According to
conventional wisdom cited by scholar Thomas Inge, the 1930
Mickey Mouse strips had fallen into the public domain in 1986. Comics historian
Bill Blackbeard discovered this supposed fact in his research, and Malibu Graphics considered it an opportunity to present this early material. Not wanting to draw the wrath of the notoriously protective
Walt Disney Company,
Eternity printed the comic with completely black covers that did not mention the name "Mickey Mouse". Instead,
The Uncensored Mouse cover described the book as "a classic collection of uncensored Floyd Gottfredson comic strips from the 1930s". The comic was sold in a bag, so that potential customers wouldn't flip through it in the store and think it was an official Disney product. the second issue printed the March 6 to April 26 strips, completing "Desert Island" and beginning "Mickey Mouse in Death Valley". A third issue was planned, and the company hoped to publish all of the strips up to the mid-1930s. and renewed on September 23, 1957. At the time of
The Uncensored Mouse, this renewal effectively protected the first week of strips for 75 years from publication: in effect, through 2005. A story about the lawsuit was broadcast on the syndicated entertainment news program
Entertainment Tonight on April 20, 1989. Disney and Malibu settled the suit before it went to court, and Malibu did not publish any further
Mickey Mouse strips. The complete run of the strip was eventually published in the ''
Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse'' collection published by
Fantagraphics Books. The first volume, 2011's "Race to Death Valley", reprinted both the "Desert Island" and "Death Valley" sequences, although the first story was printed in an "archival feature" section in the back of the book, with an explanation of the historical context for the African stereotypes. ==References==