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Disney comics are
comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...
s and
comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...
s featuring characters created by
the Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...
, including
Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...
,
Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. Donald is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit, sailor shirt and cap with ...
and
Scrooge McDuck Scrooge McDuck (occasionally stylized as $crooge McDuck) is a cartoon character created in 1947 for The Walt Disney Company by Carl Barks. Appearing in Disney comics, Scrooge is a Scottish-born American anthropomorphic duck. Like his nephew, Do ...
. 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 Western Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company, was an American company founded in 1907 in Racine, Wisconsin, best known for publishing the Little Golden Books. Its Golden Books Family Entertainment division also ...
launched the long-running flagship comic book, ''
Walt Disney's Comics and Stories ''Walt Disney's Comics and Stories'', sometimes abbreviated ''WDC&S'', is an American Comics anthology, anthology comic book series featuring characters from The Walt Disney Company's films and shorts, including Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck, Micke ...
'', which reached 750 issues in September 2019. ''
Uncle Scrooge ''Uncle Scrooge'' (stylized as ''Uncle $crooge'') is a Disney comic book series starring Scrooge McDuck ("the richest duck in the world"), his nephew Donald Duck, and grandnephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and revolving around their adventures in ...
'', 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.


U.S. comic strips

The first Disney comics appeared in daily newspapers, syndicated by King Features with production done in-house by a Disney comic strip department at the studio. Initially
Floyd Gottfredson Arthur Floyd Gottfredson (May 5, 1905July 22, 1986) was an American cartoonist best known for his defining work on the Mickey Mouse (comic strip), ''Mickey Mouse'' comic strip, which he worked on from 1930 until his retirement in 1975. His contri ...
along with his responsibilities for the ''Mickey Mouse'' comic strip oversaw the Disney comic strip department from 1930 to 1945, then Frank Reilly was brought in to administer the burgeoning department from January 1946 to 1975. Greg Crosby headed the department from 1979 to 1989.


Mickey Mouse

The ''Mickey Mouse'' daily comic strip began on January 13, 1930, featuring Mickey as an optimistic, adventure-seeking young mouse. It was initially written by Walt Disney with art by
Ub Iwerks Ubbe Ert "Ub" Iwerks ( ; March 24, 1901 – July 7, 1971), was an American animator, cartoonist, character designer, Invention, inventor, and special effects technician, known for his work with Walt Disney Animation Studios in general, and f ...
and . Beginning with the May 5, 1930, installment the art chores were taken up by
Floyd Gottfredson Arthur Floyd Gottfredson (May 5, 1905July 22, 1986) was an American cartoonist best known for his defining work on the Mickey Mouse (comic strip), ''Mickey Mouse'' comic strip, which he worked on from 1930 until his retirement in 1975. His contri ...
(often aided by various inkers), who also either wrote or supervised the story continuities (relying on various writers to flesh out his plots). Gottfredson continued with the strip until 1975. By 1931, the ''Mickey Mouse'' strip was published in 60 newspapers in the United States, as well as papers in twenty other countries. From the beginning, the strips were parts of long continuing stories. These introduced characters such as the Phantom Blot,
Eega Beeva The Mickey Mouse universe is a fictional universe, fictional shared universe which is the setting for stories involving The Walt Disney Company, Disney cartoon characters, including Mickey Mouse, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Donald and ...
, 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. Gottfredson continued illustrating the daily strip until he retired on October 1, 1975. 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 Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and (formerly) the Erotic comics, erotic Eros Comix imprint. They have managed sev ...
began the ''
Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse ''Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse'' (also ''The Floyd Gottfredson Library'') is a 2011–2018 series of books collecting the span of work by Floyd Gottfredson on the daily ''Mickey Mouse'' comic strip in twelve volumes, as well as Gottfredson's Sund ...
'' 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.


Silly Symphony

The ''Mickey Mouse''
Sunday strip The Sunday comics or Sunday strip is the comic strip section carried in some Western newspapers. Compared to weekday comics, Sunday comics tend to be full pages and are in color. Many newspaper readers called this section the Sunday funnies, t ...
started on January 10, 1932, with a topper ''
Silly Symphony ''Silly Symphony'' (also known as ''Silly Symphonies'') is an American animation, animated series of 75 musical short films produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1939. As the series name implies, the ''Si ...
'' strip.''Silly Symphony'' initially related the adventures of Bucky Bug, the first Disney character to originate in the comics. It went on to print more adaptations of ''Silly Symphony'' shorts, often using the characters and setting of the original shorts, but adding new plotlines and incidents. It also went on to print adaptations of the feature films, as well as periods of gag strips featuring Donald Duck and Pluto. By late 1935 the strip was a standalone half-page, not strictly a topper for the ''Mickey'' Sunday. 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: * Bucky Bug (January 10, 1932 – March 4, 1934) * Birds of a Feather (March 11 – June 17, 1934) * Penguin Isle (July 1 – September 9, 1934) *
The Wise Little Hen ''The Wise Little Hen'' is a 1934 Walt Disney produced ''Silly Symphonies'' animated short film, based on the fable ''The Little Red Hen.'' The film features the debut of Donald Duck, dancing to "The Sailor's Hornpipe". Donald and his friend Pet ...
(September 16 – December 16, 1934) * The Boarding-School Mystery (December 23, 1934 – Feb 17, 1935) * The Robber Kitten (Feb 24 – April 21, 1935) * Cookieland (April 28 – July 21, 1935) * Three Little Kittens (July 28 – October 20, 1935) * The Life and Adventures of Elmer the Elephant (October 27, 1935 – January 12, 1936) * The Further Adventures of the Three Little Pigs (January 19 – August 23, 1936) *
Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. Donald is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit, sailor shirt and cap with ...
(August 30, 1936 – December 5, 1937) *
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...
(December 12, 1937 – April 24, 1938) * The Practical Pig! (May 1 – August 7, 1938) * Mother Pluto (August 14 – October 16, 1938) * Farmyard Symphony (October 23 – November 27, 1938) * Timid Elmer (December 4, 1938 – Feb 12, 1939) * Pluto the Pup (Feb 19 – March 19, 1939) * The Ugly Duckling (March 26 – April 16, 1939) * Pluto the Pup (April 23 – December 17, 1939) *
Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel, ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a poor man named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...
(December 24, 1939 – April 7, 1940) * Pluto the Pup (April 14 – November 3, 1940) * Little Hiawatha (November 10, 1940 – July 12, 1942) *
Bambi ''Bambi'' is a 1942 American Animated film, animated Coming of age, coming-of-age drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Loosely based on Felix Salten's 1923 novel ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'', the ...
(July 19 – October 4, 1942) *
José Carioca José "Zé" Carioca (; ) is a cartoon anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic parrot created by the Brazilian cartoonist J. Carlos, José Carlos de Brito (J. Carlos) and shown to Walt Disney on his trip to Rio de Janeiro in 1941. The Walt Disney Compa ...
(October 11, 1942 – October 1, 1944) * Panchito (October 8, 1944 – October 7, 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 IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic ...
'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).


Donald Duck

Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. Donald is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit, sailor shirt and cap with ...
made his first comics appearance in the ''Silly Symphony'' adaptation of the 1934 Disney short ''
The Wise Little Hen ''The Wise Little Hen'' is a 1934 Walt Disney produced ''Silly Symphonies'' animated short film, based on the fable ''The Little Red Hen.'' The film features the debut of Donald Duck, dancing to "The Sailor's Hornpipe". Donald and his friend Pet ...
'' (Sept. 16, 1934-Dec. 16, 1934). As Donald's popularity grew, he became the star of the ''Silly Symphony'' strip for an extended run (August 1936 to December 1937), and then got his own daily strip starting on February 7, 1938. A Donald Sunday strip premiered December 10, 1939.
Carl Barks Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comics, Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of ...
, known to fans as "The Duck Man," wrote at least 20 of the strips between 1938 and 1940. ''Donald Duck'' ran until May 2005, when it went into reprints. Starting in 2015,
IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic ...
's Library of American Comics imprint has been publishing hardcover collections of the ''Donald Duck'' strip. As of 2019, five volumes of '' Donald Duck: The Complete Daily Newspaper Comics'' and two volumes of '' Donald Duck: The Complete Sunday Comics'' have been released.


Uncle Remus and His Tales of Br'er Rabbit

''Uncle Remus and His Tales of Br'er Rabbit'' was launched as a Sunday strip on October 14, 1945, as a preview of the upcoming 1946 film ''
Song of the South ''Song of the South'' is a 1946 American Live-action animated film, live-action/animated musical film, musical comedy-drama film directed by Harve Foster and Wilfred Jackson, produced by Walt Disney, and released by RKO Pictures, RKO Radio Pi ...
''. The ''Uncle Remus'' strip began, like ''Silly Symphony'', as a topper for the ''Mickey Mouse'' strip, but after the first few years, almost always appeared on its own. 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.


