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Mickey Mouse: The Greatest Adventures
Who knew? Way back in comics’ Golden Age, Mickey Mouse wasn’t just a cartoon star—he was a death-defying, crime-stopping, daily strip hero! Dive into this book and see Mickey race to a Wild West gold mine with Pegleg Pete, battle the evil Rhyming Man for an atom-smashing machine, and stop a horrible hypnotist from hexing half of Mouseton. And that’s just the start! Fantagraphics is celebrating 90 years of Mickey Mouse’s adventures by assembling the best stories from its 14-volume Floyd Gottfredson Mickey Mouse series. In this spectacular popular edition there are several extra-wild, extra-beloved adventure stories embellished with beautiful modern color and re-formatted for an easy read: “Mickey Mouse in Death Valley,” “The Gleam” and more!
- GenresComics
314 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 5, 2018
18 people are currently reading
11 people want to read
About the author
Floyd Gottfredson
257 books40 followersArthur Floyd Gottfredson (1905-1986) was an American cartoonist. He is known for his defining work on the Mickey Mouse newspaper strip, which he drew from 1929 to 1975, and mostly plotted himself from 1929 to 1945. His impact on the character of Mickey Mouse is often compared to the one that cartoonist Carl Barks had on Donald Duck. Because of the large international circulation of his strips, reprinted for decades in some European countries like Italy and France, Gottfredson can be seen as one of the most influential cartoonists of the 20th century. Many groundbreaking comic book artists, like Carl Barks and Osamu Tezuka, declared to have been inspired by his work.
Floyd Gottfredson grew up in a Mormon family from Utah. He started drawing as a kid on doctor's advice, as a form of rehabilitation after a sever injury, which left his dominant arm partially disabled for life. After taking some cartooning correspondence courses, teenage Floyd secured a job as cartoonist for the Salt Lake City Telegram.
At age 23, Floyd moved to California with his wife and family. He interviewed at the Disney Studios, hoping to land a position as a comic strip artist, but was hired as in-between animator instead. In that period writer Walt Disney and artist Ub Iwerks were starting a series of daily syndicated newspaper comic strips featuring Mickey Mouse, the character the two had created for animation the year before. A few months into the publication of the strips however, Iwerks left the Studios. Walt decided then to promote Gottfredson to the role of Mickey Mouse strip penciler, remembering his original request at the job interview. Not long after that, Disney left the entire process of creation of the strip to Gottfredson, who would eventually become head of a small 'comic strips department' within the Disney Studios.
Up to 1955, Mickey's strips were 'continuity adventures': the strips were not just self-contained gags, but they composed long stories that would stretch in the newspapers for months. In this context, Gottfredson had to developed Mickey's personality way beyond his animation counterpart. He made him an adventurer and multi-tasking hero, putting him in all kind of settings and genre-parodies: thriller, sci-fi, urban comedy, adventure in exotic lands, war stories, western, and so on.
Gottfredson scripted the stories on his own for a few years, only getting help for the inking part of the process. (Most notably by Al Taliaferro, who will become himself the main artist on the Silly Symphonies and Donald Duck syndicated strips.) Starting from around 1932, Gottfredson worked with various writers, mostly Ted Osbourne and Merril deMarris, who provided scripts for the strips, while Floyd retained the role of plotter and penciler. Starting from 1945, Gottfredson left all writing duties to writer Bill Wash.
In 1955, by request of the Syndicate, Mickey Mouse strips stopped being continuous stories, and became self-contained gag. Gottfredson would remain in his role of strip artist for twenty more years, up to his retirement in 1975.
Gottfredson died in 1986, with his achievements going mostly unknown to the larger American public (as his strips were technically all signed 'Walt Disney').
In 2006, twenty years after his death, Floyd Gottfredson was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards Hall of Fame.
Floyd Gottfredson grew up in a Mormon family from Utah. He started drawing as a kid on doctor's advice, as a form of rehabilitation after a sever injury, which left his dominant arm partially disabled for life. After taking some cartooning correspondence courses, teenage Floyd secured a job as cartoonist for the Salt Lake City Telegram.
