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TaleSpin Comics: Take-Off #1-#4 Comparisons Rant
Reviewed: 03/16/2015-03/31/2015
Additional
Commentary: 11/24/2025
Welcome To The Wacky World Of TaleSpin Comics, TV/Comic Book Check #1!
Original Release: 01/00/1991 (Plane For Keeps), 02/00/1991 (Misdeeds & Derring-Don'ts), 03/00/1991 (Khan Job), 04/00/1991 (Plunder & Lightning) .
Well; it's about time I get started on these comic books after weeks of sickness and Mr. Icy Roads. (2025 Gregory Weagle Says: Well, it's time to transfer all four of these comic books into one file and put it on the Rant Shack with clean up.) Now; since Plunder and Lightning was already on television at this point, there is not much to rant on since most of the storyline is mentioned on the Plunder and Lightning rant from 2008. However; I will be ranting on and comparing the comic book version of Plunder and Lightning to the television version. Consider this comic book as an adaptation of the television movie. (Can you imagine if they did this for the hardcover books?! It would make 4Kids Entertainment look PG-13 in comparison!) Like the syndicated version of this episode, the comic book was divided into four parts; only there are parts that they edited out partially and completely and like the syndication version of Plunder and Lightning, they added stuff in including spots that were never in the syndication version either! These comics were published in January to April of 1991 at once a month intervals in the USA. (I should note that the reason that it's called Take-Off and not Plunder and Lightning is because Plunder and Lightning was really the fourth episode in the arc. Why the television series used the fourth episode title for all the episodes instead of using the first three episodes titles? Probably because the creators wanted it to be a legit television movie. Problem is, Disney Feature didn't like that concept since a good television movie would create competition that they were afraid of. Also, this wasn't a five parter like Ducktales and Chip & Dale's Rescue Rangers were.) So how good -- and different -- are the comic books to the television version? Let's rant on shall we...?!
Take Off is re-written by Bobbi J.G. Weiss like a lot of the really great TaleSpin comics. (Sadly, adaptations of television episodes are not Bobbi's forte as you'll see during this review and the artists did Bobbi no favors either.) Pencils are done by Oscar F. Saavedra and Cosme Quartieri with ink done by Carlos Valenti, Raul Barbero and Robert Bat. All adapted from scripts written by Alan Burnett, Len Uhley and Mark Zaslove of course, story edited by Jymn Magon. An interesting cast of people. Oscar is related to Haracio Saavedra who both founded a studio called SB Productions and has worked on various animation projects. Oscar mostly worked on artwork for this comic book and Looney Tunes (Foghorn Leghorn and Porky Pig stuff) through Jaime Diaz Studios. He also did cartoons for Condorito magazine. Carlos worked with Jaime Diaz studios on Ink for Oscar on Disney and Marvel comics from the mid 1980's to the mid 1990's.Cosme inked for Disney and Animaniacs. Raul inked for Disney comics and then left Jaime Diaz to work for Branca Studios. Robert also worked on Disney comics for the foreign market between 1975-1989 with Disney Feature characters such as Bambi, Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, and Chip'N'Dale before doing artwork and inking for DTVA shows.
Opening Moment #1: The front cover shows the TaleSpin logo with Kit Cloudkicker cloud surfing being towed by the SeaDuck. The comic book claims that this is a limited series of comics and this is an exciting origin adventure. It's not false advertising by any means; but it's still lying by omission. It's a lot more than a mere exciting origin adventure as we saw in the television version. Now; I'm only going to rant on the differences in this story compared to the televised one; so if you see me skip segments, then that is why. It's to reduce the size of this rant to something that'll fit on Livejournal. I do not want another "Smash Brothers Direct" incident to happen here. (Yeah, my blog has limits on words per post, although it's extremely high. I'm moving them here due to being a better website and the size limit is greatly increased compared to the blog post.)
Take-Off #1: Plane For Keeps
Page Two: Contains a page called "Between The Lines"; so you know where "Inbetween The Lions" stole their idea for their shows title from. It's mostly a letter from the editor and all the comic stories that were released during that month. There is really nothing of note here other than evidence that Jaime Diaz Studios animated the Ducktales Movie.
Page Three: We begin the comic book with Flight #127 over a large batch of storm clouds. Hey; Bobbi actually did a better job than the Walt Disney Animation-France animators here in the sense of having storm cloud signal main event doom. Although it does take away the surprise of Don Karnage and his men firing on the plane afterwards because you can see the signal coming a mile away. The televised movie was clear skies which made it less predictable. The narrator box on the top right actually refers to the mountain range by name called the Pokahiya Mountain Range. This was never named in the television version and I'm disappointed that it was not. (I will not be surprised if this was on the storyboards considering the amount of names not making the final.) The last panel of page three shows the panther calling for a mayday and the flight number BEFORE Don Karnage even exits his plane to get on the Khan airplane. The televised version had him saying the mayday when Don Karnage was INSIDE Flight #127.
Page Four: There is added dialogue from Don Karnage ordering Mad Dog to use the grappling hook gun, and then Mad Dog saying "And a one and a two.." while firing the grappling hook gun on three. The television version; this was all done in complete silence plus music. I wonder if anime dubbers read comic books and thought this kind of thing would translate perfectly on television?! Spoiler Alert: It doesn't. When Mad Dog climbs the grappling hook, he declares his love of being a pirate in the comic book, which the television version had it with silence. All the remaining pirates are in shadow like a Wang Films love in or something. (Former self means: A lot of black shadows.) In the television version you could see all the pirates in true form firing their grappling hooks. We never saw Don Karnage and the pirates land on the roof in the comic version. We never see them using crowbars to rip the roof of the plane wide open in the comic version. We never hear the Khan pilot doing a further mayday that pirates have arrived in the televised version because the Khan pilot in the TV version didn't execute a mayday until after Don Karnage entered inside the plane. Don Karnage's entrance in the plane is almost dead on with the television version; although he doesn't do his greeting until after he lands in the television version in which he does it when he lands in the comics.
Page Five:
In the comic version; Don Karnage about not caring about the pilot
and wants to eliminate the formalities. Don Karnage demands the Khan
pilot to hand over the box and the pilot does it off-screen. In the
televised version: After Don Karnage calls himself the panic
provoking pirate, the pilot actually does his mayday. Don Karnage
cuts the wire from the transmitter and tsks him for such manners.
Khan calls Don Karnage a dirty thief while having a wrench; which the
pirates on the roof respond by pointing their rifles at him. The
pilot gulps and Don asks for the box; in which the pilot hands it
over to Don Karnage on-screen in which the pirates and Don look at
the box with evil smiles among them. Safe to say that the televised
version was done a lot better than the comic version here.
Apparently; using a wrench is illegal in comic books, along with
guns. Unless they are airplane guns of course. (Oh,
how wrong former self was in hindsight.)
All the pirates are once again in shadows when they make their exit
in the comic version. The televised version saw them in full colored
profile including how they got out of the plane and onto the roof. In
the comic version; Don Karnage orders the men to go back to the Iron
Vulture at this point. In the televised version; he says this AFTER
they shoot down Flight #127. Also; when Don Karnage is shooting at
the plane; he speaks in a complete sentence "Of course; first we
must be assured that what goes up, must come down". Only the
last six words of that promo made it to the televised version. In the
comic version; only the Iron Vulture is shown with it's mouth open
and the CT-37's entering the mouth of the vulture so to speak. Don
speaks a lot more here: "Open wide my mangy minions! Your
cunning commander is back." was cut from the televised
version.
Page
Six: Almost everything
on this page was dead on with the television version. We didn't see
Kit's foot on the vent in the television version even though the shot
was dead on with the television version. Kit does not say "LOOK
OUT BELOW!" in the television version when he drops down to grab
the box. He merely grunts. Kit is smiling in the television version;
not sarcastic angry like he is in the comic book version. (This
expression will become a trend later on, as if the artists were
trying to intentionally sabotage the story.)
Don Karnage doesn't say "huh" before yelling to "Stop
that boy!" in the television version.
Page Seven is a promo for the Prince & The Pauper graphic novel that they were selling at the time. Pointless filler to me.
Page Eight:
The Dumptruck bonking into Don Karnage spot has a lot more dialogue
in the comic version than in the television version:
Don
Karnage: Yes! Yes! The
Captain Needs Your Help!
Dumptruck:
Vell Den, I'd better be Gvick! OOF! (Well
then, I'd better be quick.)
The comic book ruins the grappling hook gun scene by having Kit just grab a grappling hook gun and saying "This'll do just fine!". In the televised version; he runs down the steps, slides down a stair railing, swings on a rope, manages to cause two air pirates to whirlwind each other -- that was only in the Disney Channel 1990 cut of the story --, runs to the grappling hook gun rack, grabs one and then looks at the hard camera with a face that reads "I'm going to kill someone!. No dialogue, no nothing. Kit does turn around to see Don and then runs away. In the television version no one speaks until Kit yells "WHAT?" at the edge of the Iron Vulture. In the comic book version, there is a lot more talking. Here's the quotes:
Don Karnage:
He went that away!
Kit:
Uh-Oh!
Don Karnage:
You cannot escape you dirty thief! Let me catch you and I will forget
everything after you give me the box!
Kit:
No way!...AAAAIIEEEEE!
I wonder if Al Khan loves comic books?! Because if he does, not only did he use it as an instruction manual for 4Kids dubs, he also is a complete hypocrite. (I have already said my peace on this in "A Bad Reflection On You", so I won't repeat it here.)
Page Nine: Outside of some additional dialogue and a off-screen spot, this was all dead on. I will give the comic book some points for Kit's expression when he opens his airfoil because they were better than the television version.Don Karnage slapping his crew members (in the televised version) is either off-screen or cut completely from the comic book version. Kit talks more in the comic version.
Kit: Now; If I can just reach this thing....WEEEE!! Ah-Hah! Just what I need!
Kit only says "Ah-Hah!" during the entire free falling sequence on television. (That was when he spotted Jack's plane I should note.)
