American comic readers

HATHAWAY@stsci.edu HATHAWAY at stsci.edu
Wed Dec 29 02:08:22 CET 1993


(I hope this goes to the list - my machine still gets confused - depending 
on the state it is in, a REPLY goes to either the list or the poster -  
and it sometimes doesn't tell me which it is doing until it is done - 
the only reliable address is to manually type it in - I thought computers 
were supposed to relieve us of such tedium - so Don, if you got a version 
of this directly to you instead of through the list - I apologize.  Or 
it may show up on the distribution list twice ... groan.  This flakiness 
is one the the reasons I usually 'lurk' and not post.  In my other mailing 
list a REPLY goes to the distribution list - here it seems a REPLY goes 
to the sender?  Someday I'll learn.... ) 


>From:	STSCIC::IN%"72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM"  "Don Rosa" 28-DEC-1993 10:26:21.84
>To:	IN%"disney-comics at minsk.docs.uu.se"  "INTERNET:disney-comics at Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE"
>CC:	
>Subj:	+Postage Due+Disney-comics digest #196.
>
... 
>big to ever manage. No matter HOW good the comics are that Gladstone or
>Disney or whoever turns out, American Disney comics are doomed to being
>shunned by the "cult" of comic buyers since they are of the generation
>that are taught upon entering the hobby that they are to SHUN Disney
>comics and ONLY read Super-hero comics. Of course, as you say, it's the
>super-hero comics that are childish and silly, no matter how violent
>they are, but when an American gets a particular impression of what
>peer pressure expects him to believe, THAT'S what he believes without
>thinking for himself. 

   Ah - whatever became of the American tradition of individualism - the 
rebellious streak of those who buck the tide and delight in thinking for 
themselves?  Those who look to peer pressure only to discover what to avoid... 
But then I remember the great flowering of hippiedom of the 1960's.  
Imagine my disappointment when I discovered the great mass of non-conformists 
joined the movement as sheep and when it became unpopular they dropped 
their beads and tresses like pet rocks.  If the sales figures reflect 
us true believers in quality, then we are indeed an endangered minority.  
Yes I collected some Spiderman from the 1960s (Numbers 20 - 100 or thereabouts)
and other such early Marvel, but they sit in their boxes, while the Duck 
clan piles up on my nightstand for reading.  


...
>	That's how it happened and it will never change since American
>kids (and their parents) are only getting stupider, not smarter, as each
>year goes by.
>	Questions?
>


I do have a problem with turning on my god-children to Disney Comics - 
I can't afford two subscriptions and I'd be afraid of my set being 
mangled or lost if I gave it to them to read.  (No one ever prizes 
ones possessions the way an owner does - particularly so with mothers 
and comics - 'throw it away' seems to be in their nature.)  That long period 
of missing publication gave me fear of famine of never seeing the stories 
again.  They are reaching the age of being careful though, so maybe I can 
chance it before they 'learn to outgrow' them.  

Wm. Hathaway 




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