Doctor Vulter

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Doctor Vulter is a villain featured in Mickey Mouse Disney comics. He was created by Ted Osborne (plot) and Floyd Gottfredson (plot and art) in the story Mickey Mouse and the Pirate Submarine, published in the Mickey Mouse daily strip from september 1935 to january 1936.

Dr. Vulter is an anthropomorphic ape, resembling a gorilla. He is a megalomaniacal pirate captain and mad scientist, somewhat modeled after Jules Verne's Captain Nemo character. Using a futuristic submarine and a small army of henchmen, he plagues the seas by stealing various ships which he aims to use for his plans of world conquest. Vulter's germanic-sounding name, his uniform and monocle, as well as his plans of world domination and militaristic gang, are obvious echoes of the Nazi menace of the time.

After being defeated by Mickey, Vulter never appeared again in American stories. He was, however, used by Italian authors, starting with the 1959 story Topolino e il ritorno dell'artiglio magnetico, by Guido Martina (plot) and Giulio Chierchini (art). He returned occasionally and is still used from time to time by European authors.