IDW sort of hinted at this back at NYCC, when they announced an Artists Editions of the Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck by Don Rosa. At the retailer meeting, Dirk Wood said, in that special way of his, something along the lines of “There will be more coming from IDW and Disney.” which at the time was a pretty clear indication there would be…more.
And so there is, and they mentioned it again in the fall but no one noticed. And now they just slyly let it out in the April Solicitations.
Uncle Scrooge #1—GEM OF THE MONTH
Jonathan Gray, Rodolfo Cimino (w) • Romano Scarpa (a) • Giorgio Cavazzano (c)
Wak! Disney’s richest epic hero returns! In “The Wrath of Gigabeagle,” the McDuck Money Bin meets a monster-sized Beagle Boy mech!
FC • 48 pages • $3.99
Uncle Scrooge #1—Subscription Variant
Jonathan Gray, Rodolfo Cimino (w) • Romano Scarpa (a) • Derek Charm (c)
FC • 48 pages • $3.99
Uncle Scrooge #1—Blank Sketch Variant
Jonathan Gray, Rodolfo Cimino (w) • Romano Scarpa (a) • Blank Sketch Variant (c)
FC • 48 pages • $3.99
Bullet points:
- Monthly Disney Comics are back, from IDW!
- Fan-favorite creators: Romano Scarpa (legendary Italian Uncle Scrooge master), Jonathan Gray (Sonic the Hedgehog) and more!
- Capcom’s recent DuckTales: Remastered video game has brought Scrooge McDuck back to Disney stardom. See what all the quacking is about!
- 48 action-packed Pages for only $3.99!
And with this ad in Previews:
Mickey Mouse! And Donald Duck! As noted by Graeme McMillan IDW is great at picking up licenses that their owners don’t want to put out, as they also publish Cartoon Network books, which are owned by Warner Bros.
Based on the first book, IDW seems to be taking the tried and true method of picking up some of the gazillions of pages of Italian Disney material and bringing it to the US. And everyone loves Romano Scarpa.
This leaves Marvel putting out ride-related titles such as Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, the somewhat mysterious Joe’s Books putting out Darkwing Duck and Frozen, and Disney itself doing the odd graphic novel like Space Mountain. And no one particularly trumpeting it from the rooftops, except Fantagraphics with their awesome Barks and Gottfredson reprints. But at least IDW is picking up Walt Disney Comics and Stories right where it left off (at Kaboom) with issue #721.
Was the plot of Christopher Nolan’s Inception inspired by a Don Rosa Uncle Scrooge comic book story? In the story, created for the European market in 2002 and published in the US in the May 2004 issue of Uncle Scrooge (#329), Scrooge’s totem is a 25-pound bar of solid gold. His “limbo” is an endless desert where each grain of sand is actually a microscopic gold coin. Both stories have characters use a machine to enter someone’s dream – and entering someone’s dream to steal a secret. The similarities don’t end there. You can read the full comic here.
(Thanks, Joe Dante, via IWatchStuff)
Hi guys,
I guess you all heard the news about Carl's Mother. Carl is really a great guy and his family is super nice (I know you who already read this blog know this), so keep them in your thoughts. I know I will be keeping them in mine.
Well, I have read some really great Graphic Novels lately and wanted to share them with you. So take a look and see what you think about these:
The Life and Times of $crooge McDuck Companion by Don Rosa - As the title states this is a companion to Don Rosa's "Walt Disney's The 
Life and Times of $crooge McDuck" (which I reviewed on my 2/18/08 post). This is really a terrific addition to the previous Graphic Novel in that it presents even more stories of Uncle $crooge's past. These stories are ripe with adventure, intrigue, comedy and much more. The tales are epic in scale and just a blast to read. Some of my favorite stories included "The Vigilante of Pizen Bluff" in which Uncle Scrooge teams up with famous old west figures such as Geronimo, Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley and others against the notorious Dalton Boys; "The Cowboy Captain of the Cutty Sark" in which Cowpoke Uncle Scrooge serves aboard the famous Clipper Ship The Cutty Sark; and "The Dream of a Lifetime" in which the Beagle Boys have stolen a machine that allows them to enter Uncle Scrooge's dreams to find the combination of his safe. All the stories are fun and inventive and just plain fun to read. So give it a chance, I promise you will not be disappointed.
Amelia Rules! What Makes You Happy by Jimmy Gownley - Okay technically this books main character is a girl named Amelia McBride. So I know some of you out 
there are going: "Bill, what are you doing talking about a book with a girl as the main character in the "Boys Rule Boys Read" Blog Site? Well all I can say is I'm doing it because it is a really cool Graphic Novel and does have some guys in it that really make it rule!!!!!!!! Amelia is a 4th grade spitfire, wise-cracking, tomboy whose parents have divorced and she and her Mom have relocated away from New York City. She makes knew friends and faces new challenges throughout this period in her life. Her friends include Reggie (er, I mean Captain Amazing), Rhonda, Pajamaman (really, a kid who spends every waking moment in PJ's), Sunday, Joan, Kyle (or should I say Ninja Kyle), her Aunt Tanner and of course her Mom and Dad. My favorite parts of this Graphic Novel are when Captain Amazing and G.A.S.P (Gathering of Awesome Super Pals) are taking on their dreaded arch-nemesis the Ninjas led by Ninja Kyle. This Graphic Novel is at times laugh out loud fun to very moving. I love this Graphic Novel and all the others in the series. So give it a shot and tell me what you think. If you would like to get some more information on this series checkout www.ameliarules.com/overview.html.