Walt Disney's Treasury of Classic Tales

In 1950, Disney distributed a limited-time Sunday strip adaptations of their new animated feature ''
Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...
'', and followed the next year with ''
Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...
''. Judged a success, the experiment was turned into an ongoing feature in 1952—''Walt Disney's Treasury of Classic Tales''—beginning with '' The Story of Robin Hood''. 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 ''Lady and the Tramp'' is a 1955 American Animated film, animated Musical film, musical romantic comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Film Distribution. Based on Ward Greene's 1945 ''Cosmopolitan (magazine) ...
'' (1955), ''
Sleeping Beauty "Sleeping Beauty" (, or ''The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood''; , or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess curse, cursed by an evil fairy to suspended animation in fi ...
'' (1958), '' The Sword in the Stone'' (1963) and ''
The Jungle Book ''The Jungle Book'' is an 1894 collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, who ...
'' (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 ''Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree'' is a 1966 American animation, animated musical film, musical fantasy film, fantasy short film based on the first two chapters of ''Winnie-the-Pooh (book), Winnie-the-Pooh'' by A. A. Milne. The film was produ ...
'' (1966). The 1979-80 adaptation of '' The Black Hole'' was particularly notable for featuring pencil art by comics icon
Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...
, with
Mike Royer Michael W. Royer (; born June 28, 1941) is an American comics artist and inker, best known for his work with pencilers Russ Manning and Jack Kirby. In later life Royer became a freelance product designer and character artist for The Walt Dis ...
inking. ''Treasury of Classic Tales'' also adapted live-action films like '' Old Yeller'' (1957–58), '' Swiss Family Robinson'' (1960), ''
Mary Poppins Mary Poppins may refer to: * Mary Poppins (character), a nanny with magical powers * Mary Poppins (franchise), based on the fictional nanny ** Mary Poppins (book series), ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fanta ...
'' (1964) and ''
The Love Bug ''The Love Bug'' (also known as Herbie the Love Bug) is a 1968 American sports film, sports adventure film, adventure comedy film directed by Robert Stevenson (director), Robert Stevenson from a screenplay by Bill Walsh (producer), Bill Walsh a ...
'' (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 IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic ...
and their imprint ''
The Library of American Comics Library of American Comics (abbreviated as LoAC) is an American publisher of classic United States, American comic strips collections and comic history books, founded by Dean Mullaney and Bruce Canwell in 2007. History Background Dean Mullaney ...
(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 Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...
'' (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.


Scamp

In 1955, the animated film ''
Lady and the Tramp ''Lady and the Tramp'' is a 1955 American Animated film, animated Musical film, musical romantic comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Film Distribution. Based on Ward Greene's 1945 ''Cosmopolitan (magazine) ...
'' inspired a new comic strip based on an adorable, unnamed puppy glimpsed at the end of the movie. ''Scamp'' debuted in newspapers on October 31, 1955, and ran for more than 30 years, ending on June 25, 1988. The strip was created by Ward Greene, a King Features Syndicate editor who wrote the original magazine story, ''Happy Dan, the Whistling Dog, and Miss Patsy, the Beautiful Spaniel'', which inspired the film. Greene and artist Dick Moores produced the strip for eight months as a continuing story. Starting in May 1956, other creators took over, and the strip moved to a gag-a-day format.


Disney Christmas Story

Beginning in 1960, a special daily strip with a holiday theme utilizing the Disney characters was offered each year through 1987. It generally ran for three to four weeks with the concluding strip appearing a day or two before Christmas, often promoting the latest Disney release or re-release. These were unique in that in some cases, they showcased the crossover of Disney characters that otherwise rarely interacted. 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 IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic ...
. The collection includes all of the Christmas stories except for 1986's story based on ''
Song of the South ''Song of the South'' is a 1946 American Live-action animated film, live-action/animated musical film, musical comedy-drama film directed by Harve Foster and Wilfred Jackson, produced by Walt Disney, and released by RKO Pictures, RKO Radio Pi ...
''.


Winnie the Pooh

Disney created a '' Winnie the Pooh'' comic strip for King Features Syndicate starting June 19, 1978. Based on the Disney adaptations of the characters, the strip was written by Don Ferguson and drawn by Richard Moore. In addition to the regular cast of characters, Ferguson and Moore also added a knight named Sir Brian, and his worrywart dragon. The strip lasted for almost ten years, ending on April 2, 1988.


Other comic strips

Other Disney strips distributed over the years included (chronologically by start date): * ''Merry Menagerie'' umorous daily panel featuring anthropomorphic animals, but no Disney characters(Jan. 13, 1947-March 17, 1962). * '' True Life Adventures'' aily panel(March 14, 1955 – February 27, 1973) * ''Mickey Mouse and His Friends'' antomime aimed at an international audience, gag strips featuring Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Pluto(September 1, 1958 – March 17, 1962). * '' Gummi Bears'' (Sept. 1, 1986–April 1, 1989) A proposed
Roger Rabbit Roger Rabbit is a fictional animated anthropomorphic rabbit. The character first appeared in author Gary K. Wolf's 1981 novel, '' Who Censored Roger Rabbit?''. In the book, Roger is second banana in a popular comic strip, "Baby Herman". Roger ...
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 Creators Syndicate (also known as Creators) is an American independent distributor of comic strips and syndicated columns to daily newspapers, websites, and other digital outlets. When founded in 1987, Creators Syndicate became one of the few suc ...
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).


U.S. comic books


''Mickey Mouse Magazine''

''Mickey Mouse Magazine'' (1933–1940) was the first Disney comics publication, and preceded the popular 1940 anthology comic book ''
Walt Disney's Comics and Stories ''Walt Disney's Comics and Stories'', sometimes abbreviated ''WDC&S'', is an American Comics anthology, anthology comic book series featuring characters from The Walt Disney Company's films and shorts, including Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck, Micke ...
''. The concept was created by Kay Kamen, a Disney merchandiser. There were three versions of the title: two promotional giveaway magazines published from 1933 to 1935, and a newsstand magazine published from 1935 to 1940. The publication gradually evolved from a 16-page booklet of illustrated text stories and single-page comic panels into a 64-page comic book featuring reprints of the ''Mickey Mouse'' and ''Donald Duck'' comic strips.


''Walt Disney's Comics and Stories''

In October 1940, Western rebranded ''Mickey Mouse Magazine'' as ''Walt Disney's Comics and Stories,'' an anthology comic book series featuring an assortment of Disney characters, including Donald Duck,
Scrooge McDuck Scrooge McDuck (occasionally stylized as $crooge McDuck) is a cartoon character created in 1947 for The Walt Disney Company by Carl Barks. Appearing in Disney comics, Scrooge is a Scottish-born American anthropomorphic duck. Like his nephew, Do ...
, Mickey Mouse, Chip 'n Dale, Li'l Bad Wolf, Scamp, Bucky Bug, Grandma Duck, Brer Rabbit, Winnie the Pooh, and others. With more than 700 issues, ''Walt Disney's Comics & Stories'' is the longest-running Disney comic book in the United States. 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). It is regarded as one of the best-selling comic books of all time. The book was originally published by
Dell Comics Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1973. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark"Wh ...
(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 Boom! Studios (stylized as BOOM! Studios), is an American comic book and graphic novel publisher. They are headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. The company is a subsidiary of Random House division of Penguin Random House sin ...
(2009–2011) and
IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic ...
(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 Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...
.


Four Color

When ''Walt Disney's Comics and Stories'' launched in 1940 as a partnership between
Dell Comics Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1973. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark"Wh ...
and
Western Publishing Western Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company, was an American company founded in 1907 in Racine, Wisconsin, best known for publishing the Little Golden Books. Its Golden Books Family Entertainment division also ...
, the comic only reprinted existing ''Mickey Mouse'', ''Donald Duck'' and ''Silly Symphony'' comic strips, rather than creating original stories specifically for the comic book form. This was common for comic books at the time. 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 ''Little Orphan Annie'' was a daily American comic strip created by Harold Gray and print syndication#Comic strip syndication, syndicated by the Tribune Media Services. The strip took its name from the 1885 poem "Little Orphant Annie" by James ...
'', '' 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's '' 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 Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comics, Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of ...
, 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 Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. Donald is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit, sailor shirt and cap with ...
'' comic, ''
Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...
'' began as issue #27 (1943), and the first ''
Uncle Scrooge ''Uncle Scrooge'' (stylized as ''Uncle $crooge'') is a Disney comic book series starring Scrooge McDuck ("the richest duck in the world"), his nephew Donald Duck, and grandnephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and revolving around their adventures in ...
'' 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: * ''
Bambi ''Bambi'' is a 1942 American Animated film, animated Coming of age, coming-of-age drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Loosely based on Felix Salten's 1923 novel ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'', the ...
'': issue #12 (1942) * '' Thumper'': issue #19 (1943) * ''
Bambi's Children ''Bambi's Children: The Story of a Forest Family'' () is a 1939 coming-of-age novel, coming-of-age novel written by Austrian author Felix Salten as a sequel to his 1923 work ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods''. Background The sequel to ''Bambi'' follo ...
'': issue #30 (1943) * ''
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...
'': issue #49 (1944) * '' The Three Caballeros'': issue #71 (1945) * ''
Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel, ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a poor man named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...
'': issue #92 (Jan 1946) * '' Uncle Remus and His Tales of Br'er Rabbit'': issue #129 (Dec 1946) * '' Three Little Pigs'': issue #218 (March 1949) * ''
Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...
'': issue #272 (April 1950) * ''
Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...
'': issue #331 (May 1951) * '' Duck Album'': issue 353 (Nov 1951) * '' Li'l Bad Wolf'': issue #403 (June 1952) * ''
Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...
'': issue #429 (Oct 1952) * '' Little Hiawatha'': issue #439 (Dec 1952) * '' Peter Pan'': issue #442 (Dec 1952) * ''
Goofy Goofy is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. He is a tall, Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic dog who typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled fe ...
'': issue #468 (May 1953) * '' Chip 'n' Dale'': issue #517 (Nov 1953) * '' Daisy Duck's Diary'': issue 600 (Nov 1954) * ''
Lady and the Tramp ''Lady and the Tramp'' is a 1955 American Animated film, animated Musical film, musical romantic comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Film Distribution. Based on Ward Greene's 1945 ''Cosmopolitan (magazine) ...
'': issue 629 (May 1955) * '' Dumbo'': issue #668 (Dec 1955) * ''
Jiminy Cricket Jiminy Cricket is the Disney version of the Talking Cricket, a fictional character created by Italian writer Carlo Collodi for his 1883 children's book ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'', which Walt Disney adapted into the animated film '' Pinoc ...
'': issue #701 (May 1956) * '' Bongo and Lumpjaw'': issue #706 (June 1956) * '' Grandma Duck's Farm Friends'': issue #763 (Jan 1957) * '' The Adventures of Tinker Bell'': issue #896 (April 1958) * ''
Sleeping Beauty "Sleeping Beauty" (, or ''The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood''; , or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess curse, cursed by an evil fairy to suspended animation in fi ...
'': issue #973 (May 1959) * '' Sleeping Beauty's Fairy Godmothers'': issue #984 (April 1959) * '' Vacation in Disneyland'': issue #1025 (Aug 1959) * ''
Gyro Gearloose Gyro Gearloose ( ) is a cartoon character created in 1952 by Carl Barks for Disney comics. An anthropomorphic chicken, he is part of the Donald Duck universe, appearing in comic book stories as a friend of Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck, and any ...
'': issue #1047 (Nov 1959)


