Merrill De MarisMerrill De Maris.

Merrill De Maris (February 26, 1898, New Jersey, December 31, 1948, Escondido, California) was an American writer who worked on Disney comic strips for King Features Syndicate. De Maris helped Floyd Gottfredson with many of his early Mickey Mouse comic strips; they co-created famous characters like Phantom Blot, Chief O'Hara and Detective Casey. In 1942, they gave Minnie Mouse a full name as Minerva Mouse, for the four-month comic strip story "The Gleam".