Page Ten: Tale Spin Take Off Promo. On a comic book WE ALREADY PAID FOR! STUPID! (To be fair, there were three other comic books to come in the next two months, so it's not nearly as stupid as former self claims.)
Page 11: They got Pilot Jack down almost dead on, although he looks like a pig furry instead of a dog furry like he was in the television version. I blame that one on Ducktales syndrome. (Another trend of Disney comics where TaleSpin rarely featured ducks, dognoses and even pigs to a lesser extent in the television series and the comic more than made up for it.) Kit only grunts, yells "WAHOO!" and laughs when he attached the hook to the back of Jack's plane; and all of this occurs AFTER Jack asks "Is the party started yet?" in the television version. In the comic version, Kit also says "Steady now Cloudkicker." which is absolutely dumb because we are NOT supposed to know his name until he introduces himself to Baloo in the SeaDuck later on. (I'll forgive that one from Bobbi because only his last name is heard from the audience and the "Cloudkicker" part can be removed.) The entire "I'm Gone" sequence is gone in the comic version. Seriously; they changed everything in this scene up until we scene change to Kit Cloudkicker again. Let me count the differences: (1) Louie's line about running a zoo and the monkeys serving the customers is the only thing left intact and even that has been modified a bit in the scene that in the comic book version. (Louie speaks more, monkeys serve during the dancing part instead of before going to Baloo and Louie.) Baloo doesn't speak directly to Baloo like in the television version. (2) Baloo is already on stage dancing wearing the "Fruit Salad" hairstyle and pink robe. The guests at the tables are all clapping and singing to Baloo to sing more. (3) One of the customers says Baloo should dance the rumba. (Which is a secular Afro-Cuban dance, but has been used as a synonym for "party".) (3) No table spinning spot and (4) The I'm Gone song is not in evidence in the comics. All of Baloo and Louie's dialogue is completely different. Louie at one point calls Baloo, "Big Daddy". UGH! (If you want to know why Bobbi's version is not as good as the original: Big Daddy, everyone.)
Page 12: Kit's out of control sequence has a lot more talking in the comics than in the televised version. Kit never speaks in the television version during this sequence and his facial expression were a lot better in the televised version than in the comics. Kit also sometimes seems to grow a fourth claw on his feet instead of three in the comic version.
Page 13: This was almost perfectly faithful to the television version. (I think Kit does more damage in the comics than he did in the television version; although not by much.) Louie did not say "Holy Moley" in the television version; which actually would have been apporos and make more sense; so good job Bobbi. Kit goes straight on towards the stage in the comics not selling anything; while in the televised version, Kit bounced off everything and looked like a rag doll during it. Hindsight 20/20; the comics are a lot less cringe worthy. Baloo looks drunk during the "What do we have here" promo in the comics and somehow; this made it much better since Baloo no-sold the shot in the televised version. Bobbi also wins points from me when Baloo continues selling the punch drunk moment on Pilot Jack and then stops when Kit calls him a fat lady. Kit does not say "whatever" in the comics, which is another plus.
Page 14: I do not know what happened here but...Baloo removing his outfit and calling it quite an entrance looked like Baloo couldn't have cared less in the comics compared to the television version. The "are you good" panel was dead on by the way. All the dialogue up to that point is dead on as well...And then the comic version cuts out everything from Kit saying "I'm going to be a pilot someday!" to Kit Cloudkicker kicking his left foot up and say "Ahh; forget it!". Yes; they cut thirty plus seconds out in the comics. That is Z-Grade stupidity on Bobbi's part. The next scene has a reasonable version of Don Karnage's entrance, even right down to the shadowing just before he entered the building. Problem is; how did Baloo leave Louie's in the comic version and what caused Baloo to leave in the first place?! (Thus justifying former self calling Bobbi out on this.) At least in the television version; Baloo clearly left the premises of Louie's and Kit did his foot raising spot basically to give Baloo time to leave before the Air Pirates showed up. The narrator did say "several moments later"; but it doesn't cover up the fact that we never saw Baloo attempt to leave. In the comics, Kit teleported to the hiding spot behind the mask. To be fair, the syndicated version of this story on television did the exact same thing as the sequence of Kit heading to the stair while hiding was only shown on the 1990 Disney Channel version. Don Karnage talks slightly more in the comics than in the televised version. Sadly; his "You serve fine drinks Louie!" and him drinking out of a glass was cut from the comics. To be fair, it was also cut from syndication.
Page 15: Little Mermaid Comics promo. Nothing special.
Page 16: Mostly the same as the television version; only with more dialogue. "No more Mister Nice-Pirate"?! LAME-O! Kit doesn't throw a raspberry at Don Karnage in the televised version either; and Don Karnage doesn't slice a table in half in the comics version.
Page 17: Some of Baloo's dialogue in the SeaDuck "Ah; this is the life" was cut in the comics. They also didn't show Kit sliding from the top of the window to the bottom of the passenger window in the comics. I don't think Kit banged on the window either in the televised version; but if he did, it wasn't on-screen like the comics. (It was likely off-screen.) All references to the bottles of pink soda pop are cut from the comics. Kit Cloudkicker doesn't hesitate at all when saying his name to Baloo in the comics. He is also a lot more assertive about flying in the comics. In the television version, Kit seems to be in thought throughout most of this. Kit admitting that he has no folks is also cut from the comics. I assume it was cut because that sort of gave away that Kit had no real home. However, it really didn't because Kit said he didn't have any folks, which could mean anything. Sadly; this meant we never got to see Kit's facial expression and voice tone during that sequence. Kit flying the SeaDuck was shorten to literally zero frames before the pirates attack. They made it as if Kit merely touched the controls in the comics. Hindsight 20/20, that would have been good since it would create a slow build up to Kit actually flying the SeaDuck for real in Destiny Rides Again. There is also a coloring mistake on Baloo's face in one of the frames: the circle around his mouth should be a much lighter shade of grey. (It's the panel where he says: "Knock yourself out kid".)
Page 18: Most of the dogfight sequence up to the SeaDuck plunging towards the water is shortened; but almost all the dialogue was kept. Bobbi changed a line of Kit's dialogue from the televised version. In the televised version, Kit says "Not necessarily!"; while in the comics, Kit says "Well..yes and no!". Television version of Kit sounds more intelligent. Comic version Kit sounds like he doesn't know words with more than four letters. Mad Dog saying "Nowhere to run!" while flying his CT-37 was cut from the comics. To be fair, it didn't make the syndication cut either.
Page 19: The "Double Reverse Immelmann" and "pretzel twist" lines that were only spoken in the Disney Channel 1990 version of this show are INTACT. (So why can't he say "Not necessarily..." then?) Great way to expose yourself as a soul less corporation who doesn't give a crap about continuity there, Disney. (A profit making company doing profit making things?! What a shocker?!) Sadly; "Your tail section is mine!" from Don Karnage was cut from the comic books; although it wasn't in the syndication version either, to be fair. Baloo's way of saying "great pilot, great plane" is more cocky in the comics version.
Page 20: I think the comic books actually didn't show the downed air pirates in their planes in the water; implying that they were in fact killed. (Something even the televised version in all versions didn't do: They didn't show parachutes either, but both pirates were shown above water looking perfectly fine on their broken planes which were in the water.) Which is odd considering the Comic Book Code is supposed to disallow this kind of thing. (No, not really. The Comic Book Code was basically persona non-grata around 1991.) They appeared to have been killed RPG style. Other than that; they changed Don's dialogue from "They make me so angry"; to "I hate it when that happens"; which makes Don Karnage sound generic. Memo to writers: Don Karnage is supposed to be bad at English grammar and he's the heel. Okay?! They tried to do a great presentation of Cape Suzette and it failed badly because only television could do it proper justice and it made up literally two panels. A lot of pink in this section; which does amuse me. At least Baloo's Air Service looks exactly as it does on television outside of the name being on the white sign.
Page 21: While this scene is somewhat faithful to the original; it's compacted quite a bit to save space. All references to the Sox winning the series are completely cut although now the joke is dated and dead so it's a moot point now. (I hope that in the reboot, they change it to the Maple Leafs winning the Cup, just to really trigger Steve Dangle.) Kit Cloudkicker is ANGRY at Baloo for the garbage left in the office and the unpaid bills in the comic version. In the television version; this scene is drawn out a lot more and Kit Cloudkicker is kind of smiling during most of this scene. There is less of a mess in the comic version. Kit's navigational baseball cap is sitting on a wooden box next to Baloo in the comics compared to being in a filing cabinet (causing Baloo to throw out junk from said storage device) in the television version. The last panel is compacted as well as Baloo states that he's not due at Louie's for a couple of weeks and asks if a friend would help him in the comics. In the television version; Baloo actually calls Kit out by asking if this tough guy routine work on all of his friends. Also; Baloo doesn't mention not going back to Louie's until after Kit sulks admitting that he has no friends. Apparently; Baloo has a bell in the comics and I'll have to check the television version to see if there is any change; but it's so minor that I don't care about it.
Page 22: Disney Comics subscription promo. Lovely! You are forced to cut out a large chunk of page 23 just to subscribe to these comics if you bought the comic from a store. Which contains the scene where Baloo cries like a baby and bangs on the wall. Nice one Disney, just screw you and your Looney Tunes bashing ways deeper than hell itself!
Page 23: The Bank forecloser is a bear instead of a groundhog now, although he is wearing the same outfit as in the televised version. He is also wearing Scrooge's top hat. (Maybe he was the one at Louie's during the dance sequence earlier in the televised version. If so, great! If not, we need to work it!) The bank forecloser is speaking mostly like Konoe Kikyo from Bravely Default at one point. (Which is in clutters meaning that all the words have zero blank spaces in between them.) This is a direct improvement from the televised version, actually. Here's the quote:
Bank Fore closer: YouareDELINQUENTonyourPAYMENTS,andunlessfundstotallingTHREETHOUSANDDOLLARSaredepositedinourinstitutionbyNINEA.M.tommorow -- We will FORCLOSE on your AIRCRAFT loan!
