Vintage Funnies

Not long ago I got this collection of Vintage Funnies pictured above. Or the lot actually consists of Favorite Funnies 1-12, Golden Funnies 1-15 and Vintage Funnies 16-60, but they are all basically the same thing. Favorite Funnies and Golden Funnies were two different series published at the same time, while Vintage Funnies is just a new name for Golden Funnies. The name changed after #15 and according to comics.org the series lasted up to #100.

Favorite Funnies #1 and Golden Funnies #1

Golden Funnies #15 and Vintage Funnies #16 after the name changed

This newspaper sized series from the 70's reprints old newspaper comic and has everything from Superman to Krazy Kat inside. And from Vintage Funnies #29 the series also has Disney comics.
 

Sunday pages and daily strips in Vintage Funnies

The first three issues had one page with some randomly chosen Sunday pages with Silly Symphony and Mickey Mouse. But after that Vintage Funnies started printing Mickey Mouse daily strips in chronological order, usually with 6 strips (Monday to Saturday) in each issue. The source looks like are newspaper clippings probably from private collections, so the reprint quality is not that good.
 

Editorial text in Vintage Funnies #29

From the editorial text in #29, it sounds like the plan was to reprint the Mickey Mouse daily strips from the beginning, but that didn't happen. The daily strips start in the middle of "Death Valley" with the first half of July 14th, 1930 strip as an introduction and then with the strips chronologically from July 7th, 1930 and onwards. I'm glad I got this print of the introduction strip (at least half of it) because the size is huge compared to the reprint in the Floyd Gottfredson library! There you can barely read the text.

 

Vintage Funnies #32 and the Floyd Gottredson library vol.1

This might only be for people with a special interest, but I made an index of all daily strips up to issue #60. I know the strip continued after this too (if anyone knows for how long please tell)

I used the inducks way to code the different strips, so:

ZS = Silly Symphony Sunday page
ZM = Mickey Mouse Sunday page
YM = Mickey Mouse daily strip

