Top 10 Stories by William Van Horn

 DISCLAIMER:
This article was, despite being written in as Atobibas, in fact written by the great Pernat (AKA Duckofan). Due to Pernat being unable to upload this article on his own account, I (Atobibas) did it on mine.
Also note, that this article was originally written for Pernat's blog.
Full credits can be found in the comments.

William van Horn - one of the best American creators of Disney comics, a man who raised several generations of cartoonists and screenwriters of duck stories, for me personally a definitely brilliant creator, known for the non-standard atmosphere of his works. In this article I will try to introduce you to the best stories created by him. Of course, it will be a subjective assessment, these are the best stories in my opinion, but if you have a different opinion - write it in the comments, I'd love to know your opinions on this subject. In addition, I would like to point out that the list includes only comics published in Poland. I hope I have dispelled any potential doubts there, so you can sit back in your comfortable chairs, and enjoy the article!

Number 10 - Perils of Pie -  Donald Duck 27-2003

We start with a story typical of van Horn, i.e., a story about Donald, who works at Teletort (The Pie Palace in English), where, as the name suggests, you can order a cake on the phone. It would seem that such work is pure pleasure - but not entirely, because the unlucky drake still encounters various obstacles. Also, when a client calls and asks for a cake to be delivered to the other end of Duckburg, our feathered friend is not out of luck. This cake was ordered by none other than... Gladstone. I will not reveal the ending of the comic, which is really on a high level. Anyways, this looks like another gag, slapstick story based on simple patterns. And yet, by adding some really funny jokes (e.g., street demonstration against cakes), it turns out to be an amazing story.

Number 9 - Perchance to Dream - Donald Duck 37-2000

Lately, Donald keeps dreaming of a certain dinosaur named Charlie (similar to Van Horn's own non-Ducks series "Nervous Rex"), who performs dangerous stunts every night. One day, however, he literally falls out of his dream and lands in the real world... Van Horn's plot ideas are often extremely bizarre, but this, as a result, often leads to funnier stories. In this comic, it's mainly the weirdness, the unconventional and the fanciful that inspires my admiration, and I really think that this story deserves a high rating and a place on the top list of van Horn's best stories. Also, the reference to the secrets of sleep, still not fully discovered by modern science and medicine - all this makes Perchance to Dream go to an even higher level, and I really think that this story is worth getting acquainted with.

Number 8 - Chimera - Donald Duck 05-06-2005

Is this a horror story? One thing I can say for sure - the tension in this comic is exceptional, and the reader somehow identifies with the heroes, in this case with Donald and the Nephews. The latter are tasked with photographing some very rare animal. They discover huge footprints in the snow, which they decide to follow. Until the end of the comic, however, they fail to find something that left these prints. So, were they dealing with Bigfoot? The tension really builds up in this story, as the reader and the protagonists try to get out of the dark, unpleasant forest. 

Number 7- A Bird in the Hand - Donald Duck 19-2004

In many ways, the comic is like the previous one. In it, Donald learns that the Duck Zoological Society is giving a thousand dollars to someone who manages to catch a certain mysterious bird that lurks in the woods around the city, decides to become a hero himself ... and in the process collect a little money. As you can see, after this short summary of the plot, there are many similarities between Chimera and A Bird in the Hand. In both cases we are dealing with a hero (more than one in the first case) who is looking for a strange, mysterious animal in the forest near Duckburg. However, in Chimera, we dealt with a real unknown animal, whereas in the second ten-pager it’s... well, not quite. The punch line of the whole story is amazing, and it's reminiscent of Barks' best short stories. So, for me, the comic is worth reading. 

Number 6- So We Reap - Donald Duck 04-2000

This comic immediately reveals Donald's typical van Horn character, inspired by Barks’s old stories, a wacky (not in the good way!) no-gooder. As for So We Reap, we are dealing here with a story in which the most famous inhabitant of Duckburg collects various useless items. From stones, through books to ... images of the left eye…? The nephews are tired of watching their house turn into a warehouse of all kinds of crap, so they decide to act ... This comic is an extremely caricatured and mocking depiction of all kinds of collectors who collect everything for the sake of collecting. This is also a theme from the Barks universe, I think that maybe the plot can be brought a little closer to the story of Rosa’s The Money Pit (however, this is a very far-fetched clue), and it's another argument for reading the comic.

