Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #548 (June 1990)
Following historical precedent, editor Bob Foster formatted Disney’s first issue of its Flagship title to lead with a Donald Duck story, followed by various other stars, such as Brer Rabbit (who, by Disney’s decree must now speak perfect English without accent or drawl, an insult to Southerners and the reason why Gladstone eventually stopped doing any Brer Rabbit stories), Li’l Bad Wolf and Grandma Duck, all European imports. The Donald story, “Home is the Hero,” was drawn by Victor Arriagaga Rios, who -- if you take the first three letters of his first name and the first letter of the second and third -- is the famous Vicar! Daan Jippes’ did the cover illustrating the story. (It is our opinion that Daan’s talent is the best there is in two distinct arenas: creating “Floyd Gottfredson art” that’s almost impossible to tell apart from that by the master Mouseman himself or creating new “Carl Barks art” that’s almost impossible to tell from that by the Old Duck Man. But he also draws in a third style, his own, which we feel is simply funky, without much personality. And this cover is an example. We’re sure many fans will disagree. But judge for yourself. In the early days of Gladstone, Series I, Jippes did some of the finest covers our company ever published, so you can see why we’re flummoxed.)
Foster’s Letters to the Editor page (Comments and Queries) didn’t have any new letters yet to answer, so Gladstone’s editor must have passed along some from our last days of Series I. Responding to Daniel Rosenberg of Santa Barbara, California, Bob Foster reveals previously unknown facts about former publisher Bruce Hamilton’s cousin, GladstoneH.HamiltonIII, who put up the money for our company. Read both letters and you can leap to your own conclusions.
$7.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #549 (July 1990)
In Carl Barks’ lead Donald Duck story (from WDC&S #145, November 1952) Donald believes that the nephews’ toy gun actually has the ability to hypnotize, and he tries it out on Uncle Scrooge. This is probably one of the ten funniest stories written and drawn by the Old Duck Man, a great choice for Barks’ debut. Also in this issue is a second Li’l Bad Wolf, a European Mickey Mouse’s done in 1988. The Comments and Queries page is devoted to a mini-biography of future mainstay, William Van Horn! Beginning with this issue’s cover -- and thereafter with rare exception for almost two and a half years -- one or the other of the same two line art drawings of Donald Duck were reproduced in those little corner boxes that replaced the newsstand UPC codes on the Disney newsstand comics (for more information than you may have ever wanted to know about this subject, but to find out why it’s interesting, see Uncle Scrooge #279). Only a limited supply is available of #549.
$6.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #550 (August 1990)
Donald applies frosting to a “550th Anniversary” cake -- anniversary? -- for the 550th issue (a continuous run since 1940), part of a wraparound cover (see our small repro) that pictures the nephews, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Winnie the Pooh and others. A 52-pager, the lead Donald Duck “milkman” story is one of two Carl Barks shorts that was censored (for inappropriate violence) by Western Publishing in the mid-’40s and which remained unpublished for decades until 1987 when it appeared in the large size, hardbound Carl Barks Library of Walt Disney’s Donald Duck (by Another Rainbow, parent of Gladstone). The reprint in #550 was three years later, though the first time in color in a newsstand comic. Most material in WDC&S #550’s classic issue is composed of ’40’s-’50’s Dell reprints: Carl Buettner’s Li’l Bad Wolf, Al Hubbard’s Scamp, Jack Bradbury’s Chip ’n’ Dale and Chapter One of a Dick Moores’ Mickey Mouse adventure, “Goofy’s Mechanical Wizard.” Lastly, but not leastly, there’s a Vicar Gyro Gearloose import. On the inside back cover, Bob Foster reveals fascinating biographical information about these old-timers. Sold Out

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #551 (September 1990)
Two Carl Barks items: first, “The Hard Loser,” a 10-page back-up story to the Old Duck Man’s second Four Color comic book (the first he both wrote and drew), “The Mummy’s Ring” (September 1943). Barks’ work became more polished later, but his sense of humor was positively here when he did “The Hard Loser!” Laugh again and again, whenever you read it. Second, there’s a great letter from Carl in Comments and Queries with profound answers from Bob Foster. The new cover was done by William Van Horn to illustrate “Hard Loser.” Chapter Two of “Goofy’s Mechanical Wizard” appears by legendary Dick Moores. Finally there’s a Grandma Duck filler by Vicar. This book is available in a extremely limited quantity from Gladstone.
$25.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #552 (October 1990)
Goodness, goodness. The UPC (Universal Product Code) issue rambles on: finally someone (Ben Amfield of Sydney, Australia) asks what the inexplicable little white boxes in the corners of the front covers of his comics mean. Bob Foster gives him a column-length answer (ending with, “Aren’t you sorry you asked?”). Foster’s text varies in most of the details expounded by Gladstone on our website. For the full story -- more than you might be able to digest -- we recommend you pick up Issues #552 and #549 in addition to reading what Gladstone has to say under its listing for Uncle Scrooge #279.
