New Disney Line of Comics...FROM IDW?

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Submitted by Mike 'Ace' Maillaro on Thu, 01/22/2015 - 02:00

I saw the following news story over at Newsarama:

Mickey Mouse is returning to comics - and we don't mean Marvel.

IDW Publishing announced Wednesday that the California-based company is launching Disney Comics, a new line of comics featuring Disney's anthromorphic animal characters such as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. It all begins in April with Uncle Scrooge #1, with a Donald Duck series in May and Mickey Mouse in June. September will see IDW resume publication of the long-running Walt Disney's Comics and Stories series with issue #723.

Asked by Newsarama Wednesday afternoon why a Disney Comics line is licensed out to another publisher and is not kept under the Marvel/Disney roof, Marvel declined to coment.

Uncle Scrooge #1 features the reprinting of a classic Italian Uncle Scrooge tale from the 1960s, but IDW says that series and the others will feature a mix of reprints and original stories over time.

In addition, IDW's Disney Comics titled will have themed variant covers each month based on rides and sections of Disney's theme parks, including Adventureland, Epcot, the Haunted Mansion, and more. Here is IDW's calendar for Disney Comics in 2015:

Commentary: One thing that most people don't know about me is that Scrooge McDuck is my favorite Disney character. I love the Don Rosa and Carl Banks collections of Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck comics. I will definitely be a customer for these.

The big question here is "Why isn't Marvel doing this line?" I doubt there is anything nefarious about this, but I definitely was curious. IDW does a lot of licensed books, and this will definitely fit in with their publishing strategy. That said, Boom had been doing a great job with books like Duck Tales and Darkwing Duck before they lost the license to Marvel, so this does seem like a strange twist.

I am also wondering if they are doing just classic Disney characters, or do they have the license to do more modern stuff as well. Personally, I think I would prefer if they just stick to classic Disney, though it could be fun to see something like Aladdin or even something more obscure like Treasure Planet.