I guess Charles Adler cannot speak in clutters; even though that would have been a sight to see. The "No Dough, Plane Go" exchange is completely kept even though this was cut in the syndication televised version of this story. Bad move because that exchange was needed in order for Baloo to get it. It also made Kit look bad (what a shocker?) and by cutting it, you remove a funny moment. (I thought studies showed kids just want comedy? I realize that this is 1990; but still...) Anyhow; the balloon flashback of Kit mentioning the unpaid bills is cut in the comic version and Baloo speaks about the job board before he makes it to the job board.
Page 24: Almost everything here is dead on with the television version and in fact, a critical scene that was cut for syndication is intact here although the artwork makes Kit look really angry. Kit is supposed to be sarcastic with a wicked smile when he asks what they are delivering; which looks so awesome on television. Sadly; Baloo's facial expression from the television are not in evidence in the comics sadly when he does a punching motion at one point. Several lines are also shorten as Kit doesn't ask "what birds?". Kit looks like he has a tooth ache when he finds out it's Gorilla Birds. The final panel has Baloo's dialogue of them eating his plane moved to the first thing he says during the flying scene.
Page 25: Kit blowing off Baloo after Baloo states that there's nothing to it is all cut from the comics. The entire sequence of Kit hitting Baloo with the broom "unintentionally" and Kit's apology with smile is cut from the comics as well. Also; Baloo orders Kit to lock the birds up in the back in the comics which gets Kit angry. In the televised version; Kit and Baloo both lock the birds up in the back. Kit's dialog during this is for the most part unchanged. Baloo's "here comes the icing" bit was removed from the comic version and changed to "pirates, again?!". Kit doesn't say "Don't look at me" in the comics after Baloo is still pondering over why they want him. Funny how Kit cannot say "whatever" in the comics; but Baloo can. Which he never said in the televised version. The "You missed, you Nincompirates!" line is kept; but the setup is different. In the comics; they simply miss the Seaduck. In the televised version, the Seaduck does a dogfight and the pirates unintentionally shoot at Don Karnage. Big difference. The entire Air Pirate chase into the jungle is completely cut and Don Karnage's "Curses and more curses!" promo is moved to here in the comics. He's not supposed to say this until AFTER the SeaDuck crashes. To note; the chase sequence in the televised version included a lot of unfinished artwork and animation, including Kit losing his hat at one point.
Page 26: Because there was no chase in the jungle by Mad Dog; that means the Seaduck is alone in the jungle flying. I should note that the "you don't have to impress me" exchange that was cut in syndication is intact here. Other than that; there is some added dialogue and Baloo doesn't say "My flying is A+" in the comics. In fact; Kit says it after they crash. DUMB!
Page 27: Disney Comics promo for November's comic books. Lovely! Notice that Rescue Rangers and Ducktales have comic books on sale for November; but TaleSpin doesn't. How can anyone claim that TaleSpin wasn't downplayed?! It baffles me!
Page 28: Bobbi added a scene here as we head to a sky shot with Don Karnage and two pirates in CT-37's as Don Karnage basically says there is a lake ahead and perhaps they landed here. He orders them to follow him and that is that. Otherwise; outside of a couple of different camera angles and Kit expression after Baloo finally realizes that they are after him is edited out; the scene is dead on with the television version. There is a coloring mistake on Kit's hat; which is the same one I saw in "The Long Flight Home". A purple box in the Seaduck; how cute!
Page 29: Another Kit line was changed: "All he cares about is his darn ol'plane!" in the comics. In the televised version; "darn ol'" doesn't exist. Don Karnage's appearance in front of him is changed to a shadowed left leg to the right of the panel in the comics; instead of the same tail shot they used at the beginning of the episode which is perfectly centered. The dialogue is kept; but the glorified scary heel face Don Karnage uses is not in evidence here. Geez; if people wanted to prove a conspiracy that Disney was censoring Don Karnage's teeth because he was too scary to kids; they could have simply used the comics comparison instead of comparing television to television where Walt Disney Japan and Walt Disney France have completely different art styles. (Earth to former self: The comic books are way worse in the art styles department. Trust me on that one.) Baloo smelling the Gorrilla Birds and getting hell dived by them only exists in the television version. Don Karnage's dialogue of threatening Kit with spending a night in the jungle to jog his memory is kept; but the entire scene of Kit swinging upside down from a rope and biting Don Karnage in the ass off-screen only exists in the television version, as does Don's additional dialogue about hungry animals, and Don getting angry and twirling Kit like a pinata. The comics move onto Baloo with the Gorilla Birds with their mouths tied up and Baloo's speaks additional stuff in the comics. Since Don Karnage's first threat to Kit was moved to here; "THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE, BOY!" is edited out. Also Kit proudly saying "I walked here." -- which is a half truth by the way -- is not in the comics either. Don Karnage looks a lot less desperate in the television version, too. Also; Baloo's praise of Kit for standing up to the pirates only existed in the televised version.
Page 30: Uncle Scrooge Comic promo showing the nephews and Scrooge enjoying themselves in the Money Bin. I love Ducktales like family; but it's already monster over, it doesn't need more promos. Why didn't they take that money and promote TaleSpin more so that it could get monster over and make more money. It's easy to say "They hate money!"; but that implies that they intentionally are doing this to smite investors. Apparently; corporations are never considered stupid, which is funny considering the meme of "corporations being people" now. (They don't want to be "people", they want to be "gods", which are not homo sapiens, much less human beings/people.)
Page 31: Baloo's Gorilla Birds look more like ostriches in the comics than they do in the televised version. Also, Baloo's a liar in the comics because the Gorilla Birds are smiling here, something that doesn't happen in the televised version. Don Karnage's sniffing the air has more dialogue as he calls this an "Asphixiating smell". ("Asphixiating" means suffocation, which implies that Don Karnage thinks the smell of a Gorilla Bird is deadly. That's rather insulting.) Personally; the comics improved that line at least. Don Karnage and the pirates are chased away; but not up the trees in the comic version. Baloo speaks more when he says "it's no time to be hanging around". Baloo snapping the rope with his teeth is intact; but he doesn't carry him away stage left. No; Bobbi actually added a scene which in my opinion SHOULD have made television; but didn't for god knows what reason. Here's what happened: Baloo does in fact untie Kit on screen; but does it with Kit upside down in midair; spinning like a top. That was awesome! Sure; it breaks logic to the extent that Kit isn't on his head and that is probably why it didn't make television. (Because you see, it's all right for Baloo to land on his head on the ground in Polly Wants A Treasure; but a no-no for a child to land on his head. Never mind that Kit smashed his head right into Baloo's ribs earlier in this episode!) Of course as he is untying Kit and both are running stage left, Baloo cuts a topspin promo. I'm amazed Kit was able to recover so quickly after being spun like a top. Kit also loses his hat on the topspin; but recovers it in the next panel.
Page 32: The alligator scene is toned down a lot and has a lot more dialogue. It's funny how the comics are like 4Kids Entertainment and yet the television version of it is like the original Japanese version of whatever anime 4Kids had the rights to. It's AMAZING how much Al Khan and his production team stole from the comics. I mean, the alligators just stay still and do absolutely nothing in the comics. Baloo doesn't stomp on the head of one in the comics. Baloo and Kit do not exchange advice on dealing with alligators in the televised version. Kit and Baloo look more evil in the comics, while in the televised version, they look polite and babyfaces. By the way; the back of the navigator's seat doesn't have a chunk taken out of it in the televised version. (Surprisely; they were able to keep this logic straight throughout the rest of Act I, so good job drawers.) Although, Kit calling Baloo the best was a heartwarming moment; it also messes up the fact that Kit is still afraid to trust and isn't supposed to finally trust Baloo until after Baloo finds out Kit's an Air Pirate.
Page 33: Kit looking for spoon in the back for no reason wasn't in the comics and I accept this editing out at least. Sadly; the camera angles have to keep it from the back to the cockpit instead of the other way around. The dialogue is dead on here. Sadly; Kit doesn't do his insecure spot where he sits up his left leg and prop his right leg straight.
Page 34:The final panel is almost dead on as well. Other than the usual camera angle changes; the dialogue is mostly the same. Sadly; this means Kit doing his slumping down on his seat saying and giggling "We could buy a whole bunch of Seaducks!" is not in the comics. Kit and Baloo do slap skin in both versions; but they don't merely say "deal" at each other and Baloo doesn't say "partner" in the last panel in the television version. They actually sing the last three lines of the "I'm Gone" song which of course was completely excised for the comics. Because, COPYRIGHT AMIRITE~?! Do I get a cookie for that? This ends part one with 19 pages. Imagine watching Plunder & Lightning in it's original televised movie version. (Even the syndication version is fine for this experiment.) Now imagine watching Plunder and Lightning being dubbed by Saban or 4Kids Entertainment. The later imagination is pretty much what the comic version is so far: added dialogue when there is supposed to be silence, Kit and Baloo look meaner, scenes cut, scenes moved, paint changes, censorship, added scenes (Although the Kit spinning like a top spot was actually one that was better than the original. Yeah.) etc. All this needed are bad voices, bad soundtrack and a bad opening and ending; and you got TaleSpin 4Kids style. (To be fair; Saban's dub of Digimon Fusion is one of their better dubs, but it still reeks of the same problems that anime purists hate with a passion.). So, I'll call this *** 1/2 (70%). I just feel like I was cheated a bit here.
Page 35: Debut of MailSpin which shows a lot of B&W pictures and even JOCK made the cut! AWESOME! It also reveals the summary of the next issue which has a question: Why is Rebecca Cunningham destined to make Baloo's life a living heck?! Seriously; they said "heck"! If you cannot say "hell" on a Disney Comic, then say "nightmare" instead of 'heck" then, because "nightmare" is a nice sub. Hell; you can even use the word Hades as a sub. Idiots! There are also the credits of the comics and I'll include those later on.
Page 36:
Ducktales Nintendo Entertainment System video game promo. If only
they released that on Virtual Console during the Ducktales Remastered
days; then the whiny Nintendo fanboy don't have to have their tender
eyes and ears watch a storyline unfold in the middle of a game. Sure;
I felt Ducktales: Remastered's scene went on for way too long; but
I'm not against the cut scenes per se. As I mentioned before; most
Ducktales fans are really fans of the NES video game that didn't
suck, then the cartoon which they probably couldn't care less about.
