From revry at tjhsst.vak12ed.edu Fri Apr 1 07:25:23 1994 From: revry at tjhsst.vak12ed.edu (Ronald A. Evry (Ronald)) Date: Fri, 1 Apr 94 0:25:23 EST Subject: Disney-comics digest #286. In-Reply-To: <9403312324.AA13552@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE>; from "disney-comics@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE" at Apr 1, 94 1:24 am Message-ID: <9404010525.AA23996@tjhsst.vak12ed.edu> Just wanted everyone to know that Life of $crooge part ONE is available at my local Wal-Mart, probably at yours too! Apparently, they have a "Disney Comics/Distributed by Marvel Comics" indicia on the cover, but the rest of the book is identical! Even though Gladstone may have sold out to the direct market, apparently this Disney/Marvel thing is for the newstand market. Ron From rivers at seismo.CSS.GOV Fri Apr 1 09:24:32 1994 From: rivers at seismo.CSS.GOV (Wilmer Rivers) Date: Fri, 1 Apr 94 02:24:32 EST Subject: Ice Festival in Duckburg Message-ID: <9404010724.AA01461@beno.CSS.GOV> Per asks about a lithograph of a Barks painting which the Swedish distributor calls (in Swedish, of course) "Ice Festival in Duckburg". > It displays a lot of Duckburgians with an emphasis on Donald and Daisy > on skates. (Scrooge has skates for rent.) What painting is this? It's called "Mardi Gras before the Thaw". It features practically EVERYBODY - in addition to all the characters from the Barks stories, it has Pluto chasing the skating Beagle Boys into a near collision with Horace Horsecollar and Clarabelle Cow, while the unmistakeable outlines of Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy are seen in shadows as they carry balloons into a castle which seems more representative of Anaheim than of Duckburg. But the statue of Cornelius Coot dominates the skyline, so it's to be taken as a winter carnival in Duckburg, as the Swedish distributor has decided in their re-naming of the print. Among the gags are that Gyro is skating on stilts, with a propeller mounted to a motor on his back, and HD&L are building a snowman which looks just like Donald. Donald and Daisy are by far the largest figures in the foreground, and it shows quite prominently that Daisy has green eyes. Wilmer Rivers From H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl Fri Apr 1 12:11:08 1994 From: H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl (Harry Fluks) Date: Fri, 01 Apr 1994 12:11:08 +0200 Subject: Ice Festival in Duckburg Message-ID: <199404011011.AA00916@athena.research.ptt.nl> Wilmer: > Per asks about a lithograph of a Barks painting which the Swedish > distributor calls (in Swedish, of course) "Ice Festival in Duckburg". > It's called "Mardi Gras before the Thaw". Do you have some more information, like the orientation of the painting (Portrait or Landscape) and the year in which Barks drew it? All we had so far was the title (in our file "oils" on ftp.lysator.liu.se) --Harry. From adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Sat Apr 2 01:38:57 1994 From: adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz (adair_t@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz) Date: Sat, 02 Apr 1994 11:38:57 +1200 Subject: The Marvel Connection Message-ID: <0097C5A5.55488200.32397@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz> For those of you who have subscribed since Gladstone resumed publicationof Disney comics: Gladstone sells comicbooks to the direct market. Marvel distributes Gladstone's products to newstands. The only difference that I can recall is that the logo is changed on the cover, and maybe a UPC box is added. They appear to be the same inside. I have yet to see any newsstands in New Zealand selling Disney comics. This is very surprising, as the newstands generally have a better selection of comicbooks than their American counterparts. If Marvel does have newstand distribution rights for Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the U.S. (the same market as Gladstone?), then they should exploit it. BTW, I get my Gladstones via a comicbook store, which gets them via the direct market. I am glad Marvel is distributing Disney comics, as Marvel has the talentand experience to successfully sell comics via the newsstand. (One more note for new subscribers. Disney Comics refers to comicbooks published by Disney (sometimes referred to as "The Dark Ages"), whereas Disney comics (small "c") refers to all comicbooks published for Disney.) Marvel also seems to be publishing the Disney movie adaptations, as seenby the recent "Three Musketeers" comicbook. Would someone who is more knowledeable please give more information? Torsten Adair Adair_T at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Wellington, New Zealand From adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Sat Apr 2 02:01:05 1994 From: adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz (adair_t@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz) Date: Sat, 02 Apr 1994 12:01:05 +1200 Subject: Donald in Mathmagic Land Message-ID: <0097C5A8.6CAD8DC0.32428@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz> The only reason I bought the recent issue of Donald Duck Adventures was because of the adaptation of "Mathmagic Land" by Tony Strobl. I'm a bit partial to educational comicbooks, and I was curious to compare this story with the film. Overall, it was enjoyable, and factual. I was disappointed that the pool table scene was edited, as I remember being awed by the method of using the diamonds on the sides, but had forgotten as to how to use them. I suppose Disney didn't want to promote juvenile delinquency. I may be mistaken (actually, a book I read may be mistaken), but I thought Algebra was named after a middle-eastern mathematician, not after a word. I was also surprised that Scrooge, a brilliant bussinessman, didn't realize the mistake of doubling money each time. For those of you who want a physical demonstration of this, try folding a piece of paper eight times. (After five minutes with a calculator and pen, the sum that Scrooge would own Donald would be $184,467,440,737,095,516.16 Or, in other words, one hundred eighty-four quadrillion, four hundred sixty-seven trillion, four hundred forty billion, seven hundred thirty-seven million, ninety-five thousand, five hundred sixteen dollars and sixteen cents.) (I just realized a mistake. Did Donald start with one penny, or two? If one, then divide the above total by two. If you have a calculator handy, the answer should be 2^63 (two to the sixty-third power)). This reminds me of a subject which I haven't seen here yet. How much money is in Scrooge's moneybin? Torsten "grains of sand" Adair adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Wellington, NZ From adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Sat Apr 2 03:12:39 1994 From: adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz (adair_t@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz) Date: Sat, 02 Apr 1994 13:12:39 +1200 Subject: Top Publishers for April 1994 Message-ID: <0097C5B2.6C53F080.32674@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz> Found this in rec.arts.comics.misc. It has been edited for brevity. Torsten Adair adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Wellington, New Zealand Path: newshost.wcc.govt.nz!comp.vuw.ac.nz!uunet!panix!news.intercon.com!howland.reston.ans.net!noc.near.net!news.delphi.com!news.delphi.com!not-for-mail From: antarcti at news.delphi.com (ANTARCTIC at DELPHI.COM) Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.misc,alt.comics.alternative Subject: Top Publishers for April 1994 Date: 29 Mar 1994 19:39:48 -0500 Organization: Delphi Internet Services Corporation Lines: 67 Message-ID: <2nahok$bqk at news.delphi.com> Here's a quick list of the top publishers for April 1994, by dollar share of the direct market, as reported by Capital City. Publisher Year 92 12/93 Year 93 1/94 2/94 3/94 4/94 Marvel 45.76% 30.24% 33.43% 35.87% 32.41% 31.85% 32.88% DC 19.34% 20.04% 19.00% 18.32% 16.67% 20.16% 23.94% [...] (23) Gladstone .26% .45% .23% .43% .56% .41% .34% [...] From rivers at seismo.CSS.GOV Sat Apr 2 05:21:46 1994 From: rivers at seismo.CSS.GOV (Wilmer Rivers) Date: Fri, 1 Apr 94 22:21:46 EST Subject: Mathmagic Land Message-ID: <9404020321.AA15738@beno.CSS.GOV> Torsten Adair writes about "Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land": > I may be mistaken (actually, a book I read may be mistaken), but I > thought Algebra was named after a middle-eastern mathematician, not after a > word. No, almost all the exotic-sounding words in the English language that have the prefix "al" come from Arabic nouns rather then proper names. "Al" is the definite article in Arabic. Science has lots of these words, such as Al-cohol, Al-chemy, Al-dehyde, Al-falfa, Al-gorithm, Al-idade (that's a surveying instrument), Al-kali, etc. As for algebra, that means "the reunion of broken parts". Wilmer Rivers From trygve at maroon.tc.umn.edu Sat Apr 2 21:34:59 1994 From: trygve at maroon.tc.umn.edu (Tryg Helseth) Date: Sat, 2 Apr 94 13:34:59 CST Subject: How much does $crooge have in his money bin? Message-ID: <61201.trygve@maroon.tc.umn.edu> On Sat, 02 Apr 1994 12:01:05 +1200, adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz wrote: TORSTEN ADAIR Writes: > This reminds me of a subject which I haven't seen here yet. How much >money is in Scrooge's moneybin? Torsten: I remember a reference in a '50s Scrooge story where he quotes his net worth as "9 Fantasticatillion, 40 Billion Jillion Centrificalion dollars and 16 cents." Or something like that. I can't remember exactly which story that appeared in, but maybe someone else knows. Now the first question I have is what do those units translate to in units we are familiar with; secondly, does that represent his total worth or just what is in the bin? Another way to determine Scrooge's wealth is may be by volumne. The volume of money is referred to as being "3 cubic acres" which again is an unfamiliar unit of measure. Now an acre is a square mesure consisting of 43,560 square feet. A square plot containing an acre would be approx. 208.7 feet squared. We might guess that a "cubic acre" would be 208.7 feet cubed, or 9.09 million cubic feet. So $crooges bin is about 27.3 million cubic feet (773 million liters). Scrooges bin appears to be mainly filled with coins with bills intermixed. I don't have any idea as to what the average foot of money would be worth. Anyone care to guess? Tryg Helseth Minneapolis, MN, USA or "I found my thrill on Killmotor hill..." $crooge McDuck From mas at cs.bu.edu Sun Apr 3 00:28:44 1994 From: mas at cs.bu.edu (Mark Semich) Date: Sat, 2 Apr 1994 17:28:44 -0500 Subject: Previews and Re: How much does $crooge have in his money bin? In-Reply-To: <61201.trygve@maroon.tc.umn.edu> Message-ID: <199404022228.RAA14074@csa.bu.edu> I don't remember just where I saw this, but I recall reading an analysis of Scrooge's money bin in an old Gladstone letter column. The author had calculated the volume of the bin, and perhaps just how much cash it could hold. (I seem to remember something about how 3 cubic acres would actually be *much* larger than the bin appears to be.) WDC&S 591 just came out and contains a new William Van Horn story, "Magica's Missin' Magic." This story includes, as one of it's main characters, the whistling flea, Baron Itzy Bitzy. I know that I've read a previous Van Horn story with this flea in it - does anyone know off hand which story this was? I've been very busy recently, so I'm in the midst of catching up on my mail. Among other things, I got a recent letter from David Gerstein wherein he mentions the Gladstone previews from last month. I don't know if these have already been mentioned here, my apologies if they have: (Comments are David's :-) ) "DDA 27: 'Rustler's in Widows Gap' by Pat Block. This is the new tale done directly for Gladstone that Gary Leach told us about. It is 24 pages long! Hurray! First Donald Western in a long, long, time!" "WDC&S 592 (64 pages): A William Van Horn DD story (no title given). the conclusion of 'Hoppy the Kangaroo,' and (groan) 30 pages of Tony Strobl's Donald Duck in memorial to Strobl, who died recently. I don't care much for Strobl, but know he has his fans and agree he deserves a tribute - but why, when this is WDC&S, are they using only Strobl DUCK material? Didn't he draw mice. wolves, dawgs, etc. as well? Great, even with 64 pages Gladstone's WDC&S continues to be ALL ducks and mice..." "US 287: The third part of LO$ (I've forgotten the title, sorry!), plus one of Jippes' redrawn Barks Junior Woodchuck tales, 'Duck-Made Disaster.' YYYYES!..." I certainly look forward to most of these stories, especially the Rosa, the new Pat Block tale, the Jippes Woodchuck story (I wrote in to Gladstone and asked to see these) and also "Hoppy the Kangaroo," as I never read it the first time around. All in all, it looks to be a great month. Also just got the new April Previews myself: --- Descriptions are Gladstone's, [comments are mine] D&M 25 - This issue: "The Unorthodox Ox," by Carl Barks, in which Donald borrows Grandma's "tame" bull. Also features the final installment of the Mickey and Goofy epic, "Don't Call Me Tut" [Blech!] - a gag-filled [couldn't have chosen a better description myself] romp from Disney Studios. Plus: "This is Your Life, Donald Duck," by Tony Strobl. - FC, 64pg $2.95 DD 286 - Join Carl Barks, Floyd Gottfredson, Frederico Pedrocchi, Don Rosa, and William Van Horn for this 60th Anniversary tribute to the greatest cartoon water-bird of all time! Contains a 16-page story by Rosa, a classic Donald/Mickey reprint (the first Mickey adventure in which Donald participated) by Gottfredson, a 17-page Italian story (first printed in 1937) by Pedrocchi, and "Donald's Victory Garden" by Carl Barks - his first ten-pager, which originally appeared in WDC&S #31. Plus: a 10-page framing sequence by William Van Horn. New cover image by William Van Horn. - FC, 64pg $2.95 ["Cover image"? I'm starting to feel very afraid...] USA #28 - Presents the epic Barks adventure, "Land Beneath the Ground" - featuring artwork edited from Western's reprinting of the tale! Also: The first installment of Romano Scarpa's Scrooge adventure, "The Man From Oola Oola." Cover by Don Rosa. - FC, 64pg $2.95 --- Aside from D&M, it looks like a good month. The DD is certainly a gem, and I'm very interested in what the Scarpa story in USA will be like. Off to the Funny Farm... From deckerd at agcs.com Sun Apr 3 02:38:45 1994 From: deckerd at agcs.com (Dwight Decker) Date: Sat, 2 Apr 94 17:38:45 MST Subject: How much money does Scrooge have in his money bin Message-ID: <9404030038.AA05512@gtephx.com> Years and years ago, I wrote a semi-serious article on this subject for The Comics Journal. I figured out the volume of three cubic acres, then arbitrarily assumed that the pennies, nickels, and dimes balanced the 50-cent pieces, silver dollars, and bills of various denominations so that the mass of money averaged out to so many quarters (the American 25-cent piece). That is, I assumed the bin to be filled with stacks of quarters (less ten feet or so between the top of each column and the ceiling). This was, I admit, a completely arbitrary assumption, and Scrooge's sheaves of banknotes probably increased the actual amount considerably. However, I could weigh a quarter and measure its diameter and width, and calculate from there for a figure that might be suggestive. I've long since forgotten my actual results, but I think I discovered that Scrooge has more money in the bin than is actually in circulation in the entire United States. The weight of all that money also had serious implications for the money-bin floor. A further complication was that about 1964 or so, the price of silver rose to the point that the silver content of dimes and quarters was worth more than the face value, so the government switched from silver coinage to cheaper metals. The old silver coins have virtually disappeared from circulation and are now worth several times face value to collectors and dealers. No doubt a large part of Scrooge's hoard includes the old silver coins and so would be worth more than face value. This is all speculative nonsense, of course, and when the article appeared, several people complained about my arbitrary assumption that the money bin could be thought of as containing nothing but quarters. I didn't mean for it to be taken seriously; I just needed a firm peg to hang the calculations on. Oddly enough, a couple of years after the article appeared, I got a check out of nowhere from a French comics magazine that had translated and printed it... --Dwight Decker From adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Sun Apr 3 04:07:18 1994 From: adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz (adair_t@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz) Date: Sun, 03 Apr 1994 14:07:18 +1200 Subject: Grand Comics Index Message-ID: <0097C683.38DC82E0.1738@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz> I found this is rec.arts.comics.misc, and given the high amount of indexing done in this list, I thought it might be of interest. Torsten Adair adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Wellington, New Zealand Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.misc Path: newshost.wcc.govt.nz!comp.vuw.ac.nz!uunet!butch!enterprise!news From: stroup at univrs.decnet.lockheed.com Subject: Grand Comics Database Message-ID: <1994Mar31.155503.1 at univrs.decnet.lockheed.com> Lines: 36 Sender: news at enterprise.rdd.lmsc.lockheed.com (News Administrator) Organization: Lockheed Palo Alto Research Labs Date: Thu, 31 Mar 94 23:55:15 GMT Announcing the GRAND COMICS DATABASE With the emergence of a strong electronic comic book fandom, the Bay Area Comicbook Klub and APA-Index have joined forces to create the ultimate comic book database. It will contain information on every comic book ever published. The database includes fields for writer, artist, inker, letterer, colorist, editor, cover artist and more! And best of all, we are going to give it to comic book fandom. It will be available online, on disk, and by ftp for just the cost of mailing or access time. Obviously this is a major project. So, WE NEED YOUR HELP. Anyone who already has indexed books in electronic form, we'd love to have your data. Everyone else, we'd like a little of your time. Contact us and you can index any books that aren't already done. For having just started this project in March, we are doing well. With only 7 volunteers so far, we have over 100 titles and 2,000 issues already indexed. But we have a long way to go. We estimate that there are already over 100,000 different comics to put into the database, with more being published each week. So if you can give us some support, send me a SASE or e-mail me at the following address for more details. Come and join in the Grand Adventure! The Grand Comics Database Tim Stroup 130 Baroni Ave. #16 San Jose, CA 95136 stroup at univrs.decnet.lockheed.com From 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM Sun Apr 3 17:18:34 1994 From: 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM (Don Rosa) Date: 03 Apr 94 11:18:34 EDT Subject: Disney-comics digest #288. Message-ID: <940403151834_72260.2635_EHB148-2@CompuServe.COM> TRYG: I was afraid you were going to try to answer that insidious question of how much money $crooge has in his Bin... but you gave the only appropriate answer of one of the fanciful numbers that Barks gave now and then. I was always irritated when people wrote in to those letter pages trying to determine how much money was in $crooge's 3 cubic acres, especially since it's not possible to even GUESS at without making sweeping assumptions and generalizations as to just what's in an average cubic foot (or wotever) of the bin. The calculations might be fun if they could have the slightest sort of viable framework to start from. The Bin is filled with ordinary pocket-change type cash which has been dumped in from 1902 until 19??, along with 8 hogsheads of Canadian and American currency from the previous 5 years. How many pennies? Silver dollars from when they were common? Double eagle gold pieces from when they were used? And, while I can't explain this, I also dislike anyone trying to nail down that nebulous amount. I realize how strange this is coming from someone who apparently relishes in "nailing down" so many other aspects of $crooge's life, so I can't defend my attitude. I guess there are SOME things I think should be elusive... and for some reason the contents of the Bin are one of 'em. AND YET... as to the question you (Tryg) ask, as to whether an amount of money is $crooge's net worth or just the contents of his Bin, I addressed that matter in part 12 of the "Lo$". So often people seem to feel that $crooge's bin is ALL of his money; if he's a thriving businessman, it may be only a FRACTION of his worth. But if that's true, why does he worry about it so much? I feel pretentious saying SPOILER WARNING as if I think people are waiting on pins and needles to see this stuff -- but there, I slipped the warning in sideways... "Lo$" CHAPTER 12, page 8 & 9 -- $crooge has just opened the door to the Bin and shown DD and HDL what's inside. DD: "Oh, my stars and little comets! It IS a bin! A bin of MONEY -- just like the TV show quesses!" HDL: "Lookit that gauge -- it's nearly 100 feet deep!" DD: "He... he has ALL his money in this ONE huge room!" U$: "Don't be an idiot! This isn't ALL my money! I have assets in banks and property around the world! "But THIS... this is the money I earned MYSELF... ALONE... while I travelled the globe for 50 years, singlehandedly discovering mines and starting factories! "Each coin in this bin has a meaning to me! Each is a souvenir! Each is a trophy to my grit and glory! "THIS is that part of my money I NEVER SPEND!" That's one of the few times I pulled off something I kinda like. Other times I am terribly embarrassed by how much my work SUCKS DONKEY PARTS!!! One such time was that cover I did back in the 17th century for the Gladstone album reprinting "Land Beneath the Ground". And it's THAT @#$%&*+ cover that I just was told is what Gladstone is reusing on their new reprint!!! I quickly called and offered to redo it FOR FREE if they just wouldn't use that cover! I was still in my earliest learning stages of learning to draw when I did that thing! But too late. I aplogize to everyone for the reappearance of that cover art. From hellman at proxxi.uf.se Sun Apr 3 21:11:37 1994 From: hellman at proxxi.uf.se (Bror Hellman) Date: Sun, 3 Apr 1994 21:11:37 +0200 (MET DST) Subject: Donald in Mathmagic Land In-Reply-To: <0097C5A8.6CAD8DC0.32428@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz> Message-ID: > (After five minutes with a calculator and pen, the sum that Scrooge > would own Donald would be $184,467,440,737,095,516.16 Oh! What a catastrophe! If $crooge would loose that kind of money every day he would be ruined in just twohundred years! :-) ---------------------------------------------- ... Does The Little Mermaid wear an algebra? ---------------------------------------------- Internet: hellman at proxxi.uf.se, DuckNet: hellman at 313:100/13.0 From jbaker at world.std.com Mon Apr 4 00:58:24 1994 From: jbaker at world.std.com (John M Baker) Date: Sun, 3 Apr 1994 18:58:24 -0400 (EDT) Subject: How much does $crooge have in his money bin? In-Reply-To: <61201.trygve@maroon.tc.umn.edu> Message-ID: I know that Don Rosa has expressed his distaste for attempts to answer this question, but I can't resist a few observations. 