The Bat Bandit of Inferno Gulch - Mickey Mouse

"The Bat Bandit of Inferno Gulch" is a story from the Mickey Mouse newspaper comic strip, originally published from April 30th through July 28th of 1934, written and illustrated by Floyd Gottfredson (with dialogues by Ted Osborne). On vacation at the ranch of Mortimer, Minnie's uncle, Mickey gets involved in the search for the criminal who infests the region: the bat bandit, hooded and with false bat wings on his back. I thought Federico could do wonders with the subject, and he definitely did! He loves the classic Disney stuff and for this piece he decided to go back to Gottfredon's character design in the early 30's (see also the various animals). The hostile Wild West environment, Mickey with guns, the bat bandit looming from a peak... all marvelously colored by Bertolucci using a mixed media technique that he fine tuned drawing "Les Vacances de Donald" (book published by Glénat in France). Can't get much better than this. Please find, in the additional images, the first concept and the final one, the pencil drawing, the inked one and a work in progress of the color phase. Huge thanks to Federico and Michele! Paper size: 29.7 x 42 cm