32-07-10 = 1932-July-10th

Issue	Content
29	ZS 32-07-10,ZM 32-07-10
30	ZS 34-01-14,ZM 34-01-14
31	ZS 34-03-25,ZM 34-03-25
32	YM 30-07-14 (first half as intro),YM 30-07-07,YM 30-07-08,YM 30-07-09,YM 30-07-10
33	YM 30-07-11,YM 30-07-12,YM 30-07-16,YM 30-07-17,YM 30-07-18,YM 30-07-19 (half of YM 30-07-14 used as intro in last issue, YM 30-07-15 missing)
34	YM 30-07-21,YM 30-07-22,YM 30-07-23,YM 30-07-24,YM 30-07-25,YM 30-07-26
35	YM 30-07-28,YM 30-07-29,YM 30-07-30,YM 30-07-31,YM 30-08-01,YM 30-08-02
36	YM 30-08-04,YM 30-08-05,YM 30-08-06,YM 30-08-07,YM 30-08-08,YM 30-08-09
37	YM 30-08-11,YM 30-08-12,YM 30-08-13,YM 30-08-14,YM 30-08-15,YM 30-08-16
38	YM 30-08-18,YM 30-08-19,YM 30-08-20,YM 30-08-21,YM 30-08-22,YM 30-08-23
39	YM 30-08-25,YM 30-08-26,YM 30-08-27,YM 30-08-28,YM 30-08-29,YM 30-08-30
40	YM 30-09-01,YM 30-09-02,YM 30-09-03,YM 30-09-04,YM 30-09-05,YM 30-09-06
41	YM 30-09-08,YM 30-09-09,YM 30-09-10,YM 30-09-11,YM 30-09-12,YM 30-09-13
42	YM 30-09-15,YM 30-09-16,YM 30-09-17,YM 30-09-18,YM 30-09-19,YM 30-09-20
43	YM 30-09-22,YM 30-09-23,YM 30-09-24,YM 30-09-25,YM 30-09-26,YM 30-09-27
44	YM 30-09-29,YM 30-09-30,YM 30-10-01,YM 30-10-02,YM 30-10-03,YM 30-10-04
45	YM 30-10-06,YM 30-10-07,YM 30-10-08,YM 30-10-09,YM 30-10-10,YM 30-10-11
46	YM 30-10-13,YM 30-10-14,YM 30-10-15,YM 30-10-16,YM 30-10-17,YM 30-10-18
47	YM 30-10-20,YM 30-10-21,YM 30-10-22,YM 30-10-23,YM 30-10-24,YM 30-10-25
48	YM 30-10-27,YM 30-10-28,YM 30-10-29,YM 30-10-30,YM 30-10-31,YM 30-11-01
49	YM 30-11-03,YM 30-11-04,YM 30-11-05,YM 30-11-06,YM 30-11-07,YM 30-11-08 (part of panel missing)
50	YM 30-11-10,YM 30-11-11,YM 30-11-12,YM 30-11-13,YM 30-11-15 (YM 30-11-14 missing)
51	YM 30-11-17,YM 30-11-18,YM 30-11-19,YM 30-11-20,YM 30-11-21,YM 30-11-22
52	YM 30-11-24,YM 30-11-25,YM 30-11-26,YM 30-11-27,YM 30-11-28,YM 30-11-29
53	YM 30-12-01,YM 30-12-02,YM 30-12-03,YM 30-12-04,YM 30-12-05,YM 30-12-06
54	YM 30-12-08,YM 30-12-09,YM 30-12-10,YM 30-12-11,YM 30-12-12,YM 30-12-13
55	YM 30-12-15,YM 30-12-16,YM 30-12-17,YM 30-12-18,YM 30-12-19,YM 30-12-20
56	YM 30-12-23,YM 30-12-24,YM 30-12-25,YM 30-12-26,YM 30-12-27 (YM 30-12-22 missing)
57	YM 31-01-05,YM 31-01-06,YM 31-01-07,YM 31-01-08,YM 31-01-09,YM 31-01-10 (worng order, should have been printed in next issue)
58	YM 30-12-29,YM 30-12-30,YM 30-12-31,YM 31-01-01,YM 31-01-02,YM 31-01-03 (worng order, should have been printed in the previous issue)
59	YM 31-01-12,YM 31-01-13,YM 31-01-14,YM 31-01-15,YM 31-01-16,YM 31-01-17
60	YM 31-01-19,YM 31-01-20,YM 31-01-21,YM 31-01-22,YM 31-01-23,YM 31-01-24

As you can see there are some strips missing in-between, and it looks like one of the source clippings had a tear. So in addition to the bad reproduction quality this is not the collection to get if you want to read a full run of the strips. For that I recommend the Floyd Gottfredson library published by Fantagraphics.

YM 30-11-14 missing in #50 (not the 13th as the note say)

YM 30-12-22 missing in #56

Part of the panel is missing in the source used in #49

 

When making the index I actually used the Fantagraphics book as a guide to easily spot if something was missing. And by doing that I noticed something interesting that was missing in the book too! The end caption panel in the YM 30-12-06 strip is actually missing in the Fantagraphics collection.
 

YM 30-12-06 in the Floyd Gottfredson library vol.1 (top) and Vintage Funnies #53 (bottom)

To get the strip the same size as the rest it looks like the entire strip is scaled in width, so the proportion in the book is all wrong too compared to the original. It's easier to notice this by comparing the first two panels to the strip the day before. They should be about the same size, but as you can see in the picture above they are not in the Fantagraphics book.

I've seen scans from the German "Comic Buch Club" edition and I have the same strip in the British Disney Mirror #149. Both have the missing caption panel, so it couldn't have been that hard to find a source with it when compiling the book.

How the YM 30-12-06 strip originally looked (clickt to enlarge)

Mickey's debut in the Derby Daily Telegraph

From the Derby Daily Telegraph, March 17, 1930

The first daily strip serial with Mickey Mouse started March 17, 1930 in the British Derby Daily Telegraph. Only two months after the first American print, it might be one of the first British newspapers to have the Mickey strips.

Before the first comic strip, the newspaper was advertising the adventures of Mickey and his wife Minnie for more than a week.

From the Derby Daily Telegraph, March 8, 1930

In the same newspaper as the first strip, they also got a little bonus comic on the last page. Probably made by a local illustrator they got the adventures of Mickey Taxed, "with apologies to the creator of Mickey Mouse". I'm not sure if the caricature comic is referring to a recent event or just generally to the Great Depression and economic situation at the time. But the person on the last panel is probably a caricature of a politician (didn't manage to find out who).
 

From the Derby Daily Telegraph, March 17, 1930

Collection of Mickey Mouse strips from Club Anni Trenta

On a Norwegian auction site I recently saw the book pictured above as part of a lot. Only the blue cover with "Mickey Mouse" was shown with no additional details, so I had no idea what book this was. When trying to find out my curiosity grew more and more, and in the end I just had to make a bid! Well, now I have the book in my hands and can solve the mystery.

Illustration in the beginning of the book

I half suspected it was a privately bound book or hoping it was one of the early rare bound edition of the German Floyd Gottfredson collection (from before the Comic Buch Club portfolio edition). It turned out to be something else, but it’s still a rare book I believe.

First page with comics

Last page with comics

The book is a collection of all 1932 daily strips with Mickey Mouse except the Blaggard Castle ones starting Nov. 12 and onwards. All strips have the original English dialogue, but the book is published by the Italian Club "Anni Trenta" probably in 1971.

Copyright text, click image to enlarge

On the copyright page we can read:

Copie in tiratura limitatissima, strettamente riservate ai Soci che se ne ripartiscono le spese, di cui è vietata la vendita in edicola e librerie.

I’m not going to even try my own translation, by this is the exact text google translate say:

In limited edition copies, strictly reserved to the shareholders that they share the expenses, which are prohibited from sale in newsstands and bookstores.

So it sounds like the book is only published and distributed to the members of the club, and was not for sale in any bookshops.

Inside the book

Searching the web I found some more information. According to a forum post on papersera.net a softcover edition with a white cover and the cover title "Mickey Mouse 1932" also exist.

And according to a post on another forum some copies have a stamp inside (my copy does not).

Image from the Collezionismo Fumetti forum

Image from an eBay listing

I think the stamp say something about this being an edition out of print, a free copy (not for sale) and it’s for educational purpose, almost like the text on the copyright page.

It’s a really nice book, and the printing quality is good too. And the strips are printed a lot larger than in the Fantagraphics collection.
 

Fantagrapics' Floyd Gottfredson collection vol.2 (top) and the Club "Anni Trenta" book (bottom)

Return of the Gneezles in "Second Childhood at Gneezle Gnob"

Mickey Mouse in Second Childhood at Gneezle Gnob

Do you remember the Gneezles from "Mystery of the Swamp" by Carl Barks? If not, you should go read or re-read this old classic, because now they are back – in a Mickey story!

"Second Childhood at Gneezle Gnob" is written by Ivan Saidenberg and drawn by Roberto O. Fukue, both creators that worked for Brazilian Editora Abril. Originally published in 1981, the story is now finally published in a language I can read, and can be found in this month’s Mickey Mouse #11 (320) from IDW.
 

IDW's Mickey Mouse #11 (320) - regular and subscription covers

The original Brazilian printing of this story also had a dedicated cover. But for some reason the Gneezles are colored blue looking like Smurfs on the cover...

 

Cover of Brazilian Mickey #348 (1981)

According to Ivan Saidenberg’s daughter, the writer was a big fan of Eega Beeva and even got a nickname after the character while at school. But he probably liked Carl Barks’ stories a lot too, because "Second Childhood at Gneezle Gnob" is a real tribute story with a lot of ideas taken from "Mystery of the Swamp". Not only do we get to meet the gnome looking Gneezles again, we also have some of the same gags and scenery as in the original. It’s still a different story though and not a remake of Barks’ story.

The Gneezles still use an alligator skin for hiding.
 