1. Unca Carl repeatedly told us, to the penny, the exact amount, sometimes expressed as the amount in the money bin and sometimes as the total fortune. These totals have the following in common: They are never the same in two different stories. They always use made-up numbers ("nine multicaplujillion," etc.), presumably because real numbers don't go high enough. And the amount always ends, "and sixteen cents." 2. Scrooge frequently worries, with some apparent justification (e.g., "The Pixilated Parrot"), that without the money in his money bin he will be only a poor old man. Yet it is also clear that he has vast holdings elsewhere; remember the contest with Flintheart Glomgold, where their holdings are actually liquidated. Presumably the answer is that he has vast requirements for current cash and cannot continue operations without the resources of his money bin. (This brings up a related question: Why doesn't Scrooge just put his money in banks and receive a return on his investment? Although the emotional meaning of the money to him should not be discounted, it also cannot be the whole story. One answer is that the money has a tangible value as an investment, because of the scarcity of the coins and bills on the collectors' market; banks would not give him credit above the face value, and extensive sales to collectors would depress the market. Second, bank deposits are insured only to the first $100,000, and Scrooge is undoubtedly concerned about safety.) 3. Attempts to calculate the fortune based upon the volume of the money bin are doomed to failure, for two reasons. First, we don't even know what the volume is, since "three cubic acres" is not a standard measure of volume. Should we assume that each cubic acre is a cube just over 208 feet per side? Or should we assume that the money bin covers three acres, to a depth of about 100 feet? The bin certainly looks closer to three than six acres? A more fundamental problem is the inability to assign any value to a given volume. Scrooge probably couldn't do it himself: Should he use the value at which his coins and bills would sell if slowly released to collectors, or should he use the depressed prices that would prevail if collectors knew his rare coins and bills were being liquidated? Note also that the volume has stayed under the 100-foot marker, though we know he has added to the money bin during that time. Probably he is upgrading the collection, using up less valuable coins and bills of lower denomination and recent vintage while retaining the collectors' items and adding high-denomination bills. 4. Having said all that, remember that there was one story in which the fortune was converted to $1,000,000 bills and stored in a 30-foot sphere. If we assume the inner diameter to be 28 feet, the question becomes how many $1,000,000 bills would fit in a sphere of that size. A bill is 6 3/16" x 2 5/8". Assume that they are stacked 150 to the inch (new bills stack more than that to the inch, but these probably were not new and certainly were not packed with 100% efficiency). Then there are 15,960 (rounding slightly) to the cubic foot. Since the volume of a cube equals 4/3 times pi times the cube of the radius, there are 11,494 cubic feet to the sphere. That works out to a fortune of $183,444,240,000,000 - at one time in the past, and without taking account of the holdings elsewhere. JMB From rivers at seismo.CSS.GOV Mon Apr 4 01:33:56 1994 From: rivers at seismo.CSS.GOV (Wilmer Rivers) Date: Sun, 3 Apr 94 19:33:56 EDT Subject: money on Scrooge's bin Message-ID: <9404032333.AA10779@beno.CSS.GOV> John M. Baker writes: > Why doesn't Scrooge just put > his money in banks and receive a return on his investment? Although the > emotional meaning of the money to him should not be discounted, it also > cannot be the whole story. One answer is that the money has a tangible > value as an investment, because of the scarcity of the coins and bills on > the collectors' market; banks would not give him credit above the face > value, and extensive sales to collectors would depress the market. > Second, bank deposits are insured only to the first $100,000, and Scrooge > is undoubtedly concerned about safety.) And third, Scrooge himself undoubtedly owns the bank! Do you think he's about to pay himself interest? Wilmer Rivers From adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Mon Apr 4 03:58:13 1994 From: adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz (adair_t@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz) Date: Mon, 04 Apr 1994 13:58:13 +1200 Subject: Scrooge's money bin Message-ID: <0097C74B.1EA4CAE0.3145@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz> I prefer Don Rosa's "piggy bank" definition of Scrooge's moneybin. Every single piece of currency in that bin means something to Scrooge. As to the argument that there aren't enough numbers to quantify Scrooge's worth... A googol is ten to the one hundredth power (The digit "1" with 100 zeros behind it). A googolplex is ten to the googol power {That is, 10^(10^100)}. However, while there exists numbers to quantify Scrooge's net worth, I doubt there are enough accountants available to find the sum. On a somewhat related note... Someone once asked the editors of Richie Rich magazine how big his estate was. They said it was a bit larger than Rhode Island. And while I'm at it, does Scrooge live in a mansion, or in his moneybin? Given his paranoia, I'd guess the moneybin. One more question, then I'll shut up. Does Scrooge collect fine art? Torsten "to the hundreth power" Adair adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz From 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM Mon Apr 4 05:56:26 1994 From: 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM (Don Rosa) Date: 03 Apr 94 23:56:26 EDT Subject: Disney-comics digest #289. Message-ID: <940404035625_72260.2635_EHB152-1@CompuServe.COM> JOHN BAKER: $crooge giving a rat's fanny about what the "collectability" is of the coins he earned in his youth? Did you ever happen to see my story "The Money Pit"? "Nephew, I've learned to treasure that which has value to ME, not to somebody else. THAT is what life's all about!" From James_Williams at ESS.NIAID.pc.niaid.nih.gov Mon Apr 4 17:31:20 1994 From: James_Williams at ESS.NIAID.pc.niaid.nih.gov (James Williams) Date: Mon, 04 Apr 94 10:31:20 EST Subject: Disney-comics digest #288. Message-ID: <2da024b8@ESS.NIAID.pc.niaid.nih.gov> >Marvel also seems to be publishing the Disney movie adaptations, as >seen by the recent "Three Musketeers" comicbook. Marvel is also publishing an adaption of "The Lion King". Gary Leach said that Marvel will also be publishing three monthly disney comics - Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, and Beauty and The Beast. I've yet to see anything from Marvel confirming this. >The only reason I bought the recent issue of Donald Duck Adventures >was because of the adaptation of "Mathmagic Land" by Tony Strobl. I'm >a bit partial to educational comicbooks, and I was curious to compare >this story with the film. I liked the film version more. Three reasons come to mind. First, the ending in the comic book didn't work for me. I couldn't believe that Scrooge would fall for such a trick. If nothing else, Scrooge should have know that Donald was up to something when he proposed such an outlandish deal. Second, I also thought the billard scene in the movie was better. Lastly, the movie includes a trip inside Donald's mind which the comic left out. >Market Share Figures: >(23) Gladstone .26% .45% .23% .43% .56% .41% .34% I'm a fan, not a retailer. But, these figures worry me. Gladstone's measly market share has shrunk over the last three months. Is this just because the market is so bloated right now, or is Gladstone really fading away? >I remember a reference in a '50s Scrooge story where he quotes his net >worth as "9 Fantasticatillion, 40 Billion Jillion Centrificalion dollars >and 16 cents." >Another way to determine Scrooge's wealth is may be by volumne. The >volume of money is referred to as being "3 cubic acres" which again is >an unfamiliar unit of measure. I think the reason that Carl Barks used non-existant numbers like fantasticatillion and volumes like cubic acres was to avoid questions like these. >WDC&S 591 just came out and contains a new William Van Horn story, >"Magica's Missin' Magic." What did other people think of this story? I love Magica de Spell and usually enjoy William Van Horn, but I hated this story. I thought that the basic plot was extremely conviluted. I also disliked the fact that Magica's sole reason for wanting the box's content was because it might help her get Scrooge's Number One Dime. Magica is a wonderful character who has become thight cast in one role. I'm not sure where Magica was located in the story, but I doubt that she was anywhere near Mount Vesuvius in Italy. I really disliked Ratface. I though it was a stupid name for a raven and I really disliked that he spoke perfectly english. [As much as I dislike Ratface, I must admit that he is a thousand times better than the horrible raven which appears with Magica in DuckTales. That raven was really her brother who had been transformed. One of Magica's reasons for wanting Scrooge's dime was to fix her brothers condition.] How did the story end when translated into other languages? **SPOILER** In the english version the bug is singing "Brother Can You Spare A Dime?". It is a good joke but it relies on a song which I doubt would be familar to most Europeans. Likewise since the song is from the depression era, I wonder how many children reading the story got the joke. >This story includes, as one of it's main characters, the whistling >flea, Baron Itzy Bitzy. I know that I've read a previous Van Horn >story with this flea in it - does anyone know off hand which story >this was? I seem to remember that Baron Itzy Bitzy first appeared in a DuckTales story by William Van Horn. Baron Itzy Bitzy is one of my least favorite characters in the Duck Universe. Every time I see the character, I starting thinking about the Warner Brother's cartoon 'One Frogy Night'. While 'One Frogy Night' is one of the best cartoon's ever made, I don't think characters like this belong in the more realistic duck universe. >I don't care much for Strobl, but know he has his fans and agree he >deserves a tribute - but why, when this is WDC&S, are they using only >Strobl DUCK material? Didn't he draw mice. wolves, dawgs, etc. as >well? Great, even with 64 pages Gladstone's WDC&S continues to be ALL >ducks and mice..." For all their faults, this is one place where Disney Comics were better than Gladstone. Disney had some wonderful material in WDC&S. I really dislike WDC&S being nothing but ducks and mice. >New cover image by William Van Horn. - FC, 64pg $2.95 >["Cover image"? I'm starting to feel very afraid...] One of the prevue magazines shows the cover. It doesn't look gimmicky in any way. I was so happy when Gladstone's plans to do a die-cut cover on D&M fell through. James Williams From krieg at ct.med.ge.com Mon Apr 4 17:31:36 1994 From: krieg at ct.med.ge.com (Andrew Krieg 5-5379) Date: Mon, 4 Apr 94 10:31:36 CDT Subject: Mickey Mouse View-Master Reels Message-ID: <9404041531.AA29239@ct.med.ge.com> I just noticed a set of Mickey Mouse View-Master Reels based on Floyd Gottfredson stories. There were 3 reels in the set, each reel being a different story. The 3 stories were "Mail Pilot", "The Phantom Blot" and "Blaggard Castle." I didn't buy the set, so I don't know if they used actual Gottfredson art, or redrew the panels (probaly the latter). I was really surprised to see this though. Usually, Mickey's cartoons are used for these sets. Anyone have any inside info as to why they went to the Gottfredson strips? From David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu Mon Apr 4 19:10:12 1994 From: David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu (David A Gerstein) Date: Mon, 04 Apr 1994 13:10:12 -0400 Subject: Baron Itzy Bitzy In-Reply-To: Your message of Sun, 03 Apr 1994 01:18:11 +0200 Message-ID: <9404041710.AA13208@bigbird.cc.williams.edu> Dear Folks, Well, I'm back. I've finished Scarpa's "Uncle Scrooge and the Lentils from Babylon," so it's on target for U$A 30 as planned. It's the longest Duck story ever to appear in this country (outside of Disney's DT series, but those weren't "real" Duck stories), clocking in at 71 pages. I fixed a few bad errors in the plot, but large portions of the story are simply gold. I'm looking forward to its printing here. In the meantime, I also wrote an article titled "Lights Before Dawn" about the pre-Barks Italian Duck adventures, which will appear in DD 286. It's illustrated by a Pedrocchi drawing and a panel from one Gottfredson story which influenced "The Secret of Mars": "Mickey Mouse Sails for Treasure Island." This is the FIRST time ANY panel from this story has been reprinted in the U. S. Sadly it is banned, so we may never see the whole thing. Mark Semich noted that "Magica's Missin' Magic" "includes, as one of its main characters, the whistling flea, Baron Itzy Bitzy. I know that I've read a previous Van Horn story with this flea in it - does anyone know off hand which story this was?" There have been two: US "Lost on a Dog," in US or USA at some point c. 1988, and then the DuckTales "Whistling Ghost," in Gladstone's DT 10. The first was just a short gag story, but the second was a long tale that was truly inspired (esp. for Van Horn). Yeah, that's right -- continuity between the Barks and DT universes, at least Van Horn's version of the DT universe. I view Van Horn's DT stories as the best argument why Launchpad should be considered a legitimate add-on to the Barks world. His characterization in those stories is very distinct from Donald; meanwhile, Van Horn added NONE of the discordant elements that DT introduced in his DT stories: I don't believe Webby ever appeared; I think only Duckworth and Launchpad (and the absence of Donald) made them DT stories. Also note: Van Horn used Duckworth in a DD story in 1990: "Snore Losers." Thank you, Don, for recently acknowledging Gottfredson's stature on the Mouse, by the way. I don't like the idea of MM being a fictional character in DD's world, BTW... I prefer him to exist, but if you don't want to show him, or Goofy, or Clarabelle, EVER, in your Duck stories, that's fine. As for Van Horn's views on that, he seems to perfectly accept Mickey being in with the Ducks. The cover to DD 286 pictures Donald and Mickey, only. No HDL or U$ -- in fact, I was shocked to see that THIS was the cover... looked like a D&M cover to me, and I asked John if the wrong image had been submitted to PREVIEWS for the ad. "Nope," he said, "that's not a D&M cover, that's DD 286 all right." A fine cover (shows MM as fireman having just extinguished the sixty candles on DD's birthday cake), but I would have preferred, for example, a huge closeup of DD's face by Barks, surrounded by small images of DD by other artists, with sunbeams in the background a la the old cartoons; or else a scene of Donald being feted by many characters, not just Mickey. Well, time to go have lunch. The dining hall is closing soon, and I've gotta fill up! Your friend, David Gerstein "I'm de Fuller Brush Man. I'm givin' g'way free semple." P. S. (For Fabio) THANK YOU!!!!! I will send a more detailed letter about your package tomorrow!!! THANK YOU!!!! WHOOOOOPPEEE!!! From James_Williams at ESS.NIAID.pc.niaid.nih.gov Mon Apr 4 21:10:31 1994 From: James_Williams at ESS.NIAID.pc.niaid.nih.gov (James Williams) Date: Mon, 04 Apr 94 14:10:31 EST Subject: Disney-comics digest #289. Message-ID: <2da05817@ESS.NIAID.pc.niaid.nih.gov> >"But THIS... this is the money I earned MYSELF... ALONE... while >I travelled the globe for 50 years, singlehandedly discovering mines >and starting factories!" This is why I like your comics so much. You comment that too many people don't understand that the money bin is just Scrooge's private fortune, not all of his money. The problem is that many of these people are writing stories featuring Scrooge McDuck. One of the best things about your stories is that you handle characterization so well. >That's one of the few times I pulled off something I kinda like. >Other times I am terribly embarrassed by how much my work SUCKS DONKEY >PARTS!!! Actually this is a very health attitude for a writer or artist. You constantly mention how much you dislike some of your older work and how you could do it better now. Since you aren't satistified with your work you keep trying harder and getting even better. The day that you are satisfied with you work or don't care about your work is the day you should retire from comics. >2. Scrooge frequently worries, with some apparent justification >(e.g., "The Pixilated Parrot"), that without the money in his money >bin he will be only a poor old man. Yet it is also clear that he has >vast holdings elsewhere; remember the contest with Flintheart Glomgold, >where their holdings are actually liquidated. Presumably the answer is >that he has vast requirements for current cash and cannot continue >operations without the resources of his money bin. Scrooge McDuck loves HIS MONEY, not being rich or spending money or owning expensive stuff or being a status symbol. Scrooge loves HIS MONEY period. In fact Scrooge hates the idea of spending money, owning expensive stuff, or being a status symbol. This is why Scrooge keeps all of HIS money together. This is why he counts it and plays with it. This money is what gives his life meaning (not those impersonal assests held by Scrooge McDuck Inc.). Even if he lost all the money in the money bin, he would still be the worlds richest duck. But, he would have lost the only thing which matters to him. And, in his eyes he would be poor. >This brings up a related question: Why doesn't Scrooge just put >his money in banks and receive a return on his investment? Scrooge McDuck has more money in the bank or in assests then he does in the money bin. But, this is money earned by Scrooge McDuck the company, not Scrooge McDuck the man. There are two reasons Scrooge would never put his personal fortune in the bank. First, he couldn't bear life without his money. Second, Why would Scrooge care about earning interest? He didn't earn it. He didn't toil for it. Hence that money wouldn't have any meaning or value to Scrooge McDuck the man. >Note also that the volume has stayed under the 100-foot marker, though >we know he has added to the money bin during that time. Agreed. This has never been addressed to my satisfaction. I can imagine a story where Scrooge McDuck finds some fabulous fortune and manages to overflow the money bin. The problem with such a story is that I cannot see how it could have a happy ending. James William From maittola at snakemail.hut.fi Mon Apr 4 20:29:39 1994 From: maittola at snakemail.hut.fi (Mikko Henri Juhani Aittola) Date: Mon, 4 Apr 1994 21:29:39 +0300 (EET DST) Subject: digest #281 and other stuff In-Reply-To: <9403270031.AA12026@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE> Message-ID: > From: Fredrik Ekman > Subject: Announcing easter issue of Kalle Anka & Co. > > This double-sized easter issue is the best I've seen for a > very long time. It has one ten-pager and one one-pager by > Barks. How long has it been since a regular Swedish issue > carried two Barks comics? I can't remember any for a couple > of years at least. It also has the latest Van Horn story; Finnish 'K94-13' is different. It has 36 pages (normal is 32 including covers.) It has a feature of making of the Disney cartoon with lots of cats in it. (Aristocats?). Plus two full-page scenes from the movie. Comic stories are: DD D92325 BB D93090 DD WR/WDC 151 A MM D92399 So, no Van Horns here. ------- I could update Don Rosa and Van Horn indexes for Finnish books. Can I update the files myself (and mess up everything...) or can somebody tell where to post the information. ----- DON and others: I'm (really) sorry to hesitate you (again), but since you consider Barks' stories as the 'real' duck-stories... How can you explain that Morty and Ferdie appear in the same panel with Granny Duck in one Barks made story (Don't ask what story it is...), if the ducks are living in different 'universe'. And, if I remember right, Zeke Wolf has been in two of Barks' duck-comics. Of course you already know that, but... ------ /Mikko From gadducci at DI.UniPi.IT Mon Apr 4 19:38:33 1994 From: gadducci at DI.UniPi.IT (Fabio Gadducci) Date: Mon, 4 Apr 1994 20:38:33 +0300 Subject: How much money does Scrooge have in his money bin Message-ID: <9404041839.AA14468@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE> Dwight wrote: >Years and years ago, I wrote a semi-serious article on this >subject for The Comics Journal. [...] > This is all speculative nonsense, of course, and when the >article appeared, several people complained about my arbitrary >assumption that the money bin could be thought of as containing >nothing but quarters. I didn't mean for it to be taken >seriously; I just needed a firm peg to hang the calculations on. >Oddly enough, a couple of years after the article appeared, I got >a check out of nowhere from a French comics magazine that had >translated and printed it... The magazine was Metal Hurlant, Heavy Metal in the American and Italian edition. Btw, that article appeared also in Italy, in the sixth issue of