At age 23, Floyd moved to California with his wife and family. He interviewed at the Disney Studios, hoping to land a position as a comic strip artist, but was hired as in-between animator instead. In that period writer Walt Disney and artist Ub Iwerks were starting a series of daily syndicated newspaper comic strips featuring Mickey Mouse, the character the two had created for animation the year before. A few months into the publication of the strips however, Iwerks left the Studios. Walt decided then to promote Gottfredson to the role of Mickey Mouse strip penciler, remembering his original request at the job interview. Not long after that, Disney left the entire process of creation of the strip to Gottfredson, who would eventually become head of a small 'comic strips department' within the Disney Studios.
Up to 1955, Mickey's strips were 'continuity adventures': the strips were not just self-contained gags, but they composed long stories that would stretch in the newspapers for months. In this context, Gottfredson had to developed Mickey's personality way beyond his animation counterpart. He made him an adventurer and multi-tasking hero, putting him in all kind of settings and genre-parodies: thriller, sci-fi, urban comedy, adventure in exotic lands, war stories, western, and so on.
Gottfredson scripted the stories on his own for a few years, only getting help for the inking part of the process. (Most notably by Al Taliaferro, who will become himself the main artist on the Silly Symphonies and Donald Duck syndicated strips.) Starting from around 1932, Gottfredson worked with various writers, mostly Ted Osbourne and Merril deMarris, who provided scripts for the strips, while Floyd retained the role of plotter and penciler. Starting from 1945, Gottfredson left all writing duties to writer Bill Wash.
In 1955, by request of the Syndicate, Mickey Mouse strips stopped being continuous stories, and became self-contained gag. Gottfredson would remain in his role of strip artist for twenty more years, up to his retirement in 1975.
Gottfredson died in 1986, with his achievements going mostly unknown to the larger American public (as his strips were technically all signed 'Walt Disney').
In 2006, twenty years after his death, Floyd Gottfredson was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards Hall of Fame.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 17, 2023
This book collects 5 Mickey Mouse serials drawn by Floyd Gottfredson. Originally black-and-white newspaper strips, they have been digitally colored and reoriented into a vertical page layout. The color aids readability and adds some zing. Not really necessary, but it’s interesting to see. Cutting up and rearranging the panels is less successful and I would have preferred the strip format had been preserved.
The stories cover the range of Gottfredson’s Mickey serials (he continued drawing daily gags into the 70s) from 1930’s Race to Death Valley, his first Mickey strip, to Island in the Sky 1936, the Gleam 1942, Atombrella and the Rhyming Man 1948, and Mickey’s Dangerous Double 1953.
If this were truly “Mickey’s Greatest Adventures,” all the stories would come from the mid to late 30s. Gottfredson reaches his peak as an artist in that period, and falls off sharply afterwards, with the writing degenerating in tandem.
Race to Death Valley is a charming gem, featuring a rough and tumble Mickey who curses, drinks beer, wishes death upon his enemies, wields a gun, lies, cheats, and insults his friends. He’s full of personality and mischief, a sharp contrast to the anodyne character he was to become. The art is simplified, constructed from circles and tubes reflecting the contemporaneous rubber-hose style of animation. Nonetheless, Gottfredson manages to get a ton of life and movement into the characters.
Next, Island in the Sky. This is the book’s highlight. The art is truly remarkable — palpably robust, everything has weight, solidity. You can feel the force of movement, the line of action. The construction is bold, elegant, forceful. The posing and character performances are expressive and naturalistic. You can almost see the characters moving as though they were animated. (Gottfredson, like Barks, started at Disney as an animator). This is also the best story, well structured with a compelling mystery and an interesting moral dilemma.
The Gleam is a big step down from those lofty heights. The story is predictable, dull, illogical, and repetitive. Mickey is now a dope, no longer a rascal, nor a plucky adventurer. The art has gotten sloppy. Less naturalistic, less dimensional. But it gets far worse.
