COMIC BOOK STORY: "Halloween Story" (Bucky Bug, WDC&S 86) (Patreon)

One of Disney’s earliest characters created Bucky Bug first appeared in the Silly Symphonies Sunday page, which debuted in January 1932. An animated Silly Symphony Bugs in Love, featuring (a plumper) Bucky and his girlfriend June Bug, started production shortly after the early months of the strip, ultimately released in October.

The Bucky continuities ended in March 1934, and his character was left inactive for almost a decade. The first exclusive Bucky Bug comic book story appeared in Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #39 (December 1943), a feature that lasted until 1950.

The Bucky comic book story presented here is written, drawn and inked by Ralph Heimdahl (1909-1981). During the Depression, Heimdahl worked as an art teacher at the Minnesota School for the Deaf. He moved to California to accept a position at the Disney studios in 1937, where he worked until the strike in 1941. In 1946, he joined Western Publishing to draw comic book stories, which included Warner Bros.’ top cartoon star Bugs Bunny. Two years later, in addition to the featured stories in Western's magazines, Heimdahl began drawing the daily Bugs Bunny newspaper strip, and soon took over the Sunday page. He continued drawing the Bugs newspaper comics until 1979.

Like the early Silly Symphonies Sunday pages, the character dialogue and narration panels in this story are delivered entirely in rhyme. From Walt Disney's Comics & Stories #86 (November 1947).