An Update on The Depths of “Gander”: Issue 18!
Back in December, I speculated about Issue 18 possibly giving us hints about a future situation regarding Della's return. I observed Cover B and noticed how the moon was present and how the mysterious submarine pilot had a space-vibe about her appearance despite being someone from underwater.
I've been anticipating to read it ever since. (And apparently many others did too, due to the fact that the issue is sold out on Atomic Empire as I’m typing this!) Now that it’s finally released...oh boy, do I have some things to say.
(Please read the comic book first. Lots of spoilers ahead.)
We find out early on that the Mysterious Submariner is a queen named “Diane”. Her name begins with a “D” and it has Greek origins in relation to the Moon. Amusingly enough, I was mislead into thinking her name was “Stella” based on the way Atomic Empire listed the comic, yet she still ended up having a Space-related name.
- It’s implied that she’s a tough girl who’s skillful with weapons, such as swords, and she enjoys taking risks. Launchpad thinks of her when he looks into the night sky.
From "Beware of The B.U.D.D.Y. System!", Launchpad has glow-in-the-dark moons and stars over his hammock in the garage. He also has Christmas lights draped over his banister. This makes his sleeping area a bit reminiscent of Space / the night sky.
- Every time Launchpad brings Diane up in conversation he gets ignored. It’s a trend in the show that whenever he constantly gets ignored about something, it leads to something else worth paying attention to: Constantly being ignored about being a pilot led to helping to save Scrooge after he struggled to stop Pixiu and played a part in discovering why Scrooge was being so ignorant of the word “pilot”. LP's constant fear about one of the children being evil was disregarded even though Magica was nearby. If it weren't for Launchpad being determined to let Scrooge know about getting his driver's license, Fenton may have never became Gizmoduck.
- Whatever Launchpad “knows a lot about”, there’s a good chance that he’s going to be ignored at first, but then the others realize how relevant he is.
- There was a lot of focus on the Sun in the “Toth-Ra” episode, another example of Launchpad proving to be important. Could this have been alluding to him doing something surprising when the Moon is involved?
The comic takes place ENTIRELY at night despite Cover A taking place during the afternoon. This gives Cover B even more significance.
- The story takes place in a dark environment with a body of water, just like “Gander” and “Depths”. As I brought up in my previous post, multiple comparisons can be made between being in space and being underwater. The show highlighted this when Fethry referred to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge as “liquid space” and LP called it “the underwater sky”.
- I’m intrigued by the artists seeing Diane as so important, that they placed her on one of the covers instead of keeping her design hidden within the story. This is the first time we've seen any of Launchpad’s reboot exes up close; let alone get to met any of them. The show never gave us a glimpse of Ziyi and we still don’t know what type of mermaid Oceanika is. This comic could definitely be hinting that the next lover we see on screen will be just as close. (Or even closer.)
Diane caused such a commotion; a tsunami warning was issued out.
- Multiple people were alerted by her arrival, could Della contact Earth and it causes enough interference that a lot of people end up receiving her message?
Scrooge isn't fazed by the tsunami warning at all, he sees it as an opportunity to go out surfing.
- This reminded me of my speculation about Scrooge being so busy doing other things that he doesn't pay attention to Della’s call. I wondered if the bet he made with Glomgold would be the distraction.
- In an out-of-context quote, Roxanne Feathery talked about a storm forming over the mansion. Could the tsunami have been alluding to that?
- The idea of Scrooge planning on riding the tidal wave kind of reminded me of what Della was trying to do with the cosmic storm. Is there some sort of loose parallel going on? There was a vehicle, a pilot, a natural disaster and Scrooge's involvement.There’s also the idea of the Money Bin being threatened as a result: Scrooge assumed Diane wanted to steal his money and Scrooge almost causes himself to go bankrupt by using his money to search for Della.
Later on in the story, we find out that Diane came to Duckburg to save Launchpad. She was told that he was kidnapped and enslaved by Scrooge, but this, of course, was just a misunderstanding.
- In another post of mine, I speculated about Launchpad possibly being part of Della's motivation for taking the Spear due to his lack of input on her decision. Even after “Last Crash” when we find out that he knows why everyone was moving out, he doesn't bother to weigh in on the situation. His reactions to the family crisis are hardly focused on. If he doesn't blame Scrooge and he doesn't seem to want to blame Della...then who does he blame?
