On Sale January 14, 2026: MICKEY MOUSE (Fantagraphics) #2 - Legacy No. 332!

EVERYBODY: Up an' At 'Em, Out an' Buy 'Em!!!

THE DATE: Wednesday, January 14, 2026.

THE PLACE: Your Local Comic Shop - or the Online Provider of Your Choice. 

THE THING TO BUY (Without Fail): MICKEY MOUSE (Fantagraphics) #2 - Legacy No. 332!

Here it is, just so we're "on the same page"... or COVER, as it were! ...And WHAT A COVER IT IS!  

Accept no substitutes... Unless you somehow failed to get MICKEY MOUSE (Fantagraphics) #1 - Legacy No. 331 back in November!

Then, it's okay to get 'em both! 

BUT THIS ONE'S GONNA BE A GOODY!  (...and, as the translator and dialogue writer for this great Italian story, I oughta know!) 

A perfect melding of three of the comics Mickey Mouse's greatest creators: Bill Walsh and Floyd Gottfredson, and Casty! 

Walsh and Gottfredson, of course, for The Rhyming Man from the amazing newspaper strip continuity "The Atombrella and the Rhyming Man"  ... and Casty for his time-exploring documentarian Uma as seen in Walt Disney's Comics and Stories 713-714 (2010)!  And writer Francesco Vacca does a fantastic job of bringing those two worlds of different eras together! 

When writing the American English script for this special story, and in order to lend authenticity to the story and fidelity to the original creators, I read both original stories by Walsh and Gottfredson and by Casty and studied them carefully before proceeding.  

I wanted to get everything right and, once you read The Rhyming Man's first line, you'll *know* I did my homework!  It's truly an HONOR to work with these characters and, especially as we have a (hopefully friendly) competition with other publishers, editor David Gerstein (the "Secret Weapon" that those "other guys" don't have) and I do everything we can to make these the best Disney comics they can be!  

We hope you'll all agree, once you read MICKEY MOUSE (Fantagraphics) #2 - Legacy No. 332!

Oh, The Rhyming Man, he has a plan, 

To throw the whole world a curve.

With sinister rhyme, he'll wreak havoc with time.

Does this villain ever have nerve!

Mickey, Goofy, and Uma, they know it's no rumor, 

And set out to stop this fiend cold.

Will they succeed, or will he do the deed? 

Let's hope it's the Rhymer who'll fold! 

...Sorry, Mr. Rhyming Man... I just couldn't help myself!  Are you a FAN, or giving it a PAN?  ...Heh! Nothing personal about that "folding stuff" up above, eh? ...Um, just hyperbole, you know "exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally" ...Heh? 

...Oh, and do ya think could I call you "Rhymey"?  ...No?  Oh, well...

BLOT (is) OUT!

On sale today, November 19, 2025, the FIRST ISSUE of MICKEY MOUSE from Fantagraphics' new standard comics line - #1 Legacy Number 331!

It's MICKEY!  It's GOOFY!  It's THE PHANTOM BLOT ...perhaps more than one! It's CASTY! ...and, finally, it's merely me! 

It's also me on the SUPER GOOF backup!  

All this and a two-page Floyd Gottfredson old-timey Sunday strip from 1933!

  BUT WAIT... THERE'S MORE!  

David Gerstein's extremely informative CROSSTALK column on Mickey and The Phantom Blot!

 SO, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!   

Blot out to your favorite comics retailer (...as I did today), and have yourself a Blot-ing Good Time (...as I *also* did today) with MICKEY MOUSE (FANTAGRAPHICS) #1 LEGACY NUMBER 331!

Unlike Mickey, I can't quite promise that you won't "have a care in the world" but, like that legendary "spoonful of sugar", it will definitely "make the medicine go down" much sweeter!  

...or maybe scarier?  

 ...See ya in the Comments Section! 

TIAHBlog at 16 Presents 16 Covers -- Number Six: M-I-C-K-E- WHY?

C'mon, sing it with me... "Who's the leader of the club that's made for you and me?  M-I-C-K-E-Y  M-O-U-S-E!"  

Yes, MICKEY MOUSE... M-I-C-K-E-Y  M-O-U-S-E!  I daresay the most oft spelled character name in animation and comics history!  ...Agreed?  ...Sure!

Then how do you explain the cover of MICKEY MOUSE #159 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: October, 1975) and its unforgivably-flawed story-describing caption?  

 "MICKY explores an undersea pirate stronghold..." 

Well, I'm not quite sure who "MICKY" is, but I hope "MICKEY", along with GOOFY, is close behind to rescue him if needed!  Who knows, they might have to rescue "GOFY" as well!   

A most uncharacteristic front-cover-faux-pas from a publisher not known for making "Charlton-esque" errors!   

I can't just let Gold Key sit out there with such a blunder to its credit, so let's find reasons to get it off the hook...

Being underwater, the "E" that should have been in "MICKY" dissolved in the salty brine, or imploded from the intense undersea pressure?  Maybe it even drowned!  

 BLUB! BLUB! BLUB! ...Eerie silence!  

Perhaps the caption was the work of a German-born copy-writer, from where they spell the character's name as "MICKY MAUS"?  

 Ah, I've got it... It was the first manifestation of the REBELLIOUS SENTIENT COMIC BOOK CAPTIONS from Casty's magnificent sci-fi/horror send-up "Night of the Living Text"... My personal favorite of every Duck and Mouse story I've ever worked on!  

It would seem that, as far back as 1975, these evil expeditors of exposition were plotting their eventual all out assault on Mouseton and our hero - and the unthinkable misspelling of his name on a cover was but a test run for something big that finally broke in WALT DISNEY'S COMICS AND STORIES #733 (IDW, Cover Date: July 2016)!  

Since 1975, the captions were dormant "Sleeper Agents" just waiting for the right time to strike... and when CAPTIONS are "Sleeper Agents", they are literally  LETTERED... "ZZZZZ!"

 YEAH! THAT'S IT... and I'm STICKIN' WITH IT!  

So, one more cover "in the books"! ...Cover?  ...Books?  ...Get it?  Cover Number Six: MICKEY MOUSE #159...

...With just a smidgeon of sabotage from a stray sentient caption, that accomplished the deed with... (wait for it)... the Greatest of "E"s! 

Come back again tomorrow for... who the heck knows!  Not me, and I run the joint!  

Public Domain Mickey with Deb!

It's been too long since we showcased any artwork from our great friend Debbie Anne Perry and, with (one very specific version of) Mickey Mouse in the public domain, Deb has delivered her unique commentary on the subject - along with her wonderful characters FLUFFY AND MERVIN! 

GOTTA LOVE THAT!  

"Whistle?" "Play 'Turkey in the Straw' on farm animals?" ...YAWN!  

Wake me when he becomes a DETECTIVE...

...Or a SPACE EXPLORER...

...Or a SUPER SECRET AGENT...

...Or a PILOT...

...Or a TIME TRAVELER...

...Or DRIVES A GHOST CAR...

...Or becomes an UNDERWATER EXPLORER... 

...Or even a (sorta sloppy) LUMBERJACK!

But, especially when he meets THIS GUY!   

...Um, "SteamBLOT Willie", anyone?  

Until then, Fluffy and Mervin can probably put him to good use...

...Um, g-good use?  

...Then again, maybe not!  

Perhaps we should wait around until PETE joins Mickey in the public domain...

After all, if "Steamboat Willie" is in the public domain... wouldn't that also apply to PETE (...and, of course, Minnie) - those specific versions, that is!  ...And Pete, whatever version, would certainly liven things up!  

 

Right, as usual, Mickey! "There IS only one flaw!" It'll be quite a while until THESE VERSIONS fall into the public domain!  ...Pete never figured on that, th' big lummox!  

But, hey... If I just tap my foot through another decade or so, will THE PHANTOM BLOT (...OR "The Blot", as he was originally called) be there as well?  

...THIS VERSION anyway?

Maybe then, I can REALLY do "SteamBLOT Willie"!

Oh, there's just so much to "unpack" from Steamboat Willie's Steamer Trunk!  ...Sorry, couldn't resist.  

Let's do so in the Comments Section... and have a great time, as we did so often in those good old days... before they, too, eventually become public domain!  

For instance, can PD Mickey even be presented IN COLOR... or with a COLOR BACKGROUND like this?  

Even if not, Deb's fully in compliance, as we all knew she would be...

REALLY GREAT JOB, DEB! 

Coming to (Nay, NOW AT) a Target Store Near You!

A short while ago, I received my contributor's copy of THIS MAGNIFICENT BOOK from Fantagraphics... and is it ever amazing!  

At a whopping 256 pages and a size of approximately 13.5" by 10", its prodigious production values, combined with its super-size, make a fitting tribute for Disney's 100 Years Celebration!   

It is a Target Stores exclusive, so you'll have to get it there rather than your usual sources of such books, but, having now held it in my hot little hands... YES! 

 

Just some of the highlights would include Carl Barks' "Mystery of the Swamp", Don Rosa's "His Majesty McDuck" (my personal favorite Rosa story!), Super Goof's "The Thief of Zanzipar" by Bob Ogle and Paul Murry from SUPER GOOF # 1 (1965), a beautiful Seven Dwarfs story by Romano Scarpa... a famous-in-many-lands-but-this-one Tony Strobl story with Donald, Fethry, and Scrooge written by Dick Kinney.... 

