This week, Boom! Kids in the United States is launching the new incarnation of one of the longest-running and most famous comic books of all time, Walt Disney’s Comics & Stories. Boom’s first issue, number #699 (available here), kicks off with the first chapter of a multi-part series titled Ultraheroes, which was produced by The Walt Disney Company Italy for the Italian weekly Topolino.
One of the writers of Ultraheroes is Giorgio Salati. I had a chance to ask Giorgio some questions about his work for Disney and writing Ultraheroes.
Disney Comics Worldwide: How did you get started writing Disney comic stories for Disney Italia?

(above portrait of Giorgio
by Marco Ghiglione)Giorgio Salati: After some novel and film script writing courses that I attended after high school, I realized that comics were the kind of media I really wanted to write for, having been a passionate comic book reader throughout my youth. That’s why I followed comic book writing courses at Scuola del Fumetto in Milan.
Teacher Riccardo Secchi — now a colleague and a friend — taught me this beautiful profession with a mix of passion and discipline. One day he told me: “You’re good at writing funny dialogues; you’ll sure fit Disney’s style”.
That was good news to me. I’ve been a Disney fan since I was born (my father is a Barks fan!). I got the e-mail address of a Disney Italia editor and sent him about ten plots and a pair of scripts. He called me and said something like: “Ok, you can write Disney comics. Now send me something that fits.” Gulp! Ten plots rejected! I pulled myself together and wrote new stories which fit (the main characters were Donald & Daisy Duck and Goofy), so… I signed a contract! It was the summer of 2003 and it was like a dream come true.
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