Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #1 [25]

History

Walt Disney's Comics and Stories launched in October 1940 as a partnership between Dell Comics and Western Publishing, initially reprinting Disney newspaper strips by creators such as Floyd Gottfredson (Mickey Mouse) and Al Taliaferro (Donald Duck). By the time issue #25 arrived in October 1942, the series had grown to a circulation approaching one million copies per issue, riding a wave of aggressive subscriptions and strong newsstand sales. The 'Private Pluto' text story in this issue was adapted from a cartoon then still in production at Disney, directed by Clyde Geronimi; the chipmunks had been designed by animator Bill Justice. The issue's cover was painted by Walt Kelly — later the creator of Pogo — who was doing cover and interior work for the series throughout this period.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First published appearance of Chip and Dale (here unnamed), in a four-page illustrated text story titled 'Private Pluto' — predating the theatrical cartoon short of the same name by approximately six months (the short was released April 2, 1943).
• The chipmunks appear without individual names or distinguishing characteristics in this debut; they would not receive the names 'Chip' and 'Dale' (a pun on furniture-maker Thomas Chippendale, suggested by story artist Bill 'Tex' Henson) until the 1947 short 'Chip an' Dale.'
• Pluto co-stars in the 'Private Pluto' story, establishing from the outset the chipmunks' signature dynamic as mischievous antagonists to Mickey's dog.
• The story format is a prose/text piece with spot illustrations, not sequential comic-book panels — an important distinction noted by key-issue databases, as it affects how some collectors and historians categorize the appearance.
• The issue cover was drawn by Walt Kelly — future creator of the comic strip Pogo — who provided cover and interior artwork for numerous WDC&S issues during this era.
• Issue #25 carries the alternate indicia designation Vol. 3, No. 1, reflecting Dell's volume-based numbering system used before the series switched to continuous whole numbers with issue #124 (January 1951).
• Additional interior content includes Mickey Mouse newspaper-strip reprints drawn by Floyd Gottfredson and Donald Duck strip pages by Al Taliaferro, keeping the issue rooted in the series' reprint origins even as it broke new ground with the Chip and Dale text story.
• The characters' next comic appearance after this issue did not come until Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #69 (1946), covering the events of their second short 'Squatter's Rights'; it was not until their eighth comic appearance (Vacation Parade #1, 1950) that Chip and Dale graduated to traditional sequential art with speech bubbles.

Cast · 3 characters

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