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Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse in Color
Used, hardcover like new with original mylar dust jacket. Sharp, square, clean & serviceable copy. No highlighting, marginalia or tears. Our copy clean & without the foxing shown in the pictures shown here. A fully fine copy with no apologies. ALOE. THIS COPY IS #2675/3000 COPIES SIGNED BY GOTTFRESON & CARL BARKS !
192 pages, Hardcover
First published November 28, 1988
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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
April 11, 2018
Those who know Mickey only from movies and cartoons are in for a treat. The Mickey Mouse comic strip was one of the treasures of the Golden Age of comics. Yes, there was humor, but there were also thrilling adventures that could hold their own against the likes of Tarzan and Dick Tracy and other adventure strips.
Both “Blaggard Castle” and “Mickey Mouse Outwits the Phantom Blot” are excellent thrillers. The action got so intense in the former, that the newspaper syndicate asked that a sequence be redrawn to avoid frightening readers (sticking up for Floyd Gottfredson, Walt Disney himself politely declined their request.) “The Mail Pilot” is another favorite of mine, with a wonderfully pulp-y premise: air mail planes are disappearing, and then reports come in of a giant spider ... With a little reworking, this could easily be a Doc Savage adventure!
The book also includes a historical essay, an interview with Gottfredson, and an index listing all of the longer continuities that ran in the strip until it permanently shifted to gag-a-day format in 1955. Highly, highly recommended!
Both “Blaggard Castle” and “Mickey Mouse Outwits the Phantom Blot” are excellent thrillers. The action got so intense in the former, that the newspaper syndicate asked that a sequence be redrawn to avoid frightening readers (sticking up for Floyd Gottfredson, Walt Disney himself politely declined their request.) “The Mail Pilot” is another favorite of mine, with a wonderfully pulp-y premise: air mail planes are disappearing, and then reports come in of a giant spider ... With a little reworking, this could easily be a Doc Savage adventure!
The book also includes a historical essay, an interview with Gottfredson, and an index listing all of the longer continuities that ran in the strip until it permanently shifted to gag-a-day format in 1955. Highly, highly recommended!
September 9, 2021
Originally called Mortimer, the Mickey Mouse character was not fully formed when it first appeared. It took several iterations and some time as Mickey morphed into the widely popular character. His personality, attire and companions changed significantly over time. In some ways, he was a typical hero, battling mad scientists, crooks and evil doers. Other times, he was a fun-loving creature that enjoyed his journey through life.
This book is a chronicle of the development of the Mickey Mouse character in the 1930s. The strips from that era appear in true color, showing how Mickey went through his life, braving danger in order to conquer the evil doers. There is also extensive text that explains the background of the character and some of the thought processes that went into the stories. The artists that created the strips are also featured in the textual explanations. The origins of the secondary characters such as Goofy are also explained.
Like so many comic characters, Superman and Batman are two others, Mickey Mouse was created in the 1930’s, when the United States was in the depths of the devastating economic Depression. While some of the situations and language used then now appears quaint, the strips remain entertaining.
This book is a chronicle of the development of the Mickey Mouse character in the 1930s. The strips from that era appear in true color, showing how Mickey went through his life, braving danger in order to conquer the evil doers. There is also extensive text that explains the background of the character and some of the thought processes that went into the stories. The artists that created the strips are also featured in the textual explanations. The origins of the secondary characters such as Goofy are also explained.
Like so many comic characters, Superman and Batman are two others, Mickey Mouse was created in the 1930’s, when the United States was in the depths of the devastating economic Depression. While some of the situations and language used then now appears quaint, the strips remain entertaining.
February 23, 2023
A collection of early Mickey Mouse color comic strips from the 1930s. Most of them are from the Sunday comics, as it was typical for many strips to run an alternative story line for the series on Sundays. They are fun and fast. Mickey is obviously a lot more talky than he is in the cartoons. We can see the evolution of the Disney stable of characters over time. At first, it is just Mickey, Minnie, Clarabella Cow, Horsecollar, and Pegleg Pete, then eventually Pluto shows up, then Donald Duck - looking distinctly different- then Goofy and so on. In my opinion the biggest evolution is in Mickey's appearance, especially in the eyes. They go from perfectly black button eyes to regular eyes, changing the visual range of the character dramatically. While many of the strips have been reprinted in more recent editions, this is still a fun book to have if you can find it for the right price.