(Because,
interaction, BABEE~!)
And
that's all for Part One everybody! Part Two is coming soon and I hope
that it doesn't have nearly the problems this first part had. YAY!
Enter the Cunninghams! (Oh,
you asked for too much there former self.)
Opening Moment #2: Kit Cloudkicker with the box containing the STONE OF DOOM is in the middle of the logo. On the bottom; Kit and Baloo are walking away sulking on the docks while Rebecca shows the DEED OF DEATH with Molly; with Rebecca looking stern. I wonder if the people who accuse Rebecca of being a jerk are comic book fans, because if they are: You do realize that the comics are screwed up more than the syndicated television version because at least the syndication version retained most of the gentle wit. The comics didn't. Everyone who is happy seems angry. (Wow, this sounds like Bubsy the television pilot! Except TaleSpin was a lot better in every single other thing, even in the comics!)
Take-Off #2: Misdeeds & Derring-Don'ts:
Page Two: NES Chip & Dale's Rescue Rangers promo. I have played this game actually in it's original form and it's fine. Nothing special or anything, but it's all right. I do not want to be a Rescue Ranger! I want to be fat and dorky! (Wish granted former dorky self!)
Page Three: We begin inside the messy office right from the start in the comics version. In the televised version; there was a pan shot of Cape Suzette harbor. There was no narration in the televised version; which was to be expected. The opening narration does amuse me a bit:
Narrator: It's hard to be a self-employed businessman, especially if you're allergic to work! (In the same vein as Convington being allergic to pain. HAHA!)
The rest of the narration is basically the comics version of the recap as they show Baloo and Kit sleeping. That's about it for the changes for this page.
Page Four: The alarm clock rings and is solid gold in the comic version. Baloo throwing the pillow into the clock doesn't exist in the comic version. Kit wakes up instantly in the comic version and doesn't go to Baloo right away to inform him that it's ten o'clock. Baloo doesn't do the "I'm going to be rich" dance in the comics version. The hamburger is not in the record player in the comic version, it's on a plate near the box with a box of fake fruit on it. Kit has a silver pocket clock in the comics version instead of a silver watch. This is actually an improvement over the televised version; so good job there Bobbi. Since the dance was cut from this version; Baloo only says that he wants a bite to eat first.
Page Five: Rebecca's first appearance is almost the same in both versions. Rebecca talks a bit more. Baloo is a bit meaner in the comics. (In the televised version he's much more sly.) The "Gone Fishin" scene is there; but the sign is not in the comics; although to be fair, it wasn't in the syndicated television version either. Rebecca is much more angry when she points down that she now owns the place in the comics; she was smiling in the televised version. (Because you see Bobbi, Rebecca owns the joint now and she owns the power now. Being mad about it makes her look like a jerk and gives sexist men ideas that she is a jerk when she is not. Although the artists are more to blame than Bobbi.)
Page Six: Rebecca is actually nicer in the televised version than in the comic version. Most of the banter between Baloo and Rebecca is the same in the comics as in the televised version. Sadly; Kit pulling on the socks on a clothesline spot when he says "Told ya!" is edited down to Kit merely saying "Told ya!". Baloo does not bang on the wooden crate in the televised version. Rebecca puts her coat on the chair in the comics; and the closet with one hundred eyes in darkness is edited out completely in the comics. Baloo gets mad when Rebecca merely wants to have a new look in the comics. In the televised version; Rebecca simply says that she wants to put a woman's touch to the place...or a bulldozer. Baloo also doesn't mention the "Lived In" look in the television version.
Page Seven: A Mickey Mouse Adventures promo for the 50th birthday of the existence of the movie Fantasia. The same one where we all accused Corey Burton of putting someone out to pasture in future DVD releases; only to discover that the reason Corey Burton was overdubbing the narration was because Disney has no idea how to store film properly and the audio portions they overdubbed were of audio that had extremely poor quality. Listen; Corey's blow off of Ed Gilbert being a disgrace to Phil Harris was uncalled for, but so was my accusation of Corey overdubbing narration on Fantasia.
Page Eight: Almost everything in this scene is kept from the television version. Rebecca is more angry in the comics than in the televised version. Again; I wonder if the people who claim Rebecca is a jerk actually watched the television show and made their claims based on what happened in the comics?! This is the definition of character assassination. Rebecca doesn't show the deed in the comics. Molly's doll looks different in the comics; but it's a bear like doll, so that's fine.
Page Nine: Almost everything here is kept as it is; although the comics cannot do Molly's "Can I keep my room this messy?" line justice. Kit doesn't enter the next room in the televised version; he stays outside the room. Kit is smiling in the televised version about reminding Baloo of Louie's. Kit does arm motions; but with only one arm in the comics. While in the televised version; Kit does airplane wing soaring motions with both arms. The Kit Cloudkicker introduction to Rebecca is dead on perfect. While Molly does ask about being the tail gunner; the comics completely cuts out Kit and Molly actually playing tail gunner right in front of Rebecca! It was such a heartwarming spot and they removed it! It's made worse by the fact that Molly is in the purple sofa on Page 11. How did she get on the sofa?!
Page Ten: Another Disney Comics Subscription promo forcing you to cut out the entire Rebecca and Kit introduction with Molly asking if she wanted to be the tail gunner. Memo to Disney: insert cards are GOOD business. Spend a little more money and you'll have a loyal fan base who won't pirate your productions in twenty five years because you screwed them out of quality work.
Page 11: Yes; the tail gunner sequence is entirely removed from the comics. Molly's getting on the chair handle and saying "I think flying is the greatest thing in the whole wide world" before flopping back in the seat -- and Baloo's reaction to it -- does not exist in the comics either. That's TWO "The Real Disney" moments back-to-back removed from the comics. Why? It makes your product look like a poor anime dub for goodness sakes! I will say that Molly sitting in the chair laying back in the comics is great though. The whole sequence with WildCat is dead on and good for them. 4Kids would have likely cut this out due to gross out humor. Also, this scene is all you need to know about fart jokes in 1990. I wonder if we old farts hate fart jokes now because it's gross; or if it's because WildCat's introduction is the best fart joke ever and we don't want anything to top it?! Neither option is rational; but the later on at least is funny on a "What a bunch of dopes?!" level.
Page 12: Everything in the rest of the Wildcat introduction is dead on as well; except for the fact that they didn't show Rebecca actually answering the phone. Oh well. Other than the narration for Mr. Khan's introduction; this page is also near perfect. Sadly; I don't see any Venus Flytraps in the background in the comics.
Page 13: I'm sure if this is the same nor different in the comics; but I love Khan's "Yes-Man" entrance with Mr. Kha. Not to mention the slow walk to the desk and slowly take his gloves off while making Yes-Man tremble and ponder his grave faux pass (According to the narration; which doesn't exist in the televised version.) in the comics. Otherwise; the conversation is pretty much the same. I do plan to do transcripts for TaleSpin in the future; depending on my mood.
Page 14: Ah; the Venus Flytraps are in the comics after all, so you can discard my previous observations. In the televised version; we merely see a fly. In the comics, it appears that the fly looks like ZIPPER from Rescue Rangers. HOLY CRAP~! So it was Bobbi Weiss that was mean to Zipper; not Jymn Magon. Also, it was a Venus Flytrap, not a fish. How can anyone make that mistake?! (Because the Rescue Ranger fans are bigger lunatics than the Darkwing Duck fans, if that was anthromorphically possible.) Yes-Man does a better job selling the Venus Flytrap in the comics than he does in the televised version, so way to go, Bobbi. I'm certain Mr. Khan said eaten; not eatens in the televised version. (Actually, I'm glad I did TaleSpin transcripts for the website because "eatens" was in fact correct here.)
Page 15:
Finally! An actual TaleSpin Comics promotion that also mention
TaleSpin's appearance in the "Holiday Parade" comic book!
Still; they used an issue that I already paid for though. Sadly; this
was released in February of 1991 and they are still selling it as a
Christmas item. (Disney's
marketing is worse in compentency than Cut Man.)
I like modern technology when it interests me and I need it.
Page
16: There are some
differences in the beginning of this scene. For one; the raising of
the Higher...For...Hire sign is not in the comics. Also there were a
few furry workers that aren't present in the comics. Molly is not
anywhere near the docks in the comic version so the balloon on the
left wing spot is absent. Kit doesn't smile in the comics either
during this.
Page 17: The mango driver has much darker fur in the comics; but is dressed the same. The dialogue is mostly the same; but Molly doesn't hug Kit when she says "okay" to him. Kit doesn't walk away with Rebecca saying "thanks" to him in the comics either. They killed another heartwarming moment because this was also a sign that Rebecca was in fact a nice person. Bobbi then proceeds to cut everything out of the flying sequence until the moment where Baloo is mocking Rebecca for not knowing that they are going to Louie's. Kit seeing the blimp is gone -- although that was not in the Disney Channel 1990 cut either --. Kit saying that he kind of likes Rebecca is cut, Baloo pulling curtains away inside the SeaDuck is gone. Kit steadying the plane in the pilot's seat while Kit says "Roger Skipper!" is removed. (This is the point where I was getting totally pissed off of this comic and we are not even at the most important scene that was cut out for syndication yet!) All of the Don Karnage scene where he takes the curtain to the kisser and yells "They shall not pass!" along with the pirates basically letting them pass is not in evidence in the comic version. What did they show: The SeaDuck flying out of the cliffs; Baloo saying "Gone! Solid Gone! We're free!" and Kit and Baloo are already out of the soda jerk outfits. We never even get to see Kit pull his sweater over his head. Also of note: Baloo didn't drive the SeaDuck with his feet in the televised version. (All these cuts just to have Baloo pilot the SeaDuck with his feet. Come on, now!) The entire Molly, Baloo and Kit banter was almost dead on and Kit was slightly more mean in the comics. But the artists did a good job with Molly's facial expressions, even though the televised version was in fact better. I don't think she gave the thumbs up in the televised version; but I'll check that later. (The transcripts don't say she did.)
Page 18: After getting the banter down near perfect; Bobbi then proceeds to remove Baloo and Kit's reaction to this sneaky attempt at blackmail completely. The comics start in Louie's place so we never get a shot from outside Louie's either like we do in the televised version. I need an explanation as to why these scenes are being cut in the comics?! I don't believe Louie sings a song while scooping ice cream into a bowl in the televised version. Kit saying "Tada!" is not in the comics. The Krackatoa Special looks completely different in the comics. It looks like a small birthday ice cream cake in a bowl. (Even if this is wrong, I'll still eat it.)
Page 19: Louie getting his eye burned by looking at the jewel is not in the comics; although to be fair, it was edited out in the syndication version. Otherwise; it's mostly the same from the televised version.
Page 20: Kit looks a lot more depressed in the comic version. In the televised version; Kit merely looks bored. The Disney Channel 1990 version only line from Kit: "Yeah. Karnage lifted it from one of Khan's planes." Baloo's: "Is that a fact?" while looking sly is not in the comics. Other than some more dialogue from Baloo; the rest of the page is the same. Although the camera angle in the comics when they get outside has their backs to the hard camera; instead of looking at the hard camera.
Page 21: They moved the "Between The Lines" segment to here for absolutely no reason whatsoever. BS&P Alert: You can still say "God bless" at this point; which is odd because both times TaleSpin used the word "God"; it was in vain. (Also, spoken by an Air Pirate and an ex-Air Pirate. I'll leave the two sinners of this as an exercise to the reader. Also, Baloo said the word during "A Jolly Molly Christmas".) Apparently; they view Baloo is selling his soul to Mr. Khan to get his seaplane back, as if he is going to work with Mr. Khan at Khan Industries to smite Rebecca. Really?!
Editor's Note: I must have combined two pages of comics into one by mistake because my page count is out of sink here. So, if you see the gap between #21 and #23; that's why.
Page 23: I will give Bobbi Weiss credit again for showing Louie bailing out when the bullets start flying because that wasn't addressed in the televised version. It even includes Baloo ordering everyone to bail too. Don Karnage gets more dialogue about their clever disguise which isn't clever at all in the comics version. In the televised version; Don just yells "attack". I'll also give Weiss credit for removing the line when Baloo says "Why are they chasing me again?!" even though Baloo figured that one out in part one. Apparently; the balloons stayed on the comic version; but I think were removed in the televised version and probably for a good reason too. Baloo actually flies for a long while in the televised version and even barrel rolls a CT-37 plane at one point. (Years before "Do A Barrel Roll" was a meme.) Although the mango scene is there; they cut out the cute moments of it including Molly carrying one and asking if they are real pirates.
Page 24: Then they cut out the second mango being shot out while Baloo was acting cocky from the comics. At least this cut is justified because of violence but it also cut out Kit showing his airfoil to Baloo. Kit does fly out of the SeaDuck and the camera they did for the "Where did he learn that?" is great; but they forgot to switch the angle when Molly proclaims that she wants to go next because the facial expressions of the televised version are priceless. The whole Kit taking down CT-37's is different in the comics. In the televised version; Kit threw the ice cream in Gibber's face and his plane spirals down towards the ocean. Kit laughs and then Dumptruck arrives to fire at him at point blank range. Kit ties the tow rope around his ankle. He goes underneath Dumptruck's plane; opens the engine and pulls out the oil line. Dumptruck says "I hate it when that happens" before his CT-37 swan dives towards the ocean. Here is what Bobbi Weiss did in the comics: Kit throws the ice cream into an unknown air pirate's face. Kit goes underneath the CT-37, opens the panel and pulls out the oil line causing the CT-37 to nosedive. That is the extent of the scene! Kit also talks a lot more here. Most of this scene was clearly changed to tone down the shooting at a child.
Page 25: Kit's brave stance is cut out from the comics. Baloo calling Kit "dynamite" in the SeaDuck with Molly is cut out of the comics. Baloo basically says in the comics that he hopes Kit gets back in real quick as four CT-37's fly towards the hard camera. Kit does say "to come out of the rain"; but the scene has been changed: In the television version; Kit says that line after he uses his airfoil to block the bullets. In the comics; one bullet misses his head by a foot and one misses his arm by about six inches. Still scary in spite of the tone down. Molly's grabbing of Lucy and hugging it is not in the comics. The rope snap by bullet spot that was only in the 1990 Disney Channel cut of this episode was also cut out of the comics and probably for the best since that bullet was one inch away from being planted right in Kit's head. (However, they made up for it in the scary department in the comics earlier.)
Page 26: Baloo doesn't praise Kit at all in the comics. Once Kit is in the back of the SeaDuck; Baloo acts like a jerk judging by his face. Kit going to his seat and saying we're surrounded is not in the comics. All Baloo says is "Ya In Kid?" Kit says "Yeah!" Baloo says: "Okay! Then stand clear back there!" Baloo pulls the tail section lever to open the tail section. (Baloo did this twice in the Disney Channel 1990 version; only once in syndication.) Also of note; all the mangoes are grouds actually. (Grouds are actually harder than mangoes, so if this was to tone down the violence, it failed badly.) Gibber is not shown getting pelted first in the comics. Otherwise; not much in the way of changes, except for a sunset shot at the end. (It was early afternoon in the televised version.) The next page shows that the SeaDuck suffered a lot less damage in the comics than it did in the televised version; even in syndication! Baloo and Kit's reaction to Molly's wink is cut from the comics. Baloo's "water under the wings" and Rebecca's "This does not excuse you destroying your soda jerk outfits." at the end of the scene are not in the comics. The next scene is also edited down a lot. Kit pushing the seat while Molly plays pirates is completely cut in the comics, which means she never mentions Danger Woman. The slingshot spot is completely cut from the comics. Molly landing on Baloo's belly is cut from the comics. Baloo tickling Molly is cut. Rebecca coming down the steps with blankets in her robe and slippers is cut from the comics. Molly tickling Kit and Kit pulling the out of nowhere pilot's hat over Molly's eyes is cut from the comics. Even the "time for bed Molly" stuff is OFF-SCREEN! They cut out some of Rebecca's dialogue and Baloo tickling Molly's belly causing Molly to kick her feet and then put the pilot's hat on Baloo's head is all cut out of the comics. Yes; they cut off one of most adorable scenes in the movie down to one panel off-screen outside the office. BRUTAL~!!
Page 27: Little Nemo: The Dream Master NES promo. You would never know it was made in Japan until you read The Cutting Room Floor to discover that Capcom had to edit out smoking pipes; and then find out that it took SIX years to complete. Most anime films take less than half that!
Page 28: The comic version made the "flight crew doesn't get chilly" apply to Baloo and Kit; while in the television version, she only addresses Kit with this. This was to imply that Rebecca has no beef with Kit at all. Instead; the comic made it look like she has completely forgiven Baloo for his laziness. Molly waving "see you later, navigator!" is also cut out of the comics! Now; I will give Bobbi Weiss credit for keeping the scene that the syndication version left out (Disney; we are still waiting for you to swallow your pride and put this scene on DVD or even officially on Youtube.); because it's a very important one. Sadly; Bobbi Weiss pretty much butchered the scene. It starts off fine and then it gets slaughtered. "Home is Where The Heart Is" is NEVER sang here! Rebecca does speak about home is where there is love, and warmth and friends. However; a lot of stuff was cut out. Baloo going to his plane while Kit watches him go is cut. WildCat at his boat house in his hammock is cut from the comics which is where the song goes "Four walls may surround you.". Those little things that aren't there and the song is what made this scene emotional. Instead; Rebecca is merely talking to Molly and hugging her; telling her that she'll always be with her. So, Molly popping the question while Kit watches them from the window is cut from the comics. Kit also sheds tears in the comics; which if he did that in the Disney Channel 1990 version, it would have one of the few times where I would have loved to see them overkill an emotional scene!
Page 29: Also; the cookie jar in the filing cabinet is cut out, so Rebecca has to bring out an out of nowhere plate of cookies to the window sill. Since Rebecca doesn't sing the song; she must tell Molly to go to sleep and Molly says "goodnight Mommy" off-screen in the comics. In the televised version; Molly dozes off before Rebecca kisses her goodnight and sees Kit at the window. Memo to Bobbi Weiss: Stick to new stories of TaleSpin; because the adaptations are so 4Kidsing your reputation! Despite all that; the entire Don Karnage in the row boat with Mad Dog playing a blond woman and Dumptruck playing a handsome man to the cliff guards is almost all kept. I think Don Karnage did not say "coppers" in the televised version, I'll have to go check. (Don Karnage does say the line in the televised version, only in the 1990 movie version though.) I also think either Mad Dog or Dumptruck nailed the other that was cut from the comics; but that's minor compared to the butchering of the "Home Is Where The Heart Is" scene. At least syndication cut the scene completely out and while it is sad to see the scene cut; at least it wasn't butchered like it was in the comics.
Page 30: Donald Duck: The Carl Barks Library promo complete with cut off subscription; just to ruin the comic book some more. It's little things like this that remind me that most corporations consider entertainment to be completely disposable unless they make so much money that the company is set for life.
Page 31: Most of Baloo and Kit waking up the next morning and stuffing the stone in Molly's doll Lucy is pretty much the same. Baloo trying to sneak out and runs into junk off-screen waking up Molly is cut from the comics.
Page 32: Most of Don Karnage's arrival is kept, although it was drawn out a lot longer and I'll give Bobbi Weiss credit for keeping the damage on the SeaDuck; since in syndication, they edited out ALL the damage from the SeaDuck. And Kit's blanket was changed from purple to navy blue , which it's navy blue in the comics. Mr. Khan's look off scene has a blue plane flying at low attitude below him in the comics; which is neat. Sadly; all references to Kit grabbing Mr. Khan's dagger and sword fighting with it before Mr. Khan takes it away is cut out.
