us, not Mickey) that the fortune teller has researched Mickey’s public info
which is how he knows Mickey’s name, address, dog and that he’s an amateur magician(WHAT!).
If Mickey’s has enough of an interest in magic that a basic background check associates
him with it then why was he so repulsed by the idea of seeing a circus fortune
teller?
Anyways, the fortune teller attempts to convince Mickey that
they share the same physic powers. He proves this by asking both Mickey and Minnie
to look into his crystal ball. When Minnie looks she sees nothing but, when Mickey
looks he sees a Jewelry store being robbed. The fortune teller explains that
the robbery hasn’t happened yet but it will and that Mickey has time to stop it.
Mickey grabs Minnie and rushes out to warn Chief O’Hara. When they get to the
police station they find out that they were too late. Mickey somehow decides
that a crime scene filled with cops and the chief of police might somehow be
dangerous and abandons Minnie at the station without even asking what, she
wants. After this she just vanishes from the rest of the story. So, first off
what was the point of her being in the story if she just there to be ridiculed by
her jackass boyfriend. Second off, how would a crime scene filled with police
be dangerous. I could see Minnie not wanting to go to one but Mickey could have
least asked considering that he’s her ride home. Speaking of that, Third of
all, we don’t find out how she’s going to get home. Is her house a block away,
is an officer going to drive her home, did Mickey give her money to take the
bus. I don’t know and we aren’t about to find out Mickey just leaves at the
station.
Ugh, well at least with Minnie and 1950s sexism out of the
picture the story actually starts to get good. From on here on out the story
becomes a fast paced, exciting mystery, it’s like it got shot in the arm with adrenaline
and doesn’t let up until its conclusion! Once we arrive at the crime scene we meet
the true hero of the story, Shamrock Bones, an obvious parody of Sherlock
Holmes. I really like Bones, he is so wrapped up in his own maddens that his
dialogue is filled with kooky lines like “I suspect suspects “and he’s a pretty
darn good detective too. From just a toothpick on the street he deduces that
the crime was done by a television actor and goes into strenuous detail that is
obviously impossible for him to know from that seemingly meaningless “clue”.
However he then deduces from Mickey’s body language that Mickey somehow had
knowledge of the crime. I really like how this is done. Bones first deduction was
mainly played for a laugh but the fact that his second deduction was based off
body language (evidence we, the reader, can see) and is correct gives his first
deduction some merit. It shows that Fallberg understands how to make fun of
something without being entirely disrespectful to the source material. It also
set up a pretty funny direction that the story could (and does) go in.
There’s an interested tidbit revealed when O’Hara sticks up
for Mickey after Bones’s accusation. “I’ve known young Mickey here my entire
life” Really? Huh. Is this derived from Gottfredson because even if it isn’t, O’Hara
as a family friend of Mickey’s would make sense. In Gottfredson’s serials
Mickey didn’t collaborate with the police until Detective Casey and Chief O’Hara
were in the picture. It also explains why Mickey and O’Hara had such a good relationship
almost immediately. You could also argue that O’Hara ran a tighter ship than the last
Chief as the mob rasin’, lynchin’, old fashioned police force from Gottfredson’s
early serials has disappeared.
Mickey tells O’Hara about the fortune teller but he doesn’t believe
him, thinking he’s tired and needs rest. Mickey then rushes back to the
Carnival royally pissed off, runs into the fortune teller’s tent and demands
answers. The fortune teller ends part one on a cliff-hanger by repeating what
he said earlier. He didn’t tell Mickey about the robbery, Mickey looked into
the future and told himself.
Thanks for reading this post and please comment. I’m really interested
in hearing your thoughts about part one of “Crystal Ball”. Next week in part 2
of this post we’ll go over the rest of the story. The part with comedy, action
and deductions flying! You know, the good part.