From "Mystery of the Swamp" (left) and "Second Childhood at Gneezle Gnob" (right)

The same traps works just as well as when the ducks were roaming around the swamps.

From "Mystery of the Swamp" (left) and "Second Childhood at Gneezle Gnob" (right)

We see Gnasty Face on top of the temple in Gneezle Gnob.
 

From "Mystery of the Swamp" (left) and "Second Childhood at Gneezle Gnob" (right)

And the swellers are still looking for a fight.

From "Mystery of the Swamp" (left) and "Second Childhood at Gneezle Gnob" (right)

In the original story it sounds like the Gneezles have been living for hundreds of years. If you wonder how, we might actually get the answer to that in "Second Childhood at Gneezle Gnob"!

From "Mystery of the Swamp"

I'm not going to spoil the story by going into more details, but I have to say I enjoyed this story a lot! Yes, there are a lot of similarities and re-used ideas from Carl Barks’ story, but that doesn’t matter. I look at this as a tribute story, and it was fun reading about those pesky swamp dwellers again. As I've said before, I think it’s great that IDW find some of the more uncommon but still interesting stories to publish. Together with the Eurasia story, Mickey Mouse #11 have something for both new and longtime Disney comics fans.

IDW’s Mickey Mouse logo

It’s time for a random blogpost. A comment on my last post made me pull out Mickey Mouse #292 from the archive (aka. comic collection). Sooo what does MM #292 and MM #310 have in common?
 

Mickey Mouse #292 and Mickey Mouse #310

#310 is the first issue of IDW’s Mickey Mouse run, and also the first time the current Mickey Mouse logo was used on the cover. But it’s not the first time it is used in the comics! Inside #292 the logo is used for the story "The Incredible Black Comet".
 

Inside Mickey Mouse #292

I might be completely wrong about this [just a little, check the comments], but I believe this is the first time it is used as a comic story/comic issue logo. But originally the logo is way older. It’s taken from a 1928 poster, and the logo is (kind of) a compressed version of the opening screen on the very first Mickey cartoons.

The Floyd Gottfredson Library volume 7 & 8

I like to get the box sets of the Floyd Gottfredson Library from Fantagraphics, and usually I get them in the mail right before Christmas. This year however I didn’t get them until after I got home from the holiday vacation, so I still haven’t found the time to read all of it. But from what I’ve read so far I have just one thing to say; you need to get these books now!
 
The 4th box set collects all the daily Mickey strips from May 1942 to July 1946, and as usual the books are packed with articles and bonus material.
 
The highlight from what I’ve read so far are the rare gag-a-day strips made for British newspapers. I had no idea they even existed! As the British newspapers ran the daily strips seven days a week instead of 6 days a week, 11 filler strips were made. They re-used art from previous adventure strips to make new gag stories, and it’s a lot of fun trying to compare the art.
 
Here is one example. The following two panels are from the British filler strip, published July 13, 1930.

 

The art is from 3 different panels in "Mickey Mouse In Death Valley” (found in Floyd Gottfredson library vol.1)

Among all the goodies in this box set is an "Appreciation by Casty" article.  The article is illustrated with two great covers made for the Norwegian "Mikke Mus & Langbein" ("Mickey Mouse & Goofy") Christmas comics.

 

But the cover for "The Black Crow Mystery" printed in the book is actually not the version used in Norway! As you can see on the picture of the two comics in question, in the published cover the crow holds a club, while in the illustration used in the book he has a bomb instead.

 

Norwegian Christmas comics with Casty covers

I might come back to this box set in a future blogpost. But I’ll end this one with a side note.

There’s also an "Appreciation by Cavazzano" article in volume 8, illustrated with a cover drawing from Topolino.

But did you know that this cover was almost used for an American comic too? The planned but canceled Walt Disney’s Comics #720 from Boom! was supposed to have the cover and the story "Topolino e il surreale viaggio nel destino" (featuring Walt Disney and Salvador Dali). According to the article the English title is "The Persistence of Mickey", but as far as I know no English translation has been published yet. If any archival editors (hint hint) read this, I hope we get to see it some day!