Heavy Metal, and I read it when I was quite younger. Did you get paid for that reprint, too, Dwight? ;-) Fabio ================================================================ Fabio Gadducci Dip. di Informatica Home: +39-50-541725 Universita` di Pisa Off.: +39-50-887268 Corso Italia 40, 56100 PISA (ITALY) FAX: +39-50-887226 E-mail:gadducci at di.unipi.it ================================================================ From jbaker at world.std.com Mon Apr 4 22:50:31 1994 From: jbaker at world.std.com (John M Baker) Date: Mon, 4 Apr 1994 16:50:31 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Disney-comics digest #289. In-Reply-To: <2da05817@ESS.NIAID.pc.niaid.nih.gov> Message-ID: I think it's possible to take the emotional aspects of the physical money too far. Yes, Scrooge loves his money. But he also loves making money, he is willing to spend money to make money, and I have never noticed any disdain on his part for any honest means of making money. It is untrue that he does not want to loan his money out for interest; any number of stories involve Scrooge attempting to collect debts. ("Any number" may be an exaggeration, but I can think of a couple, anyway; the hypnotizer gun story comes to mind.) That's why I think that additional reasons are needed to explain the phenomenon of the money bin; I can't see Scrooge mindlessly hoarding all of his money if that's a tremendously costly activity. It's probably true that Barks used made-up terms to avoid pinning down the amount of the fortune, as well as because of their implication of immensity. Guessing at the amount of Scrooge's fortune is a harmless pursuit, if only because no two estimates have ever been close. However, I do think some of the other points that have come up in this thread have been worthwhile. JMB From adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Tue Apr 5 01:50:04 1994 From: adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz (adair_t@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz) Date: Tue, 05 Apr 1994 11:50:04 +1200 Subject: Disney-comics digest #288. Message-ID: <0097C802.6215E180.6081@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz> From adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Tue Apr 5 02:11:48 1994 From: adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz (adair_t@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz) Date: Tue, 05 Apr 1994 12:11:48 +1200 Subject: Disney-comics digest #288. Message-ID: <0097C805.6B6E6E20.6085@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz> [ I appologize for the previous empty message. I haven't quite figured out this editor yet.] >>Market Share Figures: >>(23) Gladstone .26% .45% .23% .43% .56% .41% .34% >I'm a fan, not a retailer. But, these figures worry me. Gladstone's >measly market share has shrunk over the last three months. Is this >just because the market is so bloated right now, or is Gladstone >really fading away? The recent issue of Donald Duck Adventures published the circulation figures required by the U.S. Postal Service. I don't buy all the Gladstone issues (sorry.), so I can't enter them here. I do recall the total print run for DDA was somewhere around 160,000. Nowhere near the top sellers, but respectable. They also had some 3,000 subscriptions to DDA. Could someone please post the figures, for 1994, and other years? Perhaps even create an FTP file? >How did the story end when translated into other languages? **SPOILER** >In the english version the bug is singing "Brother Can You Spare A >Dime?". It is a good joke but it relies on a song which I doubt would >be familar to most Europeans. Likewise since the song is from the >depression era, I wonder how many children reading the story got the >joke. Having watched too many Warner Brothers cartoons as a child, I now suffer from Stalling's Syndrome. Thus, I subconsciously create soundtracks for everyday situations, and I don't realize it until I start whistling a tune. I can also do it consciously but it takes a bit of work. So, "Brother.." is a good song, or how about "I've got plenty of nothing..."? "I'm in the money" is the popular standby, but somewhat inappropriate for this story. Two Disney standards dealing with money are on the Mary Poppins soundtrack, and I assume there is on in Robin Hood as well. As to the point of children understanding the joke, well, I never understood most of the puns in Bullwinkle and Rocky when I was a kid, but I enjoy them now. >deserves a tribute - but why, when this is WDC&S, are they using only >Strobl DUCK material? Didn't he draw mice. wolves, dawgs, etc. as >well? Great, even with 64 pages Gladstone's WDC&S continues to be ALL >ducks and mice..." Makes me wonder why Gladstone doesn't cancel WDC&S and print Mickey and Donald twelve times a year. Torsten Adair adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Wellington, New Zealand From David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu Tue Apr 5 02:30:49 1994 From: David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu (David A Gerstein) Date: Mon, 04 Apr 1994 20:30:49 -0400 Subject: Disney-comics digest #290. In-Reply-To: Your message of Tue, 05 Apr 1994 01:18:13 +0200 Message-ID: <9404050030.AA13685@bigbird.cc.williams.edu> Hi, Folks! Lessee here... Gladstone's status in the market: ================================ >Market Share Figures: >(23) Gladstone .26% .45% .23% .43% .56% .41% .34% On the chance that Gary Leach is still reading this (Per, is he still subscribed, or when he stopped writing to us, did he also ask that no further digests be mailed?), I will mention that there's been an increased interest in Gladstone since the LO$ premiered, but that several things seem to have very poor sales that I've noticed: A) DONALD AND MICKEY -- this is cited as the weakest seller by a wide margin by most comic shops I have visited, and I've been to quite a few since Gladstone started the regular comics again. It would seem to be due to the Studio stories with MM, because WDC&S does very well at EVERY shop I have been to, and I know few people who would not rather see foreign MM stories in this title. B) DONALD DUCK -- sells better than the above, but sales are still not that red-hot. I think that this is because there is only one full story in it; if the number of short strips went down and a foreign story supplemented the Barks story, I think sales here would improve. Here's what I'm getting at: The fact that after U$, there is a three-week period in which nothing but DD and D&M come out, in that order, causes comic-shops' purchases from Gladstone -- not to mention consumer interest -- to fluctuate greatly and frequently. Besides the suggestions I made above, I would like to suggest that Gladstone up the publishing frequency of WDC&S and US. Torsten wondered ================ "Does Scrooge live in a mansion, or in his moneybin? Given his paranoia, I'd guess the moneybin." I'd vote for the mansion. Scrooge is shown to live in a house separate from his bin in many stories, although we *never* get a view of the estate in Barks' work (only inside shots now and then). Later creators -- foreign studios, particularly Egmont -- actually show the mansion from the outside. "DuckTales" adopted the idea of Scrooge living in a mansion, but they did not introduce it. Examples of Scrooge being in a mansion, a la Egmont, include "Who Needs People?" (US 284) and "His Master's Voice" (one that I have dialogued, yet to be scheduled). In the latter story the mansion looks much as it does on "DuckTales", but in the former, it mysteriously lacks the terraced roof (and because of that, Gladstone colored it differently, making it look -- I thought -- like an adobe house in US 284!). The foreign publishers all give Scrooge a fancy limousine. Seems hard to imagine that he'd splurge for it, but Barks too gave him one in a few stories. Gladstone's scripters took to referring to it as a "Wadillac" and I've done this in many stories now. The limo was adopted by "DuckTales" too, although I don't know if they drew it consistently. Ratface and other ravens ======================== James Williams, speaking of WDC&S 591, said that "I really disliked Ratface. I thought it was a stupid name for a raven and I really disliked that he spoke perfect English." This isn't supposed to sound like a flame, but you speak as if you have not seen the character before. Ratface has appeared in some Barks stories -- including "Isle of Golden Geese" and "The Many Faces of Magica De Spell" -- and also in Don Rosa's "On a Silver Platter." He spoke perfect English in all of these, albeit using a lot of slang. I did a Magica tale for Egmont last year, and flung Ratface into it with great enthusiasm. James also said that "For all their faults... one place where Disney Comics were better than Gladstone [is that] Disney had some wonderful material in WDC&S. I really dislike WDC&S being nothing but ducks and mice." You think so? WRITE IN! WDC&S sells very well these days, which gives Gladstone no reason to alter the comic. They do have a winner on their hands with a (usually) top Duck artist and -- it seems -- the only sellable Mouse artist paired. What we letter-writers have to convince them is that it can be made better. But I think the only way that can happen is if the comic expands, because "Monarch of Medioka" begins in #593 and I'm guessing that this story will take up ALL the non-DD space for FIVE 32-page issues. BTW, don't get sore about THAT, James. If you haven't read "Monarch of Medioka" you'll soon see that this is the best Floyd Gottfredson story of all time. MM comic strip View-Master reels ================================ Andrew Krieg "just noticed a set of Mickey Mouse View-Master Reels based on [the] Floyd Gottfredson stories ... "Mail Pilot", "The Phantom Blot" and "Blaggard Castle" .... Usually, Mickey's cartoons are used for these sets. Anyone have any inside info as to why they went to the Gottfredson strips?" There is a promotional campaign entitled "Perils of Mickey" at Disney now, to build up the popularity of MM as a tangible character in epic adventures ("Perils") rather than just a symbol. They have decided that it's the Gottfredson mouse who is of course the natural fodder for this. They picked the three stories which got wide exposure in bookstores through _MM in Color_ (those you listed above) a few years ago, and are now marketing them full-tilt. *** NOTE *** THE TIME IS IDEAL FOR GLADSTONE TO TRY A FEW ISSUES OF MM, AND USE "BLAGGARD CASTLE" AND "THE MAIL PILOT" AGAIN IN THEM. ALTHOUGH PEOPLE ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE THREE STORIES BEING FOCUSED ON IN THE PERILS OF MICKEY CAMPAIGN, THEY ARE NOT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE IN THEIR ORIGINAL FORM, SO IT'S AS IF DISNEY WAS ADVERTISING A MOVIE THAT THEY WERE NOT PUTTING OUT IN THEATRES! GLADSTONE HOLDS THE COMIC BOOK LICENSE FOR MM, SO IT IS THEY WHO CAN DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS. BTW, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the art in these reels is original. I saw recently a "Phantom Blot" coloring book for little brats, now on sale at most more respectable supermarkets, which featured, almost exclusively, blown-up panels from the Gottfredson tale as the art source. Again, part of the "Perils" campaign. Another part of the campaign involved printing a new sequel to "Blaggard Castle" in DISNEY ADVENTURES and following it up with a (severely censored) version of "Lost on a Desert Island." And ANOTHER part of the campaign involves releasing all black-and-white MMs on laser disc (again, with the exception of four banned ones); half of them have now been released in a set, with the others slated for this winter. Gladstone's apparent decision not to piggy-back on any of this is a mystery to me, although it seems to me to be a wise idea to print "Monarch of Medioka" again, which is being done. The money bin not being Scrooge's whole fortune =============================================== "Too many people don't understand that the money bin is just Scrooge's private fortune, not all of his money." Romano Scarpa understood in 1960's "Lentils from Babylon." I won't reveal how, but Scrooge does lose his bin and its contents. The story basically implies that Scrooge doesn't have much tangible MONEY outside of the bin, but that he does have land and an estate, and he keeps himself going on those for a while. But his business debts have mounted up, and he has to sell nearly everything... An interesting compromise. Scrooge does keep money other than his private fortune in the bin in Barks, most notably in WDC&S 144 ("Spending Money"). Scarpa seems to have just come to the conclusion that most of the money was there, but that Scrooge still had other things that were convertible into money. One odd thing about the story -- it DOES show Scrooge living in his office building, as separate from his bin, however. This struck me as wrong, so I made up some dialogue to explain it.... That's all for now, folks. BTW, I don't dislike Baron Itzy Bitzy, and would not mind seeing him again, but feel he has NO potential as a character with any depth. He's appeared in three stories since 1988. I could see him appearing more often than that, but more than once a year would be overkill. David Gerstein From jbaker at world.std.com Tue Apr 5 03:50:55 1994 From: jbaker at world.std.com (John M Baker) Date: Mon, 4 Apr 1994 21:50:55 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Disney-comics digest #290. In-Reply-To: <9404050030.AA13685@bigbird.cc.williams.edu> Message-ID: I don't have the comics at hand, but I'm pretty sure that I've seen external shots of Scrooge's house in Barks's work. Wasn't there one in the back-up story, recently referred to, where he converted all his money into $1,000,000 bills and put them in a 30-foot ball? As I remember it, it was a very ordinary-looking house, quite similar to Donald's. JMB From 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM Tue Apr 5 06:21:08 1994 From: 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM (Don Rosa) Date: 05 Apr 94 00:21:08 EDT Subject: Disney-comics digest #290. Message-ID: <940405042108_72260.2635_EHB217-1@CompuServe.COM> TORSTEN: Where does $crooge live? Well, certainly not in a mansion! That would be very out of character. It was a problem to try to explain, in that "Lo$" #12, why he was in a mansion with servants in "Christmas on Bear Mountain", and also to get him outta there. I don't see him living in the Bin, though I might convince myself of that without much trouble; we know he doesn't have guards there... we've never seen them in Barks stories, probably because they would get in the way of the U$/DD/HDL plots. $crooge would want to live on the premises to protect the Bin at night. However, I picture him living in a small flat in some boarding house downtown. On the other hand, I can feel another urge to regard that as something inexplicably taboo to deal with. For the record, I can think of twice that Barks showed $crooge's post-late-40's-mansion home, but both were in throw-away 1-page gags. In one gag he lived in a small mansion-lookin' place, and in the other gag he lived in a DD style normal house (seen in silhouette). And does he collect art? Unless it was some artist's (realistic) version of the Yukon or some other landscape $crooge has a personal interest in, I can't see it. "I only treasure that which has value to ME, not somebody else!" ANDREW KRIEG: Yes, there is a VERY odd phenomenon going on in toy stores using Gottfriedson's classic MM strips. It started, I think, in a series of storybooks, then was carried over into those Viewmaster reels and a set of "action figures". It's very puzzling to me why some Disney licensee would seek to make a profit based on a version of MM that the general public has no interest in or knowledge of whatsoever, and I'm sure would regard as very hokey and old-fashioned. It's like Gladstone going into the toy business for sophisticated children... and you know how many of those we have in America. But I'm sure these are the modern sorta rip-off Viewmaster reels, and not the classic TRUE Viewmasters which I don't think they hardly make anymore. I mean, all they do now is take cartoon art and put it in that limited sorta 2D 3D style, where you have several layers of 2D images, like in a 3D comic book. The REAL Viewmasters were back in the 50s or so when they would hire someone to build fully realized figurines and construct numerous series of tableaus with (Disney or ?) characters in action. There were a few DD sets like this, and even an UNCLE $CROOGE set (under the DD title) which may still be available; I found one just a few years ago. Anyway, it's not possible to achieve true 3D with drawings. I assume these Gottfriedson MM reels are not fully constructed models, right? I'm sure Viewmasters don't sell well enough to pay for that sorta effort any longer. Also, it should be pointed out that in all these storybooks and Viewmaster reels and action figures based on Gottfriedson's MM, FG's name is never mentioned. But you figured that, right? MIKKO: Without asking exactly which Barks stories you are referring to wherein MM's nephews appeared, or even Zeke Wolf, I'm pretty sure that these were in GRANDMA DUCK'S FARM FRIENDS issues of FOUR COLOR which Barks drew but did NOT write. These stories employed ALL the Disney characters -- there was even one where Dumbo flew by to visit Grandma! That's as disturbing to my way of thinking as if I saw Dumbo fly to Gotham City and visit Batman. It's plain weird! But those "Grandma Duck" writers had a very simple-minded view of the comics... which is fine. But those Grandma Duck stories were not "part of the canon", whether Barks drew them or not. JAMES WILLIAMS: I loved your explanation of why $crooge would not be interested in earning interest! Excellent! Actually, to please everyone, we KNOW that $crooge has loaned money to earn interest... but just as you say, that would be just cash. Since he didn't toil for it himself, it wouldn't really mean anything to him. Actually, I really enjoy playing around with the character of $crooge to try to explain the reason he loves his money. As you say, he doesn't love being "rich" for the buying power or status or power... he loves HIS MONEY as mementos of personal achievement. I'll do more stories about that in the future. From David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu Tue Apr 5 06:30:54 1994 From: David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu (David A Gerstein) Date: Tue, 05 Apr 1994 00:30:54 -0400 Subject: John Baker on Scrooge's house In-Reply-To: Your message of Mon, 04 Apr 1994 21:50:55 EDT Message-ID: <9404050430.AA02095@bigbird.cc.williams.edu> Dear John (and everyone), You could be right about Scrooge's house. The story you mean where he converts the money into pure bills is one where he's up against Flintheart Glomgold -- "The Money Champ," right? Yeah, I think there may be a few one-page gags that give Scrooge a normal house, too. (Like one where he paints a policeman on his window to decoy a burglar outside -- I think the house is shown.) In any event, I imagine Scrooge as living in a mansion now. I imagine that he needs it to impress other posh businessmen for whom style is everything. That doesn't mean, of course, that he's going to actually WALK on the rugs and things in the place -- no use damaging their value when he could someday sell them if he was in, say, a Glomgold money competition and needed to break everything into cash! I'm wondering what kind of home Don Rosa envisions Scrooge as having. I know that Van Horn has depicted McDuck as having a mansion in... and out... of Ducktales stories. Ah, well... Your friend, David Gerstein From ajd105 at rsphy1.anu.edu.au Tue Apr 5 07:53:56 1994 From: ajd105 at rsphy1.anu.edu.au (ajd105) Date: Tue, 5 Apr 1994 15:53:56 +1000 (EST) Subject: U$ on the fine arts page! Message-ID: <9404050553.AA14136@rsphysse.anu.edu.au> A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text Size: 2929 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://nafsk.se/pipermail/dcml/attachments/19940405/f49909d7/attachment.pl From H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl Tue Apr 5 11:09:54 1994 From: H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl (Harry Fluks) Date: Tue, 05 Apr 1994 11:09:54 +0200 Subject: Scrooge's money once again (Re: Disney-comics digest #288.) Message-ID: <199404050909.AA15582@athena.research.ptt.nl> TORSTEN: > (One more note for new subscribers. Disney Comics refers to comicbooks > published by Disney (sometimes referred to as "The Dark Ages"), whereas Disney > comics (small "c") refers to all comicbooks published for Disney.) ... and disney-comics (all small, with '-') refers to this mailing list 8-) > I was also surprised that Scrooge, a brilliant bussinessman, didn't > realize the mistake of doubling money each time. I haven't read this Disney version, but the idea is actually from the classic Greek (can't remember where, but we learned this 'trick' on school). > (After five minutes with a calculator and pen, the sum that Scrooge > would own Donald would be $184,467,440,737,095,516.16 With a calculator? What are you people using your COMPUTERS for? Just for sending and reading mail? > This reminds me of a subject which I haven't seen here yet. How much > money is in Scrooge's moneybin? After all the discussion about that, I can only add a few things: In "Island of the Menehunes", Donald actually says the total amount of money. In the Dutch translation it is: f 500000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000,16 (which is a 5 with 77 zeroes, and the 'f' stands for 'guilders'.) I'm sure the English version must have had something like that, because Dutch translations were very close to the original at the time. A possibility: Scrooge has the money in his bin as a pledge (is this the right word?) for his businesses. Just like our national banks have cellars with gold. If he loses the money in his bin, he loses (most of) his other belongings. --Harry. From H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl Tue Apr 5 12:08:51 1994 From: H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl (Harry Fluks) Date: Tue, 05 Apr 1994 12:08:51 +0200 Subject: Disney-comics digest #290. Message-ID: <199404051008.AA19056@athena.research.ptt.nl> TORSTEN: > A googol is ten to the one hundredth power (The digit "1" with 100 zeros > behind it). A googolplex is