Writer: Denis-Pierre Filippi
Artist: Silvio Camboni
Colorists: Gaspard Yvan with Jessica Bodart
Publisher: Fantagraphics
Price: $24.99
Release Date: May 13, 2025
Seventeen years after war wracked their world, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and Goofy work as scavengers. Their latest expedition takes the travelers to the Great North Mediokan Mountain Range. After drilling through the snow and ice, their equipment detects an object on the ocean floor. The weather is getting worse. And this far north, daylight is measured in minutes. Can Goofy and Minnie maintain their fragile equipment amid a blizzard and darkness? And what dangers will Mickey face as he descends into the cold waters? Let’s pack our diving gear, leap into Mickey Mouse and the Amazing Lost Ocean HC, and see!
Story
Mickey's world runs on Corallite fuel. He and his friends ventured far into the north to find enough Corallite in a wrecked air freighter to make their expedition worthwhile. As he straps on his diving equipment, Mickey faces innumerable dangers. The old equipment may give out. The wreck’s depth and the water temperatures limit his time beneath the water. An air hose may crimp or spring a leak as Mickey descends beneath the surface. Still, Mickey believes he and his friends will finally make the big score that will make their sacrifices worthwhile in Mickey Mouse and the Amazing Lost Ocean HC.
In Denis-Pierre Filippi's story, Goofy is the engineer who maintains the equipment. Minnie guides this pursuit of their dreams with the big picture in mind. Mickey embodies the invulnerability of youth. He is always ready to embark on the next mission and believes he can achieve the impossible. His friends need his optimism and drive as they suffer setbacks and make discoveries. But Goofy’s inventiveness also comes to the fore, as he inspires them to pursue a dream that could benefit their struggling civilization.
Mickey and his friends face nefarious enemies in Mickey Mouse and the Amazing Lost Ocean HC. Their objectives change as life upsets their plans and tests their loyalty to each other. To save their fragile world and undo a planetary catastrophe, they must ally with people of dubious repute. While remaining true to these beloved Disney characters, Denis-Pierre Filippi channels the imagination of Jules Verne and the adventurous spirit of Jacques Cousteau to take us along on Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy’s extraordinary journey.
Art
Silvio Camboni clads his characters in parkas on the snowy ice shelf. After donning a suit covering every inch of his body, Minnie helps Mickey secure the metal helmet adorned with two electric lights. Bubbles rise past schools of fish as Mickey walks down a ridge and spies the wrecked airship surrounded by glowing plants.
At the friends' home base, a gleaming city rises in the distance, oceangoing vessels cling to the docks, and seagulls wheel in the sky. Inside their headquarters, Goofy addresses his friends at a wooden table before returning to a fuel pod hung by chains from the ceiling. Then he cradles a part in his hand and points to the front page of a newspaper, hanging in a glass frame from the wood plank wall.
Gaspard Yvan lavishes a loaded color palette on Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy’s steampunk world. Jessica Bodart lends color assistance to Silvio Camboni’s interpretation of Denis-Pierre Filippi’s scientific take on Fantasia. There's a wondrous organic quality to the art in Mickey Mouse and the Amazing Lost Ocean HC, as the friends journey by airship past chalk-covered cliffs, descend farther than ever into the dark depths, and tumble from a treehouse to swim with sharks in wandering oceans.
Generously sized black letters hover in white dialogue balloons as Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy brave dangers and witness unimaginable sights. Balloons grow spiky for radio transmissions. Homemade wooden placards adorned with gauges and clock components introduce chapters. Sound effects help us hear the fierce winds, equipment pushed to its limits, and music flowing across the sixty pages of thick, high-quality paper stock in this imaginative and beautiful 9"x12" graphic novel. Thanks to Fantagraphics for providing a copy for review.
Final Thoughts
While striving to recover what their world lost, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, and Goofy discover their world is more wondrous and dangerous than they ever suspected. Thieves will always steal. Villains will always attempt to provoke wars for their benefit. But Mickey Mouse and the Amazing Lost Ocean HC reminds us that people who believe in themselves and are willing to work with others can accomplish the impossible.
Rating 9.8/10
Secure your copy of Mickey Mouse and the Amazing Lost Ocean HC at the Fantagraphics website.
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