Comics Review: DONALD DUCK AND FRIENDS #355 (Boom! Kids, June 2010)

Part two (actually, given the length of the first installment in DD&F #354, it'd be more appropriate to call it part "one-plus-some-fraction") of "Souvenir de Paris" hits readers upside the beak with the revelation that good-girl-turned-bad-babe Kay K, who was last seen robbing a high-tech outfit, may have been fooling us all along as to her true affiliation and intentions. The beauteous Kay turns up in Paris to help Double Duck Donald recover the very computer-hacking key that Kay supposedly stole under orders from the evil Organization. Well might Don say "Eeeeh?!", as he does in response to this U-turn of events. The key CD is too reminiscent for my liking of the computerized missing list of agents that served as the "McGuffin" for the first DOUBLE DUCK story arc, but that's only a small quibble, given that a different writer scripted this story. I'm much more concerned with where Kay K's character is headed at this point. Sure, there's been enough intrigue and double-crossing in the DOUBLE DUCK "universe" that it's possible to imagine that Kay was playing a double game all along, but I find her claim that "only The Big Boss [of The Agency]" knows about her current mission to be rather suspicious. How convenient that Jay J can't corroborate her story. Then, after the key has been secured, Kay disappears, only to reappear later at Don's hotel with news that assassins have targeted him. Better get those deflector shields up, Don, and join me in "once bitten, twice shy" mode.

After making Don's life miserable during previous DOUBLE DUCK installments, Daisy actually gets to go with Donald to Paris this time, and Don is forced to choose between his loyalty to The Agency and his often mystifying love for his mercurial girlfriend when it appears that Daisy has been kidnapped by Organization thugs. The alarm turns out to be a false one, which seems par for the course with this title. I will say that Daisy, who jumps with alarming speed from threatening Don with a rolling pin (when was the last time you saw that cliche in a comic-book setting?) to covering him with kisses after learning that he's taking her to Paree, has rarely looked so good in a physical sense. Artist Vitale Mangiatordi does a fine job with Kay K, too.