Disney Comics (publishing)
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Disney Comics is currently a label of
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 ...
and was a
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 ...
publishing company operated 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 ...
from 1990 to 1993. It was connected with W. D. Publications, Inc., which was a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company that published
Disney comics Disney comics are comic books and comic strips featuring characters created by the Walt Disney Company, including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck. The first Disney comics were newspaper strips appearing from 1930 on, starting with t ...
during that time span. W. D. Publications, Inc. created Disney Comics in 1990 so that The Walt Disney Company would not have to rely on outside publishers such as Gladstone Publishing.Gerstein, David
"Disney Comics: Back to Long Ago!"
''Comic Book Marketplace'', Vol. 3, no. 103, June 2003, Gemstone Publishing, p. 52.
In the US, Disney only licensed Disney comic books to other publishers prior to 1990. Since the demise of the Disney Comics line, Disney continued to print comics in the magazine ''
Disney Adventures ''Disney Adventures'' (also short-formed as ''D.A.'') was an American children's entertainment and educational magazine published twelve (later ten) times per year by Disney Publishing Worldwide, a subsidiary of Disney Consumer Products, a unit ...
'', which was published from 1990 to 2007. Disney has licensed their properties to various US comics publishers. Disney reentered the periodical comics market through their 2009 purchase of
Marvel Entertainment Marvel Entertainment, LLC (formerly Marvel Entertainment, Inc. and Marvel Enterprises, Inc.) was an American entertainment company founded in June 1998 and based in New York City, formed by the merger of #Marvel Entertainment Group, Marvel Ente ...
. Marvel and Disney Publishing began jointly publishing ''Disney/Pixar Presents'' magazine in May 2011 but did not revive the Disney Comics imprint, as
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 ...
(and later
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 ...
) would continue to publish classic Disney character comics.


History


Initial titles

In its first year and a half, Disney Comics published: *''
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 ...
'' (issues #548-585) *''
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 ...
'' (issues #243-280) *'' Donald Duck Adventures'' (38 issues) *''
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) ...
'' (18 issues) *'' Mickey Mouse Adventures'' (18 issues) *'' Goofy Adventures'' (17 issues) *'' Roger Rabbit (comic book)'' (18 issues) *''Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers'' (19 issues) *''
TaleSpin ''TaleSpin'' is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. It first aired in 1990 as a preview-run on The Disney Channel before beginning its main run in syndication later that year as part of the pro ...
'' (a 4-issue limited series based on the series premiere episode, followed by 7 regular issues) *'' Roger Rabbit's Toontown'' (5 issues) * Seasonal specials: ''Autumn Adventures'' (2 issues, 1990–1991), ''Holiday Parade'' (2 issues, 1990–1991), ''Summer Fun'' (1991) and ''Spring Fever'' (1991)


Initial collections

Additionally, during the company's first year, eight trade paperbacks called ''Disney Comics Album'' were published. These featured older stories, prefaced by opening editorials similar to the earlier ''Gladstone Comic Album'' series. # ''
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
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 ...
'' # ''Uncle Scrooge and the Phantom of Notre Duck'' # Donald Duck in ''Dangerous Disguise'' # ''
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 ...
Outwits the Phantom Blot'' # ''Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers: The Secret Casebook'' # Uncle Scrooge in ''Tralla-La'' # Donald Duck in ''Too Many Pets!'' #
Super Goof 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 ...
— The World's Silliest Super-Hero! Giant-sized seasonal specials included two issues apiece of ''Autumn Adventures'' and ''Holiday Parade'', and one issue apiece of ''Spring Fever'' and ''Summer Fun''. All of these titles were new to Disney and most were published only by them, with the exception of ''Spring Fever'' (revived by Gemstone Publishing in 2007–2008).