Number 5 - Ain’t it the Truth - Donald Duck 34-2001

As the ancient Greek philosophers teach, there is no one universal truth, and there are as many truths as there are people in the world. That's kind of what Van Horn's comic story is about, in which Donald is about to get a medal from the mayor for saving Daisy from an accident. However, each of the participants of the award ceremony has a different opinion as to the actual course of events. And how was it really? No one knows, including the reader, because the story ends in a non-standard way (like virtually all of van Horn's stories). So, it would seem that the recipient has to answer for himself - did Donald really save Daisy? Who is lying? On the other hand, the punchline spoken by Rumpus McFowl, Donald's little-known uncle, introduced to the duck universe by van Horn, is extremely funny. 

Number 4 - Airheads - Donald Duck 11-1998

In comic books belonging to the early period of van Horn's work (the story was written around 1996-97), our artist alluded to early Barks ten-pagers. Here we have the theme of Donald's classic rivalry with the nephews, this time in the field of competition in controlling model airplanes. Only here appears Woimly Filcher - a character created by van Horn, Donald's opponent, who somewhat resembles Jones. And this Filcher also competes in model control competitions, while using a lot of dishonest tricks. And the ending is a real masterpiece. So, if you love, adore, or just enjoy the oldest Barks stories - this is definitely a comic for you!

Number 3 -  Pudding It Straight - Donald Duck 32-2004

The podium is opened by a very dreamy comic - it starts with a fact that Ain’t It The Way mentioned. We open on Rumpus McFowl running away from the pudding tentacle chasing him. Suddenly, he wakes up in a dark alley. It turns out that he dreamed it all. Moments later, he meets Donald. Suddenly, both drakes are attacked by more pudding tentacles. Once again, it turns out to be a dream. Over and over again. Until the final comic book, which can both evoke laughter and anxiety ... definitely one of the most dreamlike and difficult to interpret Disney comics, similar in many ways to Perchance to Dream - here, too, we are dealing with an unexplored, mysterious thing that evokes both fascination and horror. And that's what makes the story read in one breath, and it's really worth getting to know it. This story is also the first of the list to get the Must-Read badge.

Number 2- Flying High - Donald Duck 46-2002

The silver medal in this ranking goes to the comic in which Donald bet Scrooge that exactly at 2:00 p.m. his top hat will be trampled by an elephant... The convention and the idea itself deserve attention, and then it only gets better. But for now, let's get back to the plot as such - the animal actually destroys the stingy duck's top hat, so he gives his nephew five million dollars. And just when it seems that all is going well for Donald, suddenly, because of a bet with his uncle...he loses all his fortune. I won't say what the bet was, and how Scrooge managed to win it, because the theme itself is extremely funny, so I'll just say bravo, van Horn! If you want to have fun and at the same time, get a moral from the comic - this story is just right for you. It gets a deserving Must-Read badge.

Number  1- The Hard-Boiled Duck - Donald Duck 19-2001

No other Van Horn story could have been in its place. 552nd on the Inducks list, one of the best Danish Donald comics I've read, by far the best parody of crime novels (well, it might rival The Maltese Mallard, but that's a whole different league). In the comic, the narrator is Donald, who runs a detective agency. One night, Huey, Dewey and Louie come to him and inform him that strange things are happening in the house opposite the office... I won't reveal how the action goes on, but it's really a BRILLIANT comic - nothing is missing in it - there is humour, there is intrigue, there is mystery. And in addition, the whole fascinating aura of the story and the masterful ending - if you want to start your adventure with van Horn, this is definitely an exceptional comic to start with. A plus to the translator for a really great job. As for me - a must-read and an absolute must-have for all fans of Disney comics, especially those with Donald. This story of course gets the Must-Read badge.

On this note, I end today's article. I really hope that you liked it and that it encouraged you to reach for the comics by van Horn, who I think (mainly due to the non-standard style of his stories) is quite an underrated artist. Also, let me know your feelings in the comments, and let me know what comics you think are missing here and should have been on the list. 

Image source: Inducks.org.