Review by Ian Keogh
This well curated dream collection of comics based on Disney characters was first issued in a limited edition hardcover only available through Target stores, but the 2024 slipcased edition is definitive and with 72 pages of extra content. As the title suggests, the selection encompasses material from many different countries, and is unusual for Disney comics compilations for looking beyond Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse and Uncle Scrooge, although they predominate. The same can’t be said for major creators Carl Barks and Floyd Gottfredson, who’re part of a far more catholic selection, although at forty pages, Gottfredson’s is the longest feature.
The content is separated into decades, each section starting with an introductory article from curator, and often translator, David Gerstein, occasionally with a collaborator. Although the opening is 1923, when Disney Brothers Studio was founded, the first comics are the earliest Mickey Mouse newspaper outings produced by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks for 1930 publication. The earliest foreign material is Italian Guglielmo Guastaveglia’s 1931 Mickey strip, and that older work is wildly imaginative comics that the more conservative Disney organisation of today would surely rule out as off message.
A delight of the foreign material is seeing how other countries have developed their own supporting characters who’ve later become main players, although in very limited territories. Bill Walsh and Manuel Gonzales introduced Ellsworth the genius mynah bird in Mickey’s US Sunday strip. He’s long forgotten in the USA, but a solo star in Italy where Tony Strobl’s run of Uncle Scrooge stories featuring him running a newspaper are gospel, while Donald Duck regularly features as Super Duck. Parrot José Carioca is represented by a story from his long-running Brazilian series, and other strips were first published in Denmark, Germany, Indonesia, Netherlands, Poland, the UK and Yugoslavia, although frequently by American creators producing work for overseas markets. The more interesting features are when European creators such as the team of Danish writer Freddie Milton and Dutch artists Daan Jippes are let loose on the characters.
Another interesting creator is Romano Scarpa, here working with Italian colleague Guido Martina on a delightful fantasy quest starring the seven dwarves from 1959. It’s surprising, though, how consistent the artwork is over the decades. There’s a settling in period over the first decade or so, and thereafter while slight stylistic differences occur, there are no great departures from template until the 21st century. James Silvani’s cartooning for Darkwing Duck stands out, as do the expressive layouts provided by Emilio Urbano for Duck Tales outing ‘Spies Like Us’.
Perhaps the only reservation about an admirable curation is the luxurious format for collectors. Every single one of these creators was producing comics to entertain children, not something to be admired by aesthetes and deconstructed by critics. A more affordable format could reawaken some interest in classic characters among English speaking youngsters.
