DCML Digest, Vol 27, Issue 15

[Martin Olsen]

Ole Damgaard:
> This is what Hoozoo says :
> 
> [quote]
> 1st PRINT APPEARANCE: "Ludwig von Drake" #1 (Nov. 1961) in "Duckburg, U.S.A." 
> 1st FILM APPEARANCE: "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color: An Adventure in Color" (Sep. 24, 1961 - first episode of "Walt Disney Presents" colorful new format and name-change) 
> [unquote]

The information on Ludwig von Drake's first print appearance needs a little extra information:

Ludwig von Drake #1 has cover date December, and the indicia states the issue date as Nov.-Dec. 1961, meaning that the issue may have been on the newsstands as early as October 1961.

The Donald Duck Sunday newspaper page for September 24, 1961(ZD 61-09-24) has Daisy and Donald talking in excitement about the big event: "The great professor Ludwig von Drake is going to be here tonight!", and in the last panel Donald has finished unwrapping a gift: a paiting of Ludwig von Drake. Notice that this is exactly the date of Ludwig's first TV appearance, so this comic page is actually (in part) an advertisement for that evening's Disney TV show.
Ludwig is supposed to have appeared "in person" in the daily strips for the following week. I don't have these strips myself so I'm unable to check this information. Inducks does not yet have detailed information on these dailies.
Ludwig does not appear in the Sunday pages for October 1 or October 8, but he does appear "in person" in the Sunday page for October 15, 1961 (ZD 61-10-15).

I believe Ludwig was created for the TV show. The newspaper pages were produced by the Disney studio, which explains the "promotional page" of Sept. 24, 1961. I believe that Western, who produced the comic books, were told by the Disney studio about the upcoming new character, so they could produce spin-off comic book stories - and even a comic book series titled Ludwig von Drake - and time their publication with Ludwig's appearance on TV.

Martin