Disney comics are and featuring characters created by the Walt Disney Company, including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Scrooge McDuck and José Carioca.
The first Disney comics were newspaper strips appearing from 1930 on, starting with the Mickey Mouse comic strip. Mickey Mouse Magazine, the first American newsstand publication with Disney comics, launched in 1935. In 1940, Western Publishing launched the long-running flagship comic book, Walt Disney's Comics and Stories, which reached 750 issues in September 2019. Uncle Scrooge, launched in 1952, reached issue #450 in June 2019. In recent decades, Disney comics have seen a decline of popularity in the United States. In the rest of the world Disney comics have remained very successful, especially in Europe, where weekly Disney comics magazines and monthly paperback digests are national best sellers.
Disney comics have been the basis for academic theory, cultural criticism, and fan-created databases.
From the beginning, the strips were parts of long continuing stories. These introduced characters such as the Phantom Blot, Eega Beeva, and the Bat Bandit, which Gottfredson created; Disney created Eli Squinch, Mickey's nephews, Morty and Ferdie Fieldmouse, and Sylvester Shyster, which were also introduced in the comic.
Starting in the 1950s, Gottfredson and writer Bill Walsh were instructed to drop the storylines and do only daily gags.
After Gottfredson retired, the strip was written and drawn by many other creators. The Sunday page went into reprints in February 1992, and the daily strip ended on July 29, 1995.
In 2011, Fantagraphics Books began the Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse series, a hardback collection of Gottfredson's run on the strip. A total of 14 volumes were published between 2011 and 2018, collecting the entirety of Gottfredson's Sunday color work (two volumes) and all of his serialized story-themed daily strips (12 volumes). The collection doesn't include any of Gottfredson's gag-oriented material from 1955 onwards.
The strip was initially titled Silly Symphonies; after two years, the name was changed to Silly Symphony. The switch happened in the February 18, 1934, strip, just three weeks before Bucky Bug would be replaced with a new storyline, "Birds of a Feather".
The complete rundown of Silly Symphony strips, from 1932 to 1945:
The Silly Symphony Sunday strip ended on October 7, 1945, and was replaced by Uncle Remus and His Tales of Br'er Rabbit.
Three of the Silly Symphony stories inspired long-running features in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories. Original Bucky Bug stories first appeared in issue #39 (Dec 1943) and appeared every month for seven years, wrapping up with issue #120 (Sept 1950). "The Three Little Pigs" feature inspired the creation of Li'l Bad Wolf, the Big Bad Wolf's errant son, who wants to be friends with the Pigs. Li'l Bad Wolf's adventures began in issue #52 (Jan 1945), and he made regular appearances until almost the end of the comic's original run, issue #259 (April 1962). Finally, Little Hiawatha had his own monthly story for two years, from issue #143 (Aug 1952) to #168 (September 1954).
The complete strip has been reprinted in four hardcover collections, Silly Symphonies: The Complete Disney Classics, published by IDW Publishing's Library of American Comics imprint. The first volume, published in 2016, includes all of the strips from "Bucky Bug" (1932) to "Cookieland" (1935). Volume 2, published in 2017, includes "Three Little Kittens" (1935) to "Timid Elmer" (1939). Volume 3, published in 2018, includes "Pluto the Pup" (1939) to "Little Hiawatha" (1942). The fourth volume, published in 2019, concludes the series with "Bambi" (1942) through Panchito" (1945).
Starting in 2015, IDW Publishing's Library of American Comics imprint has been publishing hardcover collections of the Donald Duck strip. As of 2019, five volumes of and two volumes of have been released.
The previous comic strip adaptations of Disney films lasted for four or five months, but the Uncle Remus strip continued for almost thirty years, telling new stories of Br'er Rabbit and friends, until the strip was discontinued on December 31, 1972.
The Sunday strip ran for thirty-five years, from July 13, 1952, to February 15, 1987. The animated features adapted for the strip include Peter Pan (1953), Lady and the Tramp (1955), Sleeping Beauty (1958), The Sword in the Stone (1963) and The Jungle Book (1968). Classic Tales also featured animated shorts, including Lambert the Sheepish Lion (1956) and Ben and Me (1953), and featurettes like Peter & The Wolf (1954) and Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (1966). The 1979-80 adaptation of The Black Hole was particularly notable for featuring pencil art by comics icon Jack Kirby, with Mike Royer inking.