Planned expansion

In this period, aggressive plans for expansion were announced. At one Comic Con panel, slides of a realistic European barbarian strip were previewed as one of many new titles in development. One planned imprint, Vista Comics, would showcase superheroes, many to be adapted from Disney films such as ''
Tron ''Tron'' (stylized as ''TRON'') is a 1982 American science fiction action adventure film written and directed by Steven Lisberger from a story by Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird. The film stars Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn, a computer programmer ...
'' and ''
The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh The Reverend Doctor Christopher Syn is the smuggler hero of a series of novels by Russell Thorndike. The first book, ''Doctor Syn: A Tale of the Romney Marsh'' was published in 1915. The story idea came from legendary coastal smuggling in the ...
'', and was being developed by comic book writer and animated TV story-editor
Martin Pasko Martin Joseph "Marty" Pasko (born Jean-Claude Rochefort; August 4, 1954– May 10, 2020) was a Canadian comic book writer and television screenwriter. Pasko worked for many comics publishers, but is best known for his superhero stories for DC Com ...
. A second imprint, Touchmark Comics (named to echo Disney's
Touchstone Pictures Touchstone Pictures was an American film distribution label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Feature films released under the Touchstone label were produced and financed by Walt Disney Studios, and featured ...
label for adult-targeted films) was actually announced, with former
DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...
editor Art Young at its head. Among the scripts Touchmark acquired were '' Enigma'' by Peter Milligan and '' Sebastian O'' by
Grant Morrison Grant Morrison (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. Their work is known for its nonlinear narratives, Humanism, humanist philosophy and counterculture, countercultural leanings. Morrison has writt ...
. A third imprint, Hollywood Comics, was to be modeled after the newly launched
Hollywood Pictures Hollywood Pictures Company was an American film production label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Established in 1989, by Disney CEO Michael Eisner and studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, Hollywood Pictures was ...
film label and offered a 64-page graphic novel adaptation of Hollywood Pictures' first film, ''
Arachnophobia Arachnophobia is the fear of spiders and other arachnids such as scorpions and ticks. The word "arachnophobia" comes from the Greek words arachne and phobia. Signs and symptoms People with arachnophobia tend to feel uneasy in any area they b ...
'', as its debut offering. An adaptation of the ''
Final Fantasy is a Japanese fantasy Anthology series, anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi which is owned, developed, and published by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fanta ...
'' video game franchise (specifically '' Final Fantasy II'') was also in the works, with
Kurt Busiek Kurt Busiek ( ; born September 16, 1960) is an American comic book writer. His work includes the '' Marvels'' limited series, his own series titled '' Astro City'', a four-year run on '' The Avengers, Thunderbolts,'' and ''Superman.'' Early lif ...
writing at least two issues. Editor-in-Chief
Len Wein Leonard Norman Wein (; June 12, 1948 – September 10, 2017) was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine (character), Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel sup ...
's
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 ...
-esque approach to the Disney characters was criticized by many older Disney fans. The hiring of Wein has been championed by the comic book creative community as an alternative to the much disliked former Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief
Jim Shooter James Shooter (born September 27, 1951) is an American writer, editor, and publisher in the comics industry. Beginning his career writing for DC Comics at the age of 14, he had a successful but controversial run as editor-in-chief at Marvel Comic ...
, who had made a favorable impression when interviewed by Disney management. Prior to the launch of the comics division, Disney management proclaimed their intention to quickly become a dominant presence in the comic book market, competing with industry leaders DC and
Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...
.


The "Disney Implosion"

These unreasonable expectations, coupled with poor sales, led to a mass cancellation in 1991. Echoing what had been called the
DC Implosion The "DC Explosion" and "DC Implosion" were two events in 1978 – the first an official marketing campaign, the second a sardonic reference to it – in which American comics company DC Comics expanded their roster of publications, then abruptly cu ...
of the 1970s, ''Duckburg Times'' editor Dana Gabbard dubbed this the Disney Implosion. ''Walt Disney's Comics and Stories'', ''Uncle Scrooge'', and ''Donald Duck Adventures'' were the only surviving titles.


Remaining titles

Following the cancellations, the three titles continued being published along with an occasional mini-series based on a TV show or a movie. These included: *'' Darkwing Duck'' (4 issues, 1991) *''
The Little Mermaid "The Little Mermaid" (), sometimes translated in English as "The Little Sea Maid", is a fairy tale written by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. Originally published in 1837 as part of a collection of fairy tales for children, the story foll ...
'' (4 issues, 1992) *''
Dinosaurs Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic Geological period, period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the #Evolutio ...
'' (2 issues, 1992–1993) *'' Disney's Comics in 3-D'' (2 issues, 1992) *'' The New Adventures of Beauty and the Beast'' (2 issues, 1992) *'' Sebastian'' (2 issues, 1992) *'' The Return of Aladdin'' (2 issues, 1993) All plans for expansion, however, were cancelled. Editor Art Young moved back to DC, and many of the unpublished Touchmark titles were published as part of its new
Vertigo Vertigo is a condition in which a person has the sensation that they are moving, or that objects around them are moving, when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. It may be associated with nausea, vomiting, perspira ...
imprint."Interview with Karen Berger" in ''Advance Comics'' #49 (
Capital City Distribution Capital City Distribution was a Madison, Wisconsin–based comic book distributor which operated from 1980 to 1996 when they were acquired by rival Diamond Comic Distributors. Under the name Capital Comics, they also published comics from 1981 ...
, January 1993)
Wein left and
Marv Wolfman Marvin Arthur Wolfman (born May 13, 1946) is an American comic book and novelization writer. He worked on Marvel Comics's ''The Tomb of Dracula'', for which he and artist Gene Colan created the vampire-slayer Blade (character), Blade, and DC Comi ...
concentrated on being comics editor of ''
Disney Adventures ''Disney Adventures'' (also short-formed as ''D.A.'') was an American children's entertainment and educational magazine published twelve (later ten) times per year by Disney Publishing Worldwide, a subsidiary of Disney Consumer Products, a unit ...
''. In a mini-renaissance, editors Bob Foster, Cris Palomino, and David Seidman brought an appreciation of the classic Disney characters to the three continuing titles. Foster especially after a lifetime of involvement with Disney comic books and strips specialized in reprinting rarities even seasoned fans were unaware of. The Disney Studio finally decided to shut down its comic book publishing division in 1993.


Imprint

In November 2013,
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 ...
revived Disney Comics as an imprint in the US for sporadic publishing. The imprint's first publication was the '' Space Mountain'' graphic novel, its first original graphic novel, released on May 7, 2014.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Disney Comics Publishing American companies established in 1990 American companies disestablished in 1993 Publishing companies established in 1990 Publishing companies disestablished in 1993 Disney comics publishers The Walt Disney Company subsidiaries Comic book publishing companies of the United States Disney Publishing Worldwide