WDC&S #552 also has a Carl Buettner Bucky Bug reprinted from an early Dell comic and the conclusion to Dick Moores’ wonderful Mickey Mouse three-part “Goofy’s Mechanical Wizard.”
$4.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #553 (November 1990)
A limited quantity is still in stock of this comic. Attraction #1: a Carl Barks 10-pager (originally from WDC& S #72, September 1949) in which the nephews play hooky on the first day of school and catch a freight train for Pickleburg, with Donald hot on their trail. Attraction #2: yet another early example of the wonderful art of Dell’s Carl Buettner, who drew Bucky Bug. Attraction #3: Chapter One of Dick Moores’ Mickey Mouse escapade, “The Wonderful Whizzix.”
$6.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #554 (December 1990)
Rick Hoover did a great job on his cover illustration to Carl Barks’ famous 10-pager from WDC&S #112 (January 1950) in which Huey, Dewey and Louie trick Donald into thinking that he has been bitten by a strange insect and has slept for forty years, ala Rip Van Winkle. Also, Bucky Bug with Carl Buettner’s terrific script and fabulous art; and Chapter Two of Dick Moores’ “The Wonderful Whizzix,” a Mickey Mouse serial reprint. This issue is Sold Out.

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #555 (January 1991)
“Wild Duck of the Woods” herein is the lead Donald Duck 10-pager with art by Vicar. An interim Ludwig Von Drake story is followed by the conclusion (Chapter 3) of the Mickey serial, “The Wonderful Whizzix” by Dick Moores.
$4.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #556 (February 1991)
The mysterious “unknown” twins, Mr. Writer Unknown and Mr. Artist Unknown collaborated on the Donald Duck lead story, “Donald Saves Christmas,” illustrated for the cover by Rick Known Hoover. Tony Strobl debuts in Disney’s WDC&S with his Bucky Bug Christmas tale from years earlier. A definite highlight of this issue, however, is another Mickey Mouser by Dick Moores, though this time not a serial. Complete in this issue is “Mickey Mouse at the Rodeo,” which editor Bob Foster describes as “a cereal premium from 1947, reprinted for the first time in comic book form. Illustrated by Moores, it features Mickey, Goofy and Pete involved in dirty doings at a rodeo in Rattlesnake Nest, Arizona” (we here in Prescott know it well). It’s an entertaining adventure in the Dell comics style of the ’40’s. There are two things that might “bug” some purists, but the reprint is well worth picking up anyway. In panel one, page three Mickey first runs into Pete and exclaims, “B-Big Bad Pete!” The traditional Pete, who actually debuted before Mickey in the animated cartoons (believe it or not), was called Peg-Leg Pete, because, he had an old pirate-style, wooden “peg” leg. Somewhere in the 1940’s Disney decided it wasn’t appropriate to the sensibilities of the handicapped, so they renamed him Black Pete, a blackguard villain, “one whose conduct or character is disgraceful … the criminal element of a community.” Years later, however, the ever “politically correct” elements in Disney’s hierarchy decided “Black” Pete’s might also be misunderstood, so he became Bad Pete. Mickey’s dialog balloon was edited in this reprint changing Peg-Leg Pete’s name to Big Bad Pete, “big” added to make the three-word name change fit on three lines. But there was another problem. What about his Peg Leg? Some Disney Comics artist had to redraw Pete’s right foot and lower leg in issue #556, replacing the pegged leg with a normal one. (Floyd Gottfredson, the 50-year Mickey Mouse master who did the syndicated newspaper strip, was annoyed by the decision in the 1940’s to change the character to fit animation’s lead. Convinced he needed to come up with an explanation for the fans, he drew one daily strip in a Mickey Mouse continuity where Pete explains his new artificial limb. The subject was never mentioned again.) Here’s a hoot, though: the artist who was assigned the job of redrawing paste-ups for all of Pete’s appearances in issue #556 forgot twice to make the change! See page 5, panel 9 and page 8, panel 2. Serves Disney right for their arrogance in changing history. Do they think Robert Lewis Stevenson children’s books should be changed to conform to current thinking? Why doesn’t Disney, for example, edit out the black crows in Song of the South? I guess the bottom line is that this 1947 Mickey premium as originally drawn by Dick Moores still has never been truly seen in a comic book reprint.