Treasury of Classic Tales also adapted live-action films like Old Yeller (1957–58), Swiss Family Robinson (1960), Mary Poppins (1964) and The Love Bug (1969). The strip transitioned from historical dramas like The Sword and the Rose (1953) and Kidnapped (1960) to comedies like The Shaggy Dog (1959) and The Parent Trap (1961).
In 2016, IDW Publishing and their imprint The Library of American Comics (LoAC) began to collect all the Treasury of Classic Tales stories in a definitive hardcover reprint series. As of 2019, three volumes have been published, reprinting all the stories from Robin Hood (1952) through In Search of the Castaways (1962). In April 2018, it was announced that, due to the sales goal of the series not being met, the third volume may be the last one to be published." Episode 006 with special guest Michael Barrier ." The Library of American Comics. April 6, 2018. Retrieved 2018-04-10
The tradition was revived in 1992 as Disney Holiday Story to publicize contemporary Disney feature animated films.
In 2017, the Christmas stories were collected in a hardback volume, Disney's Christmas Classics, published by IDW Publishing.
A proposed Roger Rabbit strip underwent development but cancellation of the sequel led King Features to pass on it.
The Disney comic strip department closed in January 1990. The last two strips, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, continued to be supervised by King Features. The Donald strip was drawn by Larry Knighton with King Features staffers writing it. The Donald strip was discontinued in the mid-1990s. In this period the Mickey strip had Floyd Norman as the writer and art rotating between Rick Hoover and Alex Howell. Norman convinced the syndicate to allow him to drop the gag-a-day format in favor of adventure continuities of up to four weeks, much in the style of the classic Gottfredson era. By 1994 the strip was running in only 30 newspapers and by mutual agreement of Disney and King Features it ended. Both strips continued with reprints.
In recent years Creators Syndicate has offered reprints of the Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh strips as part of a "classics" package and posts the current strip on its site (without archiving). Domestically the strips have 20-30 clients at any one time; they also appear in many newspapers outside the United States (exact number unknown).
By the mid-1950s, WDC&S was the best selling comic book in America, with a circulation hovering around three million a month (with the highest level reached being 3,038,000 for the Sept. 1953 issue).Willits, Malcolm. "Interview with George Sherman". Vanguard 1968, reprinted in Duckburg Times #12 (1981). It is regarded as one of the best-selling comic books of all time.
The book was originally published by Dell Comics (1940–1962), and there have been many revivals over the years, continuing the same legacy numbering. The revivals have been published by Gold Key Comics (1962–1984), Gladstone Publishing (1986–1990), Disney Comics (1990–1993), back to Gladstone Publishing (1993–1999), Gemstone Publishing (2003–2008), Boom! Studios (2009–2011) and IDW Publishing (2015–2020). IDW relaunched the title as Disney Comics and Stories. IDW lost Disney comics rights in the 2020s and the comic book license for Disney properties passed to Marvel Comics.
Dell also had an anthology series, Four Color, which started in 1939 as a series of "one-shot" specials, each focused on a particular character. In the early days, Four Color mostly featured comic strip reprints of Dick Tracy, Little Orphan Annie, Terry and the Pirates and others. The first series included two issues of Disney comic strips -- Donald Duck strips were reprinted in issue #4 (Feb 1940), and Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse serial Mickey Mouse Outwits the Phantom Blot was colored, reformatted into comic form and released as issue #16 (1941).
In 1941, Four Color published the two earliest Disney comic book stories, based on new Disney films. Issue #13 featured an adaptation of The Reluctant Dragon, and a Dumbo adaptation was the focus of issue #17. Both of these stories were assembled by using a film-editing machine called the Moviola, and having artist Irving Tripp trace the actual frames of the film to make up each panel. Each issue also had additional short back-up features—the Reluctant Dragon issue included comic adaptations of the 1941 shorts Old MacDonald Duck and Goofy How to Ride a Horse, and Dumbo of the Circus had an illustrated text adaptation of the Donald Duck short The Village Smithy, as well as some filler comic strips from Silly Symphony and Mickey Mouse.
The next story specifically created for Disney comic books was Pluto Saves the Ship, published in Dell Comics' Large Feature Comics #7 in July 1942. The story was written by Disney animators Carl Barks, Jack Hannah and Nick George; it was Barks's first comic book work.
Four Color relaunched with a new numbering system in 1942, and in October, Dell published "Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold" as issue #9 of the second series. This 64-page story was the first Donald Duck story drawn (but not yet written) by Barks.
Four Color went on to produce more than 1,000 issues from 1942 to 1962, and the major ongoing Disney comics series were all launched as individual issues of the Four Color series. "Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold" eventually became the first Donald Duck comic, Mickey Mouse began as issue #27 (1943), and the first Uncle Scrooge comic was issue #386 (March 1952). Scamp also began as a Four Color one-shot with issue #703 (May 1956), which turned into a series in 1958. When they each "graduated" to their own comic books, Dell continued their numbering as if they had been part of a series all along.
There were many other Disney characters featured in issues of Four Color. This list shows the first issue for each character:
The title received its own numbering system with issue #26 (1953) and ended with issue #388 (June 2017).
Christmas Parade was a success, and Dell followed up the next year with Walt Disney's Vacation Parade #1 (July 1950) and Christmas Parade #2 (Nov 1950). Dell also introduced Bugs Bunny's Christmas Funnies in 1950, and soon all of Dell's top-selling characters had regular annuals and giant issues.
Christmas Parade ran for ten issues from 1949 to 1959, and was followed by Walt Disney's Merry Christmas (Dec 1960) and Donald Duck Merry Christmas (Dec 1961).
Vacation Parade ran for five annual issues from 1950 to 1954, before being retitled Picnic Party from 1955 to 1957, Mickey Mouse Summer Fun (1958), Walt Disney's Summer Fun (1959), Daisy Duck and Uncle Scrooge Picnic Time (1960) and Mickey and Donald in Vacationland (1961). There were also six annual issues of Donald Duck Beach Party from 1954 to 1959.
Dell also published nine annual issues of Silly Symphonies (1952–1959).
When Disneyland, the first Disney theme park, opened in 1955, Dell celebrated with the Giant Donald Duck in Disneyland (Sept 1955), and made frequent returns to the park over the next few years, including Mickey Mouse in Frontierland (May 1956), Mickey Mouse in Fantasyland (May 1957), Uncle Scrooge Goes to Disneyland (Aug 1957), Christmas in Disneyland (a one-time retitle of Christmas Parade, Nov 1957) Donald and Mickey in Disneyland on Tom Sawyer Island (May 1958), Vacation in Disneyland (Aug 1958), Disneyland Birthday Party (Oct 1958) and Disneyland U.S.A. (June 1960).
There were also three annual issues of Huey, Dewey and Louie Back To School in October 1959, 1960 and 1961, and a number of one-shot Giants, including Peter Pan's Treasure Chest (Jan 1953), Mickey Mouse Birthday Party (Sept 1953), Mickey Mouse Club Parade (Dec 1955), Mickey Mouse Almanac (Dec 1957) and Daisy Duck and Uncle Scrooge Showboat (Sept 1961).
The spin-off title was very popular, and by issue #4 Uncle Scrooge shed its Four Color association and became its own independent book. Scrooge is one of the longest-running American Disney comics books, and is still presently ongoing, reaching issue #450 in June 2019.
The book has been produced under the aegis of several different publishers, including Western Publishing (initially in association with Dell Comics and later under its own subsidiary, Gold Key Comics and its Whitman imprint), Gladstone Publishing, Disney Comics, Gemstone Publishing, Boom! Studios, and IDW Publishing (until 2020), and has undergone several hiatuses of varying length. Despite this, it has maintained the same numbering scheme throughout its six decade history, with only IDW adding a secondary numbering that started at #1.
Western continued publishing Dell's four main titles: Walt Disney's Comics and Stories (starting with issue #264, Sept 1962), Mickey Mouse (issue #85, Nov 1962), Donald Duck (issue #85, Dec 1962) and Uncle Scrooge (issue #40, Jan 1963). They also started (or restarted) several titles:
By the 1970s, Disney comics were undergoing a steep decline in circulation, with newsstand distribution discontinued in 1981. Western thereafter released its comics under the Whitman label, distributing them to candy stores and other outlets in bags containing three comics and also eventually distributed them to the emerging network of comic book stores. Western ceased publishing comics in 1984.
