Sometimes I forget that Disney comics are not just an American thing, but have been thriving in Italy since 1932, specifically via Topolino magazine and associated publications. Interestingly, the output has not been solely Italian nor American, but evidently a mix of original content from both nation’s creators.
Here’s the published cover above, with thanks to t/dirtyriver for the find:
In recent years France’s Glénat publishing house has joined the fun, but has been tending to go in more gonzo directions, not unlike various creators doing guest shots on Lucky Luke.
I mean apart from Carl Barks and Don Rosa, are they even an American thing? At least to me the comics were always an Italian thing or Danish.
Hey hey, let’s not forget Floyd Gottfredson!
But yes, Disney was of course founded in the States, with the USA comics first appearing a couple years before Topolino. In fact, far as I understand, Topolino’s editors failed to properly license the Disney properties at first, and had to play shenanigans with the character names for a period of time before Mickey Mouse et al were properly licensed from Disney.
From what I can tell, it’s true though that in recent decades, Disney comics have declined in the States while growing in popularity around the world. Pretty interesting phenomena in fact, as I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such a reversal across comics before.