Mickey Mouse (2015) 7

In 2015 IDW signed a deal with Disney to publish comic books based on some of the company’s best-known characters. Those titles included Uncle Scrooge, Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse.

For the first holiday season IDW dusted off a multi-international reprinting, though only the first, “The Christmas Tree Crimes” was an actual Christmas story. When I say Christmas, the season was basically a backdrop for a holiday mystery.

Originally published in the Italian Topolino issue 370 in 1962, the fumetto had Mickey as the local police’s best hired private eye attempting to solve the mystery of the missing firs.

Spoiler Alert:  Goofy inadvertently solves the crime that began in Hong Kong and stretched to wherever you read the issue.

Also included, though not Christmas stories are “A Goofy Look at Snow,” a Dutch reproduction from issue 50; “A Pot Shot” from the first British Mickey Mouse annual; and “While We Were Watiting,” a Danish Anders & Co., issue 39 from 2012.

Idea and Design Works (IDW) may best be known for launching the 30 Days of Night franchise. Originally pitched as a comic book and then movie, both ideas were rejected until IDW showed faith. DreamWorks, MGM and Senator International all tossed cash around with the latter earning the rights.