Daisy and Donald - 'Pay the Three Dollars' (Daisy and Donald #17, 1976). © Disney.
Bob Gregory was an American comic writer and artist, active for many children's comic books based on popular animated series for Western Publishing. He was most productive as a writer/artist of Disney comics (1958-1984), working within the 'Donald Duck' universe. One of his enduring creations was the Billionaires Club, where Uncle Scrooge McDuck is a prominent member. Gregory also scripted comics with Hanna-Barbera characters, DePatie-Freleng's 'The Pink Panther' and Walter Lantz's 'Woody Woodpecker'.
Early life and career
Robert P. Gregory was born in 1921 in Los Angeles, California, where he also studied at the Otis Art Institute. During World War II, he served his country in the 13th Army Air Force Bomber Command Headquarters, fighting the Japanese in the South Pacific. Much later in life, Gregory published his memoirs about his war years, 'Letters From the South Pacific: A World War II Chronicle' (Fithian Press, 1996). After World War II, he became a technical illustrator and publication analyst for the aircraft manufacturer North American Aviation, while submitting stories and artwork for Western Publishing's immense production of funny animal comics. It wasn't until 1958 that Gregory was able to quit the aircraft industry and become a fulltime comic book writer/artist.
'Tweety and Sylvester' story for Looney Tunes #206 (December 1958), early artwork by Bob Gregory.
Western Publishing
By 1958, Bob Gregory began freelancing for Western Publishing on a regular basis. For 25 years, he remained associated with the publisher, first for the last leg of the Dell Comics line, and then as a staple in the Gold Key Comics titles. While also an artist himself, Gregory was one of the prominent scriptwriters for the publisher's many licensed comic book titles. His stories were drawn by artists such as Carl Barks, Jack Bradbury, John N. Carey, Phil De Lara, Al Hubbard, Tony Strobl, Warren Tufts, Cliff Voorhees and more. As an artist, he also penciled stories scripted by Mark Evanier or Vic Lockman. Regular inkers for Bob Gregory's stories were Bill Wright and Jeff Maurer.
Cover drawings for 'Daisy and Dbob gregoryonald' #11 (1975) and 'The Beagle Boys' #42 (1978). © Disney
Disney comics
Throughout his tenure at Western, Gregory was most notable as a writer and artist of Disney comics. He mostly worked on gags and stories starring Donald Duck and his large circle of friends and relatives, including Uncle Scrooge, Daisy Duck and the Junior Woodchucks. During the Gold Key years (1962-1984), Gregory was the most productive writer and artist for the line's several Disney titles. Besides contributing to the ongoing 'Donald Duck' and 'Walt Disney's Comics and Stories' series, he almost singlehandedly filled 59 issues of 'Daisy and Donald', and appeared prominently in other spin-off titles, such as 'Huey, Dewey and Louie, Junior Woodchucks' and 'The Beagle Boys'.
The Junior Woodchucks - 'The Whistling Sentry' (Huey, Dewey and Louie: Junior Woodchucks #58, 1979). © Disney
Nine of Gregory's stories were drawn by Carl Barks, the man who had largely shaped the Duckburg universe during the 1940s and 1950s. One of their stories was 'The Christmas Cha Cha' (Dell Giant, issue #26, November 1959), in which Gregory came up with the concept of the Duckburg Billionaires Club, of which Uncle Scrooge, Flintheart Glomgold and John D. Rockerduck are members. Outside of Duckburg, Gregory additionally penned stories with the little pup Scamp. After Disney released the 1970 animated feature 'The Aristocats', Gregory wrote some of the comic stories based on the protagonists of that movie, appearing in the nine-issue series 'Walt Disney Presents: O'Malley and the Alley Cats'.
Bob Gregory's personal art style featuring the ducks is recognizable by the often big round heads and black pupils of his duck characters. When his daughter Roberta visited Finland as an adult, she was amazed how popular 'Donald Duck' was in Scandinavia, with one person even being in awe that she was "Bob Gregory's daughter." In Denmark, volume #38 of the compilation series Anders And Classic (2021) was devoted to the best stories of Bob Gregory.
Wally Gator - 'Tale of a Teddy' (Quick Draw McGraw #12, 1962).
Other licensed titles
Outside of the Disney productions, Bob Gregory also wrote and drew comic stories for other Dell/Gold Key series. For the comic books starring Warner Bros' 'Looney Tunes' cast, he worked on tales based on Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety & Sylvester and Wile E. Coyote & the Road Runner. He also wrote for Walter Lantz's Woody Woodpecker, with John N. Carey as his regular artist. For the Hanna-Barbera titles, he wrote and drew humorous shenanigans starring Tom & Jerry, Wally Gator, Huckleberry Hound and Hokey Wolf. Gregory also wrote and drew a story with MGM's Barney Bear (Tom & Jerry Comics issue #168, July 1958) and various stories starring DePatie-Freleng’s 'The Pink Panther', drawn by Warren Tufts.
While most of his output was dedicated to funny animals, Gregory also worked on other licensed properties. When Hanna-Barbera made an animated TV series based on the iconic comedy duo Laurel & Hardy, Gregory collaborated with artist Pete Alvarado on slapstick stories starring Stan and Ollie, published in 1967. In the USA, these comics were less popular compared with the European market, where Laurel & Hardy remained far more beloved, so their comics sold better in countries like the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy.
Later career
After the Gold Key comic book line had come to an end in 1984, Gregory spent the rest of the decade scripting stories for Walt Disney Company's own story production of comics for their international licensees. For this so-called "Studio Program" of S-coded stories, Gregory was fully dedicated to Donald Duck and his family, penning almost 50 stories drawn by either Tony Strobl or the Jaime Diaz Studio.
Death and legacy
In his final years, Bob Gregory coped with Alzheimer’s disease. He passed away in 2003, at age 82, from pneumonia. His daughter Roberta Gregory became a notable comic creator in her own right, famous for her 'Bitchy Bitch' character. In issues #29 and #40 of her own comic book Naughty Bits, she devoted an autobiographical comic about her father, his coping with Alzheimer's and eventual death, under the title 'Bye Bye Daddy'.
'Bye Bye Daddy', Roberta Gregory's comic about her father (from: Naughty Bits #29).