Donald Duck

''Donald Duck'' (1942–2017) first appeared as part of the ''Four Color'' one-shot series, beginning in issue #9 (Oct 1942).
Carl Barks Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comics, Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of ...
, the first great figure among Disney comic book creators, wrote all of his early long stories for the ''Donald Duck'' one-shots, including '' Donald Duck and the Mummy's Ring'' (1943), ''The Terror of the River!'' (1946), ''Volcano Valley'' (1947), '' The Ghost of the Grotto'' (1947), '' Christmas on Bear Mountain'' (1947), '' The Old Castle's Secret'' (1948), '' Sheriff of Bullet Valley'' (1948), '' Lost in the Andes!'' (1949), ''Voodoo Hoodoo'' (1949) and ''Luck of the North'' (1949). The title received its own numbering system with issue #26 (1953) and ended with issue #388 (June 2017).


Mickey Mouse

''Mickey Mouse'' (1943–2017) first appeared as part of the ''Four Color'' one-shot series, beginning in issue #27 (1943). It received its own numbering system with issue #28 (December 1952), and after many iterations with various publishers, ended with #330 (June 2017) from
IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic ...
.


Dell Giants

In 1949, Dell began a tradition of publishing occasional "Disney Giants", plus-size comic books with more pages and a higher price. The first Giant was ''Walt Disney's Christmas Parade'' #1 (Nov 1949). This was a 132-page square-bound comic that sold for 25 cents, considerably higher than the typical 10-cent comics. ''Christmas Parade'' had a cover by Walt Kelly, and began with a Carl Barks-penned Donald Duck story, "Letter to Santa". ''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 Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...
, 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).


Uncle Scrooge

Carl Barks introduced Donald's
Uncle Scrooge ''Uncle Scrooge'' (stylized as ''Uncle $crooge'') is a Disney comic book series starring Scrooge McDuck ("the richest duck in the world"), his nephew Donald Duck, and grandnephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and revolving around their adventures in ...
in the story " Christmas on Bear Mountain", published in ''Four Color'' #178 (Dec 1947). Scrooge made regular returns to both the ''Donald Duck'' comic and Barks's stories in ''Walt Disney's Comics and Stories'' over the next few years, and he finally received his own title in ''Four Color'' #386 (March 1952). 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.


Gold Key / Whitman era

By the late 1950s, relations between Dell and Western had become strained. Former Western writer Mark Evanier states part of this was due to "... a small battle going on between the two companies over the ownership of properties in non-licensed comics." In 1962 Western, ended the partnership and continued their comic book line under the Gold Key Comics label. Comic book historian Joe Torcivia has dubbed the mid-1960s "... a period of creativity for Western Publishing's Disney line not seen since its formation, and never seen again." 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: * '' The Beagle Boys'' (47 issues, 1964–1979) * '' The Phantom Blot'' (7 issues, 1964–1966) * '' Chip 'n' Dale'' (83 issues, 1967–1984) * '' Moby Duck'' (30 issues, 1967–1978) * '' Scamp'' (45 issues, 1967–1979) * '' O'Malley and the Alley Cats'' (9 issues, 1971–1974) * ''Daisy and Donald'' (59 issues, 1973–1984) * '' Winnie the Pooh'' (33 issues, 1977–1984) * ''The Beagle Boys vs Uncle Scrooge'' (12 issues, 1979–1980) * '' Huey, Dewey and Louie: Junior Woodchucks'' (81 issues, 1966–1984) * '' Moby Duck'' (30 issues, 1967–1978) * '' Ludwig Von Drake'' (4 issues, 1961–1962) * '' Super Goof'' (74 issues, 1965–1984) 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.


Disney Studio Program

From 1962 to 1990 the Walt Disney Studio had a unit producing comic book stories exclusively for foreign consumption, the Disney Studio Program, in response to complaints of foreign comic book licensees that
Western Publishing Western Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company, was an American company founded in 1907 in Racine, Wisconsin, best known for publishing the Little Golden Books. Its Golden Books Family Entertainment division also ...
was producing fewer stories that they could reprint. 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 '' Kalle Anka & C:o'' in 1959, and Italy's ''
Topolino ''Topolino'' (from the Italian language, Italian name for Mickey Mouse) is an Italian digest-sized comic series featuring Disney comics. The series has had a long running history, first appearing in 1932 as a comics magazine. Since 2013, it has ...
'' in 1960. By the early 1960s, the weeklies' voracious need for material was using up the available inventory of stories.
George Sherman George Sherman (July 14, 1908 – March 15, 1991) was an American film director and Film producer, producer of low-budget Western (genre), Western films. One obituary said his "credits rival in number those of anyone in the entertainment indus ...
, 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 illuse new characters in our foreign comics, characters that we don't have n the United States... to bring out facets of existing characters, nd togive the stories more variety." 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 Carl Robert Fallberg (September 11, 1915 – May 9, 1996) was a writer and cartoonist known for his work on animated feature films and TV cartoons for Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Disney Studios, Hanna-Barbera, and Warner Brothers. He also wrot ...
, 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 Gulf Oil was a major global oil company in operation from 1901 to 1985. The eighth-largest American manufacturing company in 1941 and the ninth largest in 1979, Gulf Oil was one of the Seven Sisters (oil companies), Seven Sisters oil companies. ...
(''Wonderful World of Disney'') in the late 1960s and
Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/con ...
(''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 Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comics, Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of ...
created John D. Rockerduck, he used the character only in a single story ("Boat Buster", ''
Walt Disney's Comics and Stories ''Walt Disney's Comics and Stories'', sometimes abbreviated ''WDC&S'', is an American Comics anthology, anthology comic book series featuring characters from The Walt Disney Company's films and shorts, including Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck, Micke ...
'' #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 William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...
and
Gemstone A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, semiprecious stone, or simply gem) is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewellery, jewelry or other adornments. Certain Rock (geology), rocks (such ...
have featured them on a regular basis, along with reprints from Gold Key/
Dell Dell Inc. is an American technology company that develops, sells, repairs, and supports personal computers (PCs), Server (computing), servers, data storage devices, network switches, software, computer peripherals including printers and webcam ...
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''.