$5.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #557 (March 1991)
Michel Nadorp continued doing better and better covers for Disney’s Disney Comics, including his illustration of the untitled Carl Barks lead story. (Reprinted from WDC&S #137, February 1952, Disney Comics editors decided to call it “Avalanche Valley.” The credits are also in error saying it was “originally printed June, 1951.” In fact, that’s the date Carl submitted his finished art to Western.) “The Pharaoh’s Curse” in this issue is the newest of the old Mickey Mouse stories -- probably seeing print for the first time in four decades -- a 10-page Wheaties Cereal Premium from 1950, art by Jim Pabian. There’s an interesting resume on the inside back cover that details the origin, writers and artists who worked on Bucky Bug. Our supply is dwindling on this book, but not yet critical.
$5.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #558 (April 1991)
A animated, turbulent William Van Horn cover illustrates Carl Barks’ 1954 ten-pager, “Donald Duck’s Fix-It Shop” (from WDC&S #161, February ’54), in which Daisy gets so mad at Donald she actually threatens to sue him! And, last -- at last -- there’s the much-anticipated Chapter One of Disney’s Comics’ first Mickey Mickey reprint serial by the highly respected duo of CarlFallberg (script) and PaulMurry (art), “The Castaways of Whale Bay.” We’re slowly running out of stock on this comic, too.
$5.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #559 (May 1991)
A very Barksian cover here of Huey, Dewey and Louie in disguise and Donald surprised, drawn by William Van Horn. The usual Carl Barks 10-pager leads the book (from WDC&S #77, February 1947), plus Chapter Two of Mickey Mouse in “The Castaways of Whale Bay” by Carl Fallberg (script) and Paul Murry (art).
$4.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #560 (June 1991)
The nephews try to play an April Fool’s trick on Donald, but all their efforts backfire (from WDC&S #127, April 1951), a tale that is representative of a period in the life of Carl Barks when he didn’t know how to do a story that wasn’t funny. The new William Van Horn cover illustrates one of Huey, Dewey and Louie’s aborted gags, the money you see in the billfold only one dollar but it soon, to their dismay, becomes Donald’s. Chapter Three is the conclusion to “The Castaways of Whale Bay,” wrapping up a long Mickey Mouse adventure drawn by Paul Murry from Carl Fallberg’s script.
$4.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #561 (July 1991)
The opening Carl Barks story has probably tempted tens of thousands of young readers to convert -- if only for a day -- to Professor Batty’s philosophy of Flipism. “Life is but a gamble!” Donald Duck reads from an advertisement, “Let Flipism chart your ramble!” Daisy Duck enters, as do April, May and June, her three nieces. WDC&S #561 has a fine William Van Horn cover and a complete-in-one-issue Dick Moores Mickey Mouse short, “The Great Safe Mystery.”
A series of two-page features begins in this issue, “Disney Comics Archives,” which technically isn’t correct because the Carl Barks art reprinted in it has nothing to do with Disney archives or history. We suspect top management didn’t have a clue and we must congratulate editor Bob Foster for taking a wee bit of a chance. This is what Foster wrote about it, headlined as an “Important Message”:
“Longtime fans of Carl Barks know that from 1930-1935 (the actual dates were both earlier and later) he did cartoons for The Calgary Eye-Opener, a Minneapolis based humor magazine long since out of business. A handful of those magazines was discovered at a swap meet in Pasadena some years ago and have now been pulled out of a private collection in order to reprint some of those cartoons done by Barks shortly before he started working for the Disney Studios in 1935. Beginning with Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #561, we will begin reprinting some of those rare Carl Barks cartoons.”
It isn’t so much what Foster said as what he didn’t say. Collectors had known that the Calgary Eye-Opener was a “girlie” magazine, depicting scads of scantily clad beauties in all kinds of suggestive, provocative and sexy situations. Even that, though, was not the potential time bomb. Published during a less sensitive period of history, there were virtually no taboos in the 1920’s and 1930’s on what could be passed off as humor. Cartoons and text could be found in every issue of the Eye-Opener lampooning society from the individual cartoonists’ viewpoints without editorial constraint. There were no rules, no taboos: race, religion, politics, sex, nationality, etc., were all targets. It was always open season in The Calgary Eye-Opener and everything was fair game, as in the Cole Porter song, “Anything Goes.” Political correctness did not exist. The magazine, or anything reprinted from it in 1991 was, potentially, very unDisneylike. The folks at Another Rainbow had published a dozen Barks’ Eye-Opener gags seven years earlier in The Carl Barks Library of Walt Disney’s Donald Duck, but these books were for collectors, while the newsstand comics were for “kids.” While the CBL pages were all in black and white, Disney’s Comics Archives’ examples were beautifully “tinted” in color by Cris Palomino. Though Foster was careful to choose only the tamest, most acceptable cartoons, he -- oops! -- did inadvertently include one that depicted a comely young lass fingering a small glass of alcoholic wine that Cris lovingly tinted the color of a good merlot. (It would be interesting to know the unsavory text that probably accompanied this drawing.)
