DonaldDuckDailies1_Layout 1 7/16/15 2:44 PM Page 1 DonaldDuckDailies1_Layout 1 7/16/15 2:44 PM Page 2 DonaldDuckDailies1_Layout 1 7/16/15 2:45 PM Page 3 IDW PUBLISHING San Diego VOLUME VOLUME ONE • 1938-1940 DonaldDuckDailies1_Layout 1 7/16/15 2:45 PM Page 4 ART AL TALIAFERRO SCRIPTS BOB KARP (4/6/1938 - 7/18/1940) HOMER BRIGHTMAN (2/7 - 4/5/1938) GAG IDEAS BY CARL BARKS (5/25, 6/10, 6/27, 7/2, 7/6, 7/25, 10/25, 10/27, 11/26/1938 and 1/10, 2/4, 2/6/1939) THE LIBRARY OF AMERICAN COMICS EDITOR/CO-DESIGNER DEAN MULLANEY ASSOCIATE EDITOR BRUCE CANWELL ART DIRECTOR/CO-DESIGNER LORRAINE TURNER CONSULTING EDITOR DAVID GERSTEIN PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS JOSEPH KETELS and REBEKAH CAHALIN ISBN: 978-1-63140-335-4 First Printing, July 2015 Published by: IDW Publishing a Division of Idea and Design Works, LLC 2765 Truxton Road, San Diego CA 92106 www.idwpublishing.com LibraryofAmericanComics.com Ted Adams, Chief Executive Officer/Publisher Greg Goldstein, Chief Operating Officer/President Robbie Robbins, EVP/Sr. Graphic Artist Chris Ryall, Chief Creative Officer/Editor-in-Chief Matthew Ruzicka, CPA, Chief Financial Officer Alan Payne, VP of Sales • Dirk Wood, VP of Marketing Lorelei Bunjes, VP of Digital Services Jeff Webber, VP of Digital Publishing & Business Development Distributed by Diamond Book Distributors 1-410-560-7100 Special thanks to Curt Baker, Ken Shue, Iliana Lopez, Julie Dorris, and Danielle Digrado at Disney; Susan Liberator and Marilyn Scott at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum at the Ohio State University for filling in several weeks of missing strips; Steve Geppi, Josh Geppi, and Mike Wilbur at Diamond International Galleries; Germund von Wowern, Sarah Gaydos; Justin Eisinger; and Alonzo Simon. All contents, unless otherwise specified, copyright © 2015 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved. The Library of American Comics is a trademark of Library of American Comics, LLC. All rights reserved. Text to the essay “Al Taliaferro: The Forgotten Duck Man” © 2015 David Gerstein. With the exception of artwork used for review purposes, none of the comic strips in this publication may be reprinted without the permission of Disney Enterprises, Inc. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Disney Enterprises, Inc. Printed in Korea. RIGHT: The culmination of a three-month pre-release advertising campaign aimed at newspaper editors by Disney and King Features in the trade publication Editor & Publisher (April 23, 1938). OPPOSITE: Al Taliaferro sketches his hero for young fans, 1940s. DonaldDuckDailies1_Layout 1 7/16/15 2:45 PM Page 5 PUBLISHER’S NOTE: These comic strips were created in an earlier time and may contain cartoon violence and occasional historically-dated content, such as gags about smoking, drinking, and gunplay. Needless to say, Donald wouldn’t mix it up with these elements today; we include them here with the understanding that they reflect a bygone era. Enjoy the show! AL TALIAFERRO: THE FORGOTTEN DUCK MAN by DAVID GERSTEIN Following his debut in the 1934 animated short The Wise Little Hen, the other three Duck Men, Taliaferro rarely drew long-form stories featuring the indefatigable Donald Duck needed four years and a champion within the Disney’s distinctive drake. Al’s Duck material consisted almost entirely of gag-a-day Walt Disney Studio in order to make the leap from the silver screen to the nation’s strips, short “tastes” of Donald designed for newspaper audiences. When reprinted comics pages. The casual fan might assume that champion was the most beloved next to the extended tales woven by a Barks, a Rosa, or a Jippes in of that elite group known as “Duck Men”—Carl Barks. Famed for creating many comic book or collected-album formats, Taliaferro’s strips can seem slight and of Donald’s supporting characters and weaving dozens of his classic comic book almost inconsequential, even when such an assessment is the very definition of adventures, Barks stands tall not just among his peers in the Disney ranks, but an apples-to-oranges comparison. also in the pantheon of great comics creators. Extend that thought further: by the very definition of “gag-a-day,” Taliaferro’s Barks, however, was not responsible for making Donald a newspaper star. specialty was humorous comics. His Donald was seldom involved in drama- or That honor belongs to Al Taliaferro, the first and most unsung of the Duck adventure-themed stories and therefore could not display the range of emotions— Men. This feature and its companion, appearing in the next volume of The brashness, anxiety, fear, courage—that brought such depth of character to the Library of American Comics’s Donald Duck series, shine a spotlight on Taliaferro’s multi-page comic book