Revivals

Starting in 1986, Disney comics in the United States were published by Gladstone Publishing (a subsidiary of Another Rainbow Publishing dedicated solely to Carl Barks). Impressed by Gladstone's unanticipated success, Disney revoked their license in 1990 to publish the comics themselves by the subsidiary W. D. Publications, Inc. under the name " Disney Comics",Gerstein, David
"Disney Comics: Back to Long Ago!"
''Comic Book Marketplace'', Vol. 3, no. 103, June 2003, Gemstone Publishing, p. 52.
and a large expansion was planned. However, following the Disney Implosion in 1991, Disney gradually returned licensing to Gladstone again (for the classic characters) and
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...
(for the modern characters). Respectively, reprints of classic Barks stories were licensed to Gladstone again from 1991, while it took Gladstone until the demise of Disney Comics in 1993 to regain a license also for other stories containing the classic characters. Gladstone from then on remained publishing Disney comics until 1998. 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 ''Walt Disney's Comics and Stories'', sometimes abbreviated ''WDC&S'', is an American Comics anthology, anthology comic book series featuring characters from The Walt Disney Company's films and shorts, including Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck, Micke ...
'' and ''
Uncle Scrooge ''Uncle Scrooge'' (stylized as ''Uncle $crooge'') is a Disney comic book series starring Scrooge McDuck ("the richest duck in the world"), his nephew Donald Duck, and grandnephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and revolving around their adventures in ...
'', 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 Muppet Show'' is a variety sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and starring the Muppets. It is presented as a variety show, featuring recurring sketches and musical numbers interspersed with ongoing plot-lines with ru ...
'', ''
The Incredibles ''The Incredibles'' is a 2004 American animated superhero film written and directed by Brad Bird. Produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures, the film stars the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Spencer ...
'', and ''
Cars A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...
''). 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'', '' Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers'', and ''
DuckTales DuckTales refers to: Film and television * ''DuckTales'' (1987 TV series), original TV series ** '' DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp'' * ''DuckTales'' (2017 TV series), reboot TV series Video games * ''DuckTales'' (video game) ...
''). 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. 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, 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. 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, observers have expressed rumors that Joe Books has acquired the full North-American comic license to all Disney animated and live-action properties. In January 2015,
IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW) and is recognized as the fifth-largest comic ...
announced on their public
Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
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 Keno Don Hugo Rosa (), known as Don Rosa (born June 29, 1951), is an American comic book writer and illustrator known for his comics about Scrooge McDuck and other Disney comics, Disney characters. Many of his stories are built on characters an ...
comics are currently (2015) held by
Fantagraphics Books Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and (formerly) the Erotic comics, erotic Eros Comix imprint. They have managed sev ...
. Disney has also begun publishing a bimonthly magazine based on ''
Phineas and Ferb ''Phineas and Ferb'' is an American animated series, animated Musical film, musical-television comedy, comedy television series created by Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh for Disney Channel and Disney XD. The series originally aired on t ...
'', featuring comic stories based on the show. Between 1999 and 2005,
Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, manga and Artist's book, art book publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon, by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, O ...
published occasional adaptations of Disney's new movies. The Disney Studio launched Kingdom Comics division in May 2008 led by writer-actor
Ahmet Zappa Ahmet Emuukha Rodan Zappa (born May 15, 1974) is an American musician, writer, actor and trustee of the Zappa Family Trust. Early life Ahmet Zappa was born in Los Angeles, California, the third of four children born to musician Frank Zappa and ...
, 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 Disney Publishing Worldwide (DPW), formerly known as The Disney Publishing Group and Buena Vista Publishing Group, is the publishing subsidiary of Disney Experiences, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Its imprints include Disney Edition ...
getting a first look for publishing. Peachtree Playthings in Marietta,
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
, published several issues of ''Mickey Mouse'', '' Frozen'', ''
DuckTales DuckTales refers to: Film and television * ''DuckTales'' (1987 TV series), original TV series ** '' DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp'' * ''DuckTales'' (2017 TV series), reboot TV series Video games * ''DuckTales'' (video game) ...
'', ''
Toy Story ''Toy Story'' is a 1995 American animated adventure comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the first installment in the Toy Story (franchise), ''Toy Story'' franchise and the Firsts in animation, firs ...
'' and '' Disney Princess'' in 2019–20. Dynamite Entertainment in Mt. Laurel,
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
, began publishing a new monthly '' Darkwing Duck'' series in January 2023. Dynamite also publishes comic books featuring
Scar A scar (or scar tissue) is an area of fibrosis, fibrous tissue that replaces normal skin after an injury. Scars result from the biological process of wound repair in the skin, as well as in other Organ (anatomy), organs, and biological tissue, t ...
, Maleficent, Gargoyles, Cruella De Vil and Lilo & Stitch.


Disney Afternoon comics

There have been many comic books based on the popular 1990–1997 " Disney Afternoon" slate of afternoon television cartoon series: * '' Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers'' ** Disney Comics: 19 issues (1990–1991) ** Boom!: 8 issues (2010–2011) * '' Darkwing Duck'' ** Disney Comics: 4 issues (1991–1992) ** Boom!: 18 issues & 1 Annual (2010–2011) ** Joe Books: 8 issues (2016–2017) ** Peachtree Playthings: 5 issues (2019–20) ** Dynamite Entertainment (2023) * ''
DuckTales DuckTales refers to: Film and television * ''DuckTales'' (1987 TV series), original TV series ** '' DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp'' * ''DuckTales'' (2017 TV series), reboot TV series Video games * ''DuckTales'' (video game) ...
'' ** Gladstone: 13 issues (1988–1990) ** Disney Comics: 18 issues (1990–1991) ** Boom!: 6 issues (2011) ** IDW: ongoing (2017–18) ** Peachtree Playthings: 5 issues (2019–20) * '' Gargoyles'' ** Marvel Comics: 11 issues (1995) ** Slave Labor Comics: 12 issues (2006–08) 9-12 TPB-only** Slave Labor Comics: Gargoyles: Bad Guys: 6 issues (2007–08) 5/6 TPB-only* '' Tale Spin'' ** Disney Comics: 4-issue miniseries and 7-issue series (1991)


More comic books

Notable American Disney comic book writers and artists include
Carl Barks Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comics, Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of ...
, Tony Strobl, Paul Murry, William Van Horn, and
Don Rosa Keno Don Hugo Rosa (), known as Don Rosa (born June 29, 1951), is an American comic book writer and illustrator known for his comics about Scrooge McDuck and other Disney comics, Disney characters. Many of his stories are built on characters an ...
. Disney comic titles in the United States include: * ''Donald and Mickey'' (1945–1949, 1987–1990, 1993–1997, 2017–?) Note: originally a giveaway comic (alternate titles = ''Mickey & Donald''/''Donald Duck & Mickey Mouse'')* ''Huey, Dewey and Louie Junior Woodchucks'' (1966–1984) * '' Walt Disney Comics Digest'' (1968–1976) * '' Uncle Scrooge Adventures'' (1987–1990, 1993–1997) * '' Donald Duck Adventures'' (1988–1990, 1993–1998, 2003–2006) * '' Mickey Mouse Adventures'' (1990–1991, 2004–2006) * '' Walt Disney Giant'' (1995–1996)


Europe


United Kingdom

Disney comics first appeared in the United Kingdom in the ''Mickey Mouse Annual'', which published 18 editions between 1930 and 1947. The books were published by Dean & Son, and illustrated by Wilfred Haughton. 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. ''Mickey Mouse Weekly'' featured the first ever Donald Duck comic book serial, originally called ''Donald and Donna'', which began in issue #67 (May 15, 1937), drawn by William A. Ward. There were 15 weekly parts of this first serial featuring Donald and his girlfriend Donna, an early version of Daisy Duck. Donna left the series after the first story, which was continued as ''Donald Duck'', ''Donald and Mac'' and ''Donald Duck with Mac'' for the next three years, ending in issue #222 (May 4, 1940). Goofy and Toby Tortoise also had their own strip, ''The Defective Agency'', and so did Elmer Elephant, Pinocchio, Thumper and the mice from ''Cinderella'', Jaq and Gus. The popular magazine ended in 1957, after 920 issues, because of a copyright dispute with Disney. Ronald Nielsen had been producing painted comic book pages in
Floyd Gottfredson Arthur Floyd Gottfredson (May 5, 1905July 22, 1986) was an American cartoonist best known for his defining work on the Mickey Mouse (comic strip), ''Mickey Mouse'' comic strip, which he worked on from 1930 until his retirement in 1975. His contri ...
's 1940s style, as well as of characters from Disney animated films, during the mid-1950s until the magazine lost its license. 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: * ''Disneyland Magazine'' (1971–1976) * ''Donald and Mickey'' (1972–1975) * ''Goofy (and also Pluto)'' (1973–1974); merged as ''Donald and Mickey (and also Goofy)'' * ''Mickey Mouse'' (1975–1981) * ''Donald Duck'' (IPC Magazines) (1975–1976) * ''Donald Duck'' (London Editions) (1987–1990) * ''Mickey Mouse and Friends'' (1989–1990) * ''The Disney Weekly'' (1991–1992) * ''Mickey and Friends'' (1992–1996) Of contributors to American Disney comics who were born in the UK, Ted Thwaites was an inker for
Floyd Gottfredson Arthur Floyd Gottfredson (May 5, 1905July 22, 1986) was an American cartoonist best known for his defining work on the Mickey Mouse (comic strip), ''Mickey Mouse'' comic strip, which he worked on from 1930 until his retirement in 1975. His contri ...
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 Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on the internet, such as on a website or a mobile app. While many webcomics are published exclusively online, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or ...
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.


