A Darkwing Tragedy

Back in the early 90's, which I believe was somewhere in the Pre-Cambrian period, Disney used to have a line of comics they created as a tie-in to their popular weekday afternoon cartoon block named, fittingly, "The Disney Afternoon". They had a number of titles based on their already existing cartoons: "Ducktales", "Chip N' Dale Rescue Rangers", and "Talespin". None of those comic series was so popular and long-lasting than the one bearing the name "Darkwing Duck".

Darkwing Duck was a fictional superhero duck who fought crime with his trusty side-kick "Launchpad McQuack", a pilot who took to wearing aviation clothes and a scarf wheresoever he went.

The comic based on the cartoon was an immense success for Disney and the series lasted for approximately 137 issues before finally calling it quits. One issue, however, in particular stood out in my mind and that was Issue 100. The heads at Disney Comics wanted to do something special to commemorate the hundredth issue of the series, so they decided to do something provocative, namely, kill off one of the main characters. Well, not just any character. They wanted to kill off Launchpad McQuack.

Launchpad was always a sort of disposable character in the cartoon and the comic. He didn't contribute much to the story and not many more stories could be generated around the character, considering he already had a long run on the other Disney cartoon, "Ducktales".

However, as brave and bold Disney execs usually are, they decided to put it up to a vote. In an issue of "Disney Adventures" (the one with Blossom on the cover), they held a poll to see if they should kill Launchpad or not in the hundredth issue of "Darkwing Duck". A fierce and loyal fan of Launchpad, I remember eagerly and carefully cutting out the form with my bony childish hands and voting defiantly "No". There's no way they were killing off such a great character, I thought.

I was wrong. Come the hundredth issue, I saw the cynical and sickening things democracy can wreak on a human civilization. They killed Launchpad. The teeming armies of unwashed kiddies had spoken. They voted overwhelmingly to kill Darkwing's trusty sidekick. His death was a bit of a dramatic one, admittedly. He was killed by an exploding "Mr. Banana Brain" left by Darkwing's arch nemesis "Quackerjack". I remember holding the issue in my hands, trembling with anger. I threw the comic into the trash bin but the page was seared, seared into my mind.

Above is my reproduction of that page. I've drawn it from memory and, I must say, it's been a bit therapeutic for me. I still can't believe they killed such a lovable character.

A real shame.