The Blot's Double Mystery (entitled Topolino e il Doppio Segreto di Macchia Nera in the original Italian) is a story written by Guido Martina and drawn by Romano Scarpa. It features the Phantom Blot, Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Chief O'Hara, Detective Casey, the Mad Hatter, Eega Beeva and Pflip II.
Plot
The Phantom Blot has escaped from jail once again, and this time is hellbent on exacting the most diabolical revenge he can devise on Mickey Mouse. It is not enough to simply kill the “rat”: the Blot plans to kill Goofy and pin the blame on Mickey Mouse, forcing his own friend Chief O'Hara to have him executed… To add to these sinister schemings, the Blot seems to have found some way to be invisible, and to destroy all of Mouseton using… the Mad Hatter's hat? What is truth and what is falsehood amongst the Blot's plans? Perhaps Eega Beeva's timely arrival might help…
Continuity
- This story serves as a sequel to Mickey outwits the Phantom Blot (1939), the first encounter between Mickey Mouse and the Phantom Blot since that first adventure. (The story contains several nods to the 1939 tale, including the disguise which Mickey dons, which he had already used in Outwits.) The next Mickey/Blot confrontation would be Mickey Mouse and the King of Beggars (1960).
- Mickey Mouse first encountered Pflip in Mickey Makes a Killing (1947) and had last seen him in The Mook Treasure (1950), hence his recognizing Pflip II as being of the same species.
- Daughter of the Phantom Blot (2006) would later see Countess Leïa (the Blot's daughter) reusing her father's television-based hypnosis from this story for her own evil schemes.
Behind the scenes
The Blot's Double Mystery was first serialized in four parts in the Italian Topolino #116 through #119. It was printed in English, also in four parts, in Donald and Mickey #6 to #9, and then in the Floyd Gottfredson Library.
The translation used, beyond being a localization, was based on the German translation rather than the original Italian version. To add to the inaccuracies that were bound to surface in such a scenario, it was felt to be necessary to "soften" the rather dark storyline, and thus a lot of the Blot's murderous intentions were left unsaid (such as the fiend's gleeful hope Mickey would be executed for the crimes he was accused of).