Scandinavia


Denmark

Danish publisher Egmont (previously Gutenberghus) has one of the largest productions of Disney comics in the world. This production is not only for Denmark proper, but nearly identical magazines are being published simultaneously every week for all the
Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; ) are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe, as well as the Arctic Ocean, Arctic and Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic oceans. It includes the sovereign states of Denm ...
, Germany (see below), and since the fall of the
Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...
in 1989, Eastern Europe. The Danish company started publishing their own series in the early 1960s. Most of Egmont's content has come from several outside sources: reprints of classic
Carl Barks Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comics, Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of ...
stories, reprinted Barks-style stories from the Netherlands, American artist/writers such as
Don Rosa Keno Don Hugo Rosa (), known as Don Rosa (born June 29, 1951), is an American comic book writer and illustrator known for his comics about Scrooge McDuck and other Disney comics, Disney characters. Many of his stories are built on characters an ...
and William Van Horn, and the outsourced production of art for Egmont's scripts from Barks-style artists' studios, such as
Vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...
in Chile, Daniel Branca in Argentina and several studios in Spain. Italian stories are often featured in digest-formatted
pocket books Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books. History Pocket Books produced the first Paperback#Mass market paperback, mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in the United States in early 1939 and ...
. 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 Woody Woodpecker is a cartoon character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Productions, Walter Lantz Studio and Universal Animation Studios, Universal Animation Studio and distributed by Universal Pictures sinc ...
'', 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: * ' (Donald Duck & Co.) (1949–present): The flagship magazine launched in March 1949 as a monthly, which became bi-weekly in 1956, and weekly in 1958. The weekly publishes new Disney stories produced by Egmont. * ' (One-Shots) (1953–1956): A series of "one-shot" comics similar to Dell's ''
Four Color ''Four Color'', also known as ''Four Color Comics'' and ''Dell Four Color'', is an American comic book anthology series published by Dell Comics between 1939 and 1962. The title is a reference to the four basic colors used when printing comic ...
''; reprinted much U.S. material of the 1940s and ’50s. * ' (Walt Disney's Monthly Issue) (1967–1970): Another series reprinting a range of American stories. * '' Jumbobog'' (1968–present): The popular pocket book format was launched in Denmark in 1968, and translated/distributed in many other European countries. This is a 250-page monthly paperback that publishes mostly Italian stories, as well as new stories produced for Egmont. * ''Anders And Ekstra'' (1977–2014): A monthly magazine launched in 1977, which used to publish new extra-long stories, but then moved to mostly reprints.


Sweden

Sweden was the first Scandinavian country to publish a Disney comic book—the flagship comic '' Kalle Anka & C:o'' (''Donald Duck & Co''), which started in September 1948. The comic began as a monthly, became bimonthly in 1957, and then a weekly magazine in July 1959. The comic is now identical to ''Anders And & C:o'' from Denmark and ''Donald Duck & C:o'' from Norway. All are published by the Scandinavian corporate group founded in 1878 as Gutenberghus; the name changed to Egmont in 1992. The Finnish '' Aku Ankka'' is published separately, but is largely the same. 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 Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comics, Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of ...
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.


Finland

Thanks to a multitalented editor, Markku Kivekäs, who was also a skilled translator, essayist and restorationist, comic book stories about Donald Duck, along with the work of
Carl Barks Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comics, Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of ...
, became extremely popular in Finland, more so than in any other country in the world (per capita), and are accepted as part of the mainstream culture. It was estimated in 2002, that a quarter of the population of Finland was reading the Donald Duck magazine, '' Aku Ankka''. Like the Netherlands, Finland publishes their own Disney comics apart from Egmont. Cameos of local celebrities are common. Kari Korhonen has mostly drawn in a Barksian style and also writes some of the stories he illustrates. Songwriter Tuomas Holopainen has written and composed a
Scrooge McDuck Scrooge McDuck (occasionally stylized as $crooge McDuck) is a cartoon character created in 1947 for The Walt Disney Company by Carl Barks. Appearing in Disney comics, Scrooge is a Scottish-born American anthropomorphic duck. Like his nephew, Do ...
comic book soundtrack that went Gold, '' Music Inspired by the Life and Times of Scrooge''.


Norway

Norway has the comic , which started back in 1948 and is still active. There are several pocket books, amongst them being '' Donald Pocket'' from 1968 to the present day. Mickey Mouse also had a comic, specifically Mikke Mus månedshefte (Mickey Mouse monthly booklet) which lasted from 1980 until 2009. 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 Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comics, Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of ...
books, clubs and fanzines first appeared in Norway, the home of Donaldism, a Disney comics
fandom A fandom is a subculture composed of Fan (person), fans characterized by a feeling of camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Fans typically are interested in even minor details of the objects of their fandom and spend a significan ...
movement founded by analyst Jon Gisle (1st fanzine, 1973; 1st club, 1975).


Italy

Italy is a major source for original Disney comic stories. The first Italian Disney comics were published in the early 1930s, and Federico Pedrocchi wrote and illustrated the first Italian Donald Duck adventure comic as early as 1937—a story called "Paolino Paperino e il mistero di Marte" ("Donald Duck and the Secret of Mars") in the weekly paper '' Donald Duck and Other Adventures'' (''Paperino e altre avventure''). Italy has introduced several new characters to the Disney universe, including Donald's
superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...
alter ego Duck Avenger (original name ''Paperinik''), created in 1969. Production has been handled by Nerbini (1932–1937),
Mondadori Arnoldo Mondadori Editore () is the biggest publishing company in Italy. History The company was founded in 1907 in Ostiglia by 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori who began his publishing career with the publication of the magazine ''Luce!''. In 19 ...
(1937–1988), Disney Italy (1988–2013) and Panini Comics (2013–present). ''
Topolino ''Topolino'' (from the Italian language, Italian name for Mickey Mouse) is an Italian digest-sized comic series featuring Disney comics. The series has had a long running history, first appearing in 1932 as a comics magazine. Since 2013, it has ...
'' 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 '' PKNA: Paperinik New Adventures'' (a comic book version of
Paperinik Paperinik (), also known as PK (Italy, ), Superduck (UK and Digicomics) or Duck Avenger (US), is a comic book-costumed vigilante and Donald Duck's alter ego. The character was created in Italy by Elisa Penna, Guido Martina and Giovan Battista ...
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: * '' Topolino giornale'' (newspaper) (1932–1949) * ' (The Three Little Pigs) (1935–1937) * '' Paperino e altre avventure'' (''Donald Duck and Other Adventures'') (1937–1940) * '' Topolino libretto'' (comic) (1949–present) * ' (1957–present) * ' (Walt Disney Classics) (1957–present) * ' (Uncle Scrooge) (1988–2008) * ''
Paperinik Paperinik (), also known as PK (Italy, ), Superduck (UK and Digicomics) or Duck Avenger (US), is a comic book-costumed vigilante and Donald Duck's alter ego. The character was created in Italy by Elisa Penna, Guido Martina and Giovan Battista ...
'' (Donald Duck's superhero identity) (1993–2005) * '' PKNA: Paperinik New Adventures'' (1996–2001) * '' MM Mickey Mouse Mystery Magazine'' (1999–2001) * '' W.I.T.C.H.'' (2001–2012) * ' (2001–2002) * ' (2002–2005) * '' Monster Allergy'' (2003–2015) * ' (2005–2011) * ' (2012–2016) * ''
Paperinik Paperinik (), also known as PK (Italy, ), Superduck (UK and Digicomics) or Duck Avenger (US), is a comic book-costumed vigilante and Donald Duck's alter ego. The character was created in Italy by Elisa Penna, Guido Martina and Giovan Battista ...
'' (2017–present) * ' (Uncle Scrooge) (2018–present)


Netherlands

The Netherlands (current publisher: DPG Media) has a significant school of Disney comics. The first Dutch Disney comics appeared in 1953. In 1975, Daan Jippes became the art director for production of these comics, and created a heavily Barks-inspired line that remains the best-known Dutch Disney style. Donald Duck is the most popular Disney character in the Netherlands, but Sanoma also produces comics starring lesser-known characters such as Li'l Bad Wolf. Other productive Dutch artists who have worked in a Barksian style include Mark De Jonge, Sander Gulien, brothers Bas and Mau Heymans and . Freddy Milton from Denmark also worked with Jippes as a team for both scripts and art. Wilma Van Den Bosch produced art for a Dutch Daisy Duck title. Frank Jonker and Jan Kruse, among others, have provided scripts. The Disney comics published in the Netherlands include: * '' Donald Duck Weekblad'' (1952–present), the flagship weekly magazine, first published on October 25, 1952. The magazine was originally published by the staff of the women's magazine ''Margriet'', and every ''Margriet'' subscriber received the first issue for free. The comic is mainly aimed at younger children, and includes a letters page from readers. In 2019, the magazine reached its 3,500th issue. * '' Donald Duck Pocket'' (1970–present), a 250-page pocket book that prints mostly comics from Italy, featuring characters that don't usually appear in Dutch comics, like Superdonald/Fantomerik, Otto von Drakenstein, John Rockerduck, Brigitta, Indiana Goofy and DD Dubbelduck. This became a monthly publication in 2006. These books are the same pocket books published by Egmont in the Netherlands. * ' (1982–present), a monthly magazine featuring longer or more unusual stories. Don Rosa's " The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck" stories ran in the ''Extra'', as did William Van Horn and Marco Rota stories. The magazine started in February 1982 as ''Stripgoed'', but changed to ''Donald Duck Extra'' with issue #37. * ' (1996–present), a 500-page pocket book that's twice as large as the regular ''Donald Duck Pocket'' book. Originally published twice a year, the book was increased to four times a year in 2006. * ' (1999–present), a monthly magazine for girls aged 8–12, starring Katrien (Daisy Duck) and her three nieces Lizzy, Juultje and Babetje ( April, May and June). The comic first appeared on July 19, 1999, as a bimonthly magazine, but became monthly in 2016. * ' (2008–present), a biweekly version of ''Donald Duck'' for younger readers, with shorter stories and bigger print. * ' (2016–present), a special pocket book published five times a year. Each issue prints (or reprints) stories featuring one of four series: ''Superdonald'', ''Mickey's Mysteries'', ''Darkwing Duck'' and ''DubbleDuck''. These are generally darker, action-oriented stories about Mickey and Donald as detectives, superheroes and secret agents. 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 A programmer, computer programmer or coder is an author of computer source code someone with skill in computer programming. The professional titles Software development, ''software developer'' and Software engineering, ''software engineer' ...
Harry Fluks created the online Disney Comics Database, Inducks (launched 1994), expanded from the Disney Comics Mailing List based in Sweden.