ten to the googol power {That is, 10^(10^100)}. I remember that the word 'googol' was invented by the daughter of a scientist... JAMES quoted someone, but he didn't say who and I don't recall: > I don't care much for Strobl, but know he has his fans and agree he > deserves a tribute - but why, when this is WDC&S, are they using only > Strobl DUCK material? Didn't he draw mice. wolves, dawgs, etc. as > well? Strobl's mice etc. were quite UGLY. While his ducks are acceptable (for years his ducks were the 'standard' ducks besides Barks), his other characters are badly drawn most of the times. I'm glad Gladstone doesn't reprint any of that. But they COULD (re)print some very good Bad Wolf stories from Holland in WDC! Dick Matena and Wilbert Plijnaar did some excellent stories in 1976 and 1977. With the help of Daan Jippes. The stories certainly deserve a reprint! DAVID: > Well, I'm back. So I noticed! David indexed a lot of Gladstone and Disney comics while he was away. He sent the information to me; I'll make a new version of our "gladstone-disney. index" file for ftp. In a few days! JAMES: > I can imagine > a story where Scrooge McDuck finds some fabulous fortune and manages to > overflow the money bin. The problem with such a story is that I cannot > see how it could have a happy ending. You're almost exactly describing "Christmas for Shacktown" by Barks. Not a fabulous fortune, but one single dime overflows the bin. And the ending _is_ quite unhappy for Scrooge... MIKKO: > I could update Don Rosa and Van Horn indexes for Finnish books. > Can I update the files myself (and mess up everything...) or > can somebody tell where to post the information. You _could_ send your Don Rosa updates to me... I have some Dutch info for that index as well, so I can use your updates and my updates and send a new version to Per for ftp. Who can give updates (e.g. Life of Scrooge) in other Scandinavian countries? About the Van Horn index: Fredrik Ekman is the right person to mail updates to. I don't have his e-mail address at the moment... > How can you explain that Morty and Ferdie appear in the > same panel with Granny Duck in one Barks made story > (Don't ask what story it is...), if the ducks are > living in different 'universe'. In the Gyro story in Uncle Scrooge 13, Morty and Ferdie appeared (and Grandma appeared in that story, too). It's the only Barks story where M&F feature, and that's only because Donald's nephews were not allowed in that story (some mail regulation law...). Barks originally intended HDL in that story, as he had Donald in the Gyro story in U$ 14, but had to replace him with Speedy. I don't remember if M&F are actually mentioned by name, but I always consider them just two child mice, not necessarily the M&F from the Mouse Universe. --Harry. Harry PTT Research ()_() Dutch Disney comics freak Fluks Leidschendam (_) H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl "Yeah... I've _heard_ of coral barques!" From jbaker at world.std.com Tue Apr 5 16:14:01 1994 From: jbaker at world.std.com (John M Baker) Date: Tue, 5 Apr 1994 10:14:01 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Disney-comics digest #290. In-Reply-To: <199404051008.AA19056@athena.research.ptt.nl> Message-ID: FLUKS: I had forgotten about the precise dollar reference in the Menehunes story. Yes, that certainly should be taken as the _exact_ amount of his money (at that particular time). GERSTEIN: No, in the competition with Glomgold the money was converted to silver dollars. The 30-foot ball story was a backup in _Uncle Scrooge_. The ball could be remote controlled. Donald and the nephews rush to Scrooge's house to tell him the Beagle Boys are after the ball and are amazed to find him watching television. It turns out that he is watching the ball on closed circuit television. JMB From starback at Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE Tue Apr 5 16:16:27 1994 From: starback at Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE (Per Starback) Date: Tue, 5 Apr 94 16:16:27 +0200 Subject: Ftp archive and Mardi Gras. Message-ID: <9404051416.AA03235@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE> A long long time ago Mattias wrote > PER: > I went into the ftp, and found that everything prior to 1993-10 in the > archive-folder was gone. Have you removed'em, and if so -- are they still > available at request? Please, Mattias, if you want to ask *me* something, please drop me a line about it instead of asking the whole list about it. If for no other reason because then I would have answered it sooner. What happened was that just as I added some new files there the whole ftp disk partition got full, which is the reason why I deleted some of the older files. Anyway, now the space for ftp files there has doubled (!) so I've added those files again, as well as the last couple of months. What we're talking about is the complete archive of all mail sent to disney-comics since its inception. Because of all the repetitions, erroneous information corrected later, "news" which aren't news any longer etc., I don't recommend them for reading for those newcomers who want to know what we've said before here, but anyway... there it is! What I'd like is more information in the "characters" subdirectory of the Disney comics ftp archive. The next time someone asks what species of bird Gyro Gearloose is (just as an example) it would much better to be able to refer to a file characters/gyro instead of going "some say he's a chicken, but then maybe not; we've been through this before anyway -- go look at some old mail files!" because it's not particularly easy to extract the relevant information from that. All that is needed is really that someone collects the relevant information gotten from the list on a small subject like that and writes it up and I will gladly put it in the archives at a suitable spot. Such a text doesn't have to really answer the question at hand (like "how much money does Scrooge McDuck have?") -- just collect the relevant facts and views about it. The other change I was doing right then was to add USA #25 and #26 to gladstone-disney.index (from David). An additional "team" was also entered in "creators" because of it, namely H+A = Paul Halas and Donne Avenell. Mardi Gras Before the Thaw ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wilmer answered my question (thanks!) on this Barks oil recently released as a lithograph in Sweden (the American print of it is sold out according to the ad for the Swedish one). I don't plan on buying it or any other lithograph, but it's nice to have those pictures in some way, so I appreciate that the ads show the whole painting in full colour. Harry asked > Do you have some more information, like the orientation of the painting > (Portrait or Landscape) and the year in which Barks drew it? Landscape (I've added an L to the oils file ... now!), but I don't know the year. The ad I have says it's done in the late 80's. -- " Per Starback, Uppsala, Sweden. email: starback at minsk.docs.uu.se "Life is but a gamble! Let flipism chart your ramble!" From starback at Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE Tue Apr 5 17:14:34 1994 From: starback at Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE (Per Starback) Date: Tue, 5 Apr 94 17:14:34 +0200 Subject: Index news In-Reply-To: Per Starback's message of Tue, 5 Apr 94 16:16:27 +0200 <9404051416.AA03235@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE> Message-ID: <9404051514.AA04865@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE> Just when I wrote my last message I got updates on the Gladstone and Disney index from Harry containing new stuff indexed by David and Harry. Thanks! The updated files are gladstone-disney.index, gladstone-disney.legend and creators. -- Per From David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu Wed Apr 6 02:07:15 1994 From: David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu (David A Gerstein) Date: Tue, 05 Apr 1994 20:07:15 -0400 Subject: Disney-comics digest #291. In-Reply-To: Your message of Wed, 06 Apr 1994 01:18:11 +0200 Message-ID: <9404060007.AA13171@hancock.cc.williams.edu> Dear Folks, Don Rosa said, "Yes, there is a VERY odd phenomenon going on in toy stores using Gottfriedson's classic MM strips. It started, I think, in a series of storybooks, then was carried over into those Viewmaster reels and a set of "action figures". It's very puzzling to me why some Disney licensee would seek to make a profit based on a version of MM that the general public has no interest in or knowledge of whatsoever, and I'm sure would regard as very hokey and old-fashioned." WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT???! "B'gawrsh, I hopes t' shout in yer ear trumpet!" DISNEY itself is behind this campaign. They are trying to revive interest in Mickey as a dynamic CHARACTER -- hence the move to Gottfredson (note: not GottfrIedson) as source material. Gottfredson's strip is the only American source in any medium wherein Mickey was a fully rounded character after the mid-1930s. Of course he was also rounded in the early cartoons, mostly those in the pre-color period: hence the recent laser discs of purely bw Mickeys. FG *** IS *** credited in the storybooks, although not in the coloring book I mentioned the other day. It says in large letters on each title page (there are three in the series: "Mail Pilot," "The Seven Ghosts" and "Blaggard Castle") "ART BY FLOYD GOTTFREDSON," then in smaller letters, "Story retold by..." whoever. This campaign, titled "The Perils of Mickey" as I've mentioned, has been very successful, I understand. The general public doesn't really know about ANY Disney comic artists, you're right, but Barks and Gottfredson are definitely the most famous. Those Abbeville Press books were in print for years, and I know MANY people who own them. Most people I know who do bought one Barks and one Gottfredson out of the whole lot (which consisted of 3 Barks, 2 Gottfredson, and the AT Silly Symphony collection). But this did give the stories exposure. Meanwhile, Disney has acknowledged many times that it's the early Mickey who is most popular. They insist on using the unfortunate modern "cutified" Mickey about 60% of the time even now, though, because Disney may know what the public wants, but it also has its own ideas of what it's going to give them. Typical. NEAR EVERY KID I HAVE EVER ASKED PREFERS THE EARLY, PIE- EYED "GOTTFREDSON" MICKEY TO THE MODERN CUTE MICKEY. (Sure, the old Mickey is cute as well, but not in that infantile frontal-lobotomy way that the modern one is.) The Perils of Mickey campaign has also resulted in the making of a new MM cartoon short for theatres... something about MM and Minnie, a mad scientist, and a monster, titled "Runaway Brain." I know that Disney Animation would never dare animate MM with pie-eyes again, but I'm pretty sure he'll have his early-'40s appearance at least... The major flaw with the campaign is that there are not hardback or softback books in the bookstores now containing Gottfredson dailies and Sundays. It's as if the core of the campaign is missing. I'd also like to see a MM series from Disney TV, although it would have to be done RIGHT, and I think that only a die-hard Gottfredson fan could supervise it and have it come out the right way. I hope to be in charge of such a project before anyone else gets in there. * * * * * JOHN: Thanks for correcting me on that story -- I assumed by a "huge ball of money" you meant a huge pile of it. I'd forgotten the good old remote-controlled orb-bin. That story's called "The Tricky Experiment," right? * * * * * The replacement of Donald with Speedy in US 14 is bitingly obvious because Barks left in a reference on Speedy's part to how jealous the improved gas was going to make Gladstone. An unfortunate oversight on Barks' part. * * * * * I'll be doing some character files soon. Among those I plan to do are: Bolivar Gladstone Gander Morty and Ferdie Peter Pig * * * * * Harry notes that the last page was removed from "Hidden Valley"'s original version when it appeared in US 285. I can't think of a more conclusive ending than the one there! What was the original ending like? * * * * * Also, Harry, write in if you want to see Dutch wolf stories. My guess is that there will be at least a few other 68-page WDC&S over the next two years (besides #592). But you'd better get after them now, because Gladstone already has a tentative schedule through early '96. That can change, of course, if readers react negatively to a format. So far, Gladstone hasn't gotten enough criticism for anything to change except, perhaps, the Diaz stories in D&M -- and it'll be tough, because there are internal issues at Gladstone involved there. Still, the more letters they get, the more that schedule will get flipped around. David Gerstein From adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Wed Apr 6 03:59:59 1994 From: adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz (adair_t@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz) Date: Wed, 06 Apr 1994 13:59:59 +1200 Subject: Dagobert crimes in Stern Message-ID: <0097C8DD.B2A51540.10406@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz> A recent (March cover date?) issue of the German weekly Stern contained a cover story reporting the recent activities of a thief who uses techniques from Dagobert (Uncle Scrooge) comicbooks. Could someone please give a summary of the article? I can't afford a copy, and my German is a bit rusty. [I wonder if the Beagle Boys can read German?] Torsten Adair adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Wellington, New Zealand From mas at cs.bu.edu Wed Apr 6 05:29:07 1994 From: mas at cs.bu.edu (Mark Semich) Date: Tue, 5 Apr 1994 23:29:07 -0400 Subject: Donald Duck Adventures 27 Message-ID: <199404060329.XAA26829@csa.bu.edu> I went into my local comic book store today to pick up Uncle Scrooge 286 (It's already on the way, David.. :-) ), and while I was on my way out, the guy behind the counter showed me a letter that he had received from Pat Block. I don't remember the details of the missive, but the long and the short of it was that Pat appeared to be doing a mass-mailing to various comic book stores, explaining that he was a new Western Donald Duck/Uncle Scrooge artist. He included a xerox copy of the cover to DDA 27 with his letter (BTW, his work looks *very* nice, but unfortunately he draws the ducks with extremely short bills.) In the letter, he asked if the comic book store would be interested in having him appear for an autograph session and he also offered to supply the store with pre-autographed copies of DDA 27 for its customers. I found this to be extremely interesting, as I've never known of any disney artist to engage in self promotion. I hope it works out for him - it's a good idea for him to have his *own* supply of DDA 27's, as most stores don't seem to have many Gladstones in stock. From 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM Wed Apr 6 07:21:19 1994 From: 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM (Don Rosa) Date: 06 Apr 94 01:21:19 EDT Subject: Disney-comics digest #291. Message-ID: <940406052118_72260.2635_EHB146-1@CompuServe.COM> GLADSTONE SALES FIGURES: As someone mentioned, the latest DDA which I just received in the mail (and which I think has a HIDEOUS looking cover, I don't care if it is lifted from bits of art in the Barks story) had that annual statement-of-ownership stuff. The paid circulation figure was 159,310! This, if I recall, is about FOUR times what Disney Comics had, and about twice what Gladstone had back in their first run. Am I wrong? Sales of 160,000 is VERY respectable these days! Even GREAT by 1994 standards! Many DC and Marvels sell only 50,000 or so! Where are these things being sold? I don't see it happening. Is Hamilton's idea of making the comics bimonthly so each issue will have more shelf time WORKING? DENMARK: Anyone here from Denmark? I also just received a ANDERS AND & CO. #13 (1994), and on page 14/15 there seems to be a large text piece explaining my Duck Family Tree they just finished serializing (with stickers). What is this all about? I sure get curious when I see text sections in these foreign comics that say "blah blah blah blah DON ROSA blah blah blah". SWEDEN and NORWAY: MAYBE my next tour of your area will be this coming October 26 to November 6 or so. From the Goteborg Book Fair to Oslo to the Stockholm comic convention. Nothing for sure yet, but that's what is being mentioned as a possibility. GERMANY: Of course, I'm still to be in Frankfurt and Erlangen this May 30 to June 6. Frankly, I'm having a hard time figuring out how to deal with these nice invitations to come over to Europe and promote Disney comics. I mean, it's unbelievably pleasant for me, no question, and I am highly flattered and grateful. Yet I'm trying to exist in a system where other comics folks are making a million bucks per year, getting $150,000 in royalties off a few days of work on single issues, selling their original art all the time -- and I still must exist in a comics system set in the same years as I set my $crooge stories. I get paid no extra for my stories than any other Egmont people (actually LESS than those who have been around longer), and when I travel to Europe to promote the comics, everyone benefits from the extra sales but ME. I actually LOSE a week of work. Consider the people whose work, for whatever reason, doesn't seem as popular with readers as mine or who aren't willing or able to participate in promotional tours... those folks actually make MORE $$$ since they aren't called upon to stop work several times a year. I wish I knew how to deal with this. It's getting increasingly irritating that anyone who does Disney comic books is treated like a slave while all other comics freelancers have unlimited freedoms and opportunities. This, of course, is not really Egmont's fault, though they seem to have no reason to make any effort to help change the system, and as long as I'm the only one of their people having problems, there's no way I can convince them to get involved. They know, no matter what, I won't quit. I love what I do too much, even though I make no better $ than my wife the schoolteacher, and get none of the insurance and pension benefits she does. Anyone have any philosophical advice here? How should I deal with this whole set up??? From dicapuaf at giris7.pfizer.com Wed Apr 6 15:54:36 1994 From: dicapuaf at giris7.pfizer.com (Frank DiCapua) Date: Wed, 6 Apr 1994 08:54:36 -0500 (EDT) Subject: Better Compensation For Don Message-ID: <9404061254.AA11119@giris7.pfizer.com> A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text Size: 1083 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://nafsk.se/pipermail/dcml/attachments/19940406/def6c223/attachment.pl From H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl Wed Apr 6 14:55:38 1994 From: H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl (Harry Fluks) Date: Wed, 06 Apr 1994 14:55:38 +0200 Subject: Ole in Denmark, Don in Germany Message-ID: <199404061255.AA07063@athena.research.ptt.nl> Don Rosa wrote: > Anyone here from Denmark? Yeah, where is Ole "RoC" Reichstein Nielsen? I haven't seen a message from him in a long time, and I'm curious about his remarks on the format of the Disney comics Database I'm working on. Ole, where are you? > GERMANY: > Of course, I'm still to be in Frankfurt and Erlangen this May 30 > to June 6. So not in Nuremberg? That's even better, because Frankfurt is closer to Holland... > Frankly, I'm having a hard time figuring out how to deal with > these nice invitations to come over to Europe and promote Disney comics. I always thought you would LIKE to go on a trip to Europe, which is fully paid by the editor, I assume. But maybe it gets boring after the 5th time? Do you really have to work hard in Europe, autographing things etc.? If you want to go somewhere where there are less fans and hence less autographing work, try Holland. The chance you run into someone who even knows your name is about 1 to 15 million... 