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!

Donald Duck; Copywriter Wanted (1979)

Synopsis: Donald and Gladstone compete in getting the job for the Gourmet Soup factory.

Copywriter Wanted (D 4623) | I.N.D.U.C.K.S.

"Tekstforfatter søges" is an early short outing from Denmark from the last year of the 1970s that features the ongoing feud between the unlucky Donald and the over-the-top lucky Gladstone. This time, with them at a soup factory.

So, as for most of the Anders And & Co. Comics as you'll quickly find out, I sourced the translation from the Netherlands copy, and they got pretty lazy when it came to naming the actual soup factory (Gourmet Soup). I'm guessing they knew this was never gonna be republished there, so they just said, “screw it”. Also, what kind of factory is this?! Gladstone admits to the manager that he didn't really want to be hired and instead of just kicking him out for wasting his time, he forces him against his will to keep writing campaigns for his product until the late hours of the night? Why?! Why would you hire someone who clearly has no interest in working for your establishment? Even Squidward has A reason for working at the Krusty Krab! The layouts are pretty solid though, as per usual with the Danish comics.

While the layout for the ducks and gander looks solid, I'm NOT a fan of how the manager's drawn. I don't know, he just looks... kinda off to me. His head looks stiffer than how it should it.

These phrases were a pain in the A double-S to translate BTW

This manager's Pity as sin! (though, that can apply to a good amount of managers honestly)