Planned but canceled issue of Walt Disney's Comics

Mickey's birthday in the daily newspaper strips

Today is Mickey’s birthday, isn’t it? Well, now days the birthday is considered to be November 18, 1928, the day of the "Steamboat Willie" premiere. But according to the daily newspaper strips in 1935, September 28 is the big day!

The event starts with an ad in the newspapers a few days before:

The ad is accompanied with a short article, telling us there will be a birthday party in the comic strip September 28th. And then the article goes on with a lot of bragging, so this is probably written by Disney’s publicity department. The scans below are from Sarasota Herald, September 26, 1935.

From Sarasota Herald, September 26, 1935

From Sarasota Herald, September 26, 1935

The birthday party is made as an epilog of the Gottfredson story "Race for Riches" (found in the Floyd Gottfredson Library vol.3). The story pretty much ends September 26., and the next strip takes place sometime later when Mickey & Co. is back home again. We can see Mickey hinting about his party at the end of the September 27 strip.

Mickey Mouse daily strip, September 27, 1935 - drawn by Floyd Gottfredson

And then on September 28, we finally get the big party.

Mickey Mouse daily strip, September 28, 1935 - drawn by Floyd Gottfredson

I’ve tried to do a little research into why they used this date. Is it a story behind, or did they just randomly choose one. Maybe it’s simply because "Race for Riches" ended at this point, and a comic strip celebration could be done in-between the next daily strip serial.

I got some clues in "A Mickey Mouse Reader", which I bought earlier this year. It’s a great collection of essays about Mickey Mouse, and highly recommended!

"A Mickey Mouse Reader" (2014), edited by Garry Apgar

On pg.4 we can read "Animation on Steamboat Willie was completed by late August 1928. The soundtrack was recorded on September 30^th. Which is why, throughout the 1930s, the studio fêted Mickey’s birthday on or about October 1st. In the 1970s, The Walt Disney Company began celebrating the event on November 18^th, since it was on that date in 1928 that Willie premiered […]"

On pg.128 in the same book, there’s a transcript from an article by Cholly Wood titled "Mickey Mouse is 7 Years Old Today". It was originally printed in Bridgeport Sunday Herald, September 29, 1935. I.e. the day after the birthday comic strip. 

About Mickey Mouse, the article say "The earth-spanning sprite was born—a few bold, humorous strokes on a sheet of clean paper—out of the imagination of Walt Disney, on Sept. 28, 1929"

I don’t know if 1929 is a typo in the transcript or in the original article, but it should probably be 1928. Or Mickey would be 6 years and not 7 as the title says. But still, we know that this is not true. Work on Plane Crazy (with Mickey) was done in the early 1928, and according to various Walt Disney biographies, he got the idea for Mickey during a train ride in 1927. And who actually did the character design for Mickey Mouse has been the subject for debate, some sources suggest it was mostly Ub Iwerks. But I’m not going to go more into that here. It would be interesting to know what source Cholly Wood had for the date "September 28" though. But I suspect it's just from a 1935 press release similar to the piece that was printed in Sarasota Herald.

Also, while doing some searching in online newspaper archives I found this article in The Ledger, September 10, 1978. Up to this date Nevada Library had been celebrating the birthday on September 19th.

From "The Ledger", September 10, 1978

If anyone know more about this, or can point me to sources for information about the celebration of Mickey’s birthday, please make a comment!

Update October 4, 2015

Mickey's 7th birthday was not only celebrated in the USA and in the newspaper strip. The British magazine Person's Weekly had a two page article about Mickey's birtdhay in the October 5, 1935 issue.

Person's Weekly No.2358, October 5, 1935

The most interesting part is the introduction:

The most famous mouse in the world celebrates his seventh birthday on September 28. In this country it is being held on October 1st. Mickey programmes will be shown in many cinemas; several firms selling Mickey Mouse products are conducting campaigns; and the B.B.C. is broadcasting a Mickey programme.

So it sounds like a big celebration was held in the U.K. October 1st, 1935. I wonder if a surviving recording of the BBC program exists, that would be fun to hear!

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)