The Atombrella is a dreadful tale, penned by Bill Walsh, and featuring his creation, Eega Beeva, a little dweeb from the future with a big nose who begins every word with “p”. Don’t ask why, because none of this makes any sense. The story is a haphazard mess of stupid gags — with rhyme, but without reason. The art is becoming untethered from reality — drifting from the solid animation principles that informed the early work and venturing off into realms of abstract design. Posing is jumbled, confused, and angular, no longer suggesting motion. Limbs go this way and that, like those of bugs crushed beneath a fly-swatter. The characters lack a sense of space and balance, standing at odd angles as though bowling pins about to topple.
The last story is more of the same. The plot is improvisatory nonsense, without proper setup and payoff. The art is sloppier than ever, with off-model faces and bizarre perspective distortions.
Beyond the main stories, there are also a couple shorts, but they follow the same quality trajectory.
The stories cover the range of Gottfredson’s Mickey serials (he continued drawing daily gags into the 70s) from 1930’s Race to Death Valley, his first Mickey strip, to Island in the Sky 1936, the Gleam 1942, Atombrella and the Rhyming Man 1948, and Mickey’s Dangerous Double 1953.
If this were truly “Mickey’s Greatest Adventures,” all the stories would come from the mid to late 30s. Gottfredson reaches his peak as an artist in that period, and falls off sharply afterwards, with the writing degenerating in tandem.
Race to Death Valley is a charming gem, featuring a rough and tumble Mickey who curses, drinks beer, wishes death upon his enemies, wields a gun, lies, cheats, and insults his friends. He’s full of personality and mischief, a sharp contrast to the anodyne character he was to become. The art is simplified, constructed from circles and tubes reflecting the contemporaneous rubber-hose style of animation. Nonetheless, Gottfredson manages to get a ton of life and movement into the characters.
Next, Island in the Sky. This is the book’s highlight. The art is truly remarkable — palpably robust, everything has weight, solidity. You can feel the force of movement, the line of action. The construction is bold, elegant, forceful. The posing and character performances are expressive and naturalistic. You can almost see the characters moving as though they were animated. (Gottfredson, like Barks, started at Disney as an animator). This is also the best story, well structured with a compelling mystery and an interesting moral dilemma.
The Gleam is a big step down from those lofty heights. The story is predictable, dull, illogical, and repetitive. Mickey is now a dope, no longer a rascal, nor a plucky adventurer. The art has gotten sloppy. Less naturalistic, less dimensional. But it gets far worse.
The Atombrella is a dreadful tale, penned by Bill Walsh, and featuring his creation, Eega Beeva, a little dweeb from the future with a big nose who begins every word with “p”. Don’t ask why, because none of this makes any sense. The story is a haphazard mess of stupid gags — with rhyme, but without reason. The art is becoming untethered from reality — drifting from the solid animation principles that informed the early work and venturing off into realms of abstract design. Posing is jumbled, confused, and angular, no longer suggesting motion. Limbs go this way and that, like those of bugs crushed beneath a fly-swatter. The characters lack a sense of space and balance, standing at odd angles as though bowling pins about to topple.
The last story is more of the same. The plot is improvisatory nonsense, without proper setup and payoff. The art is sloppier than ever, with off-model faces and bizarre perspective distortions.
Beyond the main stories, there are also a couple shorts, but they follow the same quality trajectory.
June 2, 2019
The first story in this volume, "Mickey Mouse in Death Valley," is pretty good. Close examination of the fine print -- this information does not appear, though it ought to, in the table of contents -- eventually exposes the facts that (a) this was Floyd Gottfredson's first Mickey Mouse story and (b) its original publication was as a DAILY comic strip in 1930. It turns out that all the comics in this volume of so-called "Greatest Adventures" were newspaper dailies. A reader would be hard pressed to guess this was the case because they've all been colored by modern colorists. Once you realize that they're dailies and not Sundays, the putt-putt-putt-hmm rhythm of the four-panel grind is laid bare and the reason there's so, so much wandering around before you get to a new plot point starts to make a little sense.
But except for "Death Valley," the only tale in the book that has any kind of business at all riding under the banner of "Greatest Adventures," it doesn't make for even a pretty good story.
