One can never go wrong with Mickey! The iconic mouse is and stays a classic!

This is a very clever collectible item. Mickey and Goofy making their way through Dante's Inferno.

Sadly, I don't see it as much more than a collectible item. It's an odd read. Admittedly, it's been quite some time since I read Dante (and even then, it kind of made my eyes cross), but still. Just a really odd read. Fun, but odd.

This takes the mickey – I had long doubted this book could actually do what it wanted, and it can't. For one it gave no indication it was a reprint of a 1950s Italian twist on Dante, where Mickey and Goofy get to walk through hell. But I could cope with a little dryness in the telling that comes with its age, were it not for the many other problems – the dialogue adding nothing of interest yet interrupting the rhymed triplets so all sense of verse and rhythm are shot; and the necessary turning of the Dante into some anodyne childishness. The original speech bubbles, in their age, don't always correspond with the modern reading order, so it's not as easy to read as the target audience would need it, but whatever age you are it's just not fun. Luridly bright, but not at all entertaining.

Mickey Mouse is a delight to read about. A nice graphic novel.

“Mickey Mouse goes to hell” seems like the premise of an underground cartoon, but it’s the basis of a genuine Disney product. Mickey’s Inferno, part of Papercutz-published Disney Great Parodies series, was originally made by Italians Guido Martina (original writer) and Angelo Bioletti (artist). Inferno’s first appearance in the U.S. was in abridged form in Walt Disney’s Comics & Stories #666 (heh, heh), but this Papercutz version is the complete comic with a newly adapted script by Stefan Petrucha.

Mickey, having finished performing as Dante with Goofy as Dante’s guide, Virgil, is hypnotized to believe he’s really Dante by Morty the Mesmerist with instigation from Peg Leg Pete. While Mickey and Goofy are studying Inferno at the library, Mickey is transported into the book and gets to reenact the cantos of Inferno “for real.” It’s up to Mickey-as-Dante and Goofy-as-Virgil to use their wits (Virgil is supposed to have wits…) to survive and escape.

The results of the creators’ efforts making Mickey’s Inferno is… cute. Not literally cute as Disneyfied Hell is recognizably a realm of eternal torment. The terza rima rhyming narration is faithful to Dante, but I didn’t really get into it. I also had a hard time telling who’s doing the narrating at times. That said, I enjoyed Donald Duck’s role in Mickey’s journey. Bioletti’s artwork is fine allowing just enough visual whimsy to not make the story too grim. Mickey’s Inferno is an amusing curiosity, but understanding Dante’s Divine Comedy is needed.

A great way to encourage other people to read Inferno,

This is a parody, a retelling of Dante's Inferno with Mickey and Goofy. While it was interesting, and humorous, I am not sure that most kids would get this (since Mickey is geared towards kids). Maybe junior high. It does gloss over a lot of the original story, which makes it hard for me to decide if I like it or not.

This is not for everyone. It might work for youngsters if it is read with parents who have read Inferno and can explain it to them. Maybe exposure to it at an early age would help get a child to appreciate Homer.

A hilarious take on Dante's Inferno, but with Disney characters. I loved it.

An interesting culmination of classic Disney characters including donald duck, goofy, dumbo and even the amigos! But ultimately, for such a dramatic story with a lot of illustrative potential I found there to be way too much text and not enough imaginary to truly capture the Inferno.

Did you spend a summer reading the original Dante's Inferno? (Well as original as you can get to something that has been translated into English). My mother had a family copy of the book, with the Doré illustrations. It was quite impressive, and quite confusing. And Actually, I read the whole Devine Comedy, that summer, but the Inferno, the journey to hell, was the most interesting, and the most confusing. Dante used his novel to poke at people he didn't like, casting them into hell.

Fun, summer-time reading to be sure.

So, when I saw the there was a Parody, using Mickey Mouse, I thought it might be fun to give it a try.

Now, granted, I read Dante over 35 years ago, or so. Some bits still stand out, but most is a soft blur, so I am not going to rate this book on how good a parody it was, but rather on how easy it is to read and understand this at all.

This story was written in 1949, in Italy. Most things refer to things that were perhaps happening in the world at that time. Some are timeless. (although there was one "joke" about a cell phone. I have no idea what it was before.)

The ending of the graphic novel says that reading this will inspire kids to read the real thing. Perhaps. For me, it was all a jumble and confusing, and not funny or fun. :(

I commend Papercutz for bringing this out, and republishing it, but not sure who it would be for. If it a sort of cliff notes for kids, it doesn't appear to stick close enough to the original story to be much help. Perhaps kids will enjoy it. It feels a bit dated to me, using characters from, of course, cartoons from the 30s and 40s.

Thanks to NetGalley and PaperCutz for making this book available for an honest review.

Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley.
Mickey Mouse meets Dante, how can this work? Strangely, it actually does. This is a reissue of a parody produced in the 1960s. In many ways, it is a good way to introduce a Disney fan of any age to Dante, though some of the funnier bits a child would not fully understand. The set-up works, and it is great fun to see Disney characters in place of Dante’s people. As with most parodies, however, it does seem to go a tad too long.
However, the best part of the graphic novel is the closing panels. Absolutely great! Worth reading for that alone, to be honest. At least, if you like Dante.

Good for what it was. I think it should have gone with either real horror or humor though.

'Disney Graphic Novels #4: Great Parodies: Mickey's Inferno' by Guido Martina with art by Angelo Bioletti and English translation by Stefan Petrucha is a really weird graphic novel. Sending Mickey Mouse to hell with Goofy seemed like a strange idea to me, so I had to check it out.

I learned from the afterword by Jim Salicrup that this is a reprint from the Il Topolino comics from Italy from the late 1940s and early 1950s. Il Topolino is the Italian name for Mickey Mouse. So, this is an old idea. It was also repeated and condensed in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #666. Still, it may not be for everyone.

Mickey and Goofy are doing a play of Dante's Inferno, when they are hypnotized into thinking that they are actually Dante and Virgil. They then end up in a weird version of Hell where occasional Disney characters show up. This is all accompanied by bad puns and rhymes in the same scheme as the original Inferno. There are levels of hell that get skipped, but others are populated by new reporters who told false stories, or people swimming in vats of hot chocolate, or teachers being pelted by homework from students. The Big Bad Wolf shows up and ends up getting blown up, and Donald Duck keeps showing up to torment Mickey.

I'm still trying to decide if I like this. Part of me appreciates an English translation of an old comic book artifact like this. I also really liked the art. There are some fabulous full pages that are detailed and interesting. The other part of me just feels like this whole thing seems really wrong. Favorite characters in hell and a really odd parody treatment of a classic book are odd. The thing feels like a weird hallucination, but maybe that's the whole point. The imagery remains cartoony and silly, but there is still a lot of torment happening here, so I have a hard time saying this is for kids.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Papercutz and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

What a brilliant way to introduce readers to the classic, "Dante's Inferno." Graphic novels provide such a wonderful entree to the world of reading and "Mickey's Inferno" will certainly add to that collection. Not only will students be so excited to read the story on its own merit but they will be exposed to one of the great classics of all times. When the main characters, Micky and Goofy begin their "Inferno" journey, Disney fans will immediately be enthralled and when additional Disney characters (Dwarfs, Donald, Minnie, and a slew of others) appear, the excitement will increase.
A sure reading success!