October 8, 2017
The new stories I read in this book were pretty good but there were some that I'd read in other books and they were a lot better in those. The other books I've read had titles so you knew what each comic strip page was about but this one didn't. They had a title at the beginning for the main story but then they'd add extra comic strips to the end of the story and not tell you what they're called or that they're a different story so it wouldn't make sense until you realized it wasn't the same story. Overall this book was pretty good but it needed some work to be a great book.
March 28, 2021
This is the story of the Mickey Mouse Comic strips during the 1930's and includes a number of the classic strips from that time.
What was very interesting was that the strips were drawn and created by Floyd Gottfredson and NOT Walt Disney! Floyd actually managed the comic strips for 45 years.
Included is an interview with Floyd where he speaks to the early days at the Disney offices and insights into Walt and others that were the creators and pioneers of the Disney Studios.
The illustrations are exceptional.
What was very interesting was that the strips were drawn and created by Floyd Gottfredson and NOT Walt Disney! Floyd actually managed the comic strips for 45 years.
Included is an interview with Floyd where he speaks to the early days at the Disney offices and insights into Walt and others that were the creators and pioneers of the Disney Studios.
The illustrations are exceptional.
October 29, 2013
This volume reprints several of the stories from the comics, including a few that were in the other collections I’d read, only here in color. One of the stories included is “Mickey Mouse Outwits the Phantom Blot,” which I’d heard about, but hadn’t yet read. The title character is a shadowy figure dressed all in black, who is on a crime spree stealing cheap cameras. Throughout the tale, he places Mickey in several elaborate death traps, always leaving before they can do their work. While the Blot claims he couldn’t kill Mickey directly because of his “soft heart,” apparently the reason behind the scenes was to get past the censors. I wonder if that’s where the cliché of the villain always leaving after setting a trap originates. The Blot is eventually unmasked and turns out to resemble Walt Disney, although he generally wasn’t unmasked in later appearances.
The introduction and the interview with Gottfredson give some interesting information on how the character and the strip developed. It’s pretty well-known that Mickey became less mean over the years, and gradually became more of a straight man. Really, most early cartoon characters were pretty amoral, probably because that made it easier to involve them in gags. The Mickey of the strip was originally conceived as a little guy always having to work his way out of big trouble through his pluck and ingenuity, a “Mouse Against the World,” as Gottfredson called him.
The introduction and the interview with Gottfredson give some interesting information on how the character and the strip developed. It’s pretty well-known that Mickey became less mean over the years, and gradually became more of a straight man. Really, most early cartoon characters were pretty amoral, probably because that made it easier to involve them in gags. The Mickey of the strip was originally conceived as a little guy always having to work his way out of big trouble through his pluck and ingenuity, a “Mouse Against the World,” as Gottfredson called him.
July 17, 2016
Its not a lie to say that Floyd Gottfredson is the best Mickey Mouse artist. And this volume clearly shows why.
Gottfredson's art is amazing. His use of shadows and his ever-changing style make him one of the most versatile cartoon artists I have seen. And seeing his stories in color brings forth even more beauty to the table (some of them were originally in black and white).
But the stories are great too. Particularly "Mickey Outwits the Phantom Blot", which is the first appearance, and in my humble opinion, the best of The Phantom Blot, Disney's most charming and scary villain, a literal Phantom, a master thief, a truly intimidating villain, with a very unique appearance among the disney characters.
This volume doesn't contain the best of Gottfredson in my opinion but it is an amazing collection anyway. Don't think about it. Get this volume.
Gottfredson's art is amazing. His use of shadows and his ever-changing style make him one of the most versatile cartoon artists I have seen. And seeing his stories in color brings forth even more beauty to the table (some of them were originally in black and white).
But the stories are great too. Particularly "Mickey Outwits the Phantom Blot", which is the first appearance, and in my humble opinion, the best of The Phantom Blot, Disney's most charming and scary villain, a literal Phantom, a master thief, a truly intimidating villain, with a very unique appearance among the disney characters.
This volume doesn't contain the best of Gottfredson in my opinion but it is an amazing collection anyway. Don't think about it. Get this volume.
July 8, 2011
Gottfredson has a gift for light-hearted adventure stories, and these are as fine as any I have read. Using a format flexible enough to encompass nearly any genre, westerns, pirates, desert, ghost, and crime stories, he gives each a deft touch in the plotting, characterization, mood, figure drawing, movement, and sheer style. These stories are, therefore, a sheer delight.
July 16, 2015
I read it to my grandkids and it's an awesome cartoon comics style. I enjoy it.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews