''PK – Paperinik New Adventures'' (''PKNA'') is an Italian comic, published by Disney Italy from 14 March 1996 to 20 December 2000, about the new adventures of

Paperinik Donald Duck, a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company, is today the star of dozens of comic-book and comic-strip stories published each month (in certain parts of the world, each week) around the world. In many European countries, ...

, the

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

created in 1969 by

Guido Martina Guido Martina (9 February 1906 – 6 May 1991) was an Italian comic writer, documentarist and author. Martina is well known for his Disney comics stories, including the first of the "" story "L'inferno di Topolino", and the creation of Paperinik ...

, Elisa Penna and

Giovan Battista Carpi Giovan Battista Carpi (; November 16, 1927 – March 8, 1999) was a prolific Italian comics artist, illustrator, and teacher from Genoa. Carpi worked mainly for Disney comics, mostly on books featuring Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck, although h ...

, which served as

Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor shirt and cap with a bow tie. Donald is known fo ...

's secret identity. The first issue of the series was called "Evroniani", and featured Paperinik's new alien enemies, the ''Evronians''. Introduced in the same issue were Paperinik's two new allies, the

A.I. Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech rec ...

''Uno'' (One), who resides in the skyscraper Ducklair Tower, and ''Lyla Lay'', a journalist and robot utilized by a time police organization based in the 23rd century. The series was extremely well received at the beginning of its run, and saluted as an unexpectedly innovative project for Disney. In 2016,

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW), itself formed in 1999, and is regularly recog ...

announced plans to start publishing an official English translation of the series written by Jonathan Gray under the title "Duck Avenger".

Themes

The PKNA writers developed more adult themes than the classical Disney stories published in the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

magazine

Topolino ''Topolino'' (from the Italian name for Mickey Mouse) is an Italian digest-sized comic series featuring Disney comics. The series has had a long running history, first appearing in 1932 as a comics magazine. It is currently published by Panini ...

. Throughout the series' run, they used themes such as: the relationship between man and robot; the struggle between what is right and what is logical; the essence of true love; the difference between mankind and other alien races; the essence of being a

; the relationship between knowledge and power; the importance of

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

and past historical events. Among the writers of the Pk Team, were many talented and generally young authors: Francesco Artibani, Davide Catenacci, Gianfranco Cordara, Bruno Enna, Tito Faraci, Augusto Macchetto, Alessandro Sisti, Simone Stenti, Ezio Sisto. The PK project was seen as a testbed for a generation of new authors, who were given ample freedom to innovate, leaving behind many of the typical storytelling conventions of the company and creating a blend of the "classical" Disney comics and the American

comic books, which were a primary and acknowledged source of inspiration. Despite this, both the company and the public were deeply used to Disney characters being used for kid-friendly stories, so a slow transition towards edgier storytelling and graphic depictions was required. Especially in the first issues, there is a contrast between the harsh themes hinted at or explicitly introduced by the narrative and the depicted events. It is made clear since the beginning that the Evron empire has depopulated a number of worlds, killing or enslaving billions of intelligent aliens, and the main character clearly announces to have sworn to destroy the entire Evronian race in revenge: but the fights with the Evronians mostly feature the usual Disney slapstick violence, with no graphic depictions of any hero killing or realistically wounding an enemy (while entire starships could be destroyed in the background). Despite this, the Italian readers didn't decry the restraint but were content with scenes they deemed already audacious for a conservative comics company like Disney. The character of

was firmly based in the established ''

'' continuity as the superheroic secret identity that Donald Duck had already assumed long before the start of the series: but connections with the "classic" Paperinik stories was cut short since the first number, giving Donald completely new allies, weaponry and occupations. The appearances of the other Disney Club characters were reduced to a minimum, and many of them (like

Gyro Gearloose Gyro Gearloose is a cartoon character created in 1952 by Carl Barks for Disney comics. An anthropomorphic chicken, he is part of the Donald Duck universe, appearing in comic book stories as a friend of Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck, and anyone w ...

and Huey, Dewey & Louie) were written off the story even if they were featured prominently in the previous Paperinik adventures. This reinforced the notion that PK was meant to be a "real superhero", existing in its own world, related to but fundamentally different from the mostly parodic and humorous Paperinik.

Short stories

PKNA is also famous for its short side stories that follow the main story in most issues. All of those short stories are more artistic than the regular main story.

Angus Tales

The first series of short 8-page stories are Angus Tales and the main character is Angus Fangus. These series consist of 7 stories. All of those stories were mostly colored with yellow, orange, brown, gray and black ink, giving it a little "vanishing" atmosphere. The plot of those stories is usually about how Angus gets into trouble (there is usually a gangster or more involved), and how he gets out of it. All of the stories are drawn by Silvia Ziche.