Germany

Mickey Mouse was a popular character in Germany since his first appearance in 1929, and a few comic strips were printed in some German newspapers (e.g. the ''Kölner Illustrierte Zeitung''). In 1937, the Swiss ''Micky Maus Zeitung'' was published in German by Bollmann. 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 Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
,
West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
, 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 Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comics, Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of ...
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 Donaldist 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: * '' Micky Maus'' (main title, 1951–present) * ' (''The Best Stories of Donald Duck'', 1965–present) * '' Lustiges Taschenbuch'' (''Funny Paperback'' pocket book, 1967–present) * ''Lustiges Tachenbuch Classic! Die Comics von Carl Barks'' (Funny Paparback Classic! The Comics of Carl Barks, 2019–present)


France

French-produced stories started in 1952, as a one-pager comic published in each issue of '' Le Journal de Mickey'', drawn by Louis Santel (''Tenas'') and written by Pierre Fallot. After a few issues, a new series started ( Mickey à travers les siècles) and continued up to 1978, drawn almost entirely by Pierre Nicolas and written by Fallot and Jean-Michel le Corfec. 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: * '' Le Journal de Mickey'' (1934–present): created in October 1934 (with a break in publication from 1945 to 1952), the weekly ''Le Journal de Mickey'' is a cultural institution in France. * ' (1966–1979, 1980–present): The first version of ''Mickey Parade'' was originally an extra supplement to ''Le Journal de Mickey'', published irregularly by Edi-Monde. It became quarterly in 1968, and transitioned to a bimonthly comic. Edi-Monde ceased publication of ''Mickey Parade'' in 1979. In 1980, the magazine was reintroduced as a monthly by Hachette Media, who restarted the numbering. In January 2002, with issue #265, the comic became ''Mickey Parade Géant''—a larger, thicker paperback, published bimonthly. * '' Picsou Magazine'' (1972–present): A best-selling monthly children's magazine that includes comics about Uncle Scrooge (Picsou in French) along with video game reviews and information on new movies. In 2018, the magazine went bimonthly.


Spain

The original flagship comic was
Dumbo
' (aka ''Colleción Dumbo Historietas Comicas de Walt Disney''), which was published by Ediciones Recreativas S.A. (ERSA) from 1947 to 1965. Initially bimonthly, ''Dumbo'' increased frequency to approximately 40 issues a year, and the comic ran for 527 issues. Starting October 1965, ERSA rebooted with a second version of
Dumbo
', published monthly. The second series ran for 144 issues, until December 1976. A third series of
Dumbo
', published in 46 issues by Montena from July 1978 to April 1982, was released as monthly hardbound books (originally 100 pages, then dropping to 68 pages). 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.


Greece (and Cyprus)

The weekly '' Miky Maous'' (Μίκυ Μάους) comic was first published on July 1, 1966, and remained in print for more than 45 years, eventually being ended by struggling publisher Nea Aktina S.A. on September 6, 2013, with issue #2460-61. 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 Winnie-the-Pooh (also known as Edward Bear, Pooh Bear or simply Pooh) is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. Winnie-the-Pooh first appeared by ...
, 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 ''The Incredibles'' is a 2004 American animated superhero film written and directed by Brad Bird. Produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures, the film stars the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Spencer ...
'' and ''
Hannah Montana ''Hannah Montana'' is an American teen sitcom created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll, and Barry O'Brien that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between March2006 and January2011. The series centers on Miley Stewart (played by Miley Cy ...
''. 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.


Belgium

Louis Santel (Ténas) created new material in the 1950s.


Yugoslavia

Vlastimir Belkić produced original content in the 1930s.


Latin America


Brazil

The first Mickey Mouse stories were published in Brazil in 1930, in the comics anthology ''O Tico Tico'', under the name ''Ratinho Curioso'' (the Curious Mouse). The magazine reprinted comic strips by Floyd Gottfredson. In Brazil, through the publisher 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 José "Zé" Carioca (; ) is a cartoon anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic parrot created by the Brazilian cartoonist J. Carlos, José Carlos de Brito (J. Carlos) and shown to Walt Disney on his trip to Rio de Janeiro in 1941. The Walt Disney Compa ...
, a very popular character in Brazil. Abril increased production in the 1970s and 1980s. Except for José Carioca, recurring characters included Daisy (turned
feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
) 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! is a Japanese anime television series. It is a spin-off of Disney's ''Lilo & Stitch'' franchise, serving as the franchise's second television series after '' Lilo & Stitch: The Series''. The anime series aired in Japan from Octob ...
, Miriya and Marie,
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
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: * ' (1950–2018; 2019–present); 1st series, 2481 issues * ''Mickey'' (1952–2018; 2019–present); 1st series, 911 issues * ''Zé Carioca'' (1961–2018); 1st series, 2446 issues * ''Tio Patinhas (Uncle Scrooge)'' (1963–2018; 2019–present); 1st series, 637 issues * ''Pateta (Goofy)'' (1982–1984; 2004–2007; 2011–2018; 2019–2022); 1st series, 56 issues; 2nd, 26 issues; 3rd, 87 issues; 4th, 37 issues * ''Peninha (Fethry Duck)'' (1982–1984; 2004–2007); 1st series, 56 issues; 2nd, 19 issues * ''Margarida (Daisy Duck)'' (1986–1997; 2004–7); 1st series, 257 issues; 2nd, 25 issues * ''Urtigão (Hard Haid Moe)'' (1987–1994; 2006); 1st series, 169 issues; 2nd, 6 issues * ''Minnie'' (2004–2006; 2011–2018); 1st series, 29 issues; 2nd, 81 issues * ''Aventuras Disney'' (2005-2009; 2019-present); 1st series, 48 issues


Argentina

Luis Destuet was an early artist in the 1940s (Some stories were reprinted in Brazil and Italy). Around the turn of the decade, Destuet moved to Brazil and started production there by training new artists. In the 1980s, Daniel Branca set up a prolific and influential story art production studio, influenced by Daan Jippes to create expressive artwork in
Carl Barks Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comics, Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of ...
' 1950s style.


Chile

The pre-war "Álbum Mickey" series contained various short strips that were possibly locally produced, according to Inducks, as well as some
Zorro Zorro ( or , Spanish for "fox") is a fictional character created in 1919 by American Pulp magazine, pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo de Los Ángeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashin ...
stories in the 1970s.
Vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...
set up a prolific
Carl Barks Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comics, Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of ...
–style story art production studio in the 1970s.


Australia, Africa and Asia


Australia

The main Australian publisher was W.G. Publications (Wogan Publications from 1974). A number of series reflecting equivalents in the U.S. included ''Mickey Mouse'' and ''Donald Duck''. The most significant series, however, are ''Walt Disney Comics'' (1946–1978); and the "Giant" (1951 to 1978). ''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.


Egypt

Mickey Mouse was introduced to the Arab world through a comic book called ''Samir'', which published ''Samir Presents Mickey'' #1 in April 1958. This series published 24 issues in 1958 and 1959. Mickey proved very popular in Egypt, and in 1959 he got a weekly comic book, ميكي (''Mickey''). After 44 years of publication, the publisher Dar-Al-Hilal stopped publication in 2003, after disputes with Disney (The last issue being #2188, published in March, 2003). 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 Egyptian Arabic, locally known as Colloquial Egyptian, or simply as Masri, is the most widely spoken vernacular Arabic variety in Egypt. It is part of the Afro-Asiatic language family, and originated in the Nile Delta in Lower Egypt. The esti ...
), most notably by Ahmed Hijazi, a folk-style artist.


Japan

Many Disney comics originally by American or European authors have been entirely re-drawn by Japanese artists for local publication. The Italian manga-inspired series, W.I.T.C.H., was submitted to the same kind of treatment, giving birth to a Japanese-exclusive adaptation with art by Haruko Iida and published by
Kadokawa Shoten , formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines ...
. 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 Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licens ...
) and Jun Asaga's adaptation of
Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and producer. Known for popularizing Goth subculture, Goth culture in the American film industry, Burton is famous for his Gothic film, gothic horror and dark fantasy films. ...
's
The Nightmare Before Christmas ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (formerly known as ''Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas'') is a 1993 American stop motion Animation, animated Gothic film, gothic musical film, musical fantasy film directed by Henry Selick in his f ...
(originally published by
Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...
, English version by Disney Press).


Vietnam

Donald và bạn hữu (Vietnamese for "Donald and friends") is a bilingual weekly Disney comics magazine in Vietnamese and English published by Tre Publishing House in co-operation with The Saigon Times under license from the Walt Disney Company since 1998.


