Author:
Title: WALT DISNEY'S COMICS AND STORIES No. 1
Place Published:
Publisher:Dell [Indicia: K. K. Publications Inc.]
Date Published: October, 1940
Description: CGC certified: G/VG (3.0). Off-white pages. Grader notes: Moderate creasing to cover; moderate finger bends on cover; moderate spine stress lines to cover.

CGC Census: 142 graded copies (107 Universal, 5 Qualified, 30 Restored).

GPAnalysis: A 3.0 sold for $3360 in 5/20; a 2.5 sold for $6295 in 9/22. More recently, a 1.0 sold for $1800 in 12/23.

Credits: Cover: Hank Porter. Scripts: Homer Brightman, Ted Osborne, Merrill De Maris. Art: Ferdinand Horvath, Al Taliaferro, Floyd Gottfredson, Ted Thwaites, Tom Wood, Hank Porter, Bob Wright.Comic Collection Kingmaker: It's not pre-Code horror, it's not R. Crumb, and it's not high-grade, but this copy of Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #1 is one of the most goosebumps-inducing funnybooks we've ever handled. We're guessing that anyone who's ever held a copy of this grail in his mitts knows the feeling well. This is one of those iconic, epochal, all-star mags – like Action 1, Detective 27, Showcase 4, Amazing Fantasy 15, or a Plymell ZAP 1 – that's achieved the sort of grand totemic status usually reserved for holy relics. It's one of those foundational funnybooks suffused with such significance that it functions, essentially, as a comic collection kingmaker, elevating good collections into great collections. Not bad for a duck book without a single line of Carl Barks artwork, we'd say.

"Since 1935 the Walt Disney Studios had been outsourcing production of an official Mickey Mouse Magazine. Under its first editor, United Artists advertising and publicity director Hal Horne, the mag was a mess. Few pages actually featured the Disney characters; when they did, they were often off-model. Disney handed the reins over to the head of its licensing department, Herman "Kay" Kamen, with the July 1937 issue. Kamen brought the art back in line with the studio's designs and added reprints of Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Silly Symphonies syndicated strips. It was not enough. Sales continued to slip. In September 1940, Western bought Kamen out, cancelled the flailing magazine, and replaced it with Walt Disney's Comics & Stories, the fifth monthly title released through Dell. Produced out of Western's printing facility in Poughkeepsie rather than Oskar Lebeck's Manhattan offices, its early issues continued to reprint Disney strips interspersed with original illustrated short stories, giving little indication that within a few years the title would become the best-selling comic book in America." – Kurt F. Mitchell, American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1940s, 1940-1944. TwoMorrows: 2019, p. 17.______________________________________________________________

A limited edition of ten hardcover catalogues is available, in addition to a few dozen softcovers. Fun reference, great keepsake, fully illustrated, chockablock with obscure facts, gags, bon mots. Softcovers are $40, deluxe hardcovers with dust jackets and limitation plates are $200. These books always go fast so don't delay. To order, contact ivan@pbagalleries.com.

Consignments welcome for PBA's Summer 2024 Comic Book sale. Top prices for Pre-Code Horror, Golden Age, Silver Age, original art and ephemera. Find out why PBA is the new fan-fave of funnybook fiends. "This is some of the best commentary I've yet seen on the quality of the content of comic books... Priceless." – R. Crumb. Send inquiries to ivan@pbagalleries.com.

Coming Soon: The DC Universe Collection Part 3: The Golden Age (August 2024) and Weird Tales and Amazing Stories: The PBA Pulp Sale (September 2024). Contact ivan@pbagalleries.com to get on the notifications list.