Mickey's buddies part 3 : The Gleam - Eega Beeva in Wonderland

[jeanmarcbano]

One of the peak of the Mickey's detective story by Gottfredson is 'The Gleam'; first of all, this is an another example of the allergy of Goofy for the supernatural; Goofy in this story has brains, this is not the kind of idiot that we meet in other stories (Mickey contre le roi des voleurs - Topolino e la grande impresa di 'Lascia o t'accoppo - 1956); he has here the attitude of an intelligent poor guy, clumsy, brilliant from time to time; here, in background, his wits are the undercurrent trend which permit Mickey to unravel the mystery; yes, there is some flaws in the plot (but i think this is inevitable for keeping the suspense on a high level): we don't understand for example why the villain keeps on stealing jewels in the same town such a long time with the increasing risk of being caught by both Mickey and Chief O' Hara; Minnie in this story is the feminine character, kind like always, but awfully snobbish (this trait of her character appears also in the unglia di Kali - Romano Scarpa - where her snobbery leads her to claim that an old broom is an ancient relic), a satire of the snobbish behaviour also appears at the end of the excellent story 'Picsou contre Lord Hambard - Zio Paperone e il clavicembalo scrivano 1962 - where the mission of Donald is to sell old typewriters as it was the new indispensable fashionable object to possess in a house; in The Gleam an important part of the story happens during the night parties; another similarity with the story of Romano Scarpa 'Kali' is the discovery of the identity of the villain, the story is different of the Scarpa's one of course but, like in Kali, the villain, even if we don't know him yet, is present at the beginning of the story and moves about around our heroes who haven't the slightly clue in their head that this is him; so this story, its midnight dramas, revolver and dramatic parties, elegant and sophisticated robber with a lot of skills enhance this adventure lived like a very good film noir; according to the inducks database, the character of the gleam, rarely used in the Mickey's stories, seems to have been used again in the italian story with Mickey called 'The Inferno'.
Eega Beeva in Wonderland (about the story Mickey l'écumeur des mers - the reluctant pirate - topolino e il terrore dei mari - 1953): there is not a lot of information about this english story in the inducks database, the name of Ronald Neilson is credited for the story but i don't know exactly in what proportion; surreal masterpiece, the story leads mickey in a fantasy land where Eega Beeva travels on the wings of a plane (a steward opens the door of the plane during the travel, he is worried about Eega and ask him if he has not too much wind and air, Eega answer that this is sure and if he can close the door), takes the attitude of statues in some big gardens; there is two holes in the plot: there is no exaplantion how the important leaves in the book about the ancestor of Mickey has been cut, how Sam Fémal (i don't know the name in English, this is the competitor of Mickey in the story) goes back to the past without the help of the magic powers of time traveler of Eega Beeva; this is naive, sometimes clumsy, imaginative, and very refreshing; for the time travels, wonderfully done, Eega change the vignettes of the story and we are changing of time, the dummies of a travel agency, in a setting of Caribbean sea, start moving around Mickey thanks to Eega, and we are back a long time ago; there is an another story of Ronald Neilson mentioned in the inducks database about Eega Beeva called 'Eega Beeva Once Upon a Time', but i haven't more information about, if someone have, in particular where it can be found (particularly in what issue § comics), that would be a good thing. 
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