Of related interest, The Bruce Hamilton Company published a 64-page, full-color digest in 1997 under its imprint, Hamilton Comics, called “The Unexpurgated Carl Barks,” a proud effort that took many extra hours of work to produce. Although the book says that Carl “does not sponsor or approve it publication,” Barks later told us “it didn’t bother me a whit.” The disclaimer was to shut up Bill Grandey and Kathy Morby, managers of The Carl Barks Studio, who wanted a cut of the proceeds. (The full and true story of those two individuals hopefully will be revealed some day. Leave it for now that after our book came out Barks personally filed suit against them, as did publisher Bruce Hamilton, both of who successfully prevailed in Oregon’s courts! Among others who have sued the pair is Don Rosa. Pretty august company.)
“The Unexpurgated Carl Barks” pulls no punches and makes no apologies. In fact, a thoughtful Foreword was written by famed New Yorker artist and Pulitzer Prize winner, Art Spiegelman, who said, “I’ve loved Carl Barks’ work since those days of lost innocence when I assumed the duck stories were all written and drawn by Walt Disney himself.” Here is the last paragraph he wrote in his Foreword:
“The biggest eye-opener -- if not blood curdler -- about these cartoons is their casual sexism and racism. The rtoonist’s craft is by its nature a conservative, perhaps even a reactionary one: its very essence consists in the manipulation of shorthand visual signs and widely recognizable stereotypes. Barks used those cruel stereotypes as cheerfully as most of his brethren. Even a black gag cartoonist like E. Simms Campbell drew white-lipped, eight-ball-headed “darkies.” Barks’ hook nosed Jews, shiftless minstrel coons, fey nancy-boys and dumb round-heeled broads offer the whole bestiary of stereotypes that once paraded openly through all our popular culture. We still live with its poisonous effects, but so it was, and to pretend otherwise is to efface a history we need to understand. Barks simply assimilated the values and codes (visual as well as social) of the world around him. Even his duck world, in so many ways a rich, enchanting and realistic one reflects the xenophobia of the value system he grew up with and ultimately transmitted. Beneath his duck masks are living, breathing, very complex souls. Behind the cartoon people of his gag rtoons are simply the generic types that made up much of this sad century’s comedy, rendered by a hard-working craftsman who eventually ripened into one of our great masters.”
“The Unexpurgated Carl Barks” got a glowing, half-page review in Penthouse Magazine in 1997 or early ’98. (Gladstone has misplaced its copy and would like to get another very fine or near mint one. We are willing to pay a reasonable price for a copy, or trade more generously. Meantime, since our inventory of “The Unexpurgated Carl Barks” is low (and we won’t be reprinting it), we suggest interested persons order a shrink-wrapped copy while it is still available from Gladstone for $35.00. Alternatively, it can be bought now as part of a Calgary Eye-Opener Package Offer that includes the book plus all six issues of the comics that contain color reproductions of Barks’ Eye-Opener art. The temporary Package offer is only $50.00 for all seven books (a $65.00 value).
The two-page Calgary Eye-Opener features ran in six consecutive issues of Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories, #’s 1-566. We’ll restrict future comments about the next five issues only to specific cartoons that warrant attention.
$5.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #562 (August 1991)
The cover to #562 is a real departure, a Walt Kelly reprint a half century old from Boys and Girls March of Comics #41, 1949 (Gladstone used a number of Kelly’s best covers near the end of Series II (our prestige-format Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories in the late 1990’s), cover art that looks better today with computer colors than it did on the old Dell comics ’way back when. The lead Carl Barkser, “Three Dirty Little Ducks” is even earlier, from C&S #43, April 1944, a story featuring Bolivar, Donald’s dog, who later became Bornworthy (in deference to South Americans who objected to such frivolous use of the name Bolivar). A fine, 1947 Bucky Bug is in this issue plus a Bill Walsh-Floyd Gottfredson Mickey Mouse sequence taken from the daily newspaper continuities of 1946 Gladstone did a lot of this and we were pleased to see Disney continue our lead). In the two-page feature, Disney’s Comics Archives, eleven more Barks reprints of Calgary Eye-Opener drawings from 1930 are shown.
$5.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #563 (September 1991)
We at Gladstone always enjoy someone else’s deliberate misdirection, even if it’s at the expense of our friend, Disney Comics’ editor, Bob Foster. This rascal led everyone slightly astray not once, but twice in the Comments and Queries column on the inside back cover of #563. Gabriel Jodet-Weinshel of Vashon Island, WA wrote in to ask about the Donald Duck daily strips that Gladstone used to print on our back covers. She said, “Whatever happened to that gag?” Foster’s answer sounded logical and I’m sure was believed by everyone, blaming it on the advertisers. But that wasn’t true. The real reason is too complicated to go into here. It’s the irony that is prompting this dialog: the strips that we reprinted were the very best and funniest of dozens of examples we had to choose from … all written by guess who? BobFoster!