Arriva Trip (Trip incoming)

The second series of the short 8-page stories are about Trip, Razziatore's (Raider) son. This is the first of two series about Trip. The plot of this series is to introduce Trip.

Starring the great Burton La Valle

The third series is of 8-page short stories is "Starring the great Burton La Valle". Burton La Valle is an actor from the 23rd century, and those stories are about Burton and what he does at work. This series is also experimenting with different styles of art. This series is one of the more artistic/experimental of all the short story series.

Vedi alla voce Evron (See under Evron)

The fourth series is about Evronians, and it's named "Evron - Extracts from the infoguide". There is not really a story or plot in this series, but the series gives information about the Evronian empire in an illustrated way.

5Y

The fifth series of the 8-page stories is about the Class 5Y Droid; Lyla Lay. Some of the stories are about some of her minor problems, and the rest of them is about her normal life.

Io sono Xadhoom (I am Xadhoom)

The sixth series of short stories somewhat differ from the other series (except the third one) with the fact that there is no black outlines between different colored objects. Those short stories are about short happenings in Xadhoom life.

Fuori... onda (Off... the air)

The seventh series of short stories is about "Behind the screens" at Chanel 00.

Trip's strip

The eighth series of short stories is the second series about Trip. This series is introduced by the short story of issue #34, what is a side story of the main story in I PKNA #34. In this series, Trip has to draw its own super-hero comic, and he ends up with a character named "Time-Boy". Time-Boy is Trips Alter-Ego.

Lo zen e la fisica dei quanti (Zen and quantum physics)

The ninth series is the last series of 8-page stories. This series is about Everett Ducklair's normal life at a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

The art of PKNA

*PKNA represented a change from the classic Disney comics style, such as

. The format of each PKNA issue was bigger and similar to that of

American comics American comics may refer to: * History of American comics *American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American co ...

. The size and the order of the panels break the traditional six panels order, alternating splash pages, and longer or flattered panels. Strong colorization, with monochromatic panel, is used to mark emotional moments or action. Inspiration also comes from

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

and American comics, with the use of kinetic lines, eye representation, and muscular characters drawn in an oblique way in the panels. *The comic was a showcase for the talent of so many young, at the time, comic artists: Graziano Barbaro,

Alessandro Barbucci Alessandro is both a given name and a surname, the Italian language, Italian form of the name Alexander. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name Alessandro * Alessandro Allori (1535–1607), Italian portrait painter * A ...

, Fabio Celoni, Andrea Ferraris, Andrea Freccero, Francesco Guerrini, Ettore Gula, Stefano Intini, Alberto Lavoradori, Corrado Mastantuono, Paolo Mottura, Lorenzo Pastrovicchio, Manuela Razzi, Claudio Sciarrone, Stefano Turconi,

Silvia Ziche Silvia Ziche (; born 5 July 1967) is an Italian comic book artist and writer, known for her work in Disney comics for the Italian comic digest ''Topolino''. Biography Ziche was born in Thiene. Ziche has also worked on the magazines ''Linus,'' ...

and many others. They were almost all scholars of the great

. *PKNA, with its revolutionary style, set the basis for other great Disney comics, such as MM Mickey Mouse Mystery Magazine,

W.I.T.C.H. ''W.I.T.C.H.'' (stylised as ''W.i.t.c.h.'') is an Italian fantasy Disney comics series created by Elisabetta Gnone, Alessandro Barbucci, and Barbara Canepa. The series features a group of five teenage girls who become the guardians of the classi ...

Monster Allergy ''Monster Allergy'' is an Italian comic book series created by Alessandro Barbucci, Katja Centomo, Francesco Artibani and Barbara Canepa of Sky Doll. Barbucci and Canepa had previously co-created the ''W.I.T.C.H.'' comic series. ''Monster Allergy ...

and many others. *There are several quotes from famous books or movies, such as

Blade Runner ''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, and written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick' ...

End of PKNA

After issue #30, some short arcs were created, focusing on Xadhoom, Razziatore (Raider), Lila Lay, Due (Two) and other characters to finish their stories. The last issue is a double issue, in which Everett Ducklair appears, in the Dhasam-Bul monastery, with a Book of Destiny. He changes past events to create several new timelines, but all of them create new problems so he ends up restoring the original timeline. The following series, '' PK2'', got a mixed response from fans.

References

External links

Sbonk Forum
in

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pkna Donald Duck comics Disney comics titles Comics magazines published in Italy Animal superheroes Fictional ducks 1996 comics debuts 2001 comics endings Science fiction comics