Neighbor J. Jones is Donald Duck's next door neighbor. He is portrayed as being as short-tempered as Donald and more truculent. The yard between their respective homes often becomes a battlefield. The usual setting would be some argument or fight which would result in a huge mess for both Jones and Donald.
Jones was created by the late Disney Legend Carl Barks.
History[]
The character first appeared in 1943's Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #34. There and in later issues, he tended to appear in stories featuring Donald Duck. Neighbor Jones was the first of many recurring characters that Carl Barks created. Jones has since appeared in hundreds of additional stories, with writers Paul Halas (UK) and Jan Kruse (Netherlands) among the most frequent to use the character.
Appearances[]
In Carl Barks' Uncle Scrooge comic entitled Outfoxed Fox (first published in 1952), Donald's neighbor called Jones was given the first name of "Jughead". This name did not reappear in further stories, possibly because it would create a copyright conflict with Archie Comics.
In one comic, Donald thinks taking a vacation on a cruise ship would get him thousands of miles away from Jones and other problems, only to realize Jones bought a ticket on the same cruise by coincidence. The captain of the ship, however, is quick to extinguish bickering by threatening to throw both in the brig, and later on Donald and Neighbor Jones actually have to work together when they are stranded at sea.
Although Neighbor Jones is largely an adversary, he will be pleasant with Donald on occasion, such as Donald offering Jones money to clear his yard during a snowstorm after seeing how efficiently Jones had shovelled his own driveway. Jones does the job, and courteously announces he is finished after Donald presents payment.
In various Italian stories Jones is replaced by a similar character named Anacleto Mitraglia, who is taller and skinnier than Jones, but with a similar personality and rivalry with Donald. Jones is actually rarely used in Italian stories. Mitraglia evolved from one of several names given to the original Jones in early Barks stories.