Daisy Duck; It's Daisy's Birthday (2014)

Synopsis: Gladstone and Donald’s luck helps them quickly get some last-minute presents for Daisy’s birthday, but the gifts HAD to come from somewhere.

Katrien is jarig (H 2012-248) | I.N.D.U.C.K.S. 

"Katrien is jarig" follows the usual formula of Donald and Gladstone completing using their own good and bad luck in the hopes of pleasing Daisy, who despite always being Donald’s pair in pretty much every single piece of media around them, always seems to ping-pong between the duck and gander in the world of Disney comics. The most interesting thing about these stories is how they usually go about the idea of who Daisy goes with, as it’s more comparable to something like MAD’s Spy Vs. Spy comics. By which, I mean you never know who ends up winning and who ends up losing. Sometimes it’s Donald who wins Daisy’s heart, Sometimes it’s Gladstone who outsmarts Donald (although that’s usually in-part of Donald’s “bad luck” of trying to cheat his way in winning but ends up making it worse for himself) and sometimes, like this story for example, neither one of them wins, as Daisy’s actively angry with both of them. How it’s presented here is pretty alright for being a small 4-pager story. Both Donald and Gladstone forget about Daisy on her birthday and both actively decide to pretty much cheat their way out of the problem by simply just hopeing their luck fixes everything for them. This makes the ending feel alot more satisfying since it’s clear neither one of them actually tried in winning Daisy’s heart fair and square, so you don’t feel bad for them being punished.

As for the artwork… It's fine. You can tell this was made more as a filler story than as a main headliner, since it’s not as polished or heavily expressive as a regular 10-pager. Alot of the expressions don’t try to push any creative boundaries yet it still contains some very fine layouts and decent posing, and honestly, that’s the most I like to get out of these shorter stories from Holland.

Honestly, I don't blame Daisy at all for being completely annoyed. This random lady screams for her arrestment with zero proof that it was even her who took the necklace in the first place, and then as soon as she got it back from the actual thief (A.K.A. T. Crow), she doesn't even say a single word to Daisy at all. Not an apology, not a pardon, NOTHING. And then, you have dickward Gladstone over here laughing it up and doesn't regret or feel the slightest bit sorry at all when Donald calls him out in forgetting her birthday. Look at his face when Daisy gets upset! No wonder Donald hates his cousin's guts!

The Annual Summer Hoagies Are Here

When you're near a Wawa, that means when Summertime is around, the yearly Hoagiefest is bound to pop up, and does it usually always deliver, with their casual 70s esthetic in their marketing and honestly decent deals on their food (especially these days when just buying ANY hot food costs nearly an arm and a leg). Everyone’s got their typical go-to picks and Betty’s what my main writing-partner goes for when he heads to his local Wawa; an Italian Ham and Cheese hoagie. What you DON’T see is Tom, as per usual, grabbing atleast 5 of the XL fountain drinks, always filled to the tip of the lid with ice-cold cola. But, knowing Tom, he’s always a sweetheart to his dough-girl and gets her an Iced tea to help the sandwich settle down.

Carpenter Out at Sea

If you’re expecting an overly long backstory behind not one, but TWO art pieces, You’re at the wrong post. These were mainly done as gifts for one of my closest friends (and my main partner in the art department), Corey. The idea was pretty simple; what would she look like in a nautical setting and what type of outfit would fit her the most.

There’s two sides of the coin here; One being her

in the rough seas setting as a pirate captain. Why would she be looking for

very specific records, one may ask? Simple, because they’re extremely rare and both of us (Especially when it comes to rare takes of Billy Murray recordings, since that’s a personal favorite for her) actively love finding them. When drawing this, it dawned on me that finding “sexy pirate” attire is WAY more harder to track down for references than one might think.

The other side is the more common sailor look, with more of a loose and open look to her compared to the usual kind of sailor pinup designs that’s usually out there. That and Corey came up with the goofy ass melody here and I found it funny as well.

The Sailor's Summer Jig

There’s nothing Betty loves more during the warmer period of the year than by playing on her ol' Squeezebox and striking a few chords to play some sea shanties for anyone on the ship. The trouble is, most of the swabs aboard end up calling her “The Pied Piper of The Sea” for how the only ones on deck alive who actually performs the Jitterbug to her music are the rats. Atleast SOMEBODY finds her wrong note playing listenable.

Patriotic Cherry-Blasters

Another Fourth of July has upon us once again, and once again on the Fourth of July, Tom proves himself to everyone around the entire state that he can NOT celebrate a holiday like a normal person. He can’t just go get some meat and slab it on the grill with some spices and BBQ sauce or fold out the old lawn-chair and watch the fireworks the Norristown Fire Department on the other side of town grabbed from Shoprite. No, he HAS to go find the best kind of fireworks to light up himself; illegally imported firecrackers with multiple kinds of gun powder that’s been banned in multiple countries which has been painfully put together by heavily overworked and underpaid Chinese sweatshop workers. Has this worked in his favor before? Absolutely not! He’s nearly burned down multiple different neighborhoods one year. But that doesn't discourage our hyperactive roadrunner creature… even if he REALLY should be. Both for his safety and everyone else's.

 Billy Jenkins and Betty Jones

I’m not sure if I've ever mentioned it (or atleast as often as I think I might’ve) here, but I’m a huge record nut. I collect records, I bid and buy records on ebay, I study all different kinds of labels, companies, bands and their vocal artists, and even the size and material of them. More specifically, I love 78rpm records. There’s just something so fascinating about the kind of music those discs can give out once again. It’s a lost art that’s nearly impossible to fully recreate. Even with the same kind of instruments and technical techniques one might’ve used back then, it still never quite matches that kind of sound records from around 1905-1940 can produce. Though, one key factor as to why could be because some artists are completely unique compared to many of today, especially when it comes to Vocal artists. Two that come to my mind (although usually as a duo even though they’re more well-known for their own separate solo performances) are Billy Murray and Ada Jones. Both of them (especially Murray) have a kind of singing voice that’s so completely his own. It gives off a very chipper early 20s bachelor who barely goes out for drinks but still would be caught walking out in town with a nicely tailored sweater. Then again, some of that is true according to many reports on his private daily life, so that’ll do it.

This piece specifically was done for one of my main partners and closest friends, Corey, who’s just as much of a Billy-nut as I am (although I’m gonna be honest, considering alot of the information I know about the chap comes from Corey, He’s the bigger fan compared to me).

 This Looks Quite Well on Me, Dear!

Yes, I was pretty much gone from this site for like a couple of months. What was I doing all this time, you may be asking? Nothing I WANTED to do but stuff I HAD to do. Life got in the way and alot of my spark for typing and posting stuff on this site had sadly dried up alittle, but that’s honestly the price I have to pay for wanting to post whatever I want, how I want it, and without any kind of Cropping or AI slop getting in the way. It’s a double-edge sword, if you will. But the most I can say is I’m still active and I’ll still be posting stuff here whenever I can.

Now, what has Tom and Betty been up to for the last couple of months while I’ve been away? Well, I’m gonna be quite honest with you, I can’t even tell myself half the time. I can never tell if it’s some kind of freaky-ass kinky role-play, some kind of hardcore Truth or Dare match, or just something they felt like doing one day for absolutely no reason at all. I know this because I’d ask them why and they'd just say “I don’t know. Because I felt like it?”. The fuck you mean you FELT like it?!