Happy Birthday Donald Duck!

Donald Duck.

I love Donald Duck. I have never been a very big Mickey Mouse fan, in fact I would almost say I hate Mickey Mouse, but I love Donald Duck.

Donald Duck was the everyman. A little hot-headed, always having things go wrong… struggling to make it through the day. That is why I loved Donald Duck. Even when I was younger I found it much easier to like a character with real personality and faults.

Donald by Don Rosa

75 years ago today a Disney short was released by the name of The Wise Little Hen. This short marked the first appearance of Donald Duck. Donald would have a long career at Disney, and would at times surpass Disney’s Mickey Mouse in popularity. Donald, according to the Disney Comics Worldwide site, has appeared in over 150 cartoons. That is a pretty impressive number in my opinion.

These days Donald and his family live on in comics. Living off of a rich and well built family and history created for him by the great Duck artist Carl Barks in the town of Duckburg and kept going by the equally as great Don Rosa and others.

In the United States Donald is not as popular as he once was, but in Eurpoe he continues to thrive. Each year Tons of new comics are released and the Duck’s adventures continue. While here his fate is up in the air for the time being. With financial problems sending Gemstone publishing the way of the DODO the future of Disney comics is up in the air… With a little luck another company with enough love and respect for the characters will pick up the liscence and do right by them.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISTER DUCK