Many European publishers saw a great demand for Disney comics, and it was a typical pattern for a company to publish a comic once a month, then add regular specials, then phase out the specials and publish the comic biweekly, and finally turn it into a weekly magazine. France's Le Journal de Mickey and the Netherlands' Donald Duck Weekblad started the trend, publishing weekly comics in 1952, and the others followed in the late 1950s. Germany's Micky Maus turned weekly in 1957, Denmark's Anders And & Co. in 1958, Sweden's in 1959, and Italy's Topolino in 1960. By the early 1960s, the weeklies' voracious need for material was using up the available inventory of stories.
George Sherman, head of Disney's Publications Department at the time, hired Tom Golberg to run the program. Sherman noted the purpose of the program was "We will use new characters in our foreign comics, characters that we don't have in.... to bring out facets of existing characters, and give the stories more variety."Gerstein, David. "Disney Comics: Back to Long Ago!" Comic Book Marketplace, Vol. 3, no. 103, June 2003, Gemstone Publishing, p. 45.
Tony Strobl, Cliff Voorhees, , Paul Murry, Jack Bradbury, Carson Van Osten, Ellis Eringer and Romano Scarpa were among the artists during its early years; Carl Fallberg, Floyd Norman, Ed Nofziger, Cecil Beard, Jim Fanning, Dick Kinney, Diana Gabaldon and Mark Evanier were among those who at some point did scripts for it. From the late 1970s on, the Jaime Diaz Studios of Argentina drew most of the stories.
In a few instances, Studio Program stories were reprinted in the United States in promotional giveaways of Gulf Oil ( Wonderful World of Disney) in the late 1960s and Procter & Gamble ( Disney Magazine) in the mid-1970s. Mickey and the Sleuth stories were published by Gold Key in Walt Disney Showcase #38, 39 and 42 (1977–1978). Besides the Sleuth, other characters created for the program include Donald's cousin Fethry Duck and the hillbilly hermit Hard Haid Moe. Also, while Carl Barks created John D. Rockerduck, he used the character only in a single story ("Boat Buster", Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #255, Dec. 1961) while the program subsequently created numerous stories with the Scrooge McDuck rival and helped refine him (along with stories by Brazilian and Italian Disney comic book licensees).
Domestic printing of Studio Program stories became common starting in the late 1980s as the Disney comics published by Gladstone and Gemstone have featured them on a regular basis, along with reprints from Gold Key/Dell Comics and material produced by foreign licensees.
This program was merged into Disney Comics, and is the precursor of the comics that subsequently appeared in Disney Adventures.
In 2003, after a few years' hiatus, regular publication was restarted by Gemstone Publishing, a reformed version of Gladstone. Gemstone's two monthly Disney titles were Walt Disney's Comics and Stories and Uncle Scrooge, but the license was not renewed with the last releases dated Nov. 2008.
More recently, Disney licensed some of their modern properties to Slave Labor Graphics ( Gargoyles) and BOOM! Kids ( The Muppet Show, The Incredibles, and Cars). Boom eventually also got the license for the classic characters, and began publishing comic books with them in 2009. Although cancelling two titles previously published by Gladstone and Gemstone ( Donald Duck Adventures and Uncle $crooge Adventures), Boom! expanded their Disney portfolio in 2010-'11 by launching three new titles based upon the 1990s Disney Afternoon TV format ( Darkwing Duck, , and DuckTales). However, in August 2011, it was reported that Disney and Boom! were to end the licensing agreement, leaving the future of comics including their classic characters as well as those from the Disney Afternoon format uncertain.Brigante, Rick (2011). Disney ending partnership with BOOM Studios, future of ‘Disney Afternoon’ comics uncertain , insidethemagic.com, August 8, 2011