sagas. often-underappreciated talent and his many contributions to the long history of It can be argued that slighting Taliaferro because of the thematic ground he Disney’s second-most-iconic character. did not cover is to unfairly neglect the ground he did cover—and how splendidly he covered it. • • • • • Perhaps some even pass over Taliaferro since he “only” drew the comics he worked on (whereas Rosa, Jippes, and Barks each built reputations as writer/ Despite his importance within and many contributions to the Duck canon, artists). Others produced the scripts for the Donald Duck strip, which may create a Al Taliaferro has never received the accolades bestowed upon Barks, European prejudiced view of Taliaferro as a less-accomplished creator than his peers. To the master Daan Jippes, and Don Rosa (who is considered by many as the heir extent this perception exists it is a false one: Taliaferro often plotted the series and apparent to Barks’s mantle). One obvious reason for this disparity is that unlike had much to do with shaping its direction. 5 DonaldDuckDailies1_Layout 1 7/16/15 2:45 PM Page 6 He was also responsible for creating a handful of key additions to the Donald Duck “universe”—most notably those small, spry ducklings Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Creating Donald’s three precocious nephews alone should be enough to cement Al Taliaferro’s place in the pantheon of Great Duck Talent. But he did far more than that… available. A school friend first gave Al the news. Then, as he explained, “I went in and was hired on the spot: January 5, 1931.” • • • • • Easily passing muster with Walt and Roy Disney, Taliaferro was given the task of inking Floyd Gottfredson’s Mickey Mouse newspaper strip—and Born in Montrose, Colorado on August 29, 1905, Charles Alfred soon, Earl Duvall’s companion Silly Symphonies Sunday series, which began in ABOVE: When the Story Department agreed Taliaferro moved with his family to Glendale, California in 1918. His interest 1932. Later that year Taliaferro took on the responsibility of supplying to use Huey, Dewey, and Louie in a cartoon, in art was practically lifelong. Silly Symphonies artwork when Duvall shifted exclusively to the page’s writing their creator Al Taliaferro received this special thank-you memo. “I knew I was going to be a cartoonist,” he told interviewer Jim Korkis duties. in 1968. “I’ve always believed that if you want anything bad enough and you Looking at Taliaferro’s early Disney work one can sense why the studio OPPOSITE: A comparison of Gottfredson Mickey Mouse daily strips inked by Earl work hard enough for it, eventually you’ll get it.” hustled to hire him. Gottfredson in his early days was a scratchy inker, Duvall (top, February 24, 1931) and Al By Taliaferro’s high school years the budding draughtsman was studying Duvall a sloppy one who increased the awkwardness of characters’ poses and Taliaferro (middle, March 2, 1931) shows the improved slickness and sophistication art history and creating humorous illustrated vignettes for the Glendale High often left the black off Mickey’s nose. Taliaferro, by contrast, introduced a that Taliaferro brought to Disney comics. School yearbook. Art correspondence courses further burnished Taliaferro’s roundness, smoothness, and perfectionism not seen in many of the earlier OPPOSITE bottom: Taliaferro inked some skills; upon graduating in 1924 he began taking classes at the Art Institute Disney comics. In fall 1932 a Bucky Bug serial within Silly Symphonies Mickey Mouse Gottfredson strips as late as of Los Angeles. At that time an exciting career seemed to surely lie ahead— featured a World War One-like battle between bugs and flies. Taliaferro drew 1938. He sometimes, as in this excerpt from the January 30th page, appears to have but when Taliaferro finished school art-related jobs had become few and far entire landscapes festooned with warriors: some of the most complex scenes done some of the penciling too. These cops between thanks to the onset of the Great Depression in 1929. Two years later Disney comics had shown up to that time. With his stylistic slickness and and robbers have the scrawny, gangly bodies of classic Taliaferro-designed bit players. cartooning was a distant goal, as the young artist was content merely to have grace, Taliaferro made the tough conquest look easy. a design position with a lighting manufacturer. Equally impressive, one year before Bucky Bug’s big battle, was the Content, that is, until he learned that the Walt Disney Studio had jobs definitive Mickey Mouse merchandising model sheet Taliaferro was tasked 6 DonaldDuckDailies1_Layout 1 7/16/15 2:45 PM Page 7 7 DonaldDuckDailies1_Layout 1 7/16/15 2:45 PM Page 8 changed its name to the singular Silly Symphony.