Page 33: Mr. Khan's "It's worth 50 times that." is kept in the comics; which was cut out in syndication. Sadly; as they return to the offices, some bars of the "I'm Gone" song are cut out and replaced with some additional dialogue from Kit.
Page 34: Kit doesn't run up the stairs to call for Molly and Rebecca in the comics; but he almost says "OH MY GOD!" and cuts off at "God" in the comics. Everything is done on floor level as Baloo crumbles the note and looks more and more steamed; and his glance looks like he is going to blame Kit for all this. I guess I could say that the "To be continued..." part is in a red box with black letters in the comics and white letters in the televised version, but no one cares about that. That ends part two and it was not good. ** 1/4 (55%). If Bobbi Weiss had trimmed down scenes where there was violence, that would be understandable. However, much of what Bobbi trimmed down were heartwarming, cute and adorable scenes that made TaleSpin, TaleSpin! Why not just cut out the "Home Is Where The Heart" scene if your plan was to completely butcher the scene?! I guess if I wanted to see what 4Kids Entertainment would have done if they got their mitts on this; I would have just read this comic book. Because; outside of bullet shooting, all the 4Kids banes are in place.
Page 35: The very first MailSpin segment in it's glorious attention whoring fashion. Half of the letters are complaining about TaleSpin being a limited series. (Geez; give the "Only talented with Money" marks an excuse to screw the show over why don't ya?!) Eddie Perkins plays "Disneyboy" from TV.com this issue; although he's more subtle about it this time around. I love the question of why Kit and Baloo don't wear parachutes because in "The Old Man & The Seaduck"; Kit and Wildcat actually parachute out of the plane. So the answer is yes; Kit and Baloo do have parachutes on retainer. Granted; they don't wear them inside the SeaDuck. However; the answer to this is: Because they are a tad irresponsible. Just a tad guys?! Kit Cloudkicker nearly gets shot in the head at POINT BLANK RANGE when he's cloud surfing and that's only a tad irresponsible?! If this happened today, Kit would be on the streets again after Child Protection Services is called in. (If the actual shot doesn't kill him instantly first, like it would have if this were real life...Also, hell of a way to build up for "The Long Flight Home" there former self.) "Brian Love" likes Don Karnage because he has a delayed reaction time. What does that mean?! (I read that sentence today and I still don't know what it means.) If canon suggests that Kit is 12 years old -- even in Plunder and Lightning -- then canon also declares that the age of being allowed to fly a plane is 17 years old instead of 16 years old. Not a big difference; but still notable. Finally; the next issue tells us that Kit has an astounding secret. You don't know the half of it dude.
Page 36: Disney's Adventures In The Magic Kingdom NES promo. Basically; the platformer black sheep of the Capcom/Disney alliance during that period. Still got more respect than the NES version of TaleSpin; because nobody likes TaleSpin and video games are the future. Please; I realize this is not going to happen, but I hope some video game company gets the official license to TaleSpin and Disney and makes a sandbox/flight sim/RPG like TaleSpin game. And that is that for part two! It was a mess and it was butchered really badly. All I can say is that Bobbi should just focus on new TaleSpin stories instead of adapting old stories for the comics, because Bobbi Weiss is AWESOME at that. Sadly for me; I'm only HALFWAY through this limited series and we are getting to the really nasty portions of Plunder and Lightning that turns Kit's great character into a really tragic one.
Opening Moment #3: Mr. Khan is now the proud owner of the TaleSpin IP and watching Rebecca, Baloo and Molly being chased by Don Karnage (with sword) and Dumptruck (with bone head). (Okay, that was funny former self.) The heels look weird and that's all I need to tell you about it.
Take-Off #3 - Khan Job:
Page 2: Mickey Mousecapade NES game promo. Capcom made a lot of Disney licensed games that were half-decent at least. Which is why the disclaimer of "Warning! This game may be hard to get away from your family!" sounds reasonable in fact.
Page 3: Outside of the narrator's over the top recap of part two; everything is as it should be. Although the quality of the artwork is starting to make Kit look crappy. (A show that is a rushjob. What a surprise?!)
Page 4: Baloo is talking to Kit on-screen at the beginning in the televised version while in the comics; the beginning of the dialogue is off-screen showing the SeaDuck leaving Cape Suzette. Kit was not mad when he declares that he knows where Pirate Island is. More dialogue off-screen in the comic, when it was on-screen in the televised version, and that is when the SeaDuck turns red for no reason. At least some of Baloo's dialogue that was only in the 1990 Disney Channel version is intact in the comics.
Page 5: From the "Oh no he didn't?!" file: Baloo was smiling in the comic when he asked if his father was a pirate. Oh come on Bobbi! That makes Baloo look like a sociopath! The jab question is bad enough; but at least Baloo in the televised has enough sense not to rub it in. Despite keeping some of Baloo's dialogue from the 1990 Disney Channel version, the comics didn't keep the moment where Kit is in pain while the pencil breaks off his dividers on-screen. (To be fair, it wasn't in the syndication version either, but it was a really important moment to keep since keeping it makes Kit look like he was trying to restrain himself from punching Baloo's lights out, which in the comic; he was sort of justified.). The dialogue is kept; but Kit doesn't bury his face on top of his knees and just looks miserable. Which in a way is an improvement, but Baloo's smile when he asks Kit to take it from the top kills the moment for me.
Page 6: Bobbi also cut Kit's giggling before he hugs Baloo. (Although that one was only the 1990 Disney Channel version.) Baloo also doesn't say "It's okay kid. It's okay!" in the televised version which actually should have been in the televised version. The dogfight between a Khan plane and CT'37's is kept and much of the dialogue from the 1990 DC version is kept as well.
Page 7: More downplaying TaleSpin by showing all the Disney Comics promo. It's March 1991 and you have already released TWO issues of the Take Off series. Why not show them on the promo in case anyone has NOT bought the first two issues already?! Gods; Disney is selective in their hatred of money it seems. (Or just total apathy which in a way is far worse!)
Page 8: Much of the scene inside the Iron Vulture is intact; although the artist's choice of colors leaves a lot to be desired though. Also, the fact that this comic book has to constantly remind us that dog-noses are common in the comics and very rare in the televised series.
Page 9: Ratchet seems to split himself into two extra clones in the comics version; which is funny in fact. (For the wrong reasons of course!) Don ordering Hal to open the bomb bay doors is removed; thus denying us the comedy of seeing if Bobbi would have called Hal, "Fleatol". I have a feeling that the comic book artist cannot draw fat tabby cats properly, which is what happens when you work on Ducktales too much! Don Karnage slamming the megaphone on Mad Dog's head and Mad Dog's response to it are not in the comics.
Page 10: Another Disney Comics promo; only with a hardcover edition and an offer for all the #1 issues...except the TaleSpin "Take Off" series, because Disney doesn't give a damn about that show. It is a bunch of filler after all.
Page 11: The dialogue is the same; but many of the on-screen parts of the dialogue and Kit's face when he says "trust me" in a non-sarcastic way is edited out. I think there is slightly more dialogue from Baloo in the comics; but not much.
Page 12: The dance scene from the syndication version of this episode is not in the comics; which is kind of sad actually. All the traps from the 1990 Disney Channel version are in the comics, including the dreaded saw blade. So yes; the syndication version cut it completely out due to violence and not time. There is slightly more talking; but not much.
Page 13: Almost everything in this scene is the same; although there are more shackles in the comics. Molly doesn't giggle under her breath in the comics, sadly.
Page 14: Cement Head getting MURDERED by the lead pipe is changed a bit. Instead of being off-screen; it's has a large impact orange star with the words "KWWANNGG!" (Oldie but goodie wrestling joke: What is the sound of 280 pounds of shit when it hits the fan? KWANG~!) Molly has a blank expression when she says check in the comics. At least this comic colored Rebecca's foot claws properly instead of turning them grey in the televised version.
Page 15: Disney Comics presents a White Fang graphic novel promo! Was this ever actually released or does this fit until the "Final Fantasy" comics rule?! I do know CiNAR did a White Fang cartoon; but they gender switched the main character. Nothing wrong with that.
Page 16: Rebecca unintentionally slamming the door in Kit's face because Kit was stupid enough to hide behind the door is cut from the comics. Too bad; that was pretty funny actually. (From a context standpoint of Kit's hobo life, yes. Sadly, it can also cause concussions. Not funny.) The Iron Vultures is being towed by a little tugboat instead of a tiny submarine in the comics version; which is sad because Don Karnage does have a submarine in the televised series. (As per It Came From Beneath The SeaDuck.) The babyfaces are MUCH closer to the Iron Vulture in the comics than they were in the televised series.
Page 17: They actually show the babyfaces going to hide behind the stuff in the comics version. Rebecca also talks slightly more when asking Molly to be quiet in the comics. Mad Dog's cap is pink in the comics for some reason. Other than the camera angles; the dialogue is basically the same.
Page 18: Don Karnage asking if he hurt their feelings, Mad Dog nodding and Don saying good afterwards is not in the comics. The babyfaces are in Wang Film-equse shadows in the comics.
Page 19: Other than the usual colorized Wang Film-equse shadows; the entire page is mostly the same.
Page 20/21: The Sky Pirates theme is completely changed with the exception of a couple of scenes of Baloo dodging a sword and then singing along with the pirates. Don Karnage doesn't get onto the Lightning Gun right away either. Killing in the televised version is mentioned in the comics though; although it is not pronounced "keeling" for some reason. Despite dancing and sounding like they are singing, they aren't really singing. The song Bobbi wrote is all right and is somewhat faithful to the original in places; but the artwork is lame for the most part. They also changed how the babyfaces blew their cover too: In the comics; Don just notices Baloo and Rebecca trying to leave and calls them out with Dumptruck walking towards them with shackles. In the televised version; Baloo blows their cover by saying "One More Time!" causing Don Karnage to blow him off in a funny way. So, Bobbi has gone from screwing up emotional, heartwarming moments and is now screwing up funny moments. (Not to mention an important detail: The comics make the scene generic, while the televised version make Baloo holding the Idiot Ball instead of Don Karnage in the end and thus it's all on Baloo for forcing Kit to do a fake heel turn, thus when Kit goes onto the radio to tell Baloo about trying to stop the carnage in Cape Suzette due to the Lightning Gun, it makes more sense and Baloo gets his redeeming moment. You cannot do that unless Baloo is totally at fault for causing the fake heel turn, which in the comics, it is not Baloo nor Rebecca's fault and it's all just dumb luck that Don Karnage spotted them!)
