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TaleSpin was a short-lived comic book series published by Disney Comics, based on the series of the same name. It ran for a total of eleven issues, starting with a four-issue mini-series adapting the show's multi-part "origin story" episode, "Plunder and Lightning" (or "Take Off", as the comic adaptation titled it).
Following the positive reception of the mini-series, the TaleSpin comic became an ongoing series starting in April 1991. Bobbi J.G. Weiss was the writer for most of the comic, while the fifth issue was a comic adaptation of the episode "The Old Man and the Sea Duck".
From issue #4 onward, the letters column at the end of each issue featured the characters answering the fan-mail; Rebecca Cunningham answered the letters in issue #4, Don Karnage answered them in issue #5, and Wildcat answered the letters in issue #7. (Issue #6 did not have the letters column, as it instead featured the second half of an interview with Jim Cummings, the first half of which was in issue #1 of the Darkwing Duck mini-series.)
Unfortunately, due to the Disney Comics Implosion in late 1991, the TaleSpin comic was cancelled after only seven issues had been published. As a result of this, several planned stories, which would have revealed previously unseen background information on the characters, were scrapped; for instance, the 13th issue was intended to reveal the origin of the Iron Vulture. Issue #7, the final issue to actually be published, notably explored Kit Cloudkicker's backstory and revealed how he joined up with the Air Pirates prior to the beginning of the series' events, making it the only such background-revealing story to actually see print.
Issue guide[]
Limited series[]
Cover | Issue # | Featured story | Published |
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1 | "Take Off - Part 1: Plane for Keeps" | November 1990 |
From Disney's classic The Jungle Book come Baloo, Louis [sic], and Shere Khan into a new world of thrills and adventure. In the first chapter of the exciting four-part origin, you'll also meet Kit Cloudkicker and the dread pirate Don Karnage. | |||
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2 | "Take Off - Part 2: Missed Deeds and Derring-Don'ts" | December 1990 |
Baloo has lost his beloved plane, the Sea Duck, to feisty young businesswoman Rebecca Cunningham. Will he have to sell his soul to the mysterious Shere Khan to get the seaplane back? | |||
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3 | "Take Off - Part 3: Khan Job" | January 1991 |
In the penultimate chapter of the exciting origin, Baloo and Kit travel to Pirate Island in an attempt to free the kidnapped Rebecca and Molly. Plus, we finally learn Kit's astonishing secret. | |||
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4 | "Take Off - Part 4: Plunder and Lightning" | February 1991 |
In this climatic chapter of our four-part origin adventure, Don Karnage and his Iron Vulture finally breach the ramparts of Cape Suzette to unleash a firestorm of chaos. Will Baloo and Kit join forces once more in time to save their friends? |
"Ongoing" series[]
Cover | Issue # | Featured story | Published |
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1 | "Flight of the Sky-Raker - Part 1: The Plane Facts!" | April 1991 |
Because you demanded it, Baloo, Kit, Rebecca, Wildcat and the rest of the crew now come your way every month in all-new adventures. First up, the search for a unique airplane that everyone wants to find--and some people will do anything to possess.
Note: This issue also includes a two-page gag story, "The Why of the Beholder". | |||
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2 | "Flight of the Sky-Raker - Part 2: Operation: Ravenwood!" | May 1991 |
Wildcat and Lily Ravenwood have been taken captive by the dread pirate Don Karnage. Can Baloo and Kit rescue them in time? | |||
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3 | "Idiots Aboard!" | June 1991 |
When Trader Moe, the pint-sized alligator gangster, gives his two goons the slip so he can heist a solid gold airplane, the goons "enlist" a reluctant Baloo's aid to find their missing boss. | |||
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4 | "Contractual Desperation!" | July 1991 |
Baloo has to complete a dangerous mission on deadline--or risk losing the Sea Duck forever! | |||
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5 | "The Old Man and the Sea Duck" | August 1991 |
A crash landing has robbed Baloo of his ability to fly--and of his memory! | |||
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6 | "F'reeze a Jolly Good Fellow!" | September 1991 |
Don Karnage is throwing a surprise birthday party -- for himself -- with Baloo and Molly as unwanted guests! | |||
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7 | "The Long Flight Home" | October 1991 |
Fearing he's going to be taken from Baloo, Kit runs away to the only other family he knows - the Air Hoboes! But little Molly has tagged along, and now the two kids must face a hostile world alone!
Note: This issue also includes a two-page gag story, "Catch of the Day", reprinted from Disney Adventures Volume 1, Number 11. |
Reprint collections[]
External links[]
- TaleSpin limited series at the INDUCKS
- TaleSpin at the INDUCKS