8-) --Harry. Harry PTT Research ()_() Dutch Disney comics freak Fluks Leidschendam (_) H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl "Yeah... I've _heard_ of coral barques!" From mayerson at sidefx.sidefx.com Wed Apr 6 15:25:29 1994 From: mayerson at sidefx.sidefx.com (Mark Mayerson) Date: Wed, 6 Apr 1994 09:25:29 -0400 Subject: Rosa in Europe Message-ID: <9404061325.AA23177@sidefx.sidefx.com> Don Rosa: The least Egmont should do is pay you for the week of lost work in addition to footing the cost of the trip. They wouldn't be bringing you over unless they saw some tangible (i.e. financial) value to your presence. If you're willing to pass up the trip, you can risk losing it by demanding the week's pay. As to your situation as a whole, I'm afraid you're stuck unless you're willing to play hardball. That means that you have to be prepared to walk away from the duck comics. If you had a particular set of demands, there are lots of ways to press for them. You've got this list of people who'd be willing to write to Egmont, Disney, Gladstone, etc. on your behalf. There are parts of the fan press (The Comics Journal, for instance) that would report your demands and probably champion your cause. The same newspapers in Europe that write articles about you would probably jump all over a press release saying you're leaving the Ducks because of unfair treatment. These things might lead to a better situation for you. Of course, they might lead to Disney and its licensees never hiring you again. That's why I say that unless you're prepared to take a risk, you don't stand to gain anything. While you've said in the past that you don't wish to do characters of your own, I think this is a huge mistake. Even if you only do one or two stories of your own characters a year and get them printed, it does give you leverage. Egmont, etc. would be aware of two things. First, the more time you spend on your characters, the less time you spend on ducks. This takes money out of their pocket and it's an incentive to make the duck work more financially attractive to you. Second, if you've established a following for characters of your own, any demand you make is backed up by the implicit threat that if you don't get what you want, you'll devote all your time to your own characters. Don, you've managed to build up an international name for yourself based purely on the quality of your work. Not due to hype, not due to advertising, just quality. You've got to capitalize on it. There's got to be a European publisher somewhere who would jump on the chance to publish original Don Rosa material. Barks was lucky that after he retired Disney permitted him to sell his paintings. If they hadn't, who knows if Barks would have been financially secure? There is no guarantee that Disney will be as generous to you. Please, Don, take your skills and reputation and do something for your own benefit with them. ___________________________________________________________________ Mark Mayerson Side Effects Software Inc., Internet: mayerson at sidefx.com Toronto, Ontario, Canada (416) 366-4607 From starback at Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE Wed Apr 6 17:49:37 1994 From: starback at Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE (Per Starback) Date: Wed, 6 Apr 94 17:49:37 +0200 Subject: Really from James Williams Message-ID: <9404061549.AA01567@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE> [Here is a message that James accidentally sent to me instead of the list:] ...................................................................... >Makes me wonder why Gladstone doesn't cancel WDC&S and print Mickey >and Donald twelve times a year. As much as I dislike WDC&S containing just Mickey and Donald, it is still so much better than M&D. I cringe everytime I think about the Jamie Diaz studio. I am beginning to wonder if Gladstone has the license for Bucky Bug, L'il Bag Wolf, and such. I really wish Gary Leach was still on this list, because he would have been able to answer our questions. >And while I'm at it, does Scrooge live in a mansion, or in his >moneybin? Given his paranoia, I'd guess the moneybin. We've seen Scrooge in bed on ocassions - usually having nightmares. But I cannot every recall seeing his home. Which leads me to believe that he doesn't have one. Then again, we've never seen anything resembling living quarters in the moneybin either. Don, you are our resident Uncle Scrooge expert - Where does Scrooge sleep at night. >Does Scrooge collect fine art? It is a plot device. Ocassionaly, you will see Donald and the boys in some far off land looking for some lost statue. In each case, the item is something which can be acquired for free (30 cents an hour isn't really free, but it is close enough). I don't think Scrooge would ever pay for any artwork unless there was a profit to be made. >Yes, Scrooge loves his money. But he also loves making money, he is >willing to spend money to make money, and I have never noticed any >disdain on his part for any honest means of making money. That's why >I think that additional reasons are needed to explain the phenomenon of >the money bin; I can't see Scrooge mindlessly hoarding all of his money >if that's a tremendously costly activity. I've no problem with Scrooge spending money to make money or loaning money to people. We see it all the time. But, the money used in those transactions is money earned by Scrooge McDuck's companies, not by Scrooge McDuck himself. The money which he earned by himself is stored in the moneybin. There is one place where I disagree with the standard moneybin explinations and that I don't believe that the moneybin contains all of the money which Scrooge earned by himself. It is impossible, when he was a pauper he had to spend his own money because he didn't have any other possible source of income. >It's probably true that Barks used made-up terms to avoid pinning down >the amount of the fortune, as well as because of their implication of >immensity. Guessing at the amount of Scrooge's fortune is a harmless >pursuit, if only because no two estimates have ever been close. >However, I do think some of the other points that have come up in this >thread have been worthwhile. Agreed. I think this has been a wonderful thread. There are three moneybin related questions that I've often wondered about: 1. How was the moneybin built and what was it made of? With the weight of all that money, the moneybin should either sink into the ground (don't laught, the Washington Monument sinks a few inches each year) or the sides should burst from all the strain. 2. In the untitled 10-pager which introduces the moneybin (is it one word or two?), Scrooge says that it cost him half of his fortune to build the moneybin. If that is the case, how can he afford to keep rebuilding it each time it is destroyed? In fact it is destoryed in that same story. 3. My all time favorite Uncle Scrooge story is "A Financial Fable". In this story Scrooge has another moneybin in farm country. Why? This isn't the only time we've seen Scrooge with non-standard moneybins. James Williams From H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl Wed Apr 6 18:21:26 1994 From: H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl (Harry Fluks) Date: Wed, 06 Apr 1994 18:21:26 +0200 Subject: Scrooge's Money Bin (or Moneybin) Message-ID: <199404061621.AA18575@athena.research.ptt.nl> James asked about the money bin. Again I can answer part of his questions by quoting Don in an old message. This quote and many others are (or will soon be) available in a 'don-rosa' file on our ftp site. For those who don't know how to use ftp, send a message to me, and I'll send you the file. --quoting Don Rosa:-- . Yes, $crooge's Money Bin has been dumped, converted to bills, . moved, and utterly destroyed in many stories, a few of which *I* did. . But in spite of how I view certain historical aspects of Barks' stories . as set-in-stone (and I seek to set-into-Impervium with my series), there . are other aspects of the Ducks that I do not regard or treat with such . solid conviction. Though I always insist that the Bin looks exactly the . same and is always on the same hill (something Barks changed . constantly), on t'other hand, no matter HOW many times it is emptied or . converted or destroyed, by the next story I choose to disregard that as . a non-fact and treat the Bin as having never been disturbed since it was . first built and filled. Maybe my frame of reference is that anything . that happened before "current times" is hard fact; anything that happens . in a new story is forgotten by the next story, as if it never occured. . This might be one way to explain my attitude that time in Duckburg . stopped moving forward around 1955. I keep telling stories on a 1955 . slate, then wiping it clean for another 1955 story. --end quote-- --Harry. From maittola at snakemail.hut.fi Wed Apr 6 19:03:32 1994 From: maittola at snakemail.hut.fi (Mikko Henri Juhani Aittola) Date: Wed, 6 Apr 1994 20:03:32 +0300 (EET DST) Subject: Disney-comics digest #291. In-Reply-To: <9404052331.AA13343@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE> Message-ID: Don Rosa wrote: > Without asking exactly which Barks stories you are referring to > wherein MM's nephews appeared, or even Zeke Wolf, I'm pretty sure that > these were in GRANDMA DUCK'S FARM FRIENDS issues of FOUR COLOR which > Barks drew but did NOT write. Harry Fluks wrote: > In the Gyro story in Uncle Scrooge 13, Morty and Ferdie appeared (and Grandma > appeared in that story, too). I don't know if I have these stories, but I have seen single panels in Finnish DDs. In the panel that featured Grandma and M&F, Grandma is driving with electric car. M&F are selling something. Zeke Wolf appeared in 'A Whole Herd Of Help' and in 'Sheepish Cowboys'. (According to our publisher.) When I browsed thru my brothers DDs, I found out that in '91 our publisher got special permission to print 'Donald as milkman' Barks story. Is it still banned or something. And how about 'Marco Polo'. Our publisher printed it in 'I, $crooge McDuck' hardcover, but it's only in the first print of that book. How tight 'the rules' are for today's writer/artist? /Mikko From sawyer at macs.stetson.edu Wed Apr 6 20:33:15 1994 From: sawyer at macs.stetson.edu (Bill Sawyer) Date: Wed, 6 Apr 94 14:33:15 EDT Subject: Unsubscribe Message-ID: <9404061833.AA28997@macs.stetson.edu> Per, Please unsubscribe me from the Disney Comics list. I've enjoyed reading the list, but I just don't have the time to contribute the way I should. Maybe I'll have the time someday. Keep up the good work, you run a very nice mail list. Bill Sawyer sawyer at macs.stetson.edu From starback at Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE Wed Apr 6 22:58:13 1994 From: starback at Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE (Per Starback) Date: Wed, 6 Apr 94 22:58:13 +0200 Subject: Yet more ftp news In-Reply-To: Harry Fluks's message of Wed, 06 Apr 1994 18:21:26 +0200 <199404061621.AA18575@athena.research.ptt.nl> Message-ID: <9404062058.AA06294@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE> Harry wrote: > Again I can answer part of [James's] questions by quoting Don in an > old message. This quote and many others are (or will soon be) > available in a 'don-rosa' file on our ftp site. It's there now! The new file "don-rosa" at the ftp archive is a long (> 800 lines) collection of quotes from Don Rosa sorted on subject that Harry has collected from various posts to the list. I think it comes in very handy to be able to look up a particular story by Don and get some of his own comments on it there. But whatabout the old file "don-rosa" with the Don Rosa index? Don't panic, it's still there, only its new name is don-rosa.index to better indicate its contents. "mm-crash-course" and "us-crash-course" are two other new files containing David's lists of what he recommends as the ideal stories with Mickey Mouse and Scrooge McDuck respectively among those reprinted since 1986. And finally "characters/peter-pig" is a new character description (also from David) describing ... (surprise) ... Peter Pig. -- " Per Starback, Uppsala, Sweden. email: starback at minsk.docs.uu.se "Life is but a gamble! Let flipism chart your ramble!" From David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu Wed Apr 6 23:15:20 1994 From: David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu (David A Gerstein) Date: Wed, 06 Apr 1994 17:15:20 -0400 Subject: "In Search of Jungle Treasure" Message-ID: <9404062115.AA19458@bigbird.cc.williams.edu> Dear Folks, Don Rosa recently sent me some Xerox copies of the banned FG Mickey Mouse story "In Search of Jungle Treasure" (1937) as it appears in WDC&S #4. I have #5, so now I have the entire story (minus a few panels here and there, because Dell consigned them to the ash-heap to make the story fit in a given amount of space) in English. First, before I go on to discuss the story, thank you very much, Don, for making the copy. Interesting to note what good condition the comic appeared to be in. I didn't think that you would want to spend an arm and a leg to buy a comic this early in such good condition, particuarly when you comment how such back issues are only worth at most cover price when you get right down to it. Or did you get a good deal on these early issues somehow? In any event, I owe you one, Don. Name yer pizen. A few years ago this story was reprinted in an oblong comic in Germany, three strips to the page in original format (albeit with color added). That version apparently had an Italian origin, according to Fabio. My guess is that you European readers may have gotten your own local editions at that time -- it was a supplement with the weekly 26/1991, so maybe you have it. The news is that the German version made many changes in the dialogue, and perhaps other more recent editions have as well, because this is, sadly, the most prejudiced of all Gottfredson stories. For U. S. readers: The story takes place right after Island in the Sky. Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and the ape Spooks travel to Kenya and into the "Jujubwa" jungle on the trail of a treasure buried there by a sea captain that Captain Churchmouse once knew. In hot pursuit are Pegleg Pete and Eli Squinch, who hope to capture the treasure once our heroes have unearthed it. The chest is unearthed, but Pete and Squinch -- dressed as shamans, scare away Mickey's porters, and our heroes are caught by the villains. Pegleg is about to shoot Mickey when cannibals swoop down and capture everyone. The cannibals have some contrivances of the Western world (cutlery, ketchup, mustard, etc.), but still act savage. Unlike Mickey's African guide Abdomah (who speaks perfect English), the cannibals talk with Southern dialect. Goofy willingly goes to the pot first, because he feels it an honor to be thought of as a gourmet meal. Minnie is calm at first, too -- but because she assumes Mickey had a plan in case a thing like this should happen. He doesn't. Goofy's in the pot, and Mickey and Minnie are about to be clubbed to death by the king when Spooks -- who mysteriously vanished just earlier -- returns with dozens of other apes (relatives of his from the jungle) and a wild free-for-all begins. Mickey and Minnie fight fiercely, as does Goofy (who finally realizes that being cooked means death). Spooks, however, goes completely berserk, causing the cannibals to grab Pete and Squinch and run for the hills. Abandoned, MM, Minnie, and Goofy open the treasure chests, briefly wallow in gold, then ride back to Nairobi (Spooks encounters elephants whom he enables our heroes to use as mounts). There they find Abdomah, who apparently escaped the cannibals, but was too scared to try to rescue the others. Mickey sympathizes with his fear, so pays him anyway for his services. Pete and Squinch, meanwhile, escape the cannibals, but get lost in the jungle (that's the last we see of them). And our heroes return home. I wouldn't call this a poorly-crafted story, but it is also a sad relic of colonialism, much ore so than any of the other "cannibal" stories in the MM strip. It would need an extreme overhaul in both art and text were it to reappear here in a regular comic. As Don suggested regarding some story (perhaps the story in which DD kills an eagle for Thanksgiving), there are some that are just better left to "complete library" sets, and should not appear elsewhere. What is the view in Europe when the more offensive stories ("Darkest Africa" in Barks, or this one for FG) are reprinted OUTSIDE of such library sets? I understand that there was a protest when "An Education for Thursday" appeared, and I'd be interested to hear something about that... I'd sure like to see a complete FG library in English, but I doubt it will happen anywhere but Britain or Australia under official license, due to the irritating way Disney judges comic book stories differently from newspaper strips in this country. Your friend, David Gerstein From 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM Thu Apr 7 06:21:25 1994 From: 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM (Don Rosa) Date: 07 Apr 94 00:21:25 EDT Subject: Disney-comics digest #292. Message-ID: <940407042125_72260.2635_EHB255-2@CompuServe.COM> JAMES W.: My personal version of the origin of the Money Bin was printed in Europe a few weeks ago in "Lo$" #10. You'll hafta wait 1 1/2 years to see it in America. As I may have mentioned once before, when I did the "Lo$" there were scant few Barks stories that I decided I was compelled to ignore. In a few cases it was due to conflicting "facts" in his own stories (very rare and spread years apart) and in THIS instance, stories that were done while Barks was still developing the new $crooge character slowly; he only slowly realized $crooge would be around for a while, so Barks never tried to create him all at once. In order to explain the Money Bin as being the cash that $crooge earned himself as he trapsed the globe, I decided the Bin had to have been built about 50 years before it was first shown in that WDC&S issue. So I ignore that one tale, at least the parts of it that suggest the Bin is "new". I also ignored that "corn crib" tale; yes, it's an excellent story, but you'll hafta agree it's only a "fable". It may well be the most wildly fantastic story Barks ever did, and I really credit him with writing stories with a firmer foothold in reality. I mean, in that tale, $crooge's corn-crib-o'-money is picked up by a tornado, and a million dollars in cash drops into the hands, individually, of every man, woman, child and duck in America (or on Earth?), and nowhere else (not a cent into a lake or field or river or...). And $crooge gets it all back (every LAST CENT of it) by selling overpriced food to each and every human being in the country (a sort of dishonest thing that I can't see a "square" $crooge doing). It's a great story as a lesson in "values", but it was obviously a dream $crooge had one night after a bowl of gruel. DAVID: Well, yes, all my WDC&S are in great shape... especially my oldest ones. I guess I've had a full set since before you were born, so you can guess what I had to pay for them. Actually, I got all my DD 4 COLORS and my WDC&S back to #5 for less than $1 each from a guy two guys who bought them off the stands. I paid LOTS more for #1-4 from another original-buyer... I think I paid about $400 for all 4; they were in near perfect shape -- he'd read them once in 1940 then put them in a box and sealed it with wax. (Don't ask me why!) My WDC&S from about #90 - 250 in mint condition cost me 2 cents each from the original buyer. And an interesting tale there: I'd already built up most of a set of those issues by then (1970) and I replaced them with that batch, never opening many of them up since I'd already read my others. Then about 5 years later I was doing my index to WDC&S and going through each issue... and in one copy I found a wad of six $10 bills. In that same purchase, I'd bought about 4000 other mint comics from the 50's-early 60's... so that $60 greatly cut down what I had to pay for that batch (at 2 cents each, about $80 - $60 = $20). No big deal... in the days when the only ones of us looking to buy old comics were those of us who actually LIKED the things ourselves, stories like this were not so unusual. (Well, actually, this story wasn't so bad by any standards, I s'pose.) FRANK: I thank you for your ideas of how Gladstone could publish a portfolio or cards of my past work to raise money. But they wouldn't raise money for ME. After all, right now they are reprinting my old stories (with much ballyhoo) and I receive no royalties simply because they don't need to pay me royalties and I don't expect them to hand me money they aren't forced to. Companies do not pay royalties unless thay are compelled to. If they published cards or portfolios or anything else of my past work, they would only need to pay DISNEY to use my work, not me. THIS is the problem right there. MARK: I can't (and wouldn't) threaten Egmont that I'd ever quit, because I know that they only value me for publicity purposes. My work actually sells negligible extra copies for them. If I quit, they'd never know the difference by their sales figures. That gives me little leverage, eh? I have always had the opportunity to get bad publicity for Disney for the unfair ways they treat freelancers. But that's NOT the way to deal with Disney! You must try to help them enter the 1970s gradually, not try to force them to do so by shaming them publicly. That would LOSE ground rather than gain it -- large, cruel corporations don't react well to that sort of stuff. I'd lose the job I love. I have no interest in doing my own characters. I didn't grow up on any character I might create tomorrow -- I grew up on the Ducks. Besides, I know my work is popular because readers like what I do with their favorite characters... not what I do with ANY character, just THOSE. I did these exact same stories 15-20 years ago in fanzines, and hardly a soul read them when I wasn't using the Ducks. HARRY: Please go back and reread my messages! You are interpreting me exactly as I don't wish! I LOVE my trips to Europe!!! I'm treated like a minor-league national hero!!! I NEVER tire of the activities I'm called upon to perform there! It's simply a matter of what's fair. It gets rather frustrating to be the only guy in America being treated the way I am as far as reimbursement. Look at it this way: when I come to Erlangen (which I thought was a suburb or Nuremberg?), I'll be there with Neil Gaiman as the other comics guest. I will probably attract FAR more attention than he will, since I do the beloved Ducks. We will be appearing as guests of Ehapa, who is doing sets of albums of our work; DEATH and SANDMAN written by Gaiman, and a German album series of strictly MY work, written and drawn. Now, Ehapa pays DC royalties for the use of Gaiman's work. Gaiman does the work for DC originally, and DC shares the royalties with Gaiman, of course. Ehapa also pays royalties, to Disney, for the use of my work. I do not work for Disney -- they contribute NOTHING in helping me write or draw my stories. And yet, they do not share a cent of those royalties with me. Gaiman works no harder than I do (I can't imagine anyone working any more diligently than I do on these Ducks), yet he's paid by a completely different system. Recently, they say, he spent a few days writing an issue of this SPAWN comic, and reportedly was paid some $150,000 in royalties. SPAWN doesn't sell a fraction what these Duck comics sell. Gaiman himself is one of the people who has told me that I'm being cheated -- every other comic pro in America thinks I'm a sap for doing Disney comics. But this is the system I am in day by day, going to conventions and having to listen to the other pros talking about the huge sums they make constantly in the new systems. Selling their art, getting royalties off every use of their work...etc., etc. Now, don't you think this all gets increasingly frustrating for me? I'm very close to swearing off attending conventions since I don't need the grief I feel when I associate with other professionals. Don't you think this is normal human nature for me to feel lousy about all that? And I'm helpless to do anything about it since no other Disney freelancers will take a stand for themselves with me. But, of course, the answer for me is to either quit, or shaddap my griping. If I want to be treated fairly, all I need to do is NOT do Disney comics. Simple as that. From H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl Thu Apr 7 09:36:21 1994 From: H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl (Harry Fluks) Date: Thu, 07 Apr 1994 09:36:21 +0200 Subject: Rosa in Europe Message-ID: <199404070736.AA03054@athena.research.ptt.nl> Don Rosa: > Well, yes, all my WDC&S are in great