Page 22: The "Between The Lines" segment showing the on sale of comic books including TaleSpin. The Editor's Note is all about New Years Resolutions despite this issue coming in March of 1991! David Cody Weiss' is the best where he says that his resolution is to find time to make resolutions. That made me laugh considering that I wish he would make a resolution to tell Bobbi to stop localizing Plunder and Lightning into a 4Kids Entertainment product.
Page 23: More Wang Film shadows in the comics! The dialogue is mostly intact; but Don Karnage asking Gibber about Rebecca being locked up, Gibber's whisper back and Don blowing him off is not in the comics. Don doesn't point to the Lightning Gun in the comics.
Page 24: Kit doesn't shove an Air Pirate in the comics which actually made the pirates look less dumb. Everything else is kept here, almost word for word actually.
Page 25: The artwork is off-model and Kit clones himself when stealing the shackle key from Don Karnage; but the entire sequence is otherwise unaltered. In fact; the artists did a great job in concealing a possible logic break since Baloo and Rebecca were staring right at Don Karnage. Problem is; concealing it hurts it because Rebecca is SUPPOSED to know that Kit is faking a heel turn.
Page 26: The artwork is messed up again. They show Baloo squeezing the cap; but it isn't a main scene thing, it's just there. Also, the cap turns yellow for no reason. Kit's right foot claws are flesh colored. The guns are shadowed in pink and purple in one panel in the comics. Molly doesn't shed tears, she looks like she's scared of Kit in the comics when Kit beheads Lucy for the STONE OF DOOM.
Page 27: TaleSpin Comics from Disney Comics Promo showing the SeaDuck, Baloo and Kit in the skies with clouds and thunderbolts surrounding them. This should have been in issue #1 right from the start, but wasn't because Disney don't care.
Page 28: Don Karnage and the pirates don't snicker when Don says "He's even mean to children" in the televised version. Don acts semi shocked. Everything else is kept; including the dialogue that was in the Disney Channel 1990 version where Rebecca blows off Baloo for calling her Becky while running in the caves.
Page 29: Baloo doesn't say "Get in" in the comics. Much of the escape and dogfight has been compressed a great deal; but there is a shower of bullets present, so not much was actually cut. Although that meant most of Don Karnage and the pirate's cannons from the ground were cut out in the comics.
Page 30: Disney Comics Subscription promo to yet remind us that Disney doesn't know how to make a customer and keep it.
Page 31: Molly's response after Baloo talks about the overdrive engine is snipped out which is another funny moment excised from the comics. We never get to see Don Karnage put the red scarf around Kit's neck in the comics and the scarf is red with white spots. The televised version is the same scarf Kit wore at the beginning of the movie when he debuted. If I'm not mistaken; Kit wore a red scarf in the comics when he debuted. Bad logic break there guys! (This comic series is dying before my eyes.)
Page 32: When they return back home; Rebecca is angry in the comics and concerned in the televised version. Apparently; Khan's driver is Duckworth with a black coat with the white gloves in the comics. Khan is a lot more emotional when he's angry in the comics, thus hurting his character out of the starting gate. (It gets worse in the Super Baloo comics in terms of screwing up the character personalities.) More shadowing in the comics. The rabbit doctor, believe it or not does have an actual name, but only in the comics (Thus why it's not considered Fanon; but canon.) as Dr. Debolt (Fenix is Fanon in my fanfics by the way). His coat is pea soup green in the comics; which suits him well compared to the coat he wore in the televised version.
Page 33: Khan grabs Debolt by the neck and mouth in the comics while in the televised version, it's by the ears. Odd since grabbing him by the ears is funnier. Mr. Khan dismissing everyone and calling Baloo emotional along with Debolt's pleading to Khan to listen and then getting rejected is cut out of the comics.
Page 34: The entire scene is mostly the same as in the televised version outside of the usual Rebecca is angry stuff. (She was upset at the notion that Baloo thinks Kit's bad; although not crying nor angry at him.) Baloo starting up the plane and Molly's iconic face buried into Rebecca's pant leg is cut from the comics and Molly doesn't wave to the SeaDuck at the end in the comics. That ends part three. It was better than part two and more faithful; but the adaptation is a mess and I call it ** 1/2 (50%). The artwork is substandard too.
Page 35: We end with the MailSpin segment praising the comic books and calling them faithful. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That's a good one. Michell from Canada's take on the characters is great, but it appears he's talking about the televised version since the comics version has degraded them quite a bit. Except for Molly; she's been fine in the comics actually. Funny how everyone is praising the artwork considering that this issue has gotten worse. Tasha called the covers boring. Maybe; but at least they are better than the comics itself, so that accounts for something, weird heel artwork notwithstanding. The next issue summary claims that Don Karnage is making a last ditch effort to beat the ramparts of Cape Suzette, so this comic is in fact implying that "Jumping the Guns" was pre-Plunder and Lightning.
Page 36: Ducktales Gameboy game promo. Now you can play a scaled down Ducktales game on the worst LCD screen ever. It's not even back lit and the screen blurs when you scroll the background. This was 1990. Nowadays, you can have a handheld that is almost Dreamcast level visuals crossed with Virtual Boy 3D; only in full colors and without all the cumbersome problems the Virtual Boy had except the strained eyes. (This was written two years before Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 arrived to blow every one of those portable out of the water. Nintendo Switch has been so successful that Nintendo had the gall to release a Virtual Console version of Virtual Boy which will be released in a few months as of this additional commentary.) So, that is all for part 3. This one is more faithful to the televised version; but the artwork is declining in quality and the funny moments are now being excised. At least the Sky Pirates theme song was somewhat faithful in spots; but boy, the more I see this comic, the more it screams "4Kids Dub"! Next up is part four as Don Karnage plunders Cape Suzette and Kit Cloudkicker does what Kit does best: Be awesome! Well; in the televised version. The comic version on the other hand...
Opening Moment #4: Don Karnage has stolen the IP from Mr. Khan and will use the sword to protect it; along with the Iron Vulture zapping thunderbolts at the SeaDuck with CT 37's chasing it. It's called the Epic Origin Conclusion! Normally; I would say it's true, but I put nothing past this adaptation.
Take-Off #4: Plunder and Lightning:
Page 2: Gameboy Ducktales promo. You've seen it before and Gameboy's spinach screen still is the worst screen in portable history.
Page 3: We begin with the opening sequence of Plunder and Lighting Part 4 pretty much intact for the most part. There is the usual "Ducktales drawing is easy, TaleSpin drawing is hard" makeup of furries; but the artists cannot help themselves there. Hacksaw cocking his gun and other getting magazines of bullets are cut from the comics. (Although to be fair; Toon Disney cut that scene out too. It's available on DVD though.) The narrator reviews part three and acts like Kit has truly turned heel even though we know that he's faking the heel turn. I'm sorry narrator; I realize that you are trying to sell this like the most shocking thing that has ever happened in Disney history, but most of the readers aren't fooled. We readers do use our brains. Don't get us wrong; it was shocking to see Kit having to pull this tactic due to his age, but he didn't really turn heel, he pretended to turn heel knowing the consequences if he did and if he didn't.
Page 4: The Iron Vulture sequence is shortened making Don Karnage teleport to the wheel; but Don Karnage's dialogue is kept. The drug/ice cream store Rebecca and Molly go to looks literally out of the 1980's in the comics and looks generic compared to the televised version. Sadly; the artists adhere to the concept that kids don't read because the telephone booth has it's writing edited out; which sadly denies us the hilarious spelling of "Telephone" as "Telephon" in the televised version. In the comics; it is called Plunder and Lightning, which was originally going to be the part that would have been officially titled and the only part to be titled as such in the original plans (Thanks Tim Van Hal for that one.); before they decided to settle with Plunder and Lightning on all four parts. It's not "Lightning In A Battle" as I originally thought and I don't believe that one was originally planned as a title either. Otherwise; no real changes made.
Page 5: Doctor Debolt looks even goofier in the comics than in the televised version. (Yes; Debolt is in fact canon as demonstrated in Take Off #3.) Mr. Khan's office is a penthouse suite?! COME ON, NOW! Khan has more originality than that. Yeah; the entire page is more or less the same as the televised version.
Page 6: For the most part, the Iron Vulture zapping the cliff guns is more or less the same as the televised version. The laser is changed from red to purple and like Kit's colorful airfoils outside of the televised series, I was hoping Don Karnage had some sort of device to make the lightning gun shoot various colored laser beams, just for me. (Kit's multi-colored airfoils are the funniest things about the non-televised materials on this show.) There is one major change made in the comics: Some pirate actually destroys the cliff gun outright in the comics. While in the televised version, Ratchet misses by a mile, denying us a funny spot where Don Karnage murders him with the telescope and yells "MISSED YOU NAUGHTY BOY~!...Try again please."
Page 7: Little Nemo The Dream Master NES game promo. Already commented on that one; don't care.
Page 8: Well; here comes the changes: Kit wakes up and doesn't say anything in the televised version. That's because in the comics: Kit running out and his entire conversation with Dumptruck is all cut. I should note that we never get to see Kit throw the scarf away in any version. So we never get the scene where Kit threw the scarf away, which would have given away the fact that Kit pretended to turn heel. (Betcha this would be done if TaleSpin was rebooted.) I should also note that all of the planes taking off from the landing strip is also cut from the comics.