In October 2014, Comic Book Resources (CBR) reported that Joe Books, a small new Canadian publisher founded by former BOOM! vice president Adam Fortier, had acquired the rights to a "remastered" omnibus reprint of BOOM's entire Darkwing Duck comic series that would lead into an all-new on-going Darkwing Duck series produced by Joe Comics,Sunu, Steve (2014). Joe Books' "Darkwing Duck" Omnibus to Lead into New Ongoing Series , Comic Book Resources, October 22, 2014 and in February 2015, CBR ran an interview with series artist James Silvani and series writer Aaron Sparrow on the new "remastered" omnibus collection published by Joe Books that month, as well as their plans for the announced new series.Morris, Steve (2015). The Terror That Flaps In The Night Rises: Sparrow & Silvani on Darkwing Duck's Return , Comic Book Resources, February 13, 2015 As the November 2014 edition of the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide also contained ads for Joe Books comic adaptations of two theatrical Disney features, The "Darkwing Duck: Definitively Dangerous Edition": pg 338 of the Nov Diamond catalog! Code NOV141533 F " , Tweet by the official Joe Books Twitter channel, 28 October 2014Johnston, Rich (2014). Joe Books To Collect All Of Boom! Studios’ Darkwing Duck , Bleeding Cool, 22 October 2014 observers have expressed rumors that Joe Books has acquired the full North-American comic license to all Disney animated and live-action properties.(2014). Disney comics back in the USA! , Animation Source, 1 November 2014Barat, Chris (2014). There's "Definitely" Something A-Web Here , News and Reviews by Chris Barat, 30 October 2014
In January 2015, IDW Publishing announced on their public Facebook account that they were to start publishing all the classic-characters Disney titles, starting with Uncle $crooge in April of that year and focussing on reprints of European Disney comics with these characters by artists such as Marco Rota and Romano Scarpa. The rights to North-American reprints of Carl Barks and Don Rosa comics are currently (2015) held by Fantagraphics Books.
Disney has also begun publishing a bimonthly magazine based on Phineas and Ferb, featuring comic stories based on the show. Between 1999 and 2005, Dark Horse Comics published occasional adaptations of Disney's new movies.
The Disney Studio launched Kingdom Comics division in May 2008 led by writer-actor Ahmet Zappa, TV executive Harris Katleman and writer-editor Christian Beranek. Kingdom was designed to create new properties for possible film development and reimagine and redevelop existing Disney library movies with Disney Publishing Worldwide getting a first look for publishing.
Peachtree Playthings in Marietta, Georgia, published several issues of Mickey Mouse, Frozen, DuckTales, Toy Story and Disney Princess in 2019–20. Dynamite Entertainment in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, began publishing a new monthly Darkwing Duck series in January 2023. Dynamite also publishes comic books featuring Scar, Maleficent, Gargoyles, Cruella De Vil and Lilo & Stitch.
Disney comic titles in the United States include:
Inspired by the 1935 launch of the newsstand-version of Mickey Mouse Magazine, UK publisher Odhams Press established Mickey Mouse Weekly, a large-size 12-page comics magazine, with four pages in full-color photogravure. Wilfred Haughton contributed to this publication as well, which featured the full range of characters from the Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphony cartoons. The magazine included new material—both Disney and non-Disney—as well as reprints of the American comic strips.
Immediately after the close of Mickey Mouse Weekly, another Disney comics magazine was launched: Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse, which ran for 55 issues from 1958 to 1959, and then changed title to Walt Disney's Weekly, publishing another 111 issues until 1961.
Other Disney comics published in the UK include:
Of contributors to American Disney comics who were born in the UK, Ted Thwaites was an inker for Floyd Gottfredson in the early Disney comic strip department, and Frank McSavage from Scotland drew a number of Grandma Duck, Bongo and other stories for the American comic books.
British writers for Egmont include Paul Halas, Gail Renard and Jack Sutter.
British Webcomic creator Sarah Jolley has introduced a romance between Gladstone Gander and Magica De Spell. Her popular online comics, that she calls 'duck doodles', have won praise from Disney artists.
Artists from Denmark include Freddy Milton (penname of Fredy Milton Larsen), who worked for the Dutch studio with Daan Jippes, and Flemming Andersen who draws in a personalized version of the Italian Disney style. In addition to Donald Duck stories, Freddy Milton has utilized his highly Barks-reminiscent style for other series that he has written and drawn, including Woody Woodpecker, his own series, Gnuff, and several titles involving a human character named Villiams Verden. The Scandinavian countries are among those in which Donald Duck is more popular than Mickey Mouse. Danish writers include Lars Jensen, Maya Åstrup, Tom Anderson and Gorm Transgaard (Jensen created Scrooge's opponent Velma Vanderduck, amongst other characters).
