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Exhibition Comic Art: 120 Years of Panels and Pages

Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse, no. 27. New York: Dell Publishing Co., 1943. Serial and Government Publications Division, Library of Congress (036.00.00)
Walt Disney’s Donald Duck, no. 4. New York: Dell Publishing Co., 1940. Serial and Government Publications Division, Library of Congress (036.01.00)

Disney Characters

Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, first published in print form as newspaper comic strip characters, made early appearances in Dell’s Four Color comic books. This early series featured an individual comic figure for each issue. It presented licensed characters and stories, from popular comic strips, including Walt Disney’s famous mouse. Four Color was so named because of early printing processes that used four colors—cyan, magenta, yellow, and black.