But except for "Death Valley," the only tale in the book that has any kind of business at all riding under the banner of "Greatest Adventures," it doesn't make for even a pretty good story.
August 7, 2022
These stories were originally newspaper strips which helps explain the slow pacing and repetitive nature. The strips are rearranged into a comic book layout which makes for some jarring transitions which would have been less glaring in a strip format. The first story lasts about 100 pages which is about 60 pages more than the story calls for since there's a lot of the same gag repeated over and over. The worst was a story about Eega Beeva, a gimmick character who pronounces ever word with a "p" at the start. There's better Mickey comics out there.
March 5, 2019
I really enjoyed this collection of Mickey stories. I wish Gottfredson was as celebrated as Carl Barks! I was a little surprised this collection didn't include "Mickey Mouse Outwits the Phantom Blot" since it is one of the most celebrated and popular Mickey adventures, but that could be why it's not here... Wanted to put other stories in the spotlight. "Race to Death Valley" was my favorite story of the bunch, and the Eega Beeva one was my least favorite.
June 9, 2019
While the stories may not hold up as well to read in one sitting, as the pacing is very much start-and-stop style to fit the original newspaper serial format, the comics are interesting to read from a historical perspective. If you've ever wanted to see (an official version of) Mickey Mouse say "jackass" a few times or see Goofy entrusted with a straight-up handgun, this is the book to check out!
Also, fair warning: Eega Beeva is featured in this collection.
Also, fair warning: Eega Beeva is featured in this collection.
October 12, 2024
At the end of the read, it was fun. A snapshot of vintage cartoon in the old daze of newspapers when cartoons were really important and big. Great on the Fire looking at a frame at a time. Nice color job.
Yes some adventures are better than others. Yes they show their age. But hey if you want a cheap way to see some old Mickey, especially on Comixology Unlimited, this is a good way to do it. Whats the old gag about videos, worth the rental.
Yes some adventures are better than others. Yes they show their age. But hey if you want a cheap way to see some old Mickey, especially on Comixology Unlimited, this is a good way to do it. Whats the old gag about videos, worth the rental.
April 30, 2021
As a huge fan of the Mickey Mouse newspaper strips of Gottfredson and co.
I am a bit baffled with the selection of the stories. They aren't really bad stories but the '' greatest '' is stretching it. Death Valley is Gottfredson's first strips and it shows because Gottfredson'a art and plot is unpolished compared to his amazing follow ups. That said, this book has stories that are representative of almost every era of the adventure strip and maybe that was the intention, but the title really doesn't match the intent.
Recommended as a cheap alternative to Fantagraphics' Mickey Mouse collection. *
*For those who like what they see in here check Fantagraphics' Volume 4-6 of the Mickey Mouse Collection for the actual greatest adventures.
I am a bit baffled with the selection of the stories. They aren't really bad stories but the '' greatest '' is stretching it. Death Valley is Gottfredson's first strips and it shows because Gottfredson'a art and plot is unpolished compared to his amazing follow ups. That said, this book has stories that are representative of almost every era of the adventure strip and maybe that was the intention, but the title really doesn't match the intent.
Recommended as a cheap alternative to Fantagraphics' Mickey Mouse collection. *
*For those who like what they see in here check Fantagraphics' Volume 4-6 of the Mickey Mouse Collection for the actual greatest adventures.
April 29, 2021
Mickey Mouse's Carl Barks, Floyd made Mickey popular & defined his character for what should be generations as a plucky, adventurous, and funny Mouse. Love Floyd as I do Carl & Don Rosa. Best stories you could ever hope for. Read 'em. Enjoy 'em. Share 'em.
November 28, 2022
Really enjoyed the early stories but as it progresses through the eras I enjoyed it less.
Still, I’ll never buy the complete collections of the later era strips so I enjoyed this sampling.
Added bonus, this was fun to read to my 6 year old who loved it.
Still, I’ll never buy the complete collections of the later era strips so I enjoyed this sampling.
Added bonus, this was fun to read to my 6 year old who loved it.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews