"The Legend of the Chaos God" is the 25th of 35 Darkwing Duck comic stories published in the Disney Adventures magazine. It is the final part of a crossover pentalogy that involves, in order, the cast from TaleSpin, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, Goof Troop, DuckTales, and Darkwing Duck. The entire story was published in five issues over six weeks, Part 3 being postponed until October. Each part is respectively subtitled as follows: "Part 1: Crystal Chaos", "Part 2: To Half and Half Not", "Part 3: Spookus ex Machina", "Part 4: Tow for Broke", and "Part 5: Reign and Thunder".
Over 26 years after its original printing, the full story arc was reprinted in the first volume of Fantagraphics' Disney Afternoon Adventures hardcover reprint collections (which also includes the comic adaptation of "Just Us Justice Ducks").
Summary[]
Part 1: Crystal Chaos[]
Professor Potsherd and his wife are performing excavations on Rakkinroon, an island that in ancient times was home to a civilization that disappeared for unknown reasons. They have already uncovered the legendary Temple of Duumingluum and are ready to send the first shipment of artifacts to the museum. They have an agreement with Rebecca Cunningham's Higher for Hire transport company to provide them with monthly supplies and pick up the shipments so the museum can collect them at Cape Suzette. Baloo likes the job and so does Kit Cloudkicker. Molly Cunningham is curious and coming along for the first time to meet Bisk Potsherd, the couple's young son.
The Sea Duck arrives just in time to stop Don Karnage's air pirates from taking the shipment for themselves. However, during the fight a box breaks open and its contents, a red crystal on a chain and a medallion, fall out. The medallion lands in the sea, while the crystal ends up in an empty sugar barrel. The disturbance goes unnoticed as Professor Potsherd is just happy that his artifacts are saved. As Baloo and Kit exchange the supplies for the shipment, Molly and Bisk have a little talk about the excavation and Professor Potsherd's goal to prove the existence of the Chaos God.
Due to the air pirates, the Sea Duck returns to Cape Suzette too late for the museum's delegation. Rebecca is angry, but Molly explains that it isn't Baloo's fault. Mollified, Rebecca goes back to work, which includes checking the supplies to see what has to be ordered for Professor Potsherd for next month. She bumps into the barrel holding the crystal and it drops out. Intrigued, she picks it up by its chain, which is just what the inhabitant, Solego, the Chaos God, was waiting for. He takes possession of her body and scares off Molly. While Molly calls Baloo and Kit to help her mother, Solego spots the Sea Duck and has Rebecca fly off with it. Baloo throws a lasso onto the tail of the Sea Duck, meaning to help Rebecca alone, but the children grab onto his feet. Rebecca notices what a precarious situation Baloo and the children are in and begs Solego to not make her hurt them. Solego, however, only cares about reuniting his two mind, inside the crystal, with his powers, inside the medallion, so he can go back to conquering the world. Molly lets go, but Kit saves her with his airfoil. But the extra weight leaves him unbalanced and he and Molly are about to crash when Rebecca, fuelled by parental love, defies the still-weak Solego and flies so that the three of them can get on board. Solego means to harm them, but Molly and Rebecca together get the necklace off of her. The four are of the opinion that the historical value of the crystal is far outweighed by the danger it poses. They fly out to sea and drop the crystal into the water.
Part 2: To Half and Half Not[]
50 years later, the crystal is swallowed by a fish and that fish gets caught in the net of a fishing boat. The fish throws up the crystal and a fisherman catches it. Solego takes control of him to see the crystal delivered to the museum where the Rakkinroon artifacts are on display. The other half of him, locked inside the medallion is among them, as it was found by Scrooge McDuck in a coral reef while he was diving off the coast of Wauie-Zauie in 1962.
That night, the Rescue Rangers wait in the museum for Fat Cat and his gang, having heard he wants the medallion for its rumored magic-granting nature. Indeed, Mole, Mepps, and Fat Cat break in that evening. The Rescue Rangers stay in hiding in hopes the security system will take care of the crooks. Mepps glides down from the ceiling and slices open the glass ceiling of the medallion's box. Seeing that the security system is of no use, Gadget Hackwrench activates the sprinkler system. This draws the guards, but Fat Cat and his gang get past them. Chip and Dale follow on foot, while Gadget, Monterey Jack, and zipper use an empty cup as ship. The two groups wash up in the office where the crystal is still lying in a box after the fisherman left it there. Fat Cat loses hold of the medallion, but falls on the crystal. He's only possessed for a second before Gadget knocks into his arm and becomes possessed, but she too is a short-lived host as Monty shoots ink at Fat Cat to save Gadget. He knocks the box of the desk and Gadget is freed from Solego's influence. She urges her friends not to touch the crystal but as she explains what they're dealing with, Dale becomes hypnotized and is drawn in to be the next host. He binds the crystal on his back with a rubber band and goes after Fat Cat, who's trying to escape with the medallion. Because he has touched minds with Solego, Fat Cat knows the medallion's worth and is determined to keep it. He tries to escape Solego-in-Dale by climbing a dinosaur skeleton, but it falls apart. Before the Chaos od can reclaim the medallion, Mepps runs off with it. He and Dale get stuck in the Archimedean screw on display and when they get out, Zipper takes the medallion from Mepps. Mole takes it while he tries to hand it to Monty and latches onto the Foucalt pendulum to throw it to Fat Cat. Dale jumps after him, which knocks the crystal off of him right into Fat Cat's hands. Now possessed, Fat Cat prepares to unite crystal and medallion, but he's standing on a Van de Graaf generator, which produces lighting. He loses hold of the artifacts and a disaster is averted.
The next day, the Rescue Rangers make use of the services of the crows Edgar and Allan to hide the artifacts separately. Edgar gets the crystal and is to fly far away and drop it wherever he thinks no one will ever find it. Allan is given the medallion and has to drop it in the sewer. As the crows fly off, Chip is certain the artifacts will be separated for eternity. Gadget and Dale, who touched minds with the Chaos God, aren't so certain, but they are willing to hope for the best.
Part 3: Spookus ex Machina[]
Edgar has flown for many days to find a good spot when he accidentally drops the bag with the crystal inside. The crystal falls out and lands in the grille of a brand new car being transported to Spoonerville. It is the new ride of Peter Pete, which he proudly shows off to his son PJ and Max Goof. He still has to convince his wife Peg to let him keep it, but he's confident in his car salesmen experience.
Goofy Goof walks up as Pete calls Peg to check out the new car. Goofy thinks it's a beauty too, but notices that the grille has an odd red glow to it. As Pete talks about how the car warns when a door is open and can clean itself, Goofy subtly inspects it further. He tries to touch the hand of the self-cleaning system, but it slaps his hand away. Along with eerily glowing red headlights, Goofy is now certain the car has a mind of its own in some way, but does not know how to tell Pete in a way that he'll believe him. He has to sit back and hope for the best when Pete takes Peg for a ride, but they do come back alive. What's more, Peg loves the car, which Goofy had hoped she wouldn't so that it would be sent back and whatever's wrong with it couldn't be of danger to them anymore. Without proof of the car's oddness, he reluctantly goes back home.
Solego spends the rest of the day discovering the car's possibilities. He's impressed with how far humans have gotten since his days and realizes that these mechanical systems work just as well as body for him as organic systems. Even better, they don't have a personality to deal with. All he needs is the ignition key to get the car moving and with a bit of luck technology can also help him locate the medallion. That night, he sends out a plug to connect with Goofy's television set and switches channels to a news broadcast. It is his luck there's just a report on by Ace MacDonald that Scrooge McDuck found the medallion a second time in his life, though this time at a pawnshop instead of in a coral reef. It is his misfortune that Goofy is watching television too and searches for the reason of his television set's peculiar behavior. He spots the plug and runs over to tell Pete his car is alive. When the vehicle attacks him and demands the ignition key, he believes Goofy. Together, they try several anti-possession tricks that are actually anti-undead tricks: garlic, water, salt, silver, and a stake. Pete doesn't like the latter one, but doesn't get to avenge the ruined hood when the car's self-cleaning hands grab the two men and lock them up inside the car. Goofy advises they give the car the ignition key. As soon as Pete inserts it, the car drives off to Duckburg. It insinuates it will kill them, so Goofy grabs the wheel and steers the car off a cliff. He and Pete can jump out at the final second. They go home, safe, but with material losses for Pete. Down by the cliff, however, Solego still exists. He uses the car's telephone to call Spoonerville Towin' Service and pretends to be Scrooge McDuck to convince the operator to tow him to Duckburg.
Part 4: Tow for Broke[]
Floyd, the man of Spoonerville Towin' Service, drives all night to deliver the car to the Money Bin of Scrooge McDuck. Fenton Crackshell steps outside to deal with him and is surprised Scrooge would let a demolished car like that be brought over all the way from Spoonerville. Scrooge denies ever having made such an order and tells Fenton to send the guy away. Floyd refuses to budge, but he is tired. He leaves his tow truck and the car behind to rent a hotel room and deal with the annoying customer later. Fenton wonders what to do now when he hears a call for help from the car. He finds the crystal inside the hood and is hypnotized into touching it. As soon as Solego takes possession of him, Fenton speaks his catchphrase "Blabberin' Blatherskite!". Now Gizmoduck, he tries to intimidate the demon away, but Solego couldn't be more pleased. The Gizmosuit is a far better body than he ever expected to get and all he has to do to own it is expel Fenton. He even lets him live in return for the suit, but all Fenton can do is faint.
Solego, who has created a red holographic projection of himself to fill the Gizmosuit, rides out to find the Money Bin. A little down the street he is greeted by Huey, Dewey and Louie, who ask what he was doing at the Money Bin. Realizing his error, Solego agitatedly returns where he came from. The boys find this behavior odd and follow, finding the unconscious Fenton on their path. As they wake him, Solego breaks into the Money Bin, peeved that he's not sensing the medallion. Scrooge comes out to give the thief a piece of his mind and is surprised it's Gizmoduck. When Gizmoduck calls him "mortal" and demands to be told the wherabouts of the medallion, Scrooge realizes it's not his accountant in there. Fenton, the nephews, and the police then enter the Money Bin to apprehend Gizmoduck, but he corrects them on his identity and leaves with ease to continue the search for the medallion. The nephews look up Solego in the Junior Woodchucks Guide and come across the name of Professor Potsherd. Scrooge had met the professor when he found the medallion and lent it to the Rakkinroon collection decades ago in 1962. He knows the man is just the expert they need, so he sends his private jet to fly Potsherd over to Duckburg.
Professor Potsherd arrives late that night, but Scrooge does not recognize him as the professor of years ago. Potsherd corrects him that that was his father and that he, Bisk Potsherd, now continues the Rakkinroon research. Scrooge trusts the son as he trusted the father and tells him about the rediscovery of the crystal and what has happened up to this point. The story terrifies Potsherd, as he fully grasps what this means and in turn relays what he knows. His story starts when he was a boy working with his parents on Rakkinroon. He was there when they opened the Temple of Duumingluum and discovered a block of solid jade with the medallion and the eerily glowing red crystal stuck in it. The story behind it that they uncovered was that in the time of Rakkinroon, centuries ago, there lived a powerful sorceror named Solego, who discovered the secret of immortality. He was also evil and singlehandedly conquered city after city, earning the title of Chaos God in the process. He seemed unstoppable, but there was one man, D'Shane, another sorceror, who had an idea. He created the medallion and the crystal to trap Solego in and donned armor to confront the demon himself. Through unknown means, he managed to split Solego in two and, to keep it that way, captured the mind in the crystal and the magic in the medallion. Then he set them both in the jade block adorned with drawings to explain the story and that the items should never touch. The original Professor Potsherd got them out to study them, though attached a chain to the crystal to handle it safely. The items were part of the first shipment to be sent to the museum, but an attack by air pirates, largely thwarted by Baloo's intervention, made just those two pieces become lost. Until today. Professor Potsherd advises Scrooge to keep the medallion safe within the Money Bin as that's all they can do without magic to fight Solego. Scrooge notes that might be a problem, as he sent the medallion to McDuck's Jewelers in St. Canard for cleaning. Acting quickly, Scrooge sends Fenton to St. Canard under the guise that he is to assist Gizmoduck. Meanwhile, Scrooge contacts SHUSH Headquarters to put the hero of St. Canard on the case: Darkwing Duck.
Part 5: Reign and Thunder[]
At SHUSH Headquarters, J. Gander Hooter explains the importance of the medallion to Darkwing Duck and Launchpad and why a hero has to pick it up from the jewelry store. Darkwing is not convinced, but Fenton comes running in and drags the hero off to McDuck's Jewelers. They arrive just after Solego does and is about to unite the crystal and the medallion. An attempt to stop him fails and before long, the true form of the Chaos God stands before them, the Gizmosuit cast to the ground. Darkwing still refuses to see Solego as any worse than the regulars of his rogues gallery and taunts the demon to obtain an opening.
While Darkwing and Launchpad keep Solego busy, Fenton feigns cowardice to get away and secretly become Gizmoduck again. Solego summons the "black army", which consists of whichever object not nailed down he chooses to make a soldier of his. He sics them on the population. Darkwing calls him a coward for it. Solego obliges by sending two lion statues after him. The crimefighter is saved by Gizmoduck, which he's not happy about. Gizmoduck refuses to leave, though, as he has a score to settle with Solego. Solego disintegrates him with his magic and an unfortunate comment by Launchpad has him turned into chopped liver. Darkwing is now all alone in his fight and can do little more than run from Solego's magic. The fight takes them up a rooftop, where Solego berates the hero for not being anywhere as capable as D'Shane, who was only a boy when he defeated the Chaos God. He prepares one final blast to finish Darkwing, but he hides behind a satellite dish. The magic reflects back and hits Solego, returning him to the relatively harmless state of crystal and medallion. All that his magic accomplished is undone, so Gizmoduck and Launchpad are saved.
The three heroes return to SHUSH Headquarters, where they are later joined by Scrooge McDuck and Bisk Potsherd. Potsherd explains that the way to defeat Solego had always been right in front of them, but they didn't understand the message. The jade block housing the crystal and medallion sports an image of a soldier fighting a cobra, who spits on his shield. Thanks to Darkwing's inventiveness, they can now deduce that the soldier is D'Shane, the cobra Solego, and what is depicted is D'Shane using a polished shield to return Solego's magic to the sender. Darkwing's use of the satellite dish recreated this tactic. The crimefighter doesn't burden the glory with the fact he was just lucky. Potsherd declares that, as his father's son, it is up to him to undo the mistake of 50 years ago. He places the crystal and the medallion back in the jade block and gives the artifact to Scrooge McDuck to hide at the bottom of the Money Bin. It is not catalogued so that it can be forgotten and hopefully become lost forever.
Cast[]
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Quotes[]
- "You made me scare my daughter! What kind of monster are you?!"
- "The kind of monster who will do worse than scare if you don't do as I say!"
- — Solego drives a hard bargain.
- "You're right, Molly! Somethin' weird's goin' on with yer mom! Fer one thing, she can't fly a plane!"
- — Baloo's detective skills.
- "It calls itself Solego, and all I know is that it wants the medallion and something terrible will happen if it gets it!"
- "NOTHING will happen that shouldn't have happened centuries ago!!"
- — Gadget and Solego.
- "Uhh... have a pleasant drive... Hope I see ya again..."
- "I tell ya, that Goof's such an idjit he scares me sometimes!"
- — Goofy and Pete.
- "I am the magnet that sticks to your refrigerator! I am... ...and in local news-"
- — Goofy watches Darkwing Duck.
- "I am the terror that flaps in the night! I am the blister on the pinkie toe of crime! I am Darkwiiiiing- ...Duck!"
- — Darkwing Duck gets punched.
- "Are you sure you should've insulted him like that, DW? He looks awful mad!"
- "It's an old superhero trick, LP -- Goad the bad guy to anger so he makes a fatal mistake!"
- "Fatal for who -- him or us?!"
- — Launchpad and Darkwing.
- "Pull yourself together, LP! This Solego character is nothing more than a penny-ante magician! We've put worse villains behind bars, haven't we? Well, haven't we?!?"
- "Hold on, I'm thinking!"
- — Darkwing and Launchpad.
- "Why don'tcha use those fancy powers of yours against someone your own size?!"
- "Very well."
- "Now waitaminnut, I didn't mean me, I mean, I'm so much smaller than you, and-"
- — Darkwing and Solego.
Notes[]
References[]
- "Rakkinroon" is "rack and ruin" and "Duumingluum" is "doom and gloom".
- Solego comes from the Latin "sol ego [sum]", which means "the sun [am] I" or otherwise "I [am] the sun".
Continuity[]
- TaleSpin's era was never specified, but from details is estimated to take place between 1935 and 1940. Because Baloo one episode says that the Great War was 20 years ago, a literal interpretation would place TaleSpin in 1938. 50 years are said to be between Part 1 and Part 2, which is the Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers universe. Assuming Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers takes place in the "now" of its air dates, the earliest Part 2 can take place is 1988, when its preview episodes aired. However, Part 3 takes place only days after Part 2 and features the cast of Goof Troop, which has a "now" of 1992 at the earliest. It's nothing that can't fit, but there's a range of about four years in estimating the years of the story's key points.
- Goofy is watching an episode of Darkwing Duck, while also being part of the same universe for the instance of the crossover. It wouldn't necessarily be a first: the cartoon episode "Mutantcy on the Bouncy" plays the same card and "Star Crossed Circuits" and "The Frequency Fiends" have characters whistle the theme song. What's probably more frustrating to realize is that the line "I am the magnet that sticks to your refrigerator!" does not occur at any time in the series, so in the Goof Troop universe, there's at least one Darkwing Duck episode that does not exist in real-life.
Milestones[]
- This comic marks the first appearance of Solego, Bisk Potsherd, Potsherd, Bisk's mother, D'Shane, Rakkinroon, the Medallion of the Chaos God, and McDuck's Jewelers.
- This comic marks the introduction of the Money Bin to the Darkwing Duck setting.
- While referred to in "Tiff of the Titans", this is the first time Scrooge McDuck appears in person in the Darkwing Duck setting.
Errors[]
- The crystal is without chain for the entire duration of Part 2. It's back at the start of Part 3. It disappears in Part 5, but that could be explained as an effect of the crystal rejoining with the medallion.
- What does Goofy mean when he declares the car not to be haunted, but to be alive, even though he believes it to be possessed?
- SHUSH Central is identified as S.H.U.S.H. Headquarters.
- The explanation in Part 4 as to why there's a chain on the crystal raises questions as to why touching the chain caused Rebecca to become possessed in Part 1. The art shows Potsherd not touching the chain directly, suggesting the chain never was meant to be safe but just an easier way to hold the crystal with other tools. But this still leaves the question why Solego can exist in the chain, but not in those other tools.
- J. Gander Hooter has red hair instead of grey hair. This was fixed in the Fantagraphics reprint.
- There might be a text balloon missing in panel 2 of page 7 of Part 5; Solego's headshot appears odd without text.
- Fenton is drawn being blasted out of the Gizmosuit even though storywise he's disintegrated with the suit, as evidenced by his resurrection when Solego is defeated.
- When Solego is defeated and everyone gathers in Hooter's office, both Fenton and Gizmoduck are present. This was fixed in the Fantagraphics reprint.
Other[]
- Despite having access to all of The Disney Afternoon licenses, this is the only crossover story Disney Adventures ever published due to orders not to mix up the franchises (hence why Bisk Potsherd does not refer to the "crazy cargo pilot" by name in Part 4). As a crossover, "The Legend of the Chaos God" is fairly loose too. With the exception of DuckTales and Darkwing Duck, there is no back-and-forth between the chapters, just one passing the story on to the other. To an extent, this is necessary to make it work. For instance, the Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers universe was inhabited by humans, while the other four all star humanoid animals as main population. Direct and deep interaction would require Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers to be temporarily rewritten to fit the other universes.
- The woman standing with the Potsherds in the Temple of Duumingluum in Part 4 is never properly identified. She only appears in that one panel. She might be simply part of Potsherd's archeological team, although no mention is made of there being an archeological team. Assuming her to be Potsherd's wife and Bisk's mother is the one option that answers a few questions without opening others.