Mr. Jim Korkis and I have a history that goes back to the dawn of time. His knowledge of comics and cartoon history is astounding and the number of people he's met and interviewed over the years makes Jay Leno seem like a hermit.

Back in the days of Malibu Comics, I hired Mr. K to write some text pieces and introductions to many of our comic strip reprints. They were fascinating and entertaining and I always found out stuff I didn't know – he was the pre-Google Google for certain topics. And his work would arrive many days before his deadline.

I also had the privilege of editing two big softcover books of his, written with his then-frequent collaborator John Cawley, another guy who knows more about animation than Don Bluth forgot. One book was Cartoon Confidential, one of my favorite books I ever got to work on.

The other was the Animation Art Buyer's Guide and Price Guide, which was an inexpensive book about buying, selling, pricing animation art and stuff to look for and look out for.

"Editing" in this case meant that I just had to get the captions under the right pictures and make sure the pages were in the correct order. The manuscript they turned in for each book was impeccable.

Mr. K has a new book out called The Vault of Walt: Unofficial, Unauthorized, Uncensored Disney Stories Never Told, a 400-page collection of pieces he's written about Walt Disney, the man, the studio, the theme parks and the cartoons.

Jim has a deceptively casual yet lively writing style that makes you think you're having lunch with him. He's been collecting the info in this book for decades, tirelessly revising, editing, interviewing and updating, and he even spent several years as an instructor at the Disney studio in Florida so he's been all around the House of Mouse.

I haven't read The Vault of Walt yet (my Amazon copy has yet to arrive), and I won't review it because he's an old pal of mine, but I will recommend that you read what others have said about it, and trust that you'll want a copy as well. If you like Disney's history, the studio's cartoons and the personalities who made them (animator Ward Kimball built a working full-size railroad in his backyard, complete with passenger cars and track), you are certain to enjoy what Jim's written.

Here's what Mark Evanier has to say about the book.

Here's Steven Thompson at Booksteve's Library weighing in with a very positive review.

And here's Mark Mayerson talking about the book and running through its contents.

You'll find a complete bio of Jim at the bottom of this article he wrote about the lost John Carter of Mars animated TV series that involved both Bob Clampett and Edgar Rice Burroughs. Read the article too for a taste of Jim's elegant writing.

[Artwork: Cover to The Vault of Walt]