shape... especially my > oldest ones. (...) (Well, actually, this story wasn't so bad by > any standards, I s'pose.) RHAAAAH! Why wasn't *I* born in the 50s? > right now they [Gladstone] are reprinting my old > stories (with much ballyhoo) and I receive no royalties (..) But they DO pay you for your covers and articles on Lo$, don't they? If only a very small amount; at least that indicates they are WILLING to reward a good artist... And I thought your trips to Europe were a kind of reward, too. If the editors can't pay you more for your Disney work because Disney won't let them, they can pay you in the form of trips. But this was what I was thinking before your comments, and I thought then that you were the ONLY American comics artist that made European visits... BTW: you once asked if these situations (artists not getting the licenses of their products) occur outside the Disney comics world. In fact, they do. In several European countries, they have people make stories on exactly the same basis the Disney editors do. In Belgium, the Tintin and Suske&Wiske (Bob&Bobette) stories were/are (partly) made by anonymous studio artists. In England and Holland, they have studio artists make comic stories (like Tom Poes, Sjors&Sjimmie). In fact, sometimes the same studios that make the Disney stories for GP and Egmont. > Erlangen (which I thought was a suburb or Nuremberg?) I didn't know that. But you mentioned Frankfurt as well. I suppose you'll be landing on the Frankfurt airport. Will you be doing anything else in that city? > Now, don't you think this all gets increasingly frustrating for me? Yes, I do... --Harry. From H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl Thu Apr 7 10:18:23 1994 From: H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl (Harry Fluks) Date: Thu, 07 Apr 1994 10:18:23 +0200 Subject: Disney-comics digest #292. Message-ID: <199404070818.AA05112@athena.research.ptt.nl> MIKKO: I wrote: > In the Gyro story in Uncle Scrooge 13, Morty and Ferdie appeared (and Grandma > appeared in that story, too). Mikko: > I don't know if I have these stories, but I have seen single > panels in Finnish DDs. In the panel that featured Grandma and M&F, > Grandma is driving with electric car. This must be the U$13 story I meant. Probably published in Finland somewhere near AA 13-1956. > Zeke Wolf appeared in 'A Whole Herd Of Help' and in 'Sheepish > Cowboys'. (According to our publisher.) And those are indeed from Grandma Duck's Farm Friends, not written, but only drawn by Barks. > When I browsed thru my brothers DDs, I found out that in '91 > our publisher got special permission to print 'Donald as milkman' > Barks story. Is it still banned or something. This story has been published (at last) in Disney Comics' WDC 550. In Holland, it was reprinted in 1974 (for the first time ever anywhere), without some kind of special permission. I don't think the story is banned in any way. > And how about > 'Marco Polo'. Our publisher printed it in 'I, $crooge McDuck' > hardcover, but it's only in the first print of that book. That is (or was) a "black list" story, not to be reprinted ever. Apparently, they make exceptions for special Barks libraries, like Another Rainbow's CBL and the Dutch one. BILL SAWYER: > Please unsubscribe me from the Disney Comics list. I've enjoyed > reading the list, but I just don't have the time to contribute the way I > should. Let me repeat that there is absolutely NO obligation to contribute ANYTHING to this list! Just reading the messages is OK! (If _every_ member of the list would mail messages too, there would be no time to read it all! 8-) DAVID: > I'd sure like to see a complete FG library in English, but I > doubt it will happen anywhere (...) As I said before, there IS a complete FG library in English, issued by Horst Schro"der (in Sweden, I think). --Harry. From mayerson at sidefx.sidefx.com Thu Apr 7 15:47:14 1994 From: mayerson at sidefx.sidefx.com (Mark Mayerson) Date: Thu, 7 Apr 1994 09:47:14 -0400 Subject: Rosa Fanzine Work Message-ID: <9404071347.AA02066@sidefx.sidefx.com> Don, It may be true that you did stories in fanzines 15 years ago and nobody seemed to care. However, I assert that your name is far better known now than it was then. Certainly that is the case in Europe. I submit that if you started to do stories of your own characters now, they would sell better than they did 15 years ago. Who heard of Todd McFarlane before he did Spider-man? Using his reputation from that comic, he started Spawn. I'm advocating that you do the same thing. You will never start out with the same emotional attachment to characters that you do to the ducks. However, your emotional attachment to new characters might grow over time. Perhaps most importantly, you'll have a financial attachment that will definitely grow over time. Maybe the best answer is to write one issue of Spawn and retire. ___________________________________________________________________ Mark Mayerson Side Effects Software Inc., Internet: mayerson at sidefx.com Toronto, Ontario, Canada (416) 366-4607 From Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se Thu Apr 7 15:37:40 1994 From: Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se (Mattias Hallin) Date: Thu, 07 Apr 1994 15:37:40 +0200 Subject: Happy Days -- I'm here again! Message-ID: <01HAWEROK7QU8WWBJO@castor.ldc.lu.se> HELLO, ALL! Vacation's done with, the back-log of work is basically worked through, and my cat came back yesterday after seven days' abscence; so -- here Ah am! PER: Well, I kinda' figgered a question like "where have all the ftp-files gone" might have general interest, and thought, too, that if I ASKED you through the list, you might ANSWER there too. Well, it obviously worked, though a bit slow; and you should know from past experience that I usually direct such questions straight to you. And, yeah, maybe I should have this time also. In the future, rest assured I'll hear and obey, oh Master! DAVID: Why does Gladstone Gander's name prove that Speedy shoulda been Donald? Does Gladstone know no-one besides Donald? And would it not seem to be in Gladstone's nature to awaken competitiveness in the brests of other people beside Donald? Now, of course I believe, too, that Barks originally intended to use Donald where he DID use Speedy -- if for no other reason because of Speedy's size and general build, and the looks of his car; and because it makes sense, too I guess -- but I don't think there's any solid evidence within the story itself. DON: I heard on the grapevine, too, that you would be invited to come to Sweden this fall -- I hope you'll make it. I was wondering, though -- what I heard on the selfsame grapevine (i.e. Stefan Dios) was that it was the respective fairs (Bok & bibliotek /Book & Library/ in Goteborg, through Sture Hegerfors, and Seriemassan /The Comic Fair/ in Stockholm, through Daniel Atterbom that had asked/were going to ask you -- NOT Egmont. Or did I get Stefan wrong? It is indeed and alas a sad thing, the way Disney and it's licensees treat their artists. I was a bit surprised, though, to hear that your colleagues in other comic book branches are making THAT much money. Not that I doubt your information -- it just surprises me, considering that their market is fairly limited; or am I wrong there? Marks suggestions were, I think, ...suggestive; but I've a hunch that your reply was pretty much on the nail: although your work is a treasure of immense (almost three cubic acres!) proportions to many Duck comic fans, I'm not sure you've had THAT big a general, POPULAR breaktrough among those 5 to 12-year-old kids at whom Egmont really aim their publications, that you could get the kind of leverage that Mark envisages. Sadly. I beleive there are people, at least at Serieforlaget here in Sweden that feel that your work is too sophisticated for the kiddies -- which is exactly where they're wrong, of course! I've yet to meet the kid who prefers being talked DOWN to, to being talked TO! And, also, kids can be surprisingly adept at detecting the difference. Well, not all, of course... there ARE those who persist in reading "X-men" and similar, poor souls... Or at least poor. ("Comics about a talking MONKEY? Aw, that's kids' stuff!") Yeah. Well, all my best! Mattias !==============================================================================! !* Mattias Hallin ** ** Phone: +46 46-14 84 43 **! !* Trollebergsvagen 24 B ***** Work: Lund University, Box 117, S-221 00 Lund **! !* S-222 29 Lund, SWEDEN **************************** Phone: +46 46-10 71 37 **! !==============================================================================! !***** "Oh, the villain onward stole... While a wicked smile he smole!" ******! !==============================================================================! From ipkh at marge.cs.mcgill.ca Thu Apr 7 18:31:48 1994 From: ipkh at marge.cs.mcgill.ca (Kwok Hung IP) Date: Thu, 7 Apr 1994 12:31:48 -0400 Subject: Rosa Fanzine Work In-Reply-To: Mark Mayerson's message as of Apr 7, 9:47 Message-ID: <9404071631.AA11945@binkley.cs.mcgill.ca> In reply to your message on Apr 7, 9:47 SUBJECT: : > >Don, > >It may be true that you did stories in fanzines 15 years ago and >nobody seemed to care. However, I assert that your name is far better >known now than it was then. Certainly that is the case in Europe. >I submit that if you started to do stories of your own characters now, >they would sell better than they did 15 years ago. > >Who heard of Todd McFarlane before he did Spider-man? Using his reputation >from that comic, he started Spawn. I'm advocating that you do the same >thing. > >___________________________________________________________________ >Mark Mayerson Side Effects Software Inc., >Internet: mayerson at sidefx.com Toronto, Ontario, Canada > (416) 366-4607 > -------------------end of your message----------- Although I've never seen your work in the fanzines, may I ask you what they were about? If by any chance they were about anthromorphic animals, there is a market out there. God knows how much I love your ducks, Usagi and the TMNT. Maybe you can give it a try with a sample of your work at some indy company. How about...Dark Horse; seems they'll print anything with some quality to it and you have to admit that you have a talent. We'll never know until you try it. Cheers... -- ============================================================================= Jack Kwok Hung Ip | McGill University ipkh at binkley.cs.mcgill.ca | Montreal, Quebec, Canada ============================================================================= From lars at mri.mri.com Thu Apr 7 19:52:08 1994 From: lars at mri.mri.com (lars@mri.mri.com) Date: Thu, 7 Apr 94 10:52:08 PDT Subject: How Don should get rich of his work Message-ID: <9404071752.AA23939@sun38.mri.com> >In a message that I`ve deleted Don Rosa asks for advice on how he should >start making money on his art. The answer is obvious! Your expertise lies in the field of understanding the ducks. Among them is the greatest financial genius of all times. Just use that expertise and ask yourself "What would $crooge McDuck do in this situation". I'm sure he (and you) would come up with some ingenious solution! Lars Petrus (Only 1/2 joking) From mas at cs.bu.edu Thu Apr 7 19:56:55 1994 From: mas at cs.bu.edu (Mark Semich) Date: Thu, 7 Apr 1994 13:56:55 -0400 Subject: Rosa Fanzine Work In-Reply-To: <9404071631.AA11945@binkley.cs.mcgill.ca> (ipkh@marge.cs.mcgill.ca) Message-ID: <199404071756.NAA12378@csa.bu.edu> >Although I've never seen your work in the fanzines, may I ask you what >they were about? If by any chance they were about anthromorphic >animals, there is a market out there. God knows how much I love your >ducks, Usagi and the TMNT. > >Maybe you can give it a try with a sample of your work at some indy >company. How about...Dark Horse; seems they'll print anything with some >quality to it and you have to admit that you have a talent. We'll never >know until you try it. The more I think about it, the more I'd have to agree. If you did work for Dark Horse, it would expose your talent to people who wouldn't normally read Gladstones, and it would probably also supplement your income while you did duck work. As I've mentioned before, I do think that you tend to under-estimate the quality of your own work, but neither you nor I will *really* know until you try to sell some non disney-duck stories. There was a time when I couldn't conceive of liking John Byrne's work unless it were on the Fantastic Four, nor Frank Miller's work unless it were on Daredevil. Now that these people (and others) have split from the big companies to do their own work, I must confess that I like their current stories much more than those that they told utilizing someone else's established characters. Like my experience with other creators, I think that at first it would first feel a little alien to read non-disney Rosa stories, but I know that I would soon come to appreciate them for their own merits, and eventually to relish them even more, as they wouldn't be told under any corporate limitations. From James_Williams at ESS.NIAID.pc.niaid.nih.gov Thu Apr 7 21:03:11 1994 From: James_Williams at ESS.NIAID.pc.niaid.nih.gov (James Williams) Date: Thu, 07 Apr 94 14:03:11 EST Subject: Disney-comics digest #291. Message-ID: <2da44adf@ESS.NIAID.pc.niaid.nih.gov> >David says: >I'd vote for the mansion. I'm absolutely amazed that in all the years Uncle Scrooge has been around that this issue has never been resolved. I can believe that Scrooge might own a home, but I cannot see him living in a mansion. My wife and I own a small townhouse and it takes a few hours every week to keep it in good shape - little thing like mowing the lawn, cleaning the house and so forth. The larger the house, the more maintenance there is. A mansion is a very large house and requires a bunch of maintenance. Most mansions are serviced by gardners and house cleaners, because the owner wouldn't have the time to do it all. I cannot see Scrooge living in a poorly maintained mansion, it just isn't his style. Likewise, I cannot see Scrooge paying a gardner or maid. So I think a mansion is out. Though we have never seem it, I think there are living quarters in the moneybin. >This isn't supposed to sound like a flame, but you speak as if >you have not seen the character before. David, I've been on this list for about a year and I've yet to see anything that resembled a flame. I've never seen the stories that you listed, so William Van Horn's story was my first exposure to Ratface. Since I've read other stories featuring Magica de Spell, I assumed that WVH had created Ratface. While I love Disney comics, I'm still relatively new to them. I've probably only read about half of Barks, Van Horn, and Rosa's stories. I've been reading comics for thirty years, but I only started reading Disney comics about five years ago. As a child, I had the misfortune of getting a stack of Gold Key Disney Comics as a gift. They were terrible and by and far my least favorite comic books. There was only one story in the whole stack which I enjoyed. Years later, I found out that it was 'Submarine Santa' by Carl Barks. I probably would never have read another Disney comic in my life, if not for a book I got a few years ago. It was a history of comic books and it contained various reprints -- EC reprints, Jack Cole's Plastic Man, Bill Evert's Submariner, and Carl Bark's Uncle Scrooge. The story was 'A Financial Fable' and reading that story caused me to give Disney comics another try. >BTW, don't get sore about THAT, James. If you haven't read "Monarch >of Medioka" you'll soon see that this is the best Floyd Gottfredson >story of all time. Don't worry, I've never gotten sore about Floyd Gottfredson. I absolutely adore his stories. I don't buy Graphic Novel, so I'm looking forward to seeing "Monarch of Medioka" reprinted. >Another part of the campaign involved printing a new sequel to >"Blaggard Castle" in DISNEY ADVENTURES David, you are our resident Mickey Mouse expert. What did you think of this story? I had two major problems with the story. First, Mickey seems extremely out of character. Mickey is a modest person, but in this story he doesn't feel all that odd going to a place which is little more than a museum dedicated to his bravery. Mickey is too humble to be involved in such a place. Also, Mickey is to intelligent to fall for such an obvious plot. Second, as usual the Phantom Blot was totally out of character. The Phantom Blot's speciality is espionage. Having him spend a fortune to rebuild the castle made no sense. >Romano Scarpa understood in 1960's "Lentils from Babylon." I >won't reveal how, but Scrooge does lose his bin and its contents. The >story basically implies that Scrooge doesn't have much tangible MONEY >outside of the bin, but that he does have land and an estate, and he >keeps himself going on those for a while. But his business debts have >mounted up, and he has to sell nearly everything... An interesting >compromise. I don't want to critize a story which I haven't seen, but that doesn't make much sense. We know for a fact that Scrooge owns business all over the world. We also know that those business earn a profit, because Scrooge won't keep a business which lost him money. Therefore those business provide a steady cash flow. More importantly, the businesses alone are assest. Even if Scrooge didn't have any cash, he could borrow money by using those assests as colateral. I still say that if you total all of Scrooge's assests and his bank accounts that they are worth more than the money in the moneybin. >On the other hand, I can feel another urge to regard that as something >inexplicably taboo to deal with. Don, I find it really hard to consider something this fundamental as taboo. I cannot believe that this hasn't caused writers and artists problems in the past. >Also, it should be pointed out that in all these storybooks and >Viewmaster reels and action figures based on Gottfriedson's MM, FG's >name is never mentioned. But you figured that, right? As much I despise the way Disney treats their creators, we (MYSELF included) who should know better are commiting just as great of a crime. We always refer to these stories as Gotfredson's, we never mention or give credit to Ted Osbourne and the other people who wrote these stories. >Actually, I really enjoy playing around with the character of >$crooge to try to explain the reason he loves his money. As you say, >he doesn't love being "rich" for the buying power or status or power... >he loves HIS MONEY as mementos of personal achievement. I'll do more >stories about that in the future. I'm really going out on a limb with this one. I honestly do not believe that Scrooge's number one love in life is money. Here is why. In Scrooge's eyes, there are three kinds of money: other peoples money, his money, and money he earned himself. Of these monies, the ones which he earned himself are his favorite. Why? Because they are reminders of his life. Scrooge is a lonely old man and this money is his favorite because it more than just money, it is a rememberence of his past. I haven't seen Don's later chapters of LO$, but in my mind Scrooge did not start building his moneybin until late in life. As long as Scrooge was young, he was too busy living to worry about reflecting on the past. It was only when Scrooge got older and settled down that he started to become lonely. In my mind, 'Christmas on Bear Mountain' isn't important because it introduced Scrooge to Donald and company, but because it introduces Donald and company to Scrooge. Donald and company breaks Scrooge's lonelyness and force him to start living again. By the time 'Only a Poor Old Man' comes around, Scrooge is less bitter and is starting to live. Before we know it, enjoying his moneybin and protecting it from various threats isn't enough, Scrooge is suddenly back out really living. We start seeing Scrooge traveling the world. I think Scrooge's true love in life is earning the money, not the money itself. And that is why the money he earned himself is his favorite type of money. James Williams From ricke at microsoft.com Fri Apr 8 00:40:42 1994 From: ricke at microsoft.com (Rick Engle) Date: Thu, 7 Apr 94 15:40:42 PDT Subject: Your work at disney... Message-ID: <9404071941.AA08222@netmail2.microsoft.com> Hi Don, I'm new to the disney comics alias and its a pleasure to see you on the internet (via Compuserve). I'll quickly say that although I'm not the most knowledgeable collector of your work, you are the closest to a modern day Barks that I've seen. Thanks for all of the new stories and I'm loving your life and times series. I'm confused by all of the first Europe then US publishing of your stories. What country do you hail from? Also, something that would be truly cool is (if you're fairly PC savvy) is a 256 color WIndows bitmap of one of your duck covers or panels to use as Windows wallpaper? Any chance? Hey thanks for the great art, and best of luck!! Rick Engle From hellman at proxxi.uf.se Thu Apr 7 21:34:39 1994 From: hellman at proxxi.uf.se (Bror Hellman) Date: Thu, 7 Apr 1994 21:34:39 +0200 (MET DST) Subject: Portfolio... Message-ID: Have anyone of you seen the Carl Barks portfolio or the Floyd Gottfredson portfolio? I wonder if anyone can give me the TRUE details about it's history, quality &c. Especially if the story about the garbage-men who made a fortune... is it true? Steamboat Willie ---------------------------------------------- ... Does The Little Mermaid wear an algebra? ---------------------------------------------- Internet: hellman at proxxi.uf.se, DuckNet: hellman at 313:100/13.0 From David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu Fri Apr 8 00:20:56 1994 From: David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu (David A Gerstein) Date: Thu, 07 Apr 1994 18:20:56 -0400 Subject: Update for ar-index Message-ID: <9404072220.AA24744@bigbird.cc.williams.edu> Dear Per, I'm sending this to everyone so they know this, but in any event, time to update the AR-index. You see, Gladstone's first piece of original material from their new period, number AR 201, has appeared. What is it, you ask? A one-page Scrooge gag in US 286. Written and drawn by Vic Lockman. Titled "The Skipper." Gladstone ran no page this month describing the month's comics. I sure as heck would have liked that better than AR 201, which makes me long for the brilliant art of Stan Walsh, or that Italian guy who we discussed who always draws the ducks