Thanks for your patience (whew!). I can reveal a little more now that some things have finally been greenlit.
WDCS is becoming a quarterly (at least for now) with 48 pages. At present, the plan is to run extra-long stories in here, like the pair of linked Donald TNT stories that start in WDCS 739 (not exactly a serial, but closely connected). Shorter stories in the back will feature some of the traditional WDCS players who couldn't be anywhere else (i. e. Zeke Wolf).
DONALD AND MICKEY, replacing Donald's and Mickey's solo titles (again, at least for now), will also be a 48-page quarterly, this one containing (generally) shorter stories. We've already got some Casty and Van Horn slotted in here.
A new monthly, 32-page one-shot title, to start in September, will feature more modern Italian material with all kinds of Duckburg and Mouseton characters—there will be devoted all-Donald and all-Mickey issues, but we can also try some unexpected twists.
And UNCLE SCROOGE will remain a 32-page monthly, though likely with more Egmont, Dutch, S-coded, and earlier Italian content now that we have another place for Italy's modern stuff.
Most months will have SCROOGE, a one-shot, and a (WDCS or DDMM) quarterly. Every third month, where there's no quarterly, we'll sometimes have a special—we're planning another CHRISTMAS PARADE for December.
Hmm. I have mixed feelings about this, but I understand it from a business standpoint. I hate to see Duck Avenger, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck go, but I guess that's how it needs to be. I'll miss the monthly Mickey Mouse book the most. On the plus side, it's good to see Uncle Scrooge sticking around, as well as Donald and Mickey in the new quarterly book. The one-shot series sounds interesting. Despite the decrease in frequency, getting a Walt Disney's Comics and Stories with more pages sounds promising. And of course I'm happy to see one of my personal favorite annuals returning, Christmas Parade.
Some might not expect it of a Gottfredson, Fethry, and Zeke Wolf junkie like myself—but PKNA (our Duck Avenger) is one of my favorite Disney comics; and even so, my fandom isn't a patch on that of Jonathan Gray, who has done—in my opinion—a first-rate job of translating and Americanizing the series.
Jon had long wanted to bring PKNA here. The main reason it hadn't happened sooner is that first, it was necessary to establish the original 1960s Duck Avenger continuity. IDW was glad to oblige us both.
When handled right, PKNA can be at once futuristic, dramatic, thoughtful, and crazy without losing the ambience of a "real" Donald Duck adventure. Speaking for myself, I'd like to see more of the stories done Jon's way if another opportunity should come.
Personally I dont care much as I learned italian this year(like I had a premonition of impending doom) but I can not understand how can it be that italy can have practically a dozen 200 pagers a month while america cant have 4 tiny 40pagers. Why cant disney comics in america last for more than a couple of years? What if you didnt publish paperbacks and hardcovers, would it then be viable? If I had to choose one title that would be published regularly I would choose wdcs as it can showcase all the characters, if it had 64 pages like back in the day and if it was only regular publication it would still be cool and something nice to collect.
I can not understand how can it be that italy can have practically a dozen 200 pagers a month while america cant have 4 tiny 40pagers.
In addition to the reasons discussed in the thread How well do Disney comics sell?, there's the fact that Disney's marketing in America in regards to comics just sucks. I mean, in Italy even people who don't buy Disney comics know that they exist, while in America there is a potential audience who maybe would even buy them if only could know that they exist. Also, I often heard that Disney shops in the USA sometimes don't even display these comics!
I'm not saying that a better marketing would raise sales figures to 3 million copies per issue as they were in the early 1950's (it's clearly impossible for a multitude of reasons) but surely it would help.
Last Edit: May 7, 2017 14:20:32 GMT by drakeborough
Thanks much for the update, David. I like the longer formats for WDCS and DDMM, and the one-shots could be fun. Good luck with the fruit-basket-upset of all your longterm plans for scheduling stories, yikes! I wonder whether the Vito Stabile stories featuring Dickie Duck will now end up in a one-shot rather than in Uncle $crooge. It could be neat to have a Dickie-focused one-shot. In general, though, I personally usually enjoy the Dutch and Egmont U$ stories more than the modern Italian ones--this may be due mostly to my preferences in art style. So I'll probably be even happier overall with the monthly Uncle $crooge.
Personally I dont care much as I learned italian this year(like I had a premonition of impending doom) but I can not understand how can it be that italy can have practically a dozen 200 pagers a month while america cant have 4 tiny 40pagers.
Because Disney comics are European comics. Of course, rooted in the work of two great American authors like Gottfredson and Barks, but nevertheless European comics literature**. That's the simple truth.
From this perspective, I do not see any reason to be astonished. Actually, I have the opposite sensation: it is impressive how these people (David and all the others) are able to sell this (often old) European stuff in the complex American comics market.
(**yeah, I know that Rosa, the Van Horn family , the McGreal family, the Shaw family are US citizens, and that many artists come from South America, but you get the point...)
Thanks for your patience (whew!). I can reveal a little more now that some things have finally been greenlit.
WDCS is becoming a quarterly (at least for now) with 48 pages. At present, the plan is to run extra-long stories in here, like the pair of linked Donald TNT stories that start in WDCS 739 (not exactly a serial, but closely connected). Shorter stories in the back will feature some of the traditional WDCS players who couldn't be anywhere else (i. e. Zeke Wolf).
DONALD AND MICKEY, replacing Donald's and Mickey's solo titles (again, at least for now), will also be a 48-page quarterly, this one containing (generally) shorter stories. We've already got some Casty and Van Horn slotted in here.
A new monthly, 32-page one-shot title, to start in September, will feature more modern Italian material with all kinds of Duckburg and Mouseton characters—there will be devoted all-Donald and all-Mickey issues, but we can also try some unexpected twists.
And UNCLE SCROOGE will remain a 32-page monthly, though likely with more Egmont, Dutch, S-coded, and earlier Italian content now that we have another place for Italy's modern stuff.
Most months will have SCROOGE, a one-shot, and a (WDCS or DDMM) quarterly. Every third month, where there's no quarterly, we'll sometimes have a special—we're planning another CHRISTMAS PARADE for December.
Thanks for the update! One question though, does this mean the end for the French Mickey Albums?
I hope that we can get the last of the run of Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse's solo titles in the Timeless Tales format, as they make nice bookshelf volumes. (That's the collector in me talking...)
As far as WDC&S having longer stories and Donald and Mickey having shorter stories, I feel like it should be the other way around but that's just me. Wouldn't it make more sense if Donald and Mickey had the longer adventure stories with those characters while Walt Disney's Comics had a bunch of shorter stories starring a bigger variety of characters? Donald and Mickey could alternate between one issue having a 30 page Donald adventure with a 10 page Mickey story and then swap places in the next issue with a longer Mickey story and a shorter Donald story.
The monthly series of modern Italian comics sounds interesting. Curious to see how that turns out. And can I assume that DuckTales and Tangled will be monthly for now?
Can't PKNA continue on the new monthly starting in september somehow? Or at least continue only on hardcover books?
The problem with that is Duck Avenger issues had been about 60 pages long. You can't really have it share space in a different series without breaking the stories up.
If paper costs are the only reason why it's on hiatus, then maybe it could continue as a digital exclusive series on Comixology and then compiled into trade releases later on?
(**yeah, I know that Rosa, the Van Horn family , the McGreal family, the Shaw family are US citizens, and that many artists come from South America, but you get the point...)
Wait, I forgot Robert (Klein) and David (Gerstein). Sorry! And Byron Erickson! Well, ok, many folks. But my point still holds. I hope
