Gladstone Publishing
Encyclopedia
Gladstone Publishing was an American
company that published Disney comics
from 1986 to 1990 and from 1993 to 1998. The company had its origins as a subsidiary of "Another Rainbow", a company formed by Bruce Hamilton and Russ Cochran
to publish the Carl Barks Library
and produce limited edition lithographs of Carl Barks
oil paintings of the Disney ducks. The name references Gladstone Gander.
Reprints of classic Donald Duck stories by Carl Barks
and Mickey Mouse stories by Floyd Gottfredson
were the foundation of their output. Don Rosa
, William Van Horn
, and Pat Block are among the modern Disney comics artists who got their start at Gladstone. Some of the Van Horn stories had scripts by frequent collaborator John Lustig
. The company also published translations of European Disney comic book stories produced by Egmont, Oberon and Mondadori. These included stories by such famed creators as Romano Scarpa
, Marco Rota
, Daan Jippes
and Freddy Milton.
While still distributed on news stands, their orientation toward the collectors market was visible in their inclusion of scholarly articles, mostly by associate editor Geoffrey Blum. Unlike the previous Disney comic book licensee Western Publishing
, Gladstone provided credits for the stories.
Although Gladstone is no longer an active publisher, it continues to offer its back issues through its website.
During the second run, there was another implosion in 1998, just like the one that Disney Comics
had back in 1991. This time, only two comics did not get cancelled - Walt Disney's Comics and Stories and Uncle Scrooge - both of which converted to prestige format
.
and Floyd Gottfredson
. In 1990 Gladstone was licensed to publish a series of albums reprinting nearly all the Disney duck stories of Carl Barks
. These were known as The Carl Barks Library
in Color - consisting of:
There were also three different series of Albums featuring stories by Don Rosa and William Van Horn respectively.
After its license expired in 1998, Gladstone ceased publishing new material, and there were no more Disney comics in America (except for occasional graphic novels of the movies put out by Dark Horse Comics
), until 2003, when Gemstone Publishing
gained the publishing rights.
titles, in association with EC-fan and publisher Russ Cochran
. (Two different EC titles per issue). These included six issues of The Vault of Horror
(August 1990 - June 1991), six issues of Tales from the Crypt (July 1990 - May 1991), four issues of Weird Science
(September 1990 - March 1991), and two issues of The Haunt of Fear
(May/July 1991). After 4 issues of Weird Science
, Gladstone changed it to The Haunt of Fear
. This took the The Haunt of Fear
from The Vault of Horror
and replaced it with Weird Fantasy
. The Haunt of Fear
took Weird Science
as its second issue per comic. Tales from the Crypt kept Crime Suspension Stories for its double sized horror.
Subsequently, Cochran and the EC reprints moved to Diamond Comics
-CEO Steven A Geppi's Gemstone Publishers
, which naturally reprinted the Gladstone-printed issues as part of their EC reprints. (Gemstone, whose key editorial staff - John Clark, Gary Leach and Susan Daigle-Leach - previously worked for Gladstone, also subsequently gained the rights to Disney comics, a license formerly held by Gladstone.)
no.23 (August 2007) pp.35-41.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
company that published Disney comics
Disney comics
Disney comics are comic books and comic strips featuring Walt Disney characters.The first Disney comics were newspaper strips appearing from 1930 on . In 1940, Western Publishing began producing Disney comic books in the United States...
from 1986 to 1990 and from 1993 to 1998. The company had its origins as a subsidiary of "Another Rainbow", a company formed by Bruce Hamilton and Russ Cochran
Russ Cochran (publisher)
Russ Cochran is a publisher of EC Comics reprints, Disney comics and books on Hopalong Cassidy, Chet Atkins, Les Paul and vacuum tubes. He has been a publisher for over 30 years, after quitting his job as a physics professor....
to publish the Carl Barks Library
Carl Barks Library
Carl Barks Library is a series of 30 books with all Disney comics and covers written and/or drawn by Carl Barks. A few stories were modified, sometimes for production reasons and sometimes in an attempt to remedy censorship in the original publication, restoring the published work to Barks'...
and produce limited edition lithographs of Carl Barks
Carl Barks
Carl Barks was an American Disney Studio illustrator and comic book creator, who invented Duckburg and many of its inhabitants, such as Scrooge McDuck , Gladstone Gander , the Beagle Boys , The Junior Woodchucks , Gyro Gearloose , Cornelius Coot , Flintheart Glomgold , John D...
oil paintings of the Disney ducks. The name references Gladstone Gander.