Second, Rory Lehrman of Neskowin, Oregon asked if any Donald Duck artists lived in Oregon and Foster said he didn’t know of any. But Bob, what about Carl Barks? I don’t think the Old Duck Man would have objected to that little fact slipping out.
Barks’ opening 10-pager of Donald and the nephews in the woods is a reprint from WDC&S #191, August 1956. Following that, there’s a real oldie, a two-page text feature with great Dick Moores illustrations, a real throwback to the early Dell days.
The Calgary Eye-Opener reprints were submitted by readers from Florida, all from a 1930 issue (there’s a great illo of two skinny pigs with outrageous snouts -- yes, Barks could always draw!). Issue #563 ends with a Li’l Bad Wolf and more daily continuities taken from the 1940’s collaboration team of Bill Walsh and Floyd Gottfredson.
$5.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #564 (October 1991)
Highlighting #564 is Part One of Dick Moores’ “The Secret of the Whirlpool,” a 1953 reprint from C&S #155. The Calgary Eye-Opener Cartoons #4 have some really fine examples from 1931 -- four years before Carl Barks went to work for Disney. A Vicar Donald 10-pager plus an old Carl Buettner Bucky Bug round out the comic.
$4.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #565 (November 1991)
The terrific new William Van Horn cover would have made the old editors at Western Publishing happy, with its huge body of truant officer Donald that illustrates a 1949 Carl Barks story inside (from WDC&S #100). “The Secret of the Whirlpool,” Part Two, continues a Dick Moores Mickey Mouse adventure. Barks’ Calgary Eye-Opener cartoons #5 prompt real frustration in any reader’s mind about wanting to see the missing texts that originally accompanying the cartoons.
$5.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #566 (December 1991)
When Donald refuses to sell his house, Scrooge employs every nasty trick in the book to convince him to -- the plot of a Carl Barks 10-pager from WDC&S #159, December ’53; the story reinterpreted by William Van Horn’s cover. Dick Moores’ Part Three of the Mickey and Goofy’s epic, “The Secret of the Whirlpool” concludes. “A Goofy Look at … Magic,” is a very funny four-pager that makes one wish it were twice as long, written by the comedic Bob Foster with art by The Diaz Jaime Studios. This above-average issue saved the best for the last in The Calgary Eye-Opener Cartoons #6 by Barks. One magnificent full-page prehistoric cavemen drawing is vintage pre-Duckman at his best.
$6.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #567 (January 1992)
William Van Horn’s cover of a Thanksgiving turkey in a battle with Donald is an advance peak at a 10-pager from WDC&S #75, December 1946) by CarlBarks that leads this issue. Second is a 1956 Gil Turner Li’l Bad Wolf. Third is a very funny four-page “Goofy Look at Footwear,” written by Bob (call him Goofy) Foster with art from far south by The Jaime Diaz Studios. Finally, there are six pages of Floyd Gottfredson mousing around with Mickey. This book is available in a extremely limited quantity from Gladstone.
$25.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #568 (February 1992)
The first of five chapters of “Mickey Mouse and the ’Lectro Box,” a serial reprint from King Features’ daily newspaper comic strip appears as produced by an all-star trio: written in 1943 by Bill Walsh, penciled by Floyd Gottfredson and inked by Dick Moores! Issue #568 has still more going for it: a William Van Horn Donald and Scrooge cover; a 1955 Christmas Eve Carl Barks Duck Family short that reads like a compacted version of an Uncle Scrooge adventure with the five ducks skimming along the ocean’s floor in a miniature submarine; and a 1950 Bucky Bug reprint. A limited supply is all that’s available.
$8.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #569 (March 1992)
Carl Barks’ 1956 Donald story about New Year’s Resolutions -- everyone knows the significance of that in the Duck household -- is previewed by WilliamVanHorn’s cover. In addition there’s a Gil Turner Li’l Bad Wolf, a two-page Gyro Gearloose gag, and Chapter Two of “Mickey Mouse and the ’Lectro Box,” a 1943 serial reprint written by Bill Walsh, penciled by Floyd Gottfredson, and inked by Dick Moores!
Side note: the copy here took longer to write than it should have because of the experience of having to stop writing the text for five minutes to laugh. All Carl Barks fans know that any given gag can strike you differently at different times no matter how often you may have read it. It depends on how you feel and your mood at the moment. The look on Donald’s face and his understated observation in panel 4 on page 5 at 4:30 pm on this particular Saturday afternoon broke up yours truly (despite having read the short from WDC&S #185, February 1956, probably twenty times before).