...And a Casty Mickey Mouse story that features another of Casty's recurring characters that has yet to be seen in the United States - enthusiastic oceanographer Estrella Marina!  

I did the Translation and Dialogue (for whatever that's worth) in support of a great story - and what may very well be Casty's BEST ART!  Certainly the best I've ever seen!  Some of it is actually breathtaking!  

Aw, heck... THE WHOLE BOOK is breathtaking so, as unthinkable as it might be, I'm going to close by saying... stop reading my Blog - and start reading this book!  

...You can always come back to the Blog later.  Promise I'll be here!  

Oh, and when you DO come back, take a peek at the Chip 'n' Dale post I put up this morning... which has become overshadowed by this BIG BREAKING NEWS! 

...That's breaking NEWS, not breaking HEADS! 

I’m Not an Artist, But… Why is George Jetson so HAPPY?

I'm not an artist but... that doesn't mean I can't express puzzlement at some of the strange, odd, and sometimes downright unfathomable things I see while rooting through my comic book collection!  

For instance, this issue-opening splash panel from THE JETSONS # 14 (Charlton Comics, Cover Date: December, 1972)...

Okay... A PLANET HAS "FALLEN OUT OF ITS ORBIT, AND IS HEADING RIGHT FOR EARTH!" 

Jane, at least, shows some concern... but WHY IS GEORGE SO HAPPY ABOUT IT?! 

"I'm Not an Artist, But..." can't George have been drawn just a little more like Casty's Mickey Mouse in the modern-day classic "Plan Dine from Outer Space"?  

...I don't mean drawn with "big round ears", but a tad more reasonably concerned when a celestial body is about to slam into the Earth?  

For instance, let's look in on "another member of a futuristic TV family", and see how HE would take such news...

Yeah, that's more like it!  

Perhaps, though, by The Jetsons' time "planetary collisions" are just as routine as presidential scandals are today... and, by being so sadly plentiful, nobody pays attention to them anymore!   

Sure, just "evacuate Earth"!  ...As easy and routine as "going for donuts"!  

Nope, sorry!  I'm not an artist but... George should look far more distressed than he does!  

Even by Charlton standards, he should be "MORE THIS"...

...Than "THIS"! 

Whadda you think? 

From All of Us (Secret Society Members), To All of You - at this Special Time of Year!

There's a LOT that we have to thank Andrea ("Casty") Castellan, "Today's Master of the Mouse", for...

...And that's merely a SAMPLING from my archived scanned images!  

But, one thing in particular, would be those pesky "Secret Societies" that keep cropping up in his stories - like "The Horde of the Violet Hare"!  

Aided and abetted, at this very Blog, by our great friend Debbie Anne Perry and her pets "Fluffy and Mervin", Secret Societies have become as thick as flies!  

...Or would that be "The Fraternity of Fearsome Flies"?  

To make an already long and rambling illustrated introduction just a tad shorter these Secret Societies tend to focus their efforts on Mickey Mouse, Goofy, and Eurasia Toft...

...But what if these clandestine clubs were to turn their attentions toward Scrooge McDuck, assaulting him as random strangers so often do?  

Our very talented friend "Achille Talon" answers that nagging question in a story of his own making, titled "Hare-Brained Hooligans"!  Click HERE, and enjoy!  

And, while you're enjoying, just try to count all of the wonderful and familiar (especially to readers of THIS BLOG) things he packs into the story - starting with the Classic Carl Barks / Dell UNCLE SCROOGE logo - and my favorite sixties Gold Key style lettering for the title!  

To avoid spoilers, we'll discuss the rest in the comments section!  ...In fact, I'll even go first!  See you there! 

This guy's "got a future" in this (or some other related) business, folks!  ...Poor soul!   

...Get out!  Get out NOW!  While you still can!  Those Forum Folks can be dangerous when riled!  

That's more like it!

UPDATE: This just in... We may have cracked the case  on at least ONE of those Secret Societies!  Our intrepid reporter Debbie Anne Perry has the details below...

Deb's transmission is a little garbled, but we can see that the great detective Mickey Mouse has discovered that A CAT AND A MOUSE, armed only with a CELL PHONE, appear to have been behind an elaborate hoax involving "Chartreuse Tortoises" ...or would that be "Chartreuse Tortoii"?   Mickey declined to comment, as he is presently working without his preferred group of translators!  He HAS, however, passed us a handwritten NOTE that says nothing more than: "Fer gosh sakes!" and "Great Squeak!"  That is ALL! (folks)