Reprints of classic Donald Duck stories by Carl Barks
Carl Barks
Carl Barks was an American Disney Studio illustrator and comic book creator, who invented Duckburg and many of its inhabitants, such as Scrooge McDuck , Gladstone Gander , the Beagle Boys , The Junior Woodchucks , Gyro Gearloose , Cornelius Coot , Flintheart Glomgold , John D...
and Mickey Mouse stories by Floyd Gottfredson
Floyd Gottfredson
Arthur Floyd Gottfredson was an American cartoonist best known for his defining work on the Mickey Mouse comic strip. He has probably had the same impact on the Mickey Mouse comics as Carl Barks had on the Donald Duck comics...
were the foundation of their output. Don Rosa
Don Rosa
Keno Don Hugo Rosa, known simply as Don Rosa, is an American comic book writer and illustrator known for his stories about Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck and other characters created by Carl Barks for Disney comics, such as The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck.-Early life:Don Rosa's grandfather,...
, William Van Horn
William Van Horn
William Van Horn has been a Disney comics artist and writer since 1988. He draws mostly Donald Duck, Uncle Scrooge, and he has also written and/or illustrated stories based on the animated series DuckTales...
, and Pat Block are among the modern Disney comics artists who got their start at Gladstone. Some of the Van Horn stories had scripts by frequent collaborator John Lustig
John Lustig
John Lustig is an American comics writer principally known for his comic book scripts featuring Donald Duck and other members of Disney's Duck family. Lustig's scripts have been illustrated by William Van Horn and other artists...
. The company also published translations of European Disney comic book stories produced by Egmont, Oberon and Mondadori. These included stories by such famed creators as Romano Scarpa
Romano Scarpa
Romano Scarpa was one of the most famous Italian creators of Disney comics.-Biography:Growing up in Venice he developed a particular love for American cartoons and Disney comics, that, at the time, were published in the big format of the Topolino Giornale which was then printing now classic Floyd...
, Marco Rota
Marco Rota
Marco Rota is an Italian Disney comic artist who served as editor-in-chief of Disney Italia from 1974 to 1988.-Career:...
, Daan Jippes
Daan Jippes
Daan Jippes is a cartoonist, who has worked with Disney and other comics. He is admired by his fans for his lively emulation of Carl Barks' drawing style, and was therefore chosen by Egmont to redraw some old Junior Woodchucks stories from the 1970s, originally written by Carl Barks and drawn by...
and Freddy Milton.
While still distributed on news stands, their orientation toward the collectors market was visible in their inclusion of scholarly articles, mostly by associate editor Geoffrey Blum. Unlike the previous Disney comic book licensee Western Publishing
Western Publishing
Western Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company was a Racine, Wisconsin firm responsible for publishing the Little Golden Books. Western Publishing also produced children's books and family-related entertainment products as Golden Books Family Entertainment...
, Gladstone provided credits for the stories.
Although Gladstone is no longer an active publisher, it continues to offer its back issues through its website.
First Generation (1986-1990)
- Walt Disney's Comics and StoriesWalt Disney's Comics and StoriesWalt Disney's Comics and Stories, sometimes abbreviated WDC or WDC&S, is an anthology comic book series that has an assortment of Disney characters, including Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck, Mickey Mouse, Chip 'n Dale, Lil Bad Wolf, Scamp, Bucky Bug, Grandma Duck, Brer Rabbit, Winnie the Pooh, and...
- Donald DuckDonald DuckDonald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created in 1934 at Walt Disney Productions and licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit with a cap and a black or red bow tie. Donald is most...
- Mickey MouseMickey Mouse (comics)Mickey Mouse is a comic book series that has a long-running history, first appearing in 1941 as part of the Four Color one-shot series...
- Uncle ScroogeUncle ScroogeUncle Scrooge is a comic book with the stingy Scrooge McDuck "the richest duck in the world" as the main character. The series also featured Donald Duck and his nephews as supporting characters. The first 70 issues mostly consisted of stories written and drawn by Carl Barks, the creator of Scrooge...
- Uncle Scrooge AdventuresUncle Scrooge AdventuresUncle Scrooge Adventures is a comic book published by Gladstone Publishing under license from the Walt Disney Company. It features the adventures of Scrooge McDuck and his nephews...
- Donald Duck AdventuresDonald Duck AdventuresDonald Duck Adventures was a comic book featuring the adventures of Donald Duck and his nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie.- Gladstone I: 1987–1990 and Gladstone II: 1993–1997 :Gladstone Publishing published 48 issues...