Page 9: Another notable change: Ratchet is not firing the Lightning Gun, it is some fleshed colored wolf wearing blue pants, green boots and a red shirt in the comics. Even though we have clearly seen Ratchet in "Take Off #3". What a stupid change this was?! Worse; this pirate isn't wearing safety gear in the comic like Ratchet was. I don't recall Don Karnage calling the enemy "pinkie-sucking pilots" in the televised version; but that was funny anyway. Kit; I don't think says "Oh My Gosh" with his hands in his head looking like he did something wrong in the televised version either. Everything else in the page is pretty much the same outside of the usual "Ducktales background characters syndrome"; which sadly means Teddy from "A Baloo Switcheroo" doesn't make an appearance.
Page 10: Disney Comic Subscriptions promo just to further assure that the comics will die a slow death due to Disney not caring about it's customers.
Page 11: Almost everything in the comic is the same as the televised; although we never got to see Rebecca and Molly dodging a large sign in the comics. Oh well.
Page 12: The party which actually features someone with a mug of beer in the comics is about the same; but the makeup of the pirates looks different. It is clearly Ducktales-equse. Apparently; there is a yellow (egg-sucking) dog drinking a bottle of moonshine in this scene (!!!). Wow; just wow. (There my friends, is the highlight of the entire Take Off series right there!) Kit says "I've got to do something" in the televised version; but only thinks it in the comics, along with a few more things. Okay; here is where it's clear that no one in quality control knows what they are doing: I originally say in a previous page that the guy who is controlling the Lightning Gun was not Ratchet. Well; in the comics; Don Karnage addresses this man AS RATCHET! WHAT THE HELL?! That makes no sense; even more so when we saw Ratchet in Take Off #3 and he looks like Ratchet from the televised version. So stupid!
Page 13: The chase of Kit is more or less the same with more dialogue here and there; and of course more dog furries that look Ducktales-ish. Kit doesn't lock the door in the comics though.
Page 14: So we have the "Between The Lines" segment and it's so much talking; but it has little to say. 3,000 pages of content a year?! That sounds low balled to me.
Page 15: They kept the entire "shoot down the door" routine and "get the blowtorch" in the comics; which was cut in the Toon Disney version of this production. Sadly; Don Karnage saying that he was too easy on Kit Cloudkicker is not in evidence in the comics. Of course; the artist still think drawing diverse furries is hard. The most amusing part of this is seeing the artist create an explosion out of the gun shooting. I don't think iron doors explode when nailed with bullets.
Page 16: In the comics; there is only one pilot who hears Kit's message and he looks completely different compared to the dog pilot "Ace" in the televised version. Kit's position against the table is different in the comics as he is kneeling rather than sitting in the televised version. Of course Baloo calls him "Ace".
Page 17: The entire page is exactly the same as the comics; and they kept the "always..." from the Disney Channel 1990 version.
Page 18: Don Karnage is more jolly when the door is cut down in the comics. The furry cutting the door down is completely different from the comics. There are a few minor changes to the dialogue and apparently; Kit is hooked onto some iron wires in the comics compared to one iron pipe.
Page 19: Don doesn't point his sword towards Kit in the comics and Don doesn't get a spiky bushy balloon tail in the televised version; which does look funny. Again; there is a bit more dialogue, but nothing radically different.
Page 20: Kit talks slightly more in the comics. The airfoil breaks differently in the comics as it breaks like glass rather than in segments like in the televised version. Oh; and Kit never yells "Dad' in any version, but his facial expressions does imply it still .(Although Kit's face is less animated in the comics.)
Page 21: Because it only broke like glass in the comics: Don Karnage gets bonked twice in the head instead of three times like in the televised version. Everything else is more or less the same although the comics cannot do the televised version of Dumptruck throwing Kit off the Iron Vulture justice. Much of the fall is shortened and Molly never sees Kit falling in the comics, although it wasn't in the syndication version either.
Page 22: Here's an interesting promotion: "Makin'it With Olympic Sales Club"! So, here's how it is supposed to work: Join their club and you sell items from them at the full price. Once you have sold enough items; you can redeem the items numbers towards products or two dollars per item. The fact that the operator refuses to answer questions and wants that name and address reeks of "ponzai scheme"! This is so stupid; but amusing to me in hindsight.
Page 23: At least the comics staged Kit's rescue so that we never get to see Kit's feet touch the props like in the televised version. We don't see Kit being helped into the SeaDuck; nor Don Karnage getting angry that someone saved the boy in the comics. The overdrive engine overheat is more electrifying in the comics than in the televised version; but outside of some extra dialogue, it's the same. "Hold Onto Your Kneecaps" is cut from the comics though.
Page 24: There are no changes; outside of the televised version showing at least one shot of inside the SeaDuck during the Rebecca/Baloo exchange.
Page 25: Everything in this scene is kept, even word for word. Why can't it be like this in EVERY SCENE?!
Page 26: Sigh. Baloo puts up a better fight in refusing to go with Rebecca's plan in the televised version than in the comics version. Also; the cute spot where Molly pops from a runaway tire after it stops is not in the comics. The takeoff with the rubberized SeaDuck is also cut.
Page 27: Yes folks; they put the MailSpin segment right here; just accept it. DisneyBoy letter comes from Ricky Chew from Santa Clara; although this guy seems to know his history somewhat. Baloo is supposed to be in his mid 30's; but it's impolite to ask the girls about their age. Never mind that in Molly Coddled, Convington revealed that Molly is six years old. Also in the comics; they have admitted that TaleSpin takes place in 1937; so people like me are NOT making that one up, much to the horror of everyone else. Also; it has been confirmed that TaleSpin will go on to be a continuing series after a great reception. If only we can retroactively apply it to 2015?! And the next story is "Flight Of The Sky Raker" which is a two part story which does what TaleSpin does best: Introduce awesome guest characters and then never bring them back to the regular rotation. Also; this is more of a Wildcat focused episode. (Good news, that two parter Bobbi Weiss wrote was awesome.)
Page 28: The pirates looting of the city is compressed a bit and still contains Ducktales like people. The celebration where the babyfaces cheer that the SeaDuck has nullified the Lightning Gun is moved to after the first shot -- with extra dialogue before they cheer -- instead of after the second shot. That's just bad staging there by Bobbi. Also Kit is the one who says that "it's worked" instead of Baloo in the comics. Although to be fair, there was no way Bobbi was going to have Baloo say: "It FUCKING worked!" like Edmund Gilbert unintentionally said in the televised version. Because the cheers obscured Baloo's line, it was never edited out in any revision of the televised series. I'm perfectly fine with this change. The entire chase through Cape Suzette is completely edited out of the comics; and probably for the best because it involves planes crashing into buildings. Keep in mind; the comics came more than ten years BEFORE 9/11! This also means Baloo catchphrase: "If you don't want to fly; don't mess with the eagles!" is also cut from the comics.
Page 29: Everything here is more or less the same; only with slightly more dialogue.
Page 30: The Carl Barks Library promo which is more over than any comic Disney has in stock. Although; they need to stop making us cut out the comics we paid for to read. Idiots!
Page 31: I don't recall Mr. Khan having a dog-nose "Yes-Man" in the televised version; or a "Yes-Man" in the scene where Khan orders the plane to attack after the Lightning Gun is destroyed. (Khan doesn't mention a "Yes-Man" in the televised series.) Although the comics did show a couple of goofy bumps Rebecca and Kit took, so that was interesting. Also; the gun was destroyed; but we never got to see the Sub-Electron Power Amplifier fall into the water and explode; and the water pillar hitting the SeaDuck. All cut from the comics.
Page 32: Rebecca doesn't apologize to Baloo in the televised version. In fact, they built the moment of Baloo losing his plane a lot better in the televised version than in the comics. Sadly; WildCat and Molly don't run in and celebrate with Kit and Rebecca in the comics. The SeaDuck sinking into the water and Baloo watching it sink is all cut from the comics. Everything else is more or less the same.
Page 33: Kit Cloudkicker (in shadow) isn't outside of the office at the beginning of the second to last scene in the entire movie in the televised version. He's already inside in the televised version. Everything else is pretty much dead-on; although I'm certain Wildcat said "Happy Birthday" instead of "Happy New Year". in the televised version. (Spoiler Alert: WildCat said "Happy New Year" and it makes more sense anyway.) It doesn't matter either way.
Page 34: The last page is actually in a way; better than the televised version as Kit is surfing clouds during a sunset in the comics, instead of the televised version where it was blue skies all the way. The only change is facial expressions of Rebecca and Molly offering Baloo to be her pilot again, and Kit asking Baloo if they have a deal which are absent from the comics. Kit is not wearing goggles and his facial expressions are better in the comics than the televised version; so way to go guys! The ending was in fact great. And that ends the Take Off series of comics! This was the best one of the four, although it still got put through the shredder and had massive continuity errors. *** 1/2 (70%).
Page 35: Another NES Ducktales promo from Capcom. Only with no screen shots of the actual game. Lovely!
Page 36: And the final page of the Take Off series ends with a Shipwrecked comic book promo! What a prophetic statement for DTVA comics in hindsight?! Seriously! After this "Take Off" series; I'm shocked that TaleSpin got even seven issues out of it, considering how screwed up the execs and this series was.
THE REVIEW LINE
Okay; that is the end of the Take Off comic series and boy; it was a pain to get through. There are a few aspects of the comics that did better than the televised version. (Most so; the ending to #4; which looked wonderful.) However, most of it looked like something 4Kids or Saban would do. A lot of stuff was cut out, compressed or changed; mostly for the worse. Characters expression were mostly changed for the worse and made the characters look like jerks; most so Rebecca and Kit (to a lesser extent). If you want a great example of storytelling; watch the televised version of this episode. It's much better. If you want to read the comic books or are forced too, tell your parents to get you the original TaleSpin comic book stories written by Bobbi Weiss; instead of the adaptations like "Take Off" and the upcoming "Old Man & The SeaDuck" one, you'll thank yourself for it. In this case, reading is slightly overrated. So, what is next on the agenda? Well; in two weeks, I might do the reviews of the TaleSpin episodes via the graphic novel routine starting with Captains Outrageous, which have even more absurd changes than the Take Off series did, although it at least had the excuse of being marketed to toddlers and BS&P rules the roost after all. So...
Thumbs in the middle for these comics (Except for #2 which was a thumbs down.) and I'll see you all next time.
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