The intersection of Disney comics and American naturalism

Hey, are you aware that Volume One of Fantagraphics' reprinting of Floyd Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse comic strip is out now? NOW NOW NOW! This is an extremely momentous occasion, as anyone familiar with Disney comics knows. Even if you're not, I'd recommend picking it. Maybe you will be! And it's totally uncensored; the second continuity includes the semi-infamous "Mickey attempts suicide" sequence.

Anyway, I was reading through the first story, "Mickey Mouse in Death Valley," and I came across THIS:



Look familiar? Yup--aside from the fact that (obviously) no one dies, it's pretty much exactly the ending to Frank Norris's McTeague, down to the fact that both take place in Death Valley. There is no way this can be a coincidence. A very cool little homage.