Free Weegie has been freed! There were some shipping snafus, but Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #686 is now in stores—and we’re shipping two issues a month until we catch up (in April)!

Here’s the breakdown on the new on-sale dates:

January 9, 2008: DuckTales #3: Scrooge’s Quest
January 16, 2008: US #371, WDC #686
January 30, 2008: US #372, WDC #687, Treasures #2
February 12, 2008: US #373, WDC #688, Barks/Rosa #2
February 27, 2008: US #374, WDC #689
March 5, 2008: US #375, WDC #690
March 19, 2008: US #376, WDC #691, Spring Fever #2

Right now I’m merging Todd’s lettering for “Burning Hearts,” the lead story in our January issue of Walt Disney’s Comic and Stories (#689). It was originally slated for Donald Duck & Friends #348—but that series was canceled, so we had to shelve this Valentine’s Day story… until now!

In a nutshell, Mickey Mouse has to deal with a Lara Croft -ish character named Katarina (pictured). She’s after a particular jade cat… but is she the only one?

This thing was fun to work on! Egmont’s take on Katarina’s outfits seemed a bit on the “garish” side, though, so I decided to spruce ‘em up a bit.

From Scoop:

Uncle Scrooge #347 leads off with Escape from Forbidden Valley, a new Don Rosa sequel to a classic Carl Barks epic. In search of Amazonian nutmegs for Scrooge’s favorite tea, our ducks approach Forbidden Valley, a lost world of live dinosaurs whom Donald once stampeded. The local Stickaree Indians, whose village the saurs savaged, get even by abandoning Don in the valley… alone! It’s up to Scrooge and the boys to save him, and wouldn’t you know it: the big rescue is made a little more difficult by a certain profit-making opportunity Scrooge runs across! This feature-length story is graced by a magnificent Don Rosa front cover. (continue…)

I for one would love to hear from anyone who’s read this issue. What’d you think?

I just got my (complimentary) advance copy of The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck This collection is, hands down, the best “classic Disney character” stories I’ve ever read!