India

On December 8, 2010, DPW's India unit signed a multi-year contract with India Today Group to print and distribute Disney comics in India.


Cataloguing


Story codes

Starting in the 1970s, as production of new Disney comics stories moved from a mostly-American, centralized publishing model to a group of international publishers sharing work, it became a practice to give each Disney comics story a unique letter-number code that would help identify a single story across languages. (Disney requires all licensees to facilitating international reprinting by providing the reproducible materials at cost.) The code is usually printed at the bottom of the story's first panel, and it consists of one or more letters, representing the publisher or country of origin, followed by a multi-digit number. In some cases, the code ends with another letter. The main publishers are:


Fan databases

Multiple fan databases exist. Notable examples are I.N.D.U.C.K.S. and
Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...
.


Notable artists and writers

Argentina * Daniel Branca (1951–2005) influential Barks-style artist and studio director * (1937–2009) studio director * (b.1969) Belgium * (1926–2012) cover artist Brazil * Renato Canini (1936–2013)
José Carioca José "Zé" Carioca (; ) is a cartoon anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic parrot created by the Brazilian cartoonist J. Carlos, José Carlos de Brito (J. Carlos) and shown to Walt Disney on his trip to Rio de Janeiro in 1941. The Walt Disney Compa ...
artist * José Carlos (1884–1950) created
José Carioca José "Zé" Carioca (; ) is a cartoon anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic parrot created by the Brazilian cartoonist J. Carlos, José Carlos de Brito (J. Carlos) and shown to Walt Disney on his trip to Rio de Janeiro in 1941. The Walt Disney Compa ...
* (b.1958) Hard Haid Moe artist * (b.1956) artist; worked w/ writers , Ivan Saidenberg, and (bro: ) * (b.1969) Barks-style artist Chile *
Vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...
(1934–2012) Barks-style artist/studio director; created Princess Oona w/ writer Stefan Printz-Påhlson Denmark * Flemming Andersen (b.1968) multi-style artist * Freddy Milton (b.1948) Barks-style artist/writer; also made Barks-style stories w/
Woody Woodpecker Woody Woodpecker is a cartoon character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Productions, Walter Lantz Studio and Universal Animation Studios, Universal Animation Studio and distributed by Universal Pictures sinc ...
and his own characters, Gnuff Egypt * Ahmed Hijazi (1936–2011) folk-style artist Finland * Tuomas Holopainen (b.1976) songwriter; wrote and produced the Gold album '' Music Inspired by the Life and Times of Scrooge'' * Kari Korhonen (b.1973) mostly a Barks-style artist * (1947–2008) influential Barks translator/ restorer/essayist/editor France * (b.1950) Gottfredson-style artist/writer (b.Switzerland) * (1921–1990) Gottfredson-style artist and studio director * Régis Loisel (b.1951) Gottfredson-style artist/writer * Claude Marin (1931–2001) editorial artist; also drew many comic pages w/ Gen-Clo (b.Algiers) and , as well as other stories * (born 1966) Gottfredson-style artist (b.Lebanon) Germany * Erika Fuchs (1906–2005) Barks translator * (b.1949) Barks-style artist/writer * (1931–1997) produced a series of Barks-style
Scrooge McDuck Scrooge McDuck (occasionally stylized as $crooge McDuck) is a cartoon character created in 1947 for The Walt Disney Company by Carl Barks. Appearing in Disney comics, Scrooge is a Scottish-born American anthropomorphic duck. Like his nephew, Do ...
graphic novel A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...
s, ''Tales From Uncle Scrooge's Treasure Chest'' (b.Czech) * (b.1944) Barks-style artist/writer * (b.1964) artist and studio director Italy *
Giovan Battista Carpi Giovan Battista Carpi (; November 16, 1927 – March 8, 1999) was a prolific Italian comics artist, illustrator, and teacher from Genoa. Carpi worked mainly for Disney comics, mostly on books featuring Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck, although ...
(1927–1999) multi-style artist; created
Paperinik Paperinik (), also known as PK (Italy, ), Superduck (UK and Digicomics) or Duck Avenger (US), is a comic book-costumed vigilante and Donald Duck's alter ego. The character was created in Italy by Elisa Penna, Guido Martina and Giovan Battista ...
w/ writer
Guido Martina Guido Martina (9 February 1906 – 6 May 1991) was an Italian comic writer, documentarist and author. Martina is well known for his Disney comics stories, including the first of the "" story "L'inferno di Topolino", and the creation of Paperini ...
* Luciano Bottaro (1931–2006) multi-style artist * (b.1967) Scarpa-style artist/writer (early scripts drawn by others); created Eurasia Toft and Charlie Doublejoke * Giorgio Cavazzano (b.1947) artist; developed an abstract style widely adopted in Italy; worked w/ writer ; (cous: ) * Carlo Chendi (1933–2021) writer * Giulio Chierchini (1928–2019) multi-style artist * Pier Lorenzo De Vita (1909–1990) Scarpa-style artist (son: ) * (b.1962) multi-style artist/writer * (b.1934) multi-style artist * (b.1967) Fantomius artist/writer * Elisabetta Gnone (b.1965) writer/editorial director; created Disney Italia's '' W.I.T.C.H.'' comics * Corrado Mastantuono (b.1962) Cavazzano-style artist/writer; created Boomer Buff * Federico Pedrocchi (1907–1945) Gottfredson-style early artist/writer (b.Argentina) * Giuseppe Perego (1915–1996) multi-style artist; worked w/ writer * (b.1949) saga writer * Marco Rota (b.1942) Barks-style artist; created Andold "Wild Duck" Temerary w/ editor * (b.1954) saga writer * (1936–2001) Scarpa-style artist * Romano Scarpa (1927–2005) influential Gottfredson-style/ Barks-influenced artist; created Brigitta MacBridge, Dickie Duck, Gideon McDuck, Kildare Coot, Ellroy, Trudy Van Tubb and Portis * Silvia Ziche (b.1967)
soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...
artist/writer Japan * Siro Amano (b.1976) artist/writer; adapted Kingdom Hearts video games into
manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...
* (b.1971) Barks-style artist/writer Netherlands * (b.1974) Barks-style artist * Mau Heymans (b.1961) Barks-style artist (bro: ) * Daan Jippes (b.1945) influential Barks-style artist/writer and studio director; popularized the
replica A replica is an exact (usually 1:1 in scale) copy or remake of an object, made out of the same raw materials, whether a molecule, a work of art, or a commercial product. The term is also used for copies that closely resemble the original, without ...
tion of Barks's art style for Disney comics; redrew stories Barks only wrote and several of his unfinished scripts * (b.1965) writer * (b.1956) Daisy Duck artist; editorial/cover artist (b.Canada) * (b.1949) Barks-style artist Norway * Arild Midthun (b.1964) – Barks-style artist Spain * César Ferioli (b.1959) multi-style artist * (1915–?) multi-style artist * (b.1951) multi-style artist * (b.1967) Barks-style artist Sweden * Tony Cronstam (b.1969) Barks-style artist * Per Erik Hedman (b.1959) writer * Stefan Printz-Påhlson (b.1950) editor/writer; created a time machine series w/ editor/writer Lars Bergström United Kingdom * (b.1949) writer * (1887–1958) early artist/writer; created the 1st
Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. Donald is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit, sailor shirt and cap with ...
comic book story United States * Pete Alvarado (1920–2003) artist; drew stories based on Disney animated films *
Carl Barks Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comics, Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of ...
(1901–2000) foundational Disney comics artist/writer; lead
screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...
/
storyboard artist A storyboard artist (sometimes called a story artist or visualizer) creates storyboards for advertising agencies and film productions. Work A storyboard artist visualizes stories and sketches frames of the story. Quick pencil drawings and mar ...
for the early ''
Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. Donald is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit, sailor shirt and cap with ...
'' cartoons; developed Donald Duck and created Daisy Duck, Huey, Dewey and Louie,
Scrooge McDuck Scrooge McDuck (occasionally stylized as $crooge McDuck) is a cartoon character created in 1947 for The Walt Disney Company by Carl Barks. Appearing in Disney comics, Scrooge is a Scottish-born American anthropomorphic duck. Like his nephew, Do ...
and the supporting cast of Duckburg, including April, May and June,
Gyro Gearloose Gyro Gearloose ( ) is a cartoon character created in 1952 by Carl Barks for Disney comics. An anthropomorphic chicken, he is part of the Donald Duck universe, appearing in comic book stories as a friend of Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck, and any ...
, the Junior Woodchucks, Gladstone Gander, the Beagle Boys, Magica De Spell, Flintheart Glomgold, Glittering Goldie, John D. Rockerduck, Neighbor Jones, Gus Goose, Clinton Coot, the McDuck
Money Bin The Donald Duck universe is a fictional shared universe which is the setting of stories involving Disney cartoon character Donald Duck, as well as Daisy Duck, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, Scrooge McDuck, and many other characters. Life in the D ...
and the
character arc A character arc is the transformation or inner journey of a character over the course of a story. If a story has a character arc, the character begins as one sort of person and gradually transforms into a different sort of person in response to c ...
s and
story arc A story arc (also narrative arc) is the chronological construction of a plot in a novel or story. It can also mean an extended or continuing narrative, storyline in episode, episodic storytelling media such as television, comic books, comic strip ...