- Mickey and Donald
- DuckTalesDuckTalesDuckTales is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. Based on Carl Barks' Uncle Scrooge comic book series, it premiered on September 18, 1987 and ended on November 28, 1990 with a total of four seasons and 100 episodes...
Second Generation (1993-1998)
- Walt Disney's Comics and Stories
- Donald and Mickey
- Uncle Scrooge
- Uncle Scrooge Adventures
- Donald Duck
- Donald Duck Adventures
- Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse
- Walt Disney GiantWalt Disney GiantWalt Disney Giant was a forty-eight page, bimonthly Disney comic book published by Gladstone Publishing. It featured the adventures of Scrooge McDuck, his nephews, Mickey Mouse, and other Disney characters....
- Walt Disney's Comics and Stories Penny Pincher
- Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck
- The Adventurous Uncle Scrooge McDuck
During the second run, there was another implosion in 1998, just like the one that Disney Comics
Disney Comics
Disney Comics was a comic book publishing company operated by The Walt Disney Company which ran from 1990 to 1993. In the USA, Disney only licensed their comic books to other publishers prior to 1990...
had back in 1991. This time, only two comics did not get cancelled - Walt Disney's Comics and Stories and Uncle Scrooge - both of which converted to prestige format
Prestige format
Prestige format is a term coined by DC Comics and later came into wider use to refer to a square-bound comic book with cardstock covers. A prestige format comic book is usually longer than a normal, stapled 32-page comic...
.
Softcover Albums
During the first run Gladstone issued 28 albums and seven giant albums consisting mostly of reprints of stories by Carl BarksCarl Barks
Carl Barks was an American Disney Studio illustrator and comic book creator, who invented Duckburg and many of its inhabitants, such as Scrooge McDuck , Gladstone Gander , the Beagle Boys , The Junior Woodchucks , Gyro Gearloose , Cornelius Coot , Flintheart Glomgold , John D...
and Floyd Gottfredson
Floyd Gottfredson
Arthur Floyd Gottfredson was an American cartoonist best known for his defining work on the Mickey Mouse comic strip. He has probably had the same impact on the Mickey Mouse comics as Carl Barks had on the Donald Duck comics...
. In 1990 Gladstone was licensed to publish a series of albums reprinting nearly all the Disney duck stories of Carl Barks
Carl Barks
Carl Barks was an American Disney Studio illustrator and comic book creator, who invented Duckburg and many of its inhabitants, such as Scrooge McDuck , Gladstone Gander , the Beagle Boys , The Junior Woodchucks , Gyro Gearloose , Cornelius Coot , Flintheart Glomgold , John D...
. These were known as The Carl Barks Library
Carl Barks Library
Carl Barks Library is a series of 30 books with all Disney comics and covers written and/or drawn by Carl Barks. A few stories were modified, sometimes for production reasons and sometimes in an attempt to remedy censorship in the original publication, restoring the published work to Barks'...
in Color - consisting of:
- Walt Disney Comics and Stories - Comic Albums #1-51 (With trading cards)
- Uncle Scrooge Adventures - Comic Albums #1-56 (With trading cards)
- Donald Duck Adventures - Comic Albums #1-25 (With trading cards)
- Gyro Gearloose - Comic Albums #1-6
- Uncle Scrooge - One-Pagers - Comic Albums #1 & 2
- Donald Duck 1940s Christmas Giveaways
There were also three different series of Albums featuring stories by Don Rosa and William Van Horn respectively.
- The Don Rosa Library of Uncle Scrooge Adventures in Color #s 1-4 featured The first twelve chapters of The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck
- The Don Rosa Library of Uncle Scrooge Adventures in Color #s 5-8 featured all the Uncle Scrooge stories that Don Rosa did during his first two years as a Disney Comics Artist.
- The William Van Horn Library of Uncle Scrooge Adventures in Color #s 1-4 featured all of the stories that William Van Horn did during Gladstone's first run.
After its license expired in 1998, Gladstone ceased publishing new material, and there were no more Disney comics in America (except for occasional graphic novels of the movies put out by Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
), until 2003, when Gemstone Publishing
Gemstone Publishing
Gemstone Publishing is a U.S. company that publishes comic books and collectors' guides. The company was formed by Diamond Comic Distributors President and Chief Executive Officer Stephen A. Geppi. Gemstone published licensed Disney comic books from June 2003 until November 2008. The company has...
gained the publishing rights.