- Could Launchpad have actually been in trouble years ago and Della took the Spear early to save him? Was she baited into space travel by being lied to and fell into someone’s trap?! LP’s character has a history of space travel and he’s been abducted by aliens in the original Darkwing Duck series.
Launchpad was featured in front of an alien poster in "Terror of The Terra-Firmians!"
- If Launchpad was the reason for taking the Spear, could the natural disaster be in reference to Della's disappearance disrupting the family?
I’ve been holding on to the theory that Dewey could be reminding LP of Della for the longest time and this comic just increases that belief.
- Their friendship is being highlighted in the same issue we find out about one of Launchpad’s previous lovers and Dewey is said to be a lot like Della.
- The RI Cover has Launchpad turned around, looking at Dewey's portraits.
- After learning about the tsunami warning, he was quick to snatch up Dewey to take him to safety instead of snatching up both him and Webby at the same time.
- In the show, Launchpad’s attachment to Dewey feels like it came out of nowhere. He suddenly revealed that Dewey was his best friend in “Terror” without having much interaction prior and even after Huey was kind enough to check on him after the snake trap Dewey set off and Louie being the first to consider Launchpad as family. (Hm, but I guess to be fair, LP was dazed on both occasions.)
- In “Shadow War”, Launchpad was more upset about Donald and the boys moving away than Webby and Dewey was at the base of most of his concerns.
- In “Jaw$”, Dewey wasn't the only one to get eaten by the Money Shark, but Launchpad rushed towards him for a hug. (And then later scooped up Huey and Louie.)
- Dewey is always the one chosen to ask Launchpad about his mysterious, romantic adventures. Perhaps their friendship was sparked by Dewey checking on Launchpad after his search for Ziyi, but with all these other facts surrounding this, I can’t help but think that something more is going on.
I’m so baffled by Diane and LP’s relationship status. They both still have strong feelings for each other, so why did they split? Why did she go back home so quickly instead of sticking around for a visit? Because she had a kingdom to attend to? Because he couldn't stay underwater with her? What got in the way? And what could this tell us about Della’s relationship with Launchpad if she had one?
- LP kept referring to her as just a friend rather than an “ex-girlfriend” or a “special friend”. So they dated briefly? Or he just doesn't want anyone to know their status? Is it because even though they’re not together, they’re not entirely done with each other, so “friend” is the best way he can describe her? Why is his love-life so dang secretive?!
- They didn't even hug. I’m sad.
Donald’s exclusion from this story makes me wonder about his role in any episode that could reveal Launchpad having a connection to his sister...reminds me of when I tried figuring out why he was excluded from the news report and if it’s indicating the possibility of him being pushed back during a space adventure in some way.
Since Dewey and Webby are the kids featured in this comic, I wonder if they’ll be the first to question LP’s history and start doing an investigation.
Taking a small step away from Della: In the B Plot of the story, Huey is having trust issues with Louie the Money Bin. He things his younger brother made up the tsunami warning as an excuse to dive into Scrooge’s gold coins instead of cleaning up the treasures like they promised.
- Is this hinting towards a situation where his family doesn't believe him about something important? And could it tie in with Della in some way?
Keeping track of the occurrences that took place before the issue’s released was almost as interesting as the story itself:
The issue was originally set to release on February 13th, a day before Valentine’s Day, but it got pushed to later in the month, the 27th was considered according to Amazon but the 20th was ultimately decided and every outlet switched to this date.
(From League of Comic Geeks)
iTunes released a three-page preview a week before the 20th. (I suppose it was queued with the original date.) None of the other sites had a preview available until the day before the issue came out and it was during the later half of the day. Usually, previews are available in multiple places at least a few days before the comic’s release date. I'm probably jumping the gun a little with this, but it seems like there could have been some hesitation over releasing any part this comic... it's not unusual for comic dates to change, but if it had stayed on the 13th, maybe that would have been too suggestive. Maybe they were trying to figure out the best way for people not to catch on too quickly? Whatever the situation may be, the fact that we're getting this comic not only in a month associated with romance, but a date that isn't too far from the premiere of “Whatever Happened to Della Duck?!”, feels a little too intended.
I was originally planning to holding off on all my Issue 18 thoughts on this blog until the new episode, but wow! This comic gave us so much potential hinting, I couldn't keep quiet about it! Perhaps I'll make another “Gander” update picking back up on some of these points and what interesting things the episode has to offer.
Blogger is being dumb and won't let me fix this page...
I checked the preview for this comic and just now realized a photo of a mountain on Scrooge's desk..."there's always a mountain to climb"?
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