Here are some Disney comics-related stories and links that I’ve collected this week:

• On his blog, David Gerstein provides an in-depth account on his experience at Egmont working on the development of Tamers of Nonhuman Threats, a Disney comics series starring Donald Duck and Fethry Duck.
   
• Egmont Ehapa Verlag in Germany has launched a new version of their official website for Lustiges Taschenbuch, one of Germany’s most popular comic books. The new website features more news, a gallery and insider information about the publication. Lustiges Taschenbuch is a 250-page pocket book featuring 3-tier Danish and Italian Disney comic stories. It sells about 240,000 copies each month.
   
• Duck Comics Revue is a relatively new blog on which the author reviews and analyzes classic Carl Barks stories.
   
• Steve Geppi, owner of Gemstone Publishing, the former publisher of Disney comics in the United States, has congratulated Boom! Studios on getting the license for Disney’s standard characters. “While I am of course disappointed that I won’t be the one publishing these great characters anymore, I believe the future for them is still one of untapped potential,” he writes.
   
• Boom! Studios released three new issues from their Disney line-up this week. June 24th saw the release of Cars: The Rookie #3, The Incredibles: Family Matters #3 and The Muppet Show #4.
   
  
   
• In the Netherlands, the Dutch Donald Duck weekly is giving away a free DVD with new 6-month subscriptions. The DVD celebrates Donald Duck’s 75th anniversary with ten classic animated shorts.
   
  
   

That’s all folks. If you have any interesting news on Disney comics from anywhere in the world please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Last month I wrote about the new English-language version of Lustiges Taschenbuch that Ehapa Verlag in Germany plans to launch on July 1st. I had read reports at the time that the 276-page comic would be available outside Germany, but it seems that this is not the case, at least for now.

I received an email from someone at the communication department at Ehapa who wrote that, for the time being, the English edition of Lustiges Taschenbuch will not be available to order outside Germany. However, I was not the first one to express interest in getting the books and they are actually thinking about alternative ways to distribute the new title through channels such as Amazon.

The main reason for publishing the new English-language Disney comic in Germany is not to enter the international market, but rather to bring local children in contact with the English language at an early age as English becomes ever more important as the world’s lingua franca. Editor-in-chief Peter Höpfner commented that they are publishing the new English edition of Lustiges Taschenbuch because English is becoming more and more important as it gets taught as early as pre-school and elementary school and secondly, because access to learning another language becomes easier in comic books when words and images are combined.

On Saturday, Argentinian animator and cartoonist Jaime Diaz passed away at the age of 72. Diaz founded the Jaim Diaz Studio in 1975, an art and animation studio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, that became a large supplier of Disney comics (S-coded stories) for foreign-market Disney comics from 1975 to 1989 and also for the Disney Comics books in the United States in the early 1990s, for which they produced material for Rescue Rangers, Darkwing Duck, DuckTales and several other series. Over the years the studio created over 1500 Disney comic stories (see index).

Jaime Diaz Studio staff photo from 1984

More »

Newsarama has some more news about the Disney comics from Boom! Studios that will come out in September. They spoke with the publisher’s co-founder Ross Richie, who confirmed that Boom has indeed acquired the comic book license for comics with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and the gang (yah!). They will begin publishing the new titles through their Boom! Kids imprint.

Richie said: “The Gemstone material that was being printed most recently are some of the greatest comics in the world – you’re talking about Carl Barks and Don Rosa and all these incredible creators, but what we’re going to be doing is branching off and going in a completely different direction. We’re going to start to approach the Mickey and Donald material from a completely different direction, and we’re going to try to have something that at the same time is less the ‘greatest hits’ reprints and more dovetails into what the Boom Kids stuff is, which is sort of an add to and extension of, modern presence creative take on these classic characters that I think can connect with kids today.”

Above: a page from Ultraheroes, a multi-part series from Italy that will be published in the first few issues of the new Walt Disney’s Comics & Stories to be released by Boom! Studios starting in September

More »

I just returned from a rather disappointing trip (we drove to Florida to see a space shuttle launch that was canceled) and came home to some awesome news that has me all cheered up again. According to reports on comiXtreme and Bleeding Cool there’s an ad in the latest Previews catalog from Diamond Distribution for new Disney comics by Boom! Studios!

This confirms last month’s rumor and it means that Disney comics starring classic characters, including Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse and the gang, will soon return to the United States. The news comes just months after it became clear that Gemstone Publishing, who ran Disney comic titles from 2003 till the end of 2008, lost its license due to financial problems. The quick turn-around on this is impressive, especially in these economically tough times. Negotiations with Disney Publishing Worldwide must have gone very well for them to win the license this quickly. Last time it took several years for a new publisher to pick up the license (Gladstone’s run ended in 1999 and Gemstone started in 2003).

Boom! Studios already had the license to publish comics based on characters from Disney/Pixar’s animated feature films. The first issues of Cars and The Incredibles, featuring original new stories, came out in March and quickly sold out. Now Boom! Studios can add a whole range of new titles to their line-up. The first new issues to be released in September are Walt Disney’s Comics & Stories #699 and Mickey Mouse & Friends #296, but more titles will be announced in the coming months. More »

This month, Dutch publisher Sanoma Uitgevers has launched a new men’s magazine called DONALD, targeted at adults. The new 154-page glossy magazine features articles about lifestyle, cars, sports, gadgets, travel and more, as well as comic stories with Duckburg’s famous duck.

It is no secret that many grownups across Europe read Disney comics every week; being subscribed to the local weekly Donald Duck or Mickey Mouse comic is a tradition that is deeply rooted in local culture. Making a magazine just for adults makes sense, and I applaud the publisher for trying this out.

More »

The world’s most famous duck turns 75-years-old today, and the temperamental duck is aging well!

Donald Duck made his debut on June 9th, 1934, in the animated short The Wise Little Hen, in which Donald and his friend Peter Pig try to avoid work by feigning stomach aches. Since then Donald has appeared in over 150 cartoons, 21 video games, several feature films and most importantly thousands of comic book stories.

It was famous comic book artist Carl Barks, nicknamed The Duck Man, who gave Donald a place to live (Duckburg), an extended family (Uncle Scrooge, Gladstone Gander), friends (Gyro Gearloose) and foes (The Beagle Boys). Barks’ impressive body of work, over 500 duck stories, are still reprinted in weekly and monthly comic books around the world. They form the basis of Donald’s huge popularity in countries like Denmark, Finland, Germany and Italy — and his work has inspired new artists to create new comic stories in Barks’ tradition. More »

Columnist Rick Johnston at Comic Book Resources is reporting that Boom! Studios in the United States has picked up the Disney license that Gemstone Publishing lost earlier this year. This is definitely not an official statement and the page is sort of a rumors column, but if this is true it is some great news!

Earlier this year Boom! Studios obtained the license to publish comics based on characters from Disney/Pixar’s animated feature films. The first issues of these new comics hit newsstands in March, including a Cars and The Incredibles series.

Now this young publishing company (founded in 2005) may add Disney’s classic characters to its line-up, which reportedly will include: Walt Disney’s Comics & Stories (a monthly comic that started in 1940 and by the mid-1950s became the best selling comic book in the US), Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck (both ended in 2006 already), Don Rosa’s The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck (out of print for a while but still in high demand) and more.

Last time it took over four years for a new publisher to pick up the Disney license. Gladstone’s run ended in February 1999 and it wasn’t until July 2003 that Gemstone continued publishing Disney comics in the United States again.

I so much wish that this news is true and I hope that all the good people that lost their job at Gemstone earlier this year will be able to continue doing their great work at this new publisher as soon as possible. I’m keeping my fingers crossed!

Source: at Comic Book Resources here (via DCF)

This weekend’s The Wall Street Journal has an article about the popularity of Disney comics in Germany, and in particular Donald Duck. The article talks about Dr. Erika Fuchs, Micky Maus‘ first editor-in-chief, who became famous in Germany for her quality translations of Carl Barks stories and set a very high standard for the language used in the German Disney comics. More »

Ehapa Verlag in Germany has released the cover of their new English Disney comics series: Lustiges Taschenbuch English Edition. The first issue will come out on July 1st and will feature stories previously printed in the popular German pocket books. I can’t find any information yet on how to order these books from outside Germany. If you have any more details about this exciting title please let me know or leave a comment below.

More »