EC Comics reprints
Between 1990 and 1991, Gladstone reprinted 4 EC ComicsEC Comics
Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books specializing in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-1950s, notably the Tales from the Crypt series...
titles, in association with EC-fan and publisher Russ Cochran
Russ Cochran (publisher)
Russ Cochran is a publisher of EC Comics reprints, Disney comics and books on Hopalong Cassidy, Chet Atkins, Les Paul and vacuum tubes. He has been a publisher for over 30 years, after quitting his job as a physics professor....
. (Two different EC titles per issue). These included six issues of The Vault of Horror
The Vault of Horror
The Vault of Horror was a bi-monthly horror comic anthology series published by EC Comics in the early 1950s. Along with Tales from the Crypt and The Haunt of Fear, it formed a trifecta of popular EC horror anthologies...
(August 1990 - June 1991), six issues of Tales from the Crypt (July 1990 - May 1991), four issues of Weird Science
Weird Science (comic)
Weird Science was a science fiction anthology comic book that was part of the EC Comics line in the early 1950s. Over a four-year span, the comic ran for 22 issues, ending with the November–December, 1953 issue...
(September 1990 - March 1991), and two issues of The Haunt of Fear
The Haunt of Fear
The Haunt of Fear was a bi-monthly horror comic anthology series published by EC Comics in 1950. Along with Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror, it formed a trifecta of popular EC horror anthologies. The Haunt of Fear was sold at newsstands beginning with its May/June 1950 issue...
(May/July 1991). After 4 issues of Weird Science
Weird Science (comic)
Weird Science was a science fiction anthology comic book that was part of the EC Comics line in the early 1950s. Over a four-year span, the comic ran for 22 issues, ending with the November–December, 1953 issue...
, Gladstone changed it to The Haunt of Fear
The Haunt of Fear
The Haunt of Fear was a bi-monthly horror comic anthology series published by EC Comics in 1950. Along with Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror, it formed a trifecta of popular EC horror anthologies. The Haunt of Fear was sold at newsstands beginning with its May/June 1950 issue...
. This took the The Haunt of Fear
The Haunt of Fear
The Haunt of Fear was a bi-monthly horror comic anthology series published by EC Comics in 1950. Along with Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror, it formed a trifecta of popular EC horror anthologies. The Haunt of Fear was sold at newsstands beginning with its May/June 1950 issue...
from The Vault of Horror
The Vault of Horror
The Vault of Horror was a bi-monthly horror comic anthology series published by EC Comics in the early 1950s. Along with Tales from the Crypt and The Haunt of Fear, it formed a trifecta of popular EC horror anthologies...
and replaced it with Weird Fantasy
Weird Fantasy
Weird Fantasy is a science fiction anthology comic that was part of the EC Comics line in the early 1950s. The companion comic for Weird Fantasy was Weird Science...
. The Haunt of Fear
The Haunt of Fear
The Haunt of Fear was a bi-monthly horror comic anthology series published by EC Comics in 1950. Along with Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror, it formed a trifecta of popular EC horror anthologies. The Haunt of Fear was sold at newsstands beginning with its May/June 1950 issue...
took Weird Science
Weird Science (comic)
Weird Science was a science fiction anthology comic book that was part of the EC Comics line in the early 1950s. Over a four-year span, the comic ran for 22 issues, ending with the November–December, 1953 issue...
as its second issue per comic. Tales from the Crypt kept Crime Suspension Stories for its double sized horror.
Subsequently, Cochran and the EC reprints moved to Diamond Comics
Diamond Comic Distributors
Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. is the largest comic book distributor serving North America. They transport comic books from both big and small comic book publishers, or suppliers, to the retailers. Diamond dominates the direct market in the United States, and has exclusive arrangements with most...
-CEO Steven A Geppi's Gemstone Publishers
Gemstone Publishing
Gemstone Publishing is a U.S. company that publishes comic books and collectors' guides. The company was formed by Diamond Comic Distributors President and Chief Executive Officer Stephen A. Geppi. Gemstone published licensed Disney comic books from June 2003 until November 2008. The company has...
, which naturally reprinted the Gladstone-printed issues as part of their EC reprints. (Gemstone, whose key editorial staff - John Clark, Gary Leach and Susan Daigle-Leach - previously worked for Gladstone, also subsequently gained the rights to Disney comics, a license formerly held by Gladstone.)
Further reading
"A Gander at Gladstone" by Roger Ash. Back IssueBack Issue Magazine
Back Issue is an American magazine published by TwoMorrows Publishing, based in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 2003 and published eight times yearly, it features articles and art about comic books of the 1970s to the 1990s....
no.23 (August 2007) pp.35-41.