exploding in rage (I've forgotten his name now). X-p Apparently Mark Semich has seen some ads for DDA 27, with its new DD long adventure by Pat Block. Apparently the art is quite good, although the ducks have rather short bills. I'd guess that this story (Mystery of Widow's Gap) is AR 202. I'm looking forward to that A LOT MORE than anything more drawn by Vic Lockman. * * * * * Someone else complained about D&M's Mickey stories in yesterday's digest. I hope you've let Gladstone know your feelings. I do when I can... Your friend, David Gerstein From adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Fri Apr 8 00:22:30 1994 From: adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz (adair_t@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz) Date: Fri, 08 Apr 1994 10:22:30 +1200 Subject: Happy Days -- I'm here again! Message-ID: <0097CA51.A5755180.18982@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz> From: Mattias Hallin >It is indeed and alas a sad thing, the way Disney and it's licensees treat >their artists. I was a bit surprised, though, to hear that your colleagues in >other comic book branches are making THAT much money. Not that I doubt your >information -- it just surprises me, considering that their market is fairly >limited; or am I wrong there? Very wrong. The comicbook direct market (comicbook stores) in the United States is driven by speculators (mostly teenagers wanting to Get Rich Quick). In 1991 (I think), Marvel published X-Men #1 with five different covers (four with a normal cover, one edition with a gatefold that had all four covers in one). This issue sold 8 Million copies, eclipsing the previous record set by Spider-Man #1 (four initial covers, 2.5 Million). Last year, the issue containing the death of Superman sold four million copies, with a lot of copies sold to a curious public who wanted to Get Rich Quick as well. Of course, given the fact that there are so many copies out there, and most of them sealed in plastic bags, basic economic law states that these issues will never increase in value (large supply, little demand). While the direct market is largely responsible for causing the speculator market, it is also responsible for allowing a Renaissance of comicbooks. It is easier to sell small press runs to comicbook stores than to newsstands. As a matter of fact, I bought my first Gladstone copies from a comicbook store, and continue to do so. In my hometown of Omaha (metro area pop. 600,000), there are nine comicbook stores. In 1984, when I started collecting comicbooks, there were three. I think Don Rosa could make a decent living as an independent comicbook publisher. First, he has the talent and dedication necessary to publish a book on a regular schedule. Second, he has respect within the industry (the reason I started collecting Disney again is becasue of a glowing review in the Comics Buyer's Guide). Third, Jeff Smith has already proven that there is a market for "funny animal" comicbooks with his publication of Bone (highly recommended!). Fourth, Don Rosa can use Disney comics as a safety net while he builds a customer base with his own title. Fifth, Don could use his title to explore ideas and concepts not possible with Disney comics. Sixth, given the commercialization of comicbooks (can we say Sandman pyjamas?), there is a lot of money to be made from collectors. (Of course, Don, I know you have a high level of respect for collectors, and wouldn't ever think of exploiting them!) (Just some crazy ideas I had, Don. No offence meant.) Torsten Adair adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Wellington, New Zealand From d.catron at msuacad.morehead-st.edu Fri Apr 8 02:26:12 1994 From: d.catron at msuacad.morehead-st.edu (DANNY CATRON) Date: Thu, 7 Apr 94 20:26:12 -0400 Subject: No subject Message-ID: <9404080027.AA04161@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE> subsSUBSCRIBE disney comics d. catron at msuacad.moerhead-st.edu From David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu Fri Apr 8 02:36:41 1994 From: David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu (David A Gerstein) Date: Thu, 07 Apr 1994 20:36:41 -0400 Subject: Return to Blaggard Castle In-Reply-To: Your message of Fri, 08 Apr 1994 01:18:15 +0200 Message-ID: <9404080036.AA28185@hancock.cc.williams.edu> Dear Folks, Jas. Williams said, "David, you are our resident Mickey Mouse expert. What did you think of [Disney Adventures comic strip 'Return to Blaggard Castle']?" "I had two major problems with the story. First, Mickey seems extremely out of character. Mickey is a modest person, but in this story he doesn't feel all that odd going to a place which is little more than a museum dedicated to his bravery. Mickey is too humble to be involved in such a place." By "involved" you suggest involved in running or owning it. I never caught wind of this. Meanwhile, he seemed plenty confused by what was going on -- very UNcomfortable in the renovated Blaggard Mansion. "Also, Mickey is to intelligent to fall for such an obvious plot." This was my major problem with the story's concept. But then, Mickey sure takes a long time to figure out the Gleam's plot in the 1941 FG "Gleam" story. After about two weeks of pacing around his room trying to figure it out -- "Inspector Casey says I acted like a monkey and a kangaroo... and HE acted like a trained seal... and then neither of us remember a THING about it!" -- it's Goofy who figures out the scheme that time. "I saw that in a vaudyville act years ago, Mick! It's called hyppnertism!" The FG Mouse is not the boring know-it-all that infests a lot of made-for-comics stories. "Second, as usual the Phantom Blot was totally out of character. The Phantom Blot's speciality is espionage. Having him spend a fortune to rebuild the castle made no sense." The Blot was a spy in the very first story made about him. Romano Scarpa did the second one -- "The Blot's Double Mystery" in 1954 (first printed here, 1988). In that excellent tale, the Blot's main goal was to get revenge against Mickey. Other Italian stories may have followed the same tack (I don't know). The 1991 "Phantom Blot Bedtime Story" was supposed to come after the Scarpa story. Many of its concepts were the most Gottfredsonian of anything to appear in MICKEY MOUSE ADVENTURES (note that the story was NOT by Marv Wolfman), and it had the Blot trying to steal a gem -- sorta like the Hope Diamond, something REALLY valuable -- and when Mickey thwarted that, the next half of the story was about his attempt to get revenge. Revenge against Mickey is at least as important for the Blot as is pulling off a scheme to get wealth, through espionage or other means. I hope this satisfies you on the Blot's motivation. So how did the Blot rebuild that castle? Simple -- just got away with some minor crime, sold whatever he'd stolen for a wad of money, then hired someone else to do the building! The only thing he had to do himself was draw those pictures which he had up on the wall, then make a mere tape recording of some narration to go with them. You can bet it was Ecks, Doublex, and Triplex who made the helmets which Minnie and Horace wore. That explained, what did I think of the story? I think it should have been twice as long. It just progressed at a chaotic pace where more reflection and hesitation was needed. But this is Disney ADVENTURES. The writer (David C. Weiss) was working under the constraint that stories for that comic have to be 24 pages or under. It was the best he could do. I'd say it was a big improvement over all the original stories in MMA, even the above-average Blot tale mentioned before. (Not that I didn't have a problem with the MMA Blot story -- its major flaw was the Marvel-like way the story was laid out (and the Marvel-like way MM acted at times). Another flaw was in the art -- I was really irritated that the artist put a hood on the Blot's daughter (and, I believe, a stuffed animal this little girl was holding), making the notion of the Blot's disguise into a goofy joke. That I didn't go for...) With time I'll give Egmont a Blot story -- but I haven't thought of one yet. I will NOT use the daughter from the MMA story as I view her as apocryphal, even if she worked there. In the meantime, I'm going to be doing some stories with Horace, Butch (from "Circus Roustabout" -- did you read WDC&S 585?), Monty (from "Love Trouble"), and a new character from Egmont, a Neighbor Jones-like antagonist for Mickey named Muscles McGurk (depicted as a hog). I can just imagine Mickey vs. this Neighbor Jones type! Mickey doesn't exactly have a temper like Donald's, but you can bet he'll let this big dope have it when necessary... (I think he ought to have a real name, too, though, not just this nickname Muscles -- I like Malchisidec, as much as I'm sure McGurk would hate it ;-) We'll see what Egmont thinks -- he isn't my creation.) That's all for now, folks. I'm sure I've overstayed my welcome! Your friend, David From 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM Fri Apr 8 06:20:07 1994 From: 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM (Don Rosa) Date: 08 Apr 94 00:20:07 EDT Subject: Disney-comics digest #293. Message-ID: <940408042007_72260.2635_EHB37-2@CompuServe.COM> HARRY: I'm still not sure if you understand what I've been saying or what is going on. The fact that Gladstone pays me to do covers and write text pieces proves they are willing to "reward" me? How do you figure it's a reward? I do them a cover and they pay me. I'm not getting paid for nothing. I get paid no extra because I'm "me"... and I do it just to help Gladstone out and make the publication of my stories in my own country look (?) better -- I would make more $ if I spent that time working for Egmont, so again, I'm losing money instead of gaining it as is what normally is supposed to happen when somebody's work is deemed "popular". And what Gladstone pays for those text pieces -- believe me, they are GIFTS. I wrote a one page intro for Disney's "Rosa album" and they paid about $300; those "Lo$" texts for Gladstone pay 1/10th that much. I do those just for the opportunity to explain my thoughts to the readers. And I was trying to explain about those trips to Europe. I DO pay for those trips by losing a week of work, and making my wife spend a week alone at home way out in the lonely country. And these are not trips where I am given an opportunity to do any sightseeing. They would be strictly "work", though I do enjoy that work. I wouldn't pay a week's wages to take trips to Europe -- not because it's not WORTH a week's wages, but because I don't get paid enough to be able to afford losing 3 or 4 week's wages per year taking these trips. Yet, how can I refuse? Perhaps Egmont's only interest in me is as a publicity source, so I'd better cooperate with them. As I said, I don't make them money in extra sales. And you can't compare the fact that I am not reimbursed fairly to the fact that those folks in those art-studios who do Ducks and other comics are not reimbursed. They are not creating their work by themselves start to finish. And they are not being called on to skip paychecks for publicity tours. They are parts of teams. And yet, those studios ARE paid more than I am per page, because the heads of those studios must be able to hire the workers and still have some $$ left for himself (Vicar, Diaz, etc.). Egmont pays them more because THAT work is the backbone of their comics. Egmont couldn't exist with out those studios. They'd never miss my work. MATTIAS: I'm sure I'm not reading you correctly, since I know you know your stuff. But you're not suggesting that there's any question that "Speedy" was originally Donald, right? You knew that he was Donald until Barks was told to redraw the art, right? And you are quite wrong in assuming that the low-selling American comics do not (as logic would suggest) result in low profits for the publishers and creators. Someone, was it Torsten, started to explain to you how well some single issues of American comics sell -- bit that's only a few very rare cases. Most American super-hero comics sell pathetically bad per capita as compared to comics anywhere else in the world. But it's HOW they are sold in America that explains the windfall profits!!! The magazine distribution system is by-passed for one thing. For another, no comic is printed until AFTER all the buyers have ordered their copies -- if 137,549 issues are ordered, that's how many are printed, thereby eliminating the incredible waste inherent in normal magazine distribution and non-American comic publishing, where something like twice as many issues are published than will ever be sold, due to the losses incurred in national distribution. And yet, even though having eliminated national distribution and waste from the equation, American comics would turn handsome profits at any price, they are sold for prices ranging from $2-$5, simply because the collectors will pay it and still buy 20 copies of each issue. Seriously! The American comic book market is an absolute DREAM for making money off a tiny cult of buyers! It's a modern miracle! Like printing money. That's why so many people are getting rich off such low sales. And this is the system that I must exist in, even if the system I work in is the one from 40 years ago. The first word I heard about my Swedish trip was from Daniel Atterbom, not anyone at Egmont. Can you guess that this is one MORE bit of irritation... that Egmont was so sure I'd come that they were announcing it before they even asked me?!?! That's how it sounds. Originally, the trip was to be just for the weekend of October 29/30 at Goteborg (sic?). Next Norway decided to save a plane fare and have me go visit them for some publicity after Goteborg. Then Daniel asked if I'd hang around an extra week to go to the Stockholm show. Then Egmont-Sweden, when they finally got around to calling me, said they wanted me starting Oct. 26 for more publicity. With flight time, this is now a full 2 week trip. I can't see how I can afford this, and I'm still waiting to hear from Egmont again. We'll see what happens. JAMES WILLIAMS: I LIKE how you think. Judging by your idea of what happened in $crooge's life -- what his life was like pre-Bear Mountain, and what meeting DD & HDL meant for him -- you're gonna LOVE part 12 of the "Lo$". That's PRECISELY how I tell it. From Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se Fri Apr 8 10:06:20 1994 From: Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se (Mattias Hallin) Date: Fri, 08 Apr 1994 10:06:20 +0200 Subject: Disney-comics digest #293. In-Reply-To: Your message dated "Fri, 08 Apr 1994 00:20:07 -0400 (EDT)" <940408042007_72260.2635_EHB37-2@CompuServe.COM> Message-ID: <01HAXG9ZKQGS8WW2QP@castor.ldc.lu.se> "I'm sure I'm not reading you correctly, since I know you know your stuff. But you're not suggesting that there's any question that "Speedy" was originally Donald, right? You knew that he was Donald until Barks was told to redraw the art, right?", Don asked me. Of course! That was what I what I meant to say, ALONG with the fact that there is no absolute INTERNAL evidence in the story, as I recall it, that this so -- I particularly DON'T find the Gladstone Gander-reference conclusive, as David seemed to -- but I do NOT argue with the FACT that Donald was replaced by Speedy, because Barks was told to; I was just being 'noxious to David (naughty me! For shame!) "The first word I heard about my Swedish trip was from Daniel Atterbom, not anyone at Egmont. Can you guess that this is one MORE bit of irritation... that Egmont was so sure I'd come that they were announcing it before they even asked me?!?!" Don -- have you considered asking either or BOTH Egmont and/or Daniel Atterbom/Seriefr{mjandet and/or Sture Hegerfors/Svenska Serieakademien for a FEE, apart from all-expenses-paid (which, at least, I dearly hope they pay for)? I mean -- to the con-arrangers (Atterbom and/or Hegerfors) you ARE a rather valuable piece of attraction, that should be worth something, even though they're on small budgets -- and at LEAST Daniel should be able to/have the decency to grasp that a week of work is a week of work, and that you have a hard time losing that income. And if you do publicity stunts for Egmont at those fairs, like staying in their exhibition boot, or signing things for "their" customers, or such -- that, too, should be reimbursed! All my best! Mattias From lrn at daimi.aau.dk Fri Apr 8 10:18:26 1994 From: lrn at daimi.aau.dk (Lasse Reichstein Nielsen) Date: Fri, 8 Apr 1994 10:18:26 +0200 Subject: From RoC Message-ID: <199404080818.AA21308@tours.daimi.aau.dk> Digest #288: Mark posted a preview on the April releases. Do they really sell in April? Last I heard, the 60 years issue (DD #286) was scheduled for June. I'm kinda looking forward to it, but usually I must wait a couple of weeks more before my issue arrives from Fantask in Copenhagen. Sigh. Digest #290: James about William van Horn's "Magica's Missin' Magic": >How did the story end when translated into other languages? **SPOILER** >In the english version the bug is singing "Brother Can You Spare A >Dime?". It is a good joke but it relies on a song which I doubt would >be familar to most Europeans. Likewise since the song is from the >depression era, I wonder how many children reading the story got the >joke. The Danish translator Niels S"ondergaard has great fun with van Horn's stories. Here's his version reverse-translated: "You probably won't believe this, but it's a cockroach singing: 'I'm bust and havin' a hard time, so gimme a dime.'" I don't seem to recall ever hearing those lyrics in any language though. Digest #282: Mikko about 'giant sized' Finnish issue: >Finnish 'K94-13' is different. It has 36 pages (normal is 32 >including covers.) > >It has a feature of making of the Disney cartoon with lots of cats >in it. (Aristocats?). Plus two full-page scenes from the movie. > >Comic stories are: > >DD D92325 >BB D93090 >DD WR/WDC 151 A >MM D92399 > >So, no Van Horns here. Finnish issues take almost two weeks to reach me here in Denmark, so the latest I've seen is #12, but I'll bet the van Horn (D 93052) is in issue #14 along with D 91314, D 92542 and D92399. And that'll take all 31 pages. (I won't renew my subscription on Aku Ankka, it's too predictable!) Al Hubbard's adaption of Aristocats also hit #13 as supplementary issue in both Norway and Denmark to coincide with it's reopening in theatres. Digest #291: Harry about... something. >But they COULD (re)print some very good Bad Wolf stories from Holland in WDC! >Dick Matena and Wilbert Plijnaar did some excellent stories in 1976 and >1977. With the help of Daan Jippes. The stories certainly deserve a reprint! I bought two albums by Matena, about a viking called Grote Pyr (what's a pyr?) They are almost twenty years old too, but very unlike the Wolf stories. Please update your DUTCH-INDEX on lysator, Harry, now that we're TWO people reading the Dutch books! And if the money-bin discussion is waning, here's our next topic: What happened to Lil' Bad Wolf's mother... not to mention his two brothers!?  From H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl Fri Apr 8 12:29:12 1994 From: H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl (Harry Fluks) Date: Fri, 08 Apr 1994 12:29:12 +0200 Subject: Some uninteresting remarks about a Danish story Message-ID: <199404081029.AA18095@athena.research.ptt.nl> David asked: > Harry notes that the last page was removed from "Hidden > Valley"'s original version when it appeared in US 285. I can't think > of a more conclusive ending than the one there! What was the original > ending like? I was only half right when I added that comment in the 'gladstone-disney.index' file. A page's worth of panels is missing, including the last panel of the story. In that (page-wide) panel Scrooge exhibits the pearls and Glomgold is laughed at. The original story (D 4660) was in two 6-page parts. The second part had an introductory half-page splash panel. This panel is skipped along with two panels from page 2 and the final panel, so in total a page was skipped. When I saw the USA reprint, I *knew* the (quite abrupt) ending was not like this originally. --Harry. From shg at rhi.hi.is Fri Apr 8 13:24:59 1994 From: shg at rhi.hi.is (Sigurdur Hrafn Gislason) Date: Fri, 8 Apr 94 11:24:59 GMT Subject: Duck Psychoanalysis! In-Reply-To: <9404072330.AA03516@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE>; from "disney-comics@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE" at Apr 8, 94 1:30 am Message-ID: <9404081124.AA04039@hengill.rhi.hi.is> Don't duck artists have to follow some general guidelines concerning duck character attributes? Of course they must since the characters are so consistent between stories...and yet not. Sometimes the ducks act so utterly out of character that it hurts. Let me try if I can pinpoint Donalds most obvious characteristics. Donald Duck: Hot-tempered (goes without saying) Law-abiding (except when he is driving) Vain (always wants bigger and better to impress others) Sport fan (at least here in Europe, he constantly goes to soccer matches) Caring for his family Lazy In love with Daisy (though other girls may catch his eye) Loves fishing Uneducated Unlucky (think I nearly forgot that one) Poor (Nearly forgot that one too!) Uncle Scrooge HD&L Daisy etc. I think that covers most of his attributes. Now I realise that you guys are much more into these characters so please continue my analysis on our heroes. I would like to see if I forgot something about Donald or if your ideas on him and the other ducks differ from mine. --Sig -- From H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl Fri Apr 8 13:27:44 1994 From: H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl (Harry Fluks) Date: Fri, 08 Apr 1994 13:27:44 +0200 Subject: Matena and Wolves Message-ID: <199404081127.AA20262@athena.research.ptt.nl> Ole (ah! You're still there) about... something. > I bought two albums by Matena [who also did a lot of Dutch Wolf sories], > about a viking called Grote Pyr (what's a pyr?) Pyr is the Frisian abbreviation of 'Peter' (like the Swedish 'Per' 8-) So "Grote Pyr" could be translated with "Big Pete"... > They are almost twenty years old too, but very unlike the Wolf stories. Somewhere in the 70s, Matena changed his drawing style, not only in his Disney work. BTW: only a few of his EARLY Bad Wolf stories are very good. The countless stories he did later are at most average. > Please update your DUTCH-INDEX on lysator, Harry, now that we're TWO people > reading the Dutch books! I'll send Per a new version. I update my own copy constantly. > What happened to Lil' Bad Wolf's mother... not to mention his two brothers!? I don't think the three mean wolves from the Silly Symphony are brothers of our Li'l Wolf, let alone that he is one of them. And his mother went on a vacation with the mother of Donald's nephews, the mother of Daisy's nieces, the mother of Morty and Ferdie and some other mothers of Disney comics characters... --Harry. From Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se Fri Apr 8 14:14:25 1994 From: Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se (Mattias Hallin) Date: Fri, 08 Apr 1994 14:14:25 +0200 Subject: Tunes'n'ticks Message-ID: <01HAXP3JI7C48WWBS8@castor.ldc.lu.se> HIYA, Y'ALL! I went 'n got mah copy yesterday of WDC xxx -- well, the latest issue, that with van Horn's "Magica's Missing Spell" -- which has been subject to some discussion on this list lately. Well, for one thing I'm European, by far too young to remember the Great Depression in '29, and all that -- but I have to confess a rather complete familiarity with the minor classic "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime", first made popular/famous through a Bing Crosby recording c. 1930 (it's a great recording, too!). But then again, given my self-acknowledged weird taste in music, this is neither surprising (that I know the tune, I mean!) nor probably very representative of the modern young European male (I mean to say, I must have played that tune several hundred times by now -- it's part of my basic repertoir). So I guess I'll have to agree that the gag is at least half wasted on anyone who don't know the tune. Of course, you can still ASSUME that there must BE such a tune, so to anyone with a bit of imagination, the BASIC part of the joke/punchline will still work. Apart from that, I both liked and didn't particularly care for this story. It's neatly done, of course, as VH tends to, and, well... But also, I think it does rely a BIT heavily on that punchline, which is one with a drawback, even in English (I'll get back with a report on the Swedish translation, once I get the details from Stefan Dios). Also, I'll have to agree with those who say that VH's Ducks are a bit lacking in personalities and dimensions -- he DOES tend to revert to the "stereotypes" of the Ducks, rather than to treat them as real human beings... Well... All my usual! Mattias !