Disney titles published in Denmark include:
In the 1950s, Swedish Disney comics reprinted existing material from America, both in Kalle Anka & C:o and a monthly series, Walt Disney's serier ( Walt Disney's Comics). When the supply of American comics started to dry up in the 1960s, Denmark's publishing house Gutenberghus began producing original series, followed by Italy's Mondadori and Disney's own "Disney Studio" program. The pocket book Kalle Anka's Pocket was introduced in 1968, and is still running today. A second pocket book, Farbror Joakim ( Uncle Scrooge) was added in 1976. In 1980, Musse Pigg & C:o ( Mickey Mouse & Co) was added as a monthly comic, and it continues as a bimonthly. Other current titles are Kalle Anka Extra and Kalle Anka Junior.
Per Erik Hedman is a writer from Sweden, and artist Tony Cronstam draws in a Carl Barks style. Editor/writer Stefan Printz-Påhlson wrote a time machine series with fellow editor/writer Lars Bergström; the former also created the reoccurring Stone Age character, Princess Oona. Per Starbäck compiled Disney comic book indexes into the Disney Comics Mailing List, expanded by Dutch programmer Harry Fluks into the online database, Inducks.
Arild Midthun is a Norwegian artist who works in a Barksian style. He has written some of the stories that he has drawn, as well as illustrating stories by other Norwegian writers. Midthun has created popular stories about Viking history, and about Scrooge's days in the Klondike gold rush. Carl Barks books, clubs and fanzines first appeared in Norway, the home of Donaldism, a Disney comics fandom movement founded by Analysis Jon Gisle (1st fanzine, 1973; 1st club, 1975).
Italy has introduced several new characters to the Disney universe, including Donald's superhero alter ego Duck Avenger (original name Paperinik), created in 1969. Production has been handled by Nerbini (1932–1937), Mondadori (1937–1988), Disney Italy (1988–2013) and Panini Comics (2013–present).
Topolino is the main Italian Disney publication, and its first incarnation was a weekly newspaper published from 1932 to 1949, for a total of 738 issues. In 1949, Topolino switched to a digest-sized format and its numbering restarted at #1: originally a monthly, it became a biweekly in 1952 and a weekly in 1960. The second incarnation of Topolino reached its 3500th issue in 2022. At first, Topolino alternated between translations of foreign stories and original stories produced by Italian authors, however since the early 1990s foreign stories have mostly disappeared from it.
Italy's digest-sized format has been adopted by many other countries in the long running Donald Duck pocket book series.
In the late 1990s, Disney Italy launched several new lines, including (a comic book version of Paperinik aimed at a slightly older audience), MM Mickey Mouse Mystery Magazine (a noir series starring Mickey Mouse as detective), Wizards of Mickey, DoubleDuck, and W.I.T.C.H., plus the comics published under the imprint Buena Vista Comics (including the original Monster Allergy comic series and a few other titles, such as Kylion and a comic inspired by the Alias TV show).
The Disney comics published in Italy include:
The Disney comics published in the Netherlands include:
While the Donald Duck comics thrive in the Netherlands, the audience for Mickey Mouse has been relatively weak. A monthly magazine, Mickey Maandblad, was published in several formats from 1976 to 1989, finally dropped for lack of sales.
Dutch programmer Harry Fluks created the online Disney Comics Database, Inducks (launched 1994), expanded from the Disney Comics Mailing List based in Sweden.
By 1948, the Danish magazine publisher Egmont (then called Gutenberghus) secured a license to print Disney comics in Scandinavia. In September 1951, Ehapa Verlag in Stuttgart, West Germany, a subsidiary of Egmont, started the monthly publication Micky Maus, a format similar to Walt Disney's Comics & Stories. From the start, it featured stories by Carl Barks, translated by chief editor Dr. Erika Fuchs. The comic book was published on a biweekly basis 1956/57, and from 1958 on it changed into a weekly. Renamed Micky Maus Magazin, it is still published today by the Egmont Ehapa publishing company (now in Berlin) and is the longest running comic book in Germany. In its heyday (early 1990s), its weekly circulation number rose to one million copies. In spite of the name, most stories of Micky Maus feature Donald Duck, as he is the most popular Disney character in Germany.
Many other titles have been published by the company, most notably Die tollsten Geschichten von Donald Duck ('The Best stories of Donald Duck', 1965-today), the Lustige Taschenbuch ('Funny Paperback', a digest title mostly reprinting Italian pocket books; 1967-today) and many other series.