s of the duck 'universe' * (1917–1993) landscape artist who lettered and inked backgrounds and solids in Barks's stories; wife of Carl Barks * Jack Bradbury (1914–2004) artist * (1905–1965) art director; created Li'l Bad Wolf w/ Dorothy Strebe (see also, Gil Turner) * Pinto Colvig (1892–1967) actor/artist; created
Goofy Goofy is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. He is a tall, Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic dog who typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled fe ...
* Phil DeLara (1914–1973) most prolific Chip 'n' Dale artist *
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...
(1901–1966) film producer; 1st writer for the ''
Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...
'' comic strip; created Sylvester Shyster w/ artist
Floyd Gottfredson Arthur Floyd Gottfredson (May 5, 1905July 22, 1986) was an American cartoonist best known for his defining work on the Mickey Mouse (comic strip), ''Mickey Mouse'' comic strip, which he worked on from 1930 until his retirement in 1975. His contri ...
; co-created some of the original Mickey Mouse cast w/
animator An animator is an artist who creates images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video games. Animat ...
Ub Iwerks Ubbe Ert "Ub" Iwerks ( ; March 24, 1901 – July 7, 1971), was an American animator, cartoonist, character designer, Invention, inventor, and special effects technician, known for his work with Walt Disney Animation Studios in general, and f ...
* Norm Ferguson (1902–1957) lead animator; developed
Pluto Pluto (minor-planet designation: 134340 Pluto) is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of Trans-Neptunian object, bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object to directly orbit the Su ...
,
Peg-Leg Pete Pete (also named Peg Leg Pete, Bad Pete and Black Pete, among other names) is a cartoon character created by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks of The Walt Disney Company. Pete is traditionally depicted as the villainous Archenemy, arch-nemesis of Mickey ...
and the Big Bad Wolf * Manuel Gonzales (1913–1993) Gottfredson studio artist (b.Spain); created Ellsworth for the ''
Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...
'' Sunday pages w/ writer Bill Walsh *
Floyd Gottfredson Arthur Floyd Gottfredson (May 5, 1905July 22, 1986) was an American cartoonist best known for his defining work on the Mickey Mouse (comic strip), ''Mickey Mouse'' comic strip, which he worked on from 1930 until his retirement in 1975. His contri ...
(1905–1986) foundational artist/writer and studio director; most known for drawing and plotting the Mickey Mouse comic strip and establishing the art style and high standards of the
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
newspaper comics; created Morty and Ferdie Fieldmouse; also, Doctor Einmug, Captain Doberman, Gloomy the
mechanic A mechanic is a skilled tradesperson who uses tools to build, maintain, or repair machinery, especially engines. Formerly, the term meant any member of the handicraft trades, but by the early 20th century, it had come to mean one who works w ...
and Eli Squinch w/ co-writer Ted Osborne; and Chief O'Hara, Detective Casey & The Phantom Blot w/ co-writer Merrill De Maris * Bob Gregory (1921–2003) artist/writer; wrote over a dozen stories that were re-scripted/drawn by Barks * Jack Hannah (1913–1994) animation director; co-artist of
Carl Barks Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comics, Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of ...
' 1st comic art ( Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold); directed ''
Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. Donald is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit, sailor shirt and cap with ...
'' films written by Barks * (1913–1984) artist; created Fethry Duck, Hard Haid Moe and 0.0. Duck w/ writer Dick Kinney; created Belle Duck w/ writer (?); created The Sleuth w/ writer
Carl Fallberg Carl Robert Fallberg (September 11, 1915 – May 9, 1996) was a writer and cartoonist known for his work on animated feature films and TV cartoons for Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Disney Studios, Hanna-Barbera, and Warner Brothers. He also wrot ...
* (1888–1941)
designer A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans. In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exper ...
(b.Switzerland); created Donald Duck w/ voice actor Clarence Nash *
Ub Iwerks Ubbe Ert "Ub" Iwerks ( ; March 24, 1901 – July 7, 1971), was an American animator, cartoonist, character designer, Invention, inventor, and special effects technician, known for his work with Walt Disney Animation Studios in general, and f ...
(1901–1971) lead animator; created Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Horace Horsecollar and
Clarabelle Cow Clarabelle Cow is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. As an anthropomorphic Cattle, cow, Clarabelle is one of Minnie Mouse's best friends. She was once depicted as the girlfriend of Horace Horsecollar, although now she is oft ...
w/ producer
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...
; 1st artist for Disney comics and the ''
Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...
'' comic strip w/ artist (b.Canada) *
Walt Kelly Walter Crawford Kelly Jr. (August 25, 1913 – October 18, 1973) was an American animator and cartoonist, best known for the comic strip ''Pogo (comic strip), Pogo''. He began his animation career in 1936 at The Walt Disney Company, Walt Disney S ...
(1913–1973) cover artist * Dick Moores (1909–1986) ''Mickey Mouse'' artist/writer; Brer Rabbit artist; created Scamp w/ Ward Greene * Paul Murry (1911–1989) artist for ''Mickey Mouse'' stories w/ writer
Carl Fallberg Carl Robert Fallberg (September 11, 1915 – May 9, 1996) was a writer and cartoonist known for his work on animated feature films and TV cartoons for Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Disney Studios, Hanna-Barbera, and Warner Brothers. He also wrot ...
; created Super Goof w/ writer/editorial director * Floyd Norman (b.1935) writer; re-introduced serialized adventures to the Mickey Mouse dailies (early 1990s) *
Don Rosa Keno Don Hugo Rosa (), known as Don Rosa (born June 29, 1951), is an American comic book writer and illustrator known for his comics about Scrooge McDuck and other Disney comics, Disney characters. Many of his stories are built on characters an ...
(b.1951) popular artist/writer and
Scrooge McDuck Scrooge McDuck (occasionally stylized as $crooge McDuck) is a cartoon character created in 1947 for The Walt Disney Company by Carl Barks. Appearing in Disney comics, Scrooge is a Scottish-born American anthropomorphic duck. Like his nephew, Do ...
chronologist; wrote and drew the award-winning series, The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck; created sequels to Barks's classic stories * Dan Spiegel (1920–2017) drew Disney comics based on
live-action Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games or ...
series and films, incl. realist settings for ''
Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...
'' stories w/ Paul Murry * Tony Strobl (1915–1991) artist; created Moby Duck w/ writer Vic Lockman * Al Taliaferro (1905–1969) Gottfredson-style artist for the ''Donald Duck'' comic strip; created Grandma Duck w/ writer Bob Karp; proposed idea for the film Donald's Nephews, leading to the creation of Huey, Dewey and Louie; 1st to draw Donald Duck in the comics; created Bucky Bug w/ artist/writer Earl Duvall * Alex Toth (1928–2006)
Zorro Zorro ( or , Spanish for "fox") is a fictional character created in 1919 by American Pulp magazine, pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo de Los Ángeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashin ...
artist * William Van Horn (b.1939) Barks-style artist/writer; influenced by George Herriman (son: Noel) * Bill Walsh (1913–1975) writer for the ''Mickey Mouse'' comic strip in the 1940s; created
Eega Beeva The Mickey Mouse universe is a fictional universe, fictional shared universe which is the setting for stories involving The Walt Disney Company, Disney cartoon characters, including Mickey Mouse, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Donald and ...
and the Rhyming Man w/ artist
Floyd Gottfredson Arthur Floyd Gottfredson (May 5, 1905July 22, 1986) was an American cartoonist best known for his defining work on the Mickey Mouse (comic strip), ''Mickey Mouse'' comic strip, which he worked on from 1930 until his retirement in 1975. His contri ...
* (1917–1984) Gottfredson studio artist; Gottfredson-style
comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...
artist * David Gerstein (b.1974) writer for Egmont; editor/translator * Dick Kinney (1916–1985) writer of Studio stories * John Lustig (b.1953) writer for Egmont; completed unfinished scripts by Carl Barks * (1953–2021) writer for Egmont w/ wife *
Jerry Siegel Jerome "Jerry" Siegel ( ; October 17, 1914 – January 28, 1996) Roger Stern. ''Superman: Sunday Classics: 1939–1943'' DC Comics/ Kitchen Sink Press, Inc./ Sterling Publishing; 2006 was an American comic book writer. He was the co-creator of ...
(1914–1996) writer for
Mondadori Arnoldo Mondadori Editore () is the biggest publishing company in Italy. History The company was founded in 1907 in Ostiglia by 18-year-old Arnoldo Mondadori who began his publishing career with the publication of the magazine ''Luce!''. In 19 ...
Yugoslavia * (1896–1946) Gottfredson-style artist


See also

* List of Disney comics by Carl Barks * List of Disney comics by Don Rosa *'' How to Read Donald Duck'' – a 1971 critique of Disney comics as capitalist propaganda *


References


Further reading

* Frank Reilly, "The Walt Disney Comic Strips," ''Cartoonist PROfiles'' #1 (Winter 1969), pp. 14–18; an early article.


External links


I.N.D.U.C.K.S.
the Disney comics database


Disney Comics Worldwide

Overview of Disney Christmas strips
{{DisneyConsumer