==============================================================================! !* Mattias Hallin ** ** Phone: +46 46-14 84 43 **! !* Trollebergsvagen 24 B ***** Work: Lund University, Box 117, S-221 00 Lund **! !* S-222 29 Lund, SWEDEN **************************** Phone: +46 46-10 71 37 **! !==============================================================================! !**************** "Quick! Go outside! I must change my dress!" ****************! !==============================================================================! From ricke at microsoft.com Fri Apr 8 18:50:34 1994 From: ricke at microsoft.com (Rick Engle) Date: Fri, 8 Apr 94 09:50:34 PDT Subject: Duck Psychoanalysis! Message-ID: <9404081349.AA29339@netmail2.microsoft.com> Hmmm, I agree that Donald is poor, but there are many strange situations where Donald comes up with wads of cash out of thin air to finance his whims and trips around the globe. And the cash doesn't come from Unca Scrooge. Rick ---------- From: Sigurdur Hrafn Gislason To: Subject: Duck Psychoanalysis! Date: Friday, April 08, 1994 11:24AM Don't duck artists have to follow some general guidelines concerning duck character attributes? Of course they must since the characters are so consistent between stories...and yet not. Sometimes the ducks act so utterly out of character that it hurts. Let me try if I can pinpoint Donalds most obvious characteristics. Donald Duck: Hot-tempered (goes without saying) Law-abiding (except when he is driving) Vain (always wants bigger and better to impress others) Sport fan (at least here in Europe, he constantly goes to soccer matches) Caring for his family Lazy In love with Daisy (though other girls may catch his eye) Loves fishing Uneducated Unlucky (think I nearly forgot that one) Poor (Nearly forgot that one too!) Uncle Scrooge HD&L Daisy etc. I think that covers most of his attributes. Now I realise that you guys are much more into these characters so please continue my analysis on our heroes. I would like to see if I forgot something about Donald or if your ideas on him and the other ducks differ from mine. --Sig -- From Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se Fri Apr 8 17:08:26 1994 From: Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se (Mattias Hallin) Date: Fri, 08 Apr 1994 17:08:26 +0200 Subject: Swedish Brothers Won't Spare Dimes Message-ID: <01HAXUZ1L29G8WWCJL@castor.ldc.lu.se> HELLO, ALL! As per promise, I've checked with Stefan Dios about his translation of the punchline to "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime". What he did was change the gag/pun for a similar, but weaker pun/gag. He has HD or L (whomever) say that the box contains "En tr{mask, som nynnar 'Kronbruden'". Litterally, this means "A woodworm, humming /a tune called/ 'The Crown Bride'". This is a pun on the fact that $crooges dime isn't a dime in Swedish, but a Swedish krona -- although it does, which Stefan freely admits, not contain any specific or direct appeal to $crooge to part with his first krona, or any krona for that part. "Kronbruden"/"The Crown Bride" is a genuine piece of music, though! Someone wanted to know, right?! Hmm... Mattias !==============================================================================! !* Mattias Hallin ** ** Phone: +46 46-14 84 43 **! !* Trollebergsvagen 24 B ***** Work: Lund University, Box 117, S-221 00 Lund **! !* S-222 29 Lund, SWEDEN **************************** Phone: +46 46-10 71 37 **! !==============================================================================! !** "Say don't you remember? They called me 'Al'! It was 'Al' all the time! ***! !*** Say, don't you remember? I'm your pal!! Brother, can you spare a dime?" **! !==============================================================================! From David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu Fri Apr 8 23:43:20 1994 From: David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu (David A Gerstein) Date: Fri, 08 Apr 1994 17:43:20 -0400 Subject: GLADSTONE 1ST-YEAR POLL (IMPORTANT) Message-ID: <9404082143.AA15426@hancock.cc.williams.edu> Dear Folks, Gladstone's first year is a mere three comics from being over. Since I won't have so much time left before the end of my school-year (and easy E-Mail access) at the point that those three have come out, I'm commencing the following project now. This is a poll concerning readers' reactions to Gladstone's comics. I'll be fashioning the results into a document which I'll make sure the editors at Gladstone receive. I beg you to write answers to each of my questions which are as long, as complimentary, or as critical as you want; the answers will appear anonymously to protect the innocent, with contributors' names -- separated from their comments -- all listed at the end of the document. I'm hoping to get your answers by the end of April, which gives us a little over three weeks. I'M HOPING THAT EVERYONE, LURKERS AND FREQUENT WRITERS, AMERICANS AND FOREIGN READERS OF GLADSTONE'S COMICS, WILL CONTRIBUTE!!! HERE'S YOUR CHANCE TO BE HEARD! Send your responses directly to me, folks. The e-mail address is: David.A.Gerstein at Williams.edu The questions pertain to Gladstone's six normal comics only. Albums are not included (unless relevant to question #14). And the questions are: * * * * * * 1. List Gladstone's six comics in order by favorite, and explain (if you want) why each title is ranked as it is. To make things easier, no need to choose just one as the best or worst: list them in the following groups of two. a. Your favorite two Gladstone comics b. The "middle" two comics c. Your least favorite two comics 2. Describe your favorite new story (or old story not previously published in the U. S.) that Gladstone has printed, and why it was your favorite. This includes all foreign stories. 3. Describe your favorite old story (that is, having previously appeared in America) that Gladstone has printed. Why was it your favorite? 4. Describe least favorite new story (same qualifications as #2). 5. Describe least favorite old story, which has previously appeared in the U. S., that Gladstone has used. 6. Which modern creator(s) would you most like to see more from? (Note: Don Rosa doesn't qualify -- sorry, Don! -- because Gladstone already seems to have a policy of printing everything he does. Scarpa, Rota, and Jaime Diaz count in this category even though many of their stories are old, because the current stories by them are being published here for the first time.) 7. Which modern creator(s) would you most like to see less from? (Same qualifications as #6) 8. Which creator of "vintage" American stories would you most like to see more work by? If you have comments about more than one artist, feel free to express them. 9. Which creator(s) of "vintage" American stories would you like to see less work by? 10. Who are your favorite and least favorite letterers? 11. Who are your favorite and least favorite colorists? 12. Describe your favorite and least favorite Disney comic characters, who you would most like to see more appearances by, and who you'd like to see less. 13. Any other comments about Gladstone's comics which you would like to share with them here? 14. Do you have a single favorite comic that Gladstone has published? If so, which one, and why? * * * * * I'm awaiting your replies, folks. Your friend, David Gerstein From 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM Sat Apr 9 14:02:52 1994 From: 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM (Don Rosa) Date: 09 Apr 94 08:02:52 EDT Subject: Disney-comics digest #294. Message-ID: <940409120252_72260.2635_EHB58-1@CompuServe.COM> MATTIAS: Oh!!! Absotively! Posilutely! Daniel Atterbom is a prince of a fellow!!! He understands my "problem" completely!!! Yes, he is trying to get me to name a fee of some sort to appear at the Stockholm show, but I just won't hear of it! How GREEDY that would make me seem! If anyone should pay a fee, it's the Egmont branches! My immediate editor, Byron, constantly tells me to charge those branches a fee, but I just can't bring myself to do it. Even THAT would feel greedy, as I am treated so nicely and enjoy myself so much. This is all still like my HOBBY which is what it was all my life until 1987 -- being paid to do the Duck stories is one thing, but being paid to "be a Duck fan" at the Egmont booth or at the Stockholm show or any places like those -- I'd feel beastly! Am I griping about a "problem" and then refusing to accept solutions? YES! If it was a simple matter for me to demand pay for these lovely trips, where would my problem be? But that's the whole reason I brought it up. I want someone to wave a wand and hit on the secret answer. I see the problem but I can't get myself to accept the solution as it involves being paid for "nuthin", which I've got some philosophical problem with. When I got married, I "eloped", because I can't tolerate the idea of friends and relatives lavishing me with expensive gifts -- the way American couples treat their wedding presents as booty they richly deserve and which they coordinate with stores to make certain each gift is different and exactly right...to me it's quite despicable. Fortunately, I've gotten through life thus far without a dead relative willing me valuables -- I probably would not accept such stuff, I dunno. Anyway, there, that's the problem. I'm waiting for Egmont to offer me pay -- but I will NOT demand it. We'll see what happens. UNCLE $CROOGE #286: I hope folks here will be nice enough to discuss, along with that singing flea, this new American edition of "Master of the Mississippi" (Lo$ #2) which just came out in U$#286; I, as always, want to know how my fellow Barks fans feel about what I'm doing in this series (though it's rather late to CHANGE anything, I guess). I just got my copy yesterday by driving into town and buying one. At first glance-through, I'm STILL greatly disturbed by seeing the Ducks with all that brown hair, but I trust that will END with this chapter! I was somewhat disappointed in a few panels where many shots of riverboats or figures are all colored a blanket yellow or blue... maybe I wore the colorist out with all the other detail? The color "glows" they achieve with their modern methods are quite nice... though I really still dislike the modern GARISH coloring in these new comics, with the coloring overpowering the art so much; I like the old PALE Dell coloring. And I was disturbed by many of the sound effects which, though they were nicely lettered, were MUCH too big and loud! But my first glance through always shows me all the things I DIDN'T like. Gladstone's version is, of course, THE version of these stories. I'm very pleased and flattered with all the care they've taken to produce and color and letter it. All the background lettering is very nice, all in the proper 1880s style. And, I've checked carefully, and, good or bad, you can be ASSURED that every word of dialogue is my original version -- not a syllabubble has been changed. When you see the story, tell me what you think of those "loud" sound effects and the yellow-blanket-coloring. Do these only look bad to me since I'm too unobjective about it all? From David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu Sun Apr 10 02:49:13 1994 From: David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu (David A Gerstein) Date: Sat, 09 Apr 1994 20:49:13 -0400 Subject: UNCLE SCROOGE #286 In-Reply-To: Your message of Sun, 10 Apr 1994 01:18:09 +0200 Message-ID: <9404100049.AA07915@hancock.cc.williams.edu> Dear Folks, Don asked me to offer criticism on LOS part 2 as it recently appeared in these parts. I'm offering my comments here, so everyone can add their own details if they want. #1. Scrooge's steamboat-owning uncle Angus is only named Angus on the first page of this story... and NEVER called that in the previous chapter! I don't mind learning that his real name is Angus, but in the previous chapter we heard only "Pothole." I was completely confused at first. I opened the comic saying, "Here's where we'll meet Scrooge's uncle Pothole" -- and then the references to "Angus" completely stymied me until I was informed that this was a nickname. If a McDuck's real name can be "Swamphole" or "Roast," it is not immediately apparent that "Pothole" is only a nickname. #2. Coloring error. The only panel showing Seafoam's gold teeth showed them as white. I hope that will be changed for the album. #3. I don't actively dislike the blanket yellow coloring except in a single panel, in which the ducks shown are not in the background or extreme foreground but colored that way anyway. (One of the panels where they are in the boat. I have to admit I can't say offhand which one...) Think of how much worse it could be, though. Look at the miserable coloring on the story "The Sultan of Phud" in USA #25. We have everyone in the background a FLUORESCENT BLUE, which makes them stand out like a canteloupe in a strawberry patch. The LO$ is getting a great coloring job, I'd say. BUT... Gladstone's printing quality is going notably downhill. Colors are excellent, but I never see a Gladstone comic anymore in which at least some pages have the colors printed quite some distance outside of their outlines! The extreme example was DD 283 -- the "Lillehammer" story and the accompanying Sunday strips -- but it has been occurring consistently since then as well, if in not such extreme form. I'd say it was most notable in LO$ 2 on two pages: the first, and then the page where the top half showed the inside of the _Brennan Whyte_ (it's most evident there on Scrooge). Disney Comics' comics always had impeccable matchup jobs of colors and outlines. The first few months of Gladstone's new ones did, as well, but at this point it has gotten irritatingly bad. Gladstone REALLY oughtta complain to their printer (which is reportedly the same guys who printed Disney's issues, although the paper and height of the comics would seem to contradict that). #4. Back to LO$ 1 -- a big mistake. On the last page, Scrooge is given Great-Uncle Seafoam's gold teeth, as well as the McDuck heirloom watch. The dialogue implies that the WATCH was Seafoam's as well -- but the article you wrote for US 285 implies otherwise! I DON'T have the "Heirloom Watch" story accessible to me at present, so I can't verify who the watch is from, but I know that your article is correct, Don, but the story itself is wrong. #5. I didn't mind the sound effects. I LOVE the lettering, although my favorite modern lettering is that of Teresa Davidson -- who lettered all Egmont Rosas for Disney. (BTW -- although I praise her lettering on its own terms, did anyone here notice that she redrew the word balloons almost entirely in three Rosa stories -- "Island at the Edge of Time," "Super Snooper Strikes Again," and "The Duck Who Fell to Earth"? In all cases, making them smaller and adding surrounding art, not always well -- note seats in airplane in "Edge of Time" in particular. Still, I loved her fine work on "Xanadu" and others. Wish Gladstone would use her talent.) #6. In all, a fine, fine story. BTW, I haven't seen any more of the LO$ than this, due to the deprived state of American readers. Does Argus McSwine (I mean the omnipresent slick, moustachioed Pig Villain) appear in the LO$ at all? Any plans to use him in the future, either? That certainly WASN'T McSwine in "War of the Wendigo," although not having the story in English, I don't know what he WAS called (he's Rufus Ruffel in German). What's this guy's name? Well, that's my 0.02. BTW, Don, now that I've answered your questions, will you enter my Gladstone poll? I didn't expect you would, but I'm trying my best to convince you ;-) So long, all. David Gerstein From trygve at maroon.tc.umn.edu Mon Apr 11 02:56:55 1994 From: trygve at maroon.tc.umn.edu (Tryg Helseth) Date: Sun, 10 Apr 94 18:56:55 CST Subject: Ducks, mice and other critters... Message-ID: <78793.trygve@maroon.tc.umn.edu> James Williams wrote: >For all their faults, this is one place where Disney Comics were >better than Gladstone. Disney had some wonderful material in >WDC&S. I really dislike WDC&S being nothing but ducks and mice. Now that you mention it, that is one thing I miss in Gladstone comics. I suppose they decided to go with what the think will sell the best, but it would be nice to see some of the other characters that have graced the pages of WDC&S over the years. Lil Bad Wolf, Lil Hiawatha, Chip 'n' Dale, and Scamp come to mind. Another character I'd like to see is Bucky Bug, though I'm not so sure if I like the character as much as I like the idea--a world unknown to us that exists right under our feet. For the same reason I was fascinated by Warner Bros. Mary Jane and Sniffles as well as Walt Scot's Little People. I'm not so sure, though, that today's kids would be so impressed. Tryg Helseth Minneapolis, MN, USA or "I wish they all could be Calisota Ducks!" -The Beach Drakes From trygve at maroon.tc.umn.edu Mon Apr 11 02:57:59 1994 From: trygve at maroon.tc.umn.edu (Tryg Helseth) Date: Sun, 10 Apr 94 18:57:59 CST Subject: US 285/285 Message-ID: <78845.trygve@maroon.tc.umn.edu> Don Rosa wrote: >UNCLE $CROOGE #286: > I hope folks here will be nice enough to discuss, along with >that singing flea, this new American edition of "Master of the >Mississippi" (Lo$ #2) which just came out in U$#286; Hi Don: I just read US 285 and 286 this morning. It took me a month to get around to 285, but I finally did it. Your drawings are very detailed, which make them both a joy and a pain for me to read. (The pain comes from my deteriorating eyesight in recent years--it is often an eyestrain for me to read at all, and I didn't want to miss any of those details in those busy panels.) I really enjoyed these two installments; its obvious you've put a lot of work into collecting and sorting all the facts that Barks left scattered like breadcrumbs throughout his stories. I didn't remember all those references to the Louisville area though--you must have searched the local archives for some of that info.... :) I was wondering about a couple of things in the story. First, you mentioned that $crooge arrived in Louisville during the time of the 6th Kentucky derby. Now I don't know Derby history, and I didn't see a date mentioned--what year was that? Second, Ratchet mentions wanting Lily Langtree's autograph after confusing Scrooge's depth sounding (Mark Twain) with the presence of the author. Was there a particular reason Lily Langtree was mentioned, or was it just around the time she was in the US? >At first glance-through, I'm STILL greatly disturbed by seeing the Ducks >with all that brown hair, but I trust that will END with this chapter! Brown hair on Scrooge really looks stange--especially since he didn't have it in the first chapter. >I was somewhat disappointed in a few panels where many shots of >riverboats or figures are all colored a blanket yellow or blue... maybe I kind of liked that effect. It helped separate the forground action from the background. For me it made the panels much easier to read. As for the loud sound effects, I didn't hear a thing... :) Tryg Helseth Minneapolis, MN, USA or "I wish they all could be Calisota Ducks!" -The Beach Drakes From adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Mon Apr 11 04:46:18 1994 From: adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz (adair_t@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz) Date: Mon, 11 Apr 1994 14:46:18 +1200 Subject: Ducks, mice and other critters... Message-ID: <0097CCD1.FF768E60.29195@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz> >Now that you mention it, that is one thing I miss in Gladstone comics. I >suppose they decided to go with what the think will sell the best, but it >would be nice to see some of the other characters that have graced the >pages of WDC&S over the years. Lil Bad Wolf, Lil Hiawatha, Chip 'n' Dale, >and Scamp come to mind. Another character I'd like to see is Bucky Bug, >though I'm not so sure if I like the