Volker Reiche and Jan Gulbransson are local artist/writers who have worked in a Carl Barks style. Gulbransson drew an 8-part series wherein Scrooge and kin visit regional German cities and wrote/drew a 4-part series set in the Alps and a story where Scrooge finances a team in the German soccer league, and many others. Barks-fan Volker Reiche wrote and drew a batch of stories in his signature scruffy version of Barks's 1940s style. A popular graphic novel adventure series, Tales From Uncle Scrooge's Treasure Chest was conceptualized, plotted and produced by Ehapa editor Adolf Kabatek. Although the art was outsourced, it was made sure to be in a Barksian style. Ulrich Schröder relocated to Paris to become the art director of Disney Publishing Worldwide, the company's European headquarters, and has produced comic covers, story and editorial art for Disney comics in Germany and France. Schröder has worked with Dutch artist Daan Jippes.
Austrian abstract artist Gottfried Helnwein held a Barks comic art touring exhibition in Germany, that along with a similar exhibit that was being shown at the time, was seen by over half a million people (over 400,000 and over 100,000, respectively). Erika Fuchs's translation work was highly influential, and she incorporated many aspects of German culture into her translations. Many of her 'Fuchisms' have become part of the German language. The Donaldism group, D.O.N.A.L.D. claims to be the preservers of the non-commercial original Donaldism and even hold congresses, knight contributors to children's literature and infiltrate conservative newspaper columns (that members contribute) with Fuchisms.
Some of the Disney comics from Germany include:
Later in the beginning of the 1980s, a new production started, led by Patrice Valli and Pierre Nicolas as editors with adventures of Mickey Mouse, Uncle Scrooge, Donald Duck. Among the best artists, one recalls Claude Marin, or Claude Chebille (known as Gen-Clo), and Italian artists like Giorgio Cavazzano. Some of the best writers were Michel Motti and Pierre-Yves Gabrion. In the late 1980s up to now, an increasing number of Spanish artist from the Comicup studio provided the art, while the writing stayed to French authors.
Disney comics published in France include:
ESRA also published a large-format 16-page bimonthly magazine, Pato Donald, which lasted from 1965 to April 1966. ESRA rebooted with a second version of Pato Donald in May 1966, now a 36-page weekly. The second Pato Donald ran for 231 issues, until December 1975. Montena also published the weekly Don Miki for 638 issues, from October 1976 to December 1988, and Don Donald for 136 issues, from 1979 to 1985.
In September 1989, Primavera began publishing Mickey and Pato Donald; Mickey lasted for 17 issues until January 1991, and Pato Donald for 46 issues until June 1992. RBA tried to revive the line in 2002, publishing 22 issues of Mickey and 4 issues of Pato Donald.
Several comic studios in Spain produced story art for Disney comic scripts. Some artists became independent, such as Paco Rodriguez, who utilizes Daniel Branca's Barksian style.
Terzopoulos Publishing (renamed Nea Aktina after the death of founder Evagellos Terzopoulos) released 20 magazines, with Μικυ Μαους (Mickey Mouse) being the main, weekly magazine with stories from across the Mickey-Donald universe. Other publications were released from monthly to yearly basis, notably Ντοναλντ (Donald) and Κομιξ (Comics) featuring classic stories. Six of the publications went out of the Mickey-Donald bubble with franchises such as Winnie-the-Pooh, the Disney princesses, cars, and even Pixar's Toy Story. Moreover two Disney magazines were released, Almanaco, focusing mainly on video games and a teen audience, including short Disney comics, also releasing Κοσμος Ντισνευ (Disney world) which included info and stories from recent Disney franchises such as The Incredibles and Hannah Montana. Another 47 standalone publications were released in the time of the publisher. By the end of 2013, 11 series were being published.
In 2014, the title was relaunched by Kathimerini, with numbering starting at #1.
Kathimerini relaunched Mickey Mouse (weekly) and Donald, Comics, Super Mickey (monthly), along with some limited edition collections bundled with the Kathimerini newspaper. The magazines nowadays mainly draw from the Italian publications. Kathimerini discontinued direct supply to Cyprus, however many stores get their hands on the comics with a middleman or a subscription.
