Disney's DuckTales #1
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeDisney's DuckTales #1 marks the very first dedicated comic-book series built around the DuckTales animated television show, bringing Scrooge McDuck, the triplets, Launchpad McQuack, Gyro Gearloose, and the broader TV cast into the American comics Direct Market for the first time under a single title. Gladstone's decision to pair a brand-new animated-episode adaptation with a genuine Carl Barks Uncle Scrooge classic in the same oversized package established a template — new-continuity TV storytelling married to the Duck comics tradition — that every subsequent DuckTales comic publisher built upon. The issue also represents Gladstone Publishing's expansion beyond its Barks-reprint roots into original animated-tie-in territory, demonstrating that the company founded on reverence for classic Disney comics could serve a new generation of readers while still honoring the medium's history.
In "The Lost Crown of Genghis Khan!", Uncle Scrooge, Donald, and the nephews venture into the icy peaks of Asia in search of a legendary treasure—only to be ambushed by a fearsome abominable snowman. With danger lurking in every frozen shadow, the ducks must rely on wit and teamwork to survive the mountain’s secrets.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Gladstone Publishing, which had held the Disney comics license since 1986 under editor-in-chief Byron Erickson, launched the DuckTales title approximately one year after the animated series premiered on September 18, 1987, timing the comic to capitalize on the show's ongoing popularity. The lead story, 'Armstrong,' was scripted by Larry Gotterer with art by the Argentina-based Jaime Diaz Studios — the same studio that handled most of the Disney Studio Comics Program's DuckTales output — while the backup reprint of Barks's 'The Lost Crown of Genghis Khan' was drawn from Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge #14 (Dell, 1956), a Barks story that had itself been adapted as a DuckTales episode. The cover was painted by Dutch Disney master Daan Jippes, who would continue as the series' primary cover artist throughout Gladstone's thirteen-issue run.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First issue of the first dedicated DuckTales comic-book series, published by Gladstone Publishing; the series ran 13 issues from 1988 to 1990 before Disney Comics took over the license.
- Lead story 'Armstrong' is a comics adaptation of the DuckTales animated episode of the same name, scripted by Larry Gotterer with art by the Jaime Diaz Studios.
- The issue is a double-size (52-page) debut issue, consistent with Gladstone's practice of releasing oversized premiere issues.
- Backup story is a reprint of Carl Barks's classic Uncle Scrooge tale 'The Lost Crown of Genghis Khan,' originally published in Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge #14 (Dell, 1956) — a Barks story that was also adapted as a DuckTales animated episode.
- Cover art by Daan Jippes, the Dutch Disney comics artist who served as the series' primary cover illustrator.
- Editor-in-chief was Byron Erickson, who began working at the parent company Another Rainbow Publishing in 1983 and became editor when it received the Disney license as Gladstone Publishing.
- The issue also includes a DuckTales pin-up and a 'Meet the Cast of Disney's DuckTales' feature introducing readers to the TV show's ensemble.
- Content from Gladstone's run (particularly stories by William Van Horn, who joined the series in later issues) was later reprinted in IDW Publishing's DuckTales Classics trade paperback (2018/2019).
Cast · 11 characters
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↩ Reprints Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge #14 (1956)
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