$5.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #570 (April 1992)
A very interesting and well done collaborative cover on this issue was laid out by William Van Horn (it has the Van Horn “look”), penciled by Jim Mitchell and inked by Jukka Murtosaari (who each gave the look their own distinctive touches), all vying to adequately portray the spirit of Carl Barks’ wonderful 10-pager inside, a Valentine story co-starring Gladstone Gander and, of course, Daisy Duck.
#570 is a unique issue, having a slick-paper, pullout Valentine stapled into the centerfold (at extra cost to Disney to produce), a painting by Don Williams. Chapter Three of “Mickey Mouse and the ’Lectro Box,” taken from 1943 daily strip continuities written by Bill Walsh, penciled by Floyd Gottfredson, and inked by Dick Moores help round out this better-than-average issue. Gladstone has only a limited quantity.
$7.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #571 (May 1992)
We’ll mix Bob Foster’s descriptions of the contents of this 64-page experiment by Disney Comics with Gladstone’s. #571 was double-sized, but sold for a nickel less than twice as much, an attempt to see if larger, more diverse comics was what the fans wanted. (The illusion of the 5-cent mark-down was a fallacy because the regular $1.50 comics were sold with a cost factor that included expensive covers, whereas the big books still had only one cover and cost Disney much less to produce in comparable quantities.) The comic begins with Larry Mayer’s art that was based on a cover by Walt Kelly (Comics and Stories #42, March 1944), but Mayer took few liberties (it’s likely the new drawing was commissioned because they didn’t have time to get stats of the original). We are puzzled, however, why they reprinted a kite story by Carl Barks from 1946 when the same issue as Kelly’s cover also had “Kite Weather” by the Old Duck Man, a very, very funny 7-page Donald Duck short!
Moving on, a Li’l Bad Wolf reprint “by fan favorite, Gil Turner” is next. Third, as described by Foster, is “Donald Duck’s Atom Bomb, the rare Carl Barks story done for a 1947 Cheerio’s Giveaway. Coloring by Susan Daigle-Leach.” What is not said is that this is a reprint of the altered version from Another Rainbow’s Carl Barks Library forced on us by Disney management, who considered the original “mean spirited.” That’s a stretch, of course, but it’s another example of Disneythink: it’s okay, even in a historical collector’s edition, to change the ending to something more in keeping with today’s “political correctness.” Nuts.
Fourth, The Unbirthday Party, is “a twelve-page story featuring Alice and other characters from the Wonderland tea party (Four Color comic #341, illustrated by Al Hubbard.” There’s some marvelous stuff in this 1951 reprint by Hubbard, one of the truly grand hands of the early Dell comic book era. Then comes Bubbles, the Water Baby, a Story of Mermaid Lagoon, “an eleven-page gem from Peter Pan’s Treasure Chest with fabulous art by the great Harvey Eisenberg.” No exaggeration here!
This landmark issue concludes with Chapter Four of “Mickey Mouse and the ’Lectro Box,” from a 1943 newspaper strip continuity written by Bill Walsh, penciled by Floyd Gottfredson, and inked by Dick Moores! -- plus a one-page report on “The Disney Legends Award,” article by Bob Foster and photos by Foster and Scott Wolf. The ceremony had such luminaries as Julie Andrews, Fess Parker, Roy E. Disney, Michael Eisner, Scrooge McDuck (in person) and standing next to him, Carl Barks! Barks is pictured in three color photos, including one placing his handprints in cement. This is a must have issue (certainly a should have).
$8.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #572 (June 1992)
For three months beginning with this issue, Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #572 -- and simultaneously in three issues each of Donald Duck Adventures and Uncle Scrooge Comics -- one full-page piece of a colorful Duckburg Map appears in a pull-out centerfold that, when removed, does not affect any story or comic art, the assembled map measuring an imposing 31 1/2” high by 19 1/2” wide. This piece of the map show’s McDuck’s mansion. Get all nine comics and you’ve got the whole map.
In Carl Barks’ lead story (from C&S #21, March 1958) -- an idea the duck man got from his daughter -- Donald falls for an April Fool’s Day joke and goes to the South Seas in search of magic wishing stones. Most importantly, #572 has the conclusion, Chapter Five of “Mickey Mouse and the ’Lectro Box,” from a 1943 comic strip written by Bill Walsh, penciled by Floyd Gottfredson, and inked by Dick Moores! (Available in extremely limited quantity)
$25.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #573 (July 1992)
For three months beginning with Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #572 -- and simultaneously in three issues each of Donald Duck Adventures and Uncle Scrooge Comics -- one full-page piece of a colorful Duckburg Map appears in a pull-out centerfold that, when removed, does not affect any story or comic art, the assembled map measuring an imposing 31 1/2” high by 19 1/2” wide. This piece of the map show’s the Center of Duckburg, with clock tower and statue of Duckburg's founder, Cornelius Coot. Get all nine comics and you’ve got the whole map.