Marvel Adventures Hulk: Misunderstood Monster by Paul Benjamin, David Nakayama and Juan Santacruz - It's the Hulk Baby!!!!!! He's mean, green and ready to cream anybody who messes with him. This Graphic Novel collects the first 4 issues of the comic. I have been a Hulk fan for a long time and the stories included are really great (lots of action and humor). The first story is the origin, naturally, of Bruce Banner becoming the Hulk. The Hulk has friends in Rick Jones, Monkey (who happens to be just that, a monkey) and sorta in Jamie Madrox, The Multiplying Man. He also has more than a few enemies such as General "Thunderbolt" Ross and his Hulkbusters and The Radioactive Man. This really is a fun read so check it out and see: "Hulk Smash!"
Well that's all for now my amigos. Keep this summer fun and be nice to each other,
Bill
Darth Bill (in full
battle suit)
Vs.
The Lagomorph (with restored foot)
Hi, all my many adoring fans (or maybe not), it is I, the Sith with the mostest, Darth Bill once again. I have recovered very nicely from the vicious
"Dictionary Incident" of last week, but all is not well. I am still being stalked by the most fowl Lagomorph. For those of you out there who believe that the monstorious "Bunny" known as the Lagomorph is not real, I have the following video to show you. Take a look at it, then tell me I'm crazy:
Lagomorph
Not that I'm scared or anything (although those teeth are rather large). Well, enough of that, lets talk about great reads.
The Life and Times of $crooge McDuck by Don Rosa – If you are a fan of Uncle Scrooge of Disney Fame and of his famous relatives Donald, Huey, Louie and Dewey, this Graphic Novel is a read that you will really enjoy. In this Graphic Novel we meet Scrooge McDuck when he is but a wee lad living with his parents and two sisters in Scotland. The family is extremely poor, which is a situation Scrooge vows to change and make them all fabulously rich and wealthy. The story tells of how he makes his great fortune. The story follows Scrooge throughout his life as he makes his way to many different places and locales across the globe in the search for his fortune. Some of the many places and jobs he takes are America’s mighty Mississippi as a Riverboat Captain, its Wild, Wild West as a Cowboy, a Prospector in the American West, the wilds of Africa, down under in Australia, the great Klondike and many other locations. Along the way he makes many friends and enemies and also has many grand adventures. This book is great fun and the art work outstanding, so do yourself a favor and give it a read.
The Boy who Dared: A Novel Based on the True Story of a Hitler Youth by Susan Bartoletti – This is an inspiring story about a teenage boy named Helmuth growing up in Germany as Hitler rises to power and the Nazi Regime comes to power. At first Helmuth, his family and friends are inspired and thrilled as Hitler rises to power with promises to the German people of a better life, which has not been that great since the end of World War I in which Germany was a loser. However, things quickly change as Hitler starts persecuting the Jews in Germany, taking away Germans' personal rights, invading surrounding countries and arresting any Germans who speak out about the Nazi Party or himself. When these things start to happen, Helmuth and some of his friends start to stand up to the Nazi Government and the lies it spreads. This is very dangerous as such acts can lead to imprisonment or worse. This story is based on the true story of Helmuth Hubener and does depict some of the very sad things that happen in war and under dictatorships, but it is an important story that should be told.
Well give these books a try and let me know what you think!!!
Take it easy guys and beware the Lagomorph,
Bill
Pleased to see they’re picking up the old WDC&S numbering: that’s an important connector to comics’ past. The title didn’t have whole numbering until #124, when Dell surrendered to whole numbering (as opposed to volume-issue numbering as with other magazines); that was one of the many little moments when publishing comics grew distinct from the rest of magazine publishing.
48 pages for $3.99 is really good value these days! I hope this works out for IDW.
A few points:
Disney licensees do not pay any reprint royalties. There’s less risk for a publisher.
They also have very good archives, making it easier to collect stories. (Much of Fantagraphics Gottfredson archives were already produced in Italy.)
Who controls the digital distribution? Disney has a decent comics app run by Disney Italia.
Looking at the upcoming (12?) titles from Joe’s Books, they seem to be movie and TV properties.
Hermes reprinted Toth’s Zorro strips in 2013, so add them to the list.
Will someone PLEASE print this as a comic book?!? Make it a convention exclusive if necessary!
http://coa.inducks.org/story.php?c=ZT+104
Might we see original Disney comics based on Disney XD properties? IDW seems to know how to create and sell original material based on licensed characters, so why not Star Wars Rebels? Gravity Falls? Wander Over Yonder?
Marvel seems to have kept control of the Disney Kingdoms titles. I expect an Epcot tie-in with Tomorrowland. (The parallel universe looks a lot like Walt’s original plan for the Florida project.)
Marvel could also rework the “Vista/Kingdom Comics” initiative, developing Disney’s live-action heroes into comics series.
(Also… are the Marvel titles produced by Marvel, or by Disney Publishing Worldwide and the Italian studio?)
Here’s hoping some of the Marvel Disney comics from the 90s get collected, whenever Disney reissues a movie. There’s some interesting backstory in Beauty and the Beast.