“Disney Villains: Ursula” Issue 2 – Comic Book Review

From writer Sherri L. Smith and artist Gabriele Bagnoli, Disney Villains Ursula issue 2 continued to expand the titular Sea Witch’s backstory as Triton continued his mission across the seven seas.

Reading Disney Villains Ursula issue made it clear to me that, similar to Disney Villain Maleficent Volume 2, this particular prequel story wasn’t looking to redeem the iconic dark character in any sense of the word. While Ursula’s past was going to be explored through the introduction of her sisters, she was still the power-hungry character we know from the classic animated movie. So, of course, I was looking forward to reading the second chapter after Ursula just learned that the person responsible for targeting her sisters was none other than Triton. To make things more annoying, Triton was a citizen of Ursula’s realm. According to the oldest Sea Witch sister, Ursula should have stopped such an act of rebellion from occurring in the first place.

Now being tasked with warning the rest of her siblings, issue 2 of Disney Villains Ursula opened with a flashback to Scylla’s birth from an underwater volcano. Scylla was the youngest of the sisters, and apparantly she hadn’t been too happy about being sent to rule over one of the colder oceans. As Melusine put it, you just don’t do that to a volcano-born witch.

I had been excited to learn more about the rest of the Sea Witches. In my opinion, Smith handled Melusine quite well. At first, Melusine came across as a Sea Witch who was… gasp!… kind. While talking to Ursula, we got to see Melusine being very playful toward the merchildren swimming around in her temple. Even Ursual mentioned how Melusine was the kindest of them all. However, before readers could think about the possibility of a Sea Witch sister actually having a good heart, Smith made it clear to everybody to consider the context.

Melusine was “kind” when compared to her sisters. That didn’t mean she was inherently benevolent as the ruler of Antillia. Not only did we get to see Melusine’s vicious nature when Triton showed up to battle her, but upon being defeated by the young hero, the merfolk rejoiced because now they could finally have their children back. So, yeah, from my understanding, even though Melusine was caring toward the merkids, she had held them against their parent’s will. And, of course, the parents couldn’t say anything as doing so could put their lives or the well-being of their kids in danger.

There was no redeeming the Sea Witches. And I’m so here for it. As I have mentioned in my decades of reviewing content (and having authored my own stuff), I do enjoy villains being villains. Some people are just rotten to the core. And it’s better to accept that instead of trying to show them grace, which, more often than not, leads to continued harm than good in the long run.

Though engrossing, a gripe would be how quickly the narrative went through most of the sisters being defeated. I would have liked to see an actual battle unfold between Triton and a couple of the sisters, at least, with Melusine. That Not-Yet-Daddy merman won against three witches in a single chapter. Like, come on!

With Triton’s next target being Vodyana, who ruled Arkos, Ursula also arrived at the location before the fight. However, instead of assisting Vodyana, she decided to stay back. Being power-hungry, Ursula planned to have Vodyana wear out Triton before jumping in to finish him off and steal the Trident that now housed the magic of their fallen sisters.

Yay to Ursula sticking to her scheming ways and looking out for herself.

With three more chapters to go, I do hope we get to see an actual battle between Ursula and Triton instead of it lasting only a panel or two.

I could be wrong, but it looked like the castle Ursula lived in, over in Atlantica, was the same one we saw Triton raising his daughters in during The Little Mermaid movie. I accept that particular piece of development. It’s high time for the merfolk to rise against the Sea Witches. Triton’s bravery is likely going to encourage other merfolk to follow his lead. However, having said that, I wouldn’t be surprised if we get to see a merfolk vs. merfolk situation because there are always going to be a group of suppressed people who are afraid of going against the tide. Also, with Ursula having unleashed chaos in her kingdom, certain merfolk might beg Triton to stop his mission so that Ursula would show mercy to them.

I wasn’t expecting a prequel featuring Ursula to be so politically charged. Smith does a good job of exploring such heavy themes while staying true to the titular character and the overall Disney vibe. Kudos to Bagnoli for the unique character designs of the rest of the Sea Witches, instead of having each sibling appear as a squid or octopus-like creature.

Did you read Disney Villains Ursula issue 2? What did you think of it?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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