<start rant>

Sigh.... I'm not sure if any of the rest of you are fans of the Uncle Scrooge and Walt Disney's Comics & Stories books, but it would seem that after a few months with no new issues the worst is probably about to be realized - they are likely victims of the Diamond Distributor's "challenges" (all part of the Geppi "challenges" I suppose)

Now - we can hope for the best and that these books may see the light of day in the future, but I saw Gold Key go away, then Gladstone go away, and now Gemstone seems to be gone.

Is Archie Comics the only company that can successfully produce and sell comics outside of Comic Book shops?  It's ridiculous that a company can sell Sonic the Hedgehog for 200 issues while another company can't seem to sell hugely recognized titles such as Uncle Scrooge, Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse and such.

In my dreams, I imagine a world where Archie Comics Publications had the rights to the Disney books and reprinted the classics and European material.  Plus, a few new stories too!

<end rant>

Yeah, I got my monthly box of comics this week and was surprised there wasn't any Scrooge books. It's their own fault really. $7.99 an issue? I stuck with WDC&S for a bit but I just couldn't justify paying that much just for the one or two Ducks stories in them. If people complain about how DC and Marvel are only catering to their core, aging fanbase, then what is Gemstone doing with their pricing? I swear that they print one letter from the same guy every month and the only time they didn't was when it was talking about a story he wrote!

To be fair - these are very well-produced comics in a very small market (3000 copies?).  I know it was a lot, but I bought at least 2 copies of everything Gemstone did.  Why?  I guess I knew this day would come and I'd have no chance to get issues in the future for my kids.

I have almost every Uncle Scrooge comic (I'm missing some from #71-150 and a few odds and ends on either side), so I'm their target to the "n"th degree.

Their letter column was a joke in my opinion.  I wrote in several times and never was published.  Mind you, I'm a babbling fool with little to say. 

These books aren't "Disney" books.  They are produced under license to Disney.

At least the characters live on in Europe - where they are incredibly popular and new stories continue to be produced.  If not in English.

Gladstone was the child of Bruce Hamilton and stopped publishing in the 1990's - it was a VERY odd demise for a publisher - they tried to make a go of it and it wasn't working, Disney took over and it didn't work, Disney gave it back to Gladstone, but used Marvel for the newsstand....didn't work.  Gladstone go it back - then, they tried making the comics inexpensive by using newsprint FOR THE COVERS! - then they went deluxe edition... then they were gone (Uncle Scrooge #318). 

Some issues are very hard to find:  They did a series of albums that are VERY sought-after by collectors (I need some WDC&S ones, but have almost a complete set otherwise and paid .... a LOT).

Some issues were low distribution (Uncle Scrooge #310 sells for over $100 in many auctions) - in fact, it's right behind issue #179 (Whitman) as the hardest Uncle Scrooge to get and probably is harder.

They did some GREAT things.  Most notably - "The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck" by Rosa - which is probably as important and epic as Miracle Man or The Watchmen.  Seriously. Just different.  Try getting those in the original - ouch!  Plus, if you collect varieties...very hard to get them all - this was during the whole Gladstone/Disney/Marvel thing.

Then GEMstone started publishing. The did Square-bound and floppies, as well as "Digests" - which they called "Take-Along Books".  This was from Mr. Geppi - the fellow that pretty much "owns" comic distribution in North America (except for Archie - who seems to do fine outside of Diamond Distributors - hence this thread)

The Digests died.
The floppies died (Donald Duck & Friends and Mickey Mouse & Friends)
now..... the last two titles seem to have been pulled.

They also were doing EC Archive hardcovers, but these seem to have been stopped short as well.

So... there's GLADstone and GEMstone.  Two different tries. 

The Europeans.  They are our only hope.

I'm seriously thinking of learning Finnish. 

I don't recall seeing Mickey/Donald comics for sale in bookstores but, each title is featured in the Sunday comics.

I remember seeing the ads for Scrooge and Mickey Mouse Digests in Archie Comics around the 1985 books, I believe?  By the time I got hooked on the books two years later, I never saw any mention of them, and it's unfortunate, because when Disney used to put out that monthly magazine in the 1990's, the comics in that book were amazing.

The Europeans have hardcover collections of the Barks stories. I'd repay for those collections!

Could you show us a cover of the Uncle Scrooge 310 that you're talking about?

I loved getting the Life and Times of Uncle Scrooge when they were coming out. Don Rosa, with his meticulous artwork and Barks storybuilding was a perfect addition to the Ducks family.

I remember those Gladstone albums. When I got into the Ducks, my comic shop had a bunch of them lying around so I eventually got a few of them. The bigger size and color made them stand out and it helped that a lot of the material was Barks and Rosa. I quickly learned to spot the quality!