In Brazil, through the publisher Editora Abril, national stories have been published since the 1950s, with artists like Jorge Kato inspired by Carl Barks. In the 1960s and 1970s, Renato Canini drew a number of stories in a style inspired by the popular abstract design of the era. He also developed a universe around José Carioca, a very popular character in Brazil. Abril increased production in the 1970s and 1980s. Except for José Carioca, recurring characters included Daisy Duck (turned feminist) and Fethry Duck. Among the most prolfic authors were the writer Arthur Faria Jr. and the artist Irineu Soares Rodriguez. Brazil is also known to have retained many "obscure" characters, largely forgotten elsewhere, besides Portugal. "O Pato Donald" (The Donald Duck) was initially published in comic book format, then from issue #22 began to be published in digest-sized format.
At the end of the 1990s, the Brazilian production ceased, and then restarted for a short while in the 2000s. After an absence of almost 10 years, with just a few special events stories, production again started up at the end of 2012. During the 2010s Abril was also responsible for publishing Disney's manga in Brazil (some unpublished in other countries outside Japan), including titles like Kingdom Hearts, Big Hero 6, Kilala Princess, Stitch!, Miriya and Marie, Star Wars and others.
Disney comics were published by Editora Abril since 1950, but the company stopped publishing them in 2018, facing financial difficulties. The next year, however, the comics returned through the publisher Culturama. José Carioca's title was not continued by Culturama, but new stories returned in September, 2020, in the comic book Aventuras Disney.
The best-known titles include:
Walt Disney Comics mixed and matched covers and stories from its sister U.S. publication, rather than just reprinting them. The "Giant" presented selections from various U.S. series, from film promotions such as Robin Hood to Uncle Scrooge, Beagle Boys and Junior Woodchucks. In some cases these were mere reprints. In others, an extra story was added to increase the page count; for instance, W MM 97-04 "Par for the Course", in No. 570 The Beagle Boys.
This practice of adding an extra story to an issue otherwise identical the U.S. one is common elsewhere; as an example, in the "Film Preview Series", the first Robin Hood issue has W OS 1055-03 "The Double Date" added.
In 2004, publisher Nahdat Masr acquired the Disney license, and the first issues were sold out in less than 8 hours. The new version of Mickey published issue #0 in December, 2003, and issue #1 in December 2004. As of 2018, the magazine had reached more than 700 issues. Besides the publication of the weekly magazine, two monthly magazines are published: مجلد سوبر ميكى ( SuperMickey) and Mickey Geib "Pocket Mickey" (a pocket sized magazine).
In the 60s and 70s, original material was created (in Egyptian Arabic), most notably by Ahmed Hijazi, a Folk art-style artist.
Japan also produced completely original Disney material, such as the manga adaptation of the videogame Kingdom Hearts by Shiro Amano, published by Bros Comics EX (and later translated in English by Tokyopop) and Jun Asaga's adaptation of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (originally published by Kodansha, English version by Disney Press).
The main publishers are:
Belgium
Brazil
Chile
Denmark
Egypt
Finland
France
Germany
Italy
Japan
Netherlands
Norway
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom
United States
Yugoslavia
Silly Symphony
Donald Duck
Uncle Remus and His Tales of Br'er Rabbit
Walt Disney's Treasury of Classic Tales
Scamp
Disney Christmas Story
Winnie the Pooh
Other comic strips
U.S. comic books
Mickey Mouse Magazine
Walt Disney's Comics and Stories
Four Color
Donald Duck
Mickey Mouse
Dell Giants
Uncle Scrooge
Gold Key / Whitman era
Disney Studio Program
Revivals
Disney Afternoon comics
More comic books
Europe
United Kingdom
Scandinavia
Denmark
Sweden
Finland
Norway
Italy
Netherlands
Germany
France
Spain
Greece (and Cyprus)
Belgium
Yugoslavia
Latin America
Brazil
Argentina
Chile
Australia, Africa and Asia
Australia
Egypt
Japan
Vietnam
India
Cataloguing
Story codes
Another Rainbow (United States) Abril (Brazil) Egmont (Denmark) Disney Europe (France) Disney-Hachette (France) Ehapa (Germany) Oberon (Holland) Mondadori, Disney Italy, Panini Comics (Italy) Disney Comics (United States) Marvel Comics (United States)Disney branded content only Disney Studios (United States, for European market) Western Publishing (United States)
Fan databases
Notable artists and writers
See also
Further reading
External links
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