Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: "Race to Death Valley". Volume 1

David Gerstein, Gary Groth

Fantagraphics Books, 2011 - Humor - 286 pages

Today everyone knows Mickey Mouse as the cheerful ambassador ofall things Disney. But back in the 1930s, Mickey gained fame as a rough-and-tumble, two-fisted epic hero — an adventurousscrapper matching wits with mobsters, kidnappers, spies, and even (gulp!) city slickers! And Mickey's greatestfeats of derring-do took place in his daily comic strip, written and drawn by one of the greatest cartoonists of the 20thcentury — Floyd Gottfredson.

For its first quarter-century, Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse was a rip-roaring serial: the most popular cartoon-basedcomic of its time, a trendsetting adventure continuity aimed at both kids and grown-ups, and the foundation on whichall later Disney comics grew — including the adventures of Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge by Gottfredson's Disneycolleague Carl Barks.

Glimpses of Floyd Gottfredson's masterpiece have been reprinted over the years, most famously in Bill Blackbeard'sclassic Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics. But the whole strip has never been comprehensively collected inEnglish — until now! Fantagraphics Books is proud to bring this classic Disney creation to a 21st century audience inits entirety, starting from the strip's 1930 launch. Relive Mickey's race to a gold mine with Pegleg Pete hot on his heels;Mickey's life on the lam after being framed for bank robbery; even Mickey's ringside battle with a hulking heavyweightchamp! The premiere volume features a dozen different adventures starring Mickey, his gal Minnie and her uncle Mortimer,his pals Horace Horsecollar and Butch, the villainous Pegleg Pete, and the mysterious and shrouded Fox.

Gottfredson's vibrant visual storytelling has never been more beautifully reproduced; we promise the best reprintingthe strip has ever seen, with each daily lovingly restored from Disney's original negatives and proof sheets. “DeathValley” also includes more than 50 pages of fascinating supplementary features, including rare behind-the-scenes art andvintage publicity material from the first two years of the strip. Critics, scholars, seasoned Disney archivists, and fellowcartoonists provide commentary and historical essays on the strip's creation and execution.

Walt Disney often said that his studio's success “all started with a Mouse” — Walt himself wrote the Mickey Mousestrip before turning it over to the able hands of Gottfredson — and today Mickey is among the world's most recognizableicons. Now it's time to rediscover the wild, unforgettable personality behind the icon: Floyd Gottfredson's MickeyMouse.

What people are saying

Review: Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse, Vol. 1: Race to Death Valley (Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse #1)

User Review  - Mike Jensen - Goodreads

Frankly, the comic strips reprinted from the first two years of the feature's life are just four stars, but the introductions and essays are absolutely first rate and make this the definitive WALT ...

Review: Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse, Vol. 1: Race to Death Valley (Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse #1)

User Review  - Wouter - Goodreads

The first half of this reads a bit like a museum piece. The stories get better as time progresses though. If this book were just stories, I'd give it three stars. The reason there are four at the top ...

About the author

Hired as a short-term replacement on the fledgling Mickey Mouse daily strip in 1930, Floyd Gottfredson (1905-1986) went on to draw the feature for the next 45 years. He created the most famous Mickey tales ever told in print.

David Gerstein is a comic book writer/editor and animation historian specializing in the Disney Standard Characters. His books include Mickey and the Gang: Classic Stories in Verse and Walt Disney Treasures-Disney Comics: 70 Years of Innovation . He lives in New York City, NY.

Gary Groth is the founder of The Comics Journal and also the co-founder and co-publisher of Fantagraphics Books. He lives in Seattle.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: "Race to Death Valley". Volume 1; Volume 1 of Floyd Gottfredson library; Volume 1 of Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Classic Collection; Volume 1 of Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Vol. 1 Series, Floyd Gottfredson, ISBN 1606994964, 9781606994962
• Editors: David Gerstein, Gary Groth
• Contributor: FLOYD. GOTTFREDSON
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Fantagraphics Books, 2011
• ISBN: 1606994417, 9781606994412
• Length: 286 pages
• Subjects: Comics & Graphic Novels / General; Humor / Form / Comic Strips & Cartoons