Barks' "TV Quiz Show" features Donald Duck, who is determined to get on the local Quiz Show and win the $1000 prize. Events take a turn when the nephews and talking animals get involved. Someone gets on the Quiz show ----but who?
In "Mickey Mouse - The Pirates' Den" by Dick Moores, Mickey and Goofy find an unusual treasure map when they run into a prowler in the basement. (limited supply)
Bob Foster and Jaime Diaz team up on "A Goofy Look at Musical Instruments", the history of musical instruments from a very Goofy point of view. $9.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #574 (August 1992)

For three months beginning with Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #572 -- and simultaneously in three issues each of Donald Duck Adventures and Uncle Scrooge Comics -- one full-page piece of a colorful Duckburg Map appears in a pull-out centerfold that, when removed, does not affect any story or comic art, the assembled map measuring an imposing 31 1/2” high by 19 1/2” wide. This piece of the map show’s the Beagle Boys' hideout. Get all nine comics and you’ve got the whole map.
WDCS #574 is double-size and begins with Barks' tale "Mastering the Matterhorn", which pits the nephews against the infamous Beagle Boys on top of the Matterhorn mountain.
In "L'il Bad Wolf", a story by Carl Fallberg, L'il Wolf learns some lessons from Pop in telling the truth....or does he?
In "Mickey Mouse and the Robot Army, Part 1", Mickey gets invited to Goofy's new house but only has part of the address. He enters the wrong house and uncovers a diabolical plot to rule the world.......stay tune for part 2! Art by Stan Walsh.
Donald is all thumbs when it comes to 'sleight of hand' in William Van Horn's "Magic Trick"
"Mr Smee" (Art by Harvey Eisenberg) and "Pinocchio" stories round out this giant issue.
$6.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #575 (September 1992)
Carl Barks' "U.S. Olympic Team Tryout" leads off this giant issue - with Donald the only one entering all events. You can imagine what happens!
Big Bad Wolf is about to dine on the 3 little pigs but lets his passion for tennis be his undoing.
In "Mickey Mouse and the Robot Army, Part 2", the plot thickens and Mickey is nearly captured by the evil Number Two and Number Three. More adventure in next issue's part 3! Art by Stan Walsh
"Bucky Bug" (Art by Ralph Heimdahl) , "Pinocchio" (Art by Carl Buettner) , "Mickey Mouse and Aunt Matilda", (by Bill Walsh & Floyd Gottfredson. Inked by Bill Wright) "Peter and the Wolf" (Art by Carl Buettner) round out this Giant issue.
$6.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #576 (October 1992)
This Giant-size issue features Carl Barks' first WDC&S cover, from 1948. This issue leads off with "Beachcombing for Ruby" It's Gladstone Gander vs Donald and the kids in a search for a lost ruby with a huge reward.
In "Pinocchio" Jiminy Cricket and Pinocchio worry when Cleo the goldfish turns up missing.
A magic potion to keep the Three Pigs safe falls into the Big Bad Wolf's paws in this months 'L'il Bad Wolf".
"Tales of Brer Rabbit" features Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox and good ol' Brer Bear in down-home fun and frolic. Art by Dick Moores.
"Mickey Mouse and the Robot Army - Part 3" - Mickey's hidden a secret codebook on a department store dummy and now has to find one suit out of dozens on the street! Art by Stan Walsh.
$6.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #577 (November 1992)
In Barks' "Truant Officers", when Donald gets a job, the 3 nephews decide to play hooky from school - and events go from bad to worse!
In "The Mystery of the Robot Army" Mickey and Goofy find themselves trapped in a department store by two members of the gang. Pluto and Chief O'Hara get in on the action as the evil professor is about to launch his sinister plan for world domination! Art by Stan Walsh and Color by Jo Meugniot.
This issue rounds out with "A Goofy look at the House" (Art and color by The Jaime Diaz Studio/Jo Meugniot)and "A Goofy Telegram". (Art by Dick Moores, Color by Jo Meugniot)
$4.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #578 (December 1992)
In Barks' "Old Quackly Manor", Donald's a hot-shot real estate salesman with a less-than-hot property to unload: a dilapidated old house everyone thinks is haunted! Actually, it's Huey, Dewey and Louie trying to keep their adopted clubhouse from being sold. Watch as they wage a battle of wits against a strangely anxious customer who wants to buy the house!
This issue's cover feature, "Mickey Mouse and the Haunted House", is a reprinting of classic old Mickey comic strips, assembled for the first time in comic-book format! In this story, Mickey is displaced from his own house by the decorators, so he takes a room at a local boading house that comes with hot and cold running spooks! (Available in extremely limited quantity)
$25.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #579 (January 1993)
In Barks' "Turkey Hunt", Donald, upset over the high price of Thanksgiving turkeys, resolves to hunt his own turkey just like the Pilgrims did....but he didn't figure on Huey, Dewey, and Louie throwing a monkey wrench in his plans.
When the Big Bad Wolf starts to take an interest in cactus gardening, you just know he's going to get it in the end. "L'il Bad Wolf" art by Gil Turner.
Carl Fallberg's "Riding the Rails" features Mickey Mouse. It's ALL ABOOOOARD when Goofy's an engineer for a down-and-out railroad until Mickey discovers a sinister plot afoot to derail the train. Art by Paul Murry.
$4.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #580 (February 1993)
Highlights from this special holiday 64-page issue include:
"The Wise Little Hen" - Story by Ted Osborne and Art by Al Taliaferro. This is Donald Duck's first comics appearance, originally printed as a Silly Symphony from September 16-December 16, 1934. Donald and his friend, Peter Pig, hate to work, but the wise little hen is about to teach these two that all play and no work can end up being no fun.
In "The Brave Little Tailor", which is the original retelling of the famous 1938 animated short that was printed in the Mickey Mouse Sunday pages from August 28 through November 20, 1938, Mickey Mouse heads a troupe of actors who recreate the story with Mickey as the lead and Minnie his damsel-in-distress. Story by Merrill de Maris. Art by Floyd Gottfredson and Manuel Gonzales.
In the "Adventures of Mr. Toad", Angus MacBadger, Ratty, and Mole try to keep their friend J.Thaddeus Toad out of trouble, but their efforts only lead to more problems when Mr. Toad buys a car and takes it out for a spin, without and driver's lessons! Art by Pete Alvarado.
$6.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #581 (March 1993)
In "Donald Tames His Temper" by Carl Barks, Donald makes a New Year's Resolution to never become angry again and the nephews resolve to get away with everything they can. Can Donald keep his temple and still keep his house intact?
Mickey and Minnie go out to visit Goofy and see his duck farm, which just happens to be on a dry lake in the middle of the desert. Can Mickey and Minnie help their friend before they all go quackers? "Goofy's Duck Lake" is written and drawn by Dick Moores.
$4.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #582 (April 1993)
This giant-size issue features:
Donald Duck in "The Three Caballeros" by Walt Kelly. Originally printed as Four Color No. 71, "The Three Caballeros" is a recreation of Walt Disney's 1945 animated feature.
"Mickey Mouse and the Sky Island" - Story by Ted Osborne and Art by Floyd Gottfredson. This famous Mickey Mouse strip first appeared in the dailies in 1936-1937 and has never before been reprinted in comic book format. Mickey and Goofy buy an airplane and discover an island in the sky filled with marvelous inventions and run by a brilliant scientist names Dr. Einmug. Peg Leg Pete appears as a spy who's after Einmug's atomic formula.
"Ambrose the Robber Kitten" - Art by Al Taliaferro. Ambrose is a kitten who longs for the life of the highwayman. One day, the mischievous youngster slips away to embark on his adventure and joins the most famous highwayman of all, Dirty Bill.
$6.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #583 (May 1993)
Another 64-page issue, featuring:
The conclusion of "The Three Cabaleeros", art by Walt Kelly, where Donald, Jose Carioca and Panchito travel Latin America.
Part two of "Mickey Mouse and the Sky Island" - Story by Ted Osborne and Art by Floyd Gottfredson. Mickey and Goofy buy an airplane and discover an island in the sky filled with marvelous inventions and run by a brilliant scientist names Dr. Einmug. Peg Leg Pete appears as a spy who's after Einmug's atomic formula. $6.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #584 (June 1993)
Carl Barks' "The Easter Parade" features Donald and Gladstone, who compete for the position of Grand Marshall of the Easter Parade. Can Donald's determination defeat Gladstone's infernal luck?
In "A Lad'n' His Lamp" by Vic Lockman, Mickey Mouse is Aladdin and Goofy is the Genie! Gawrsh! (sold out )
$25.00

Disney’s Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #585 (July 1993)
This 48-page special features "Gladstone's Secret" by Carl Barks. What is the secret of Gladstone Gander's unearthly luck? What object does he keep locked away? Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge are determined to find out. This Classic tale also features the first appearance of Gyro Gearloose!
"Mickey Mouse, Circus Roustabout" by Floyd Gottfredson, is one of the oldest and rarest Mickey stories and never before printed in American comic books. Mickey joins the circus and finds a dark, sinister plot to kidnap its star equestrienne.
Art by Floyd Gottfredson and Al Taliaferro.
$6.00

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