Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #2 [2]
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeWalt Disney's Comics and Stories #2 is the second chapter of what would become the longest-running Disney comic book in the United States — a series that grew to more than 700 issues and is counted among the best-selling comic books of all time. Arriving just one month after the debut issue in November 1940, it helped establish the anthology's foundational formula of pairing Floyd Gottfredson's serialized Mickey Mouse newspaper-strip reprints with Al Taliaferro's Donald Duck gag strips, a template that would define the title for decades. The issue also represents an early, concrete example of Dell and Western Publishing's strategy of reformatting Disney newspaper strip material into the comic-book format, a move that demonstrated licensed funny-animal comics could sustain a mass-market ongoing series at a moment when the industry was otherwise fixated on superheroes. Its place as the immediate follow-on to the series launch makes it a foundational artifact of the entire Disney comics publishing lineage.
Mickey and Goofy stumble upon Doctor Einmug’s floating laboratory suspended in the sky, a marvel of science defying gravity. When Peg-leg Pete arrives, determined to steal the anti-gravity formula, the duo must protect the Doctor’s invention from his greedy grasp.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Walt Disney's Comics and Stories grew directly out of Mickey Mouse Magazine, which had been published in several incarnations since 1933 before Western Publishing and Dell converted it into a full comic book with the October 1940 first issue. Western Publishing produced the editorial content — writing, artwork, and printing — while Dell financed and distributed the books, which is why the comics are catalogued under the Dell imprint by collectors. At launch, including issue #2, the book consisted entirely of reformatted and re-colored reprints of existing Disney newspaper strips — principally the Mickey Mouse daily and Sunday strips drawn by Floyd Gottfredson and the Donald Duck daily strip drawn by Al Taliaferro — rather than any material originated for the comic-book form; original stories would not appear in the title until issue #24. Alice Nielson Cobb is credited as editor on this issue per GoCollect.
Trivia · 7 facts
- Published November 10, 1940 by Dell; the second issue of the series, also catalogued as Vol. 1, #2.
- Contains the conclusion of Floyd Gottfredson's serialized Mickey Mouse newspaper-strip story that began in issue #1 — the 'Island in the Sky' adventure featuring Goofy, Peg-Leg Pete, and Professor Einmug.
- Donald Duck gag strips by artist Al Taliaferro and writer Bob Karp (and/or Ted Osborne) are reprinted from the Donald Duck daily newspaper strip, consistent with the series' all-reprint policy at this stage.
- Art and story credits include Floyd Gottfredson, Ted Thwaites, Bob Karp, Ted Osborne, and Al Taliaferro — the same core creative roster that anchored the debut issue.
- Editor on the issue was Alice Nielson Cobb, an early female editor in the Golden Age comics industry.
- The issue's content is sourced from 1939 newspaper strips, per GCD's documentation of specific reprint dates (strips from July–November 1939).
- Part of the founding run of a title that would eventually span more than 700 issues across publishers including Dell, Gold Key, Gladstone, Disney Comics, Gemstone, Boom! Studios, and IDW.
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Four Color #214 (1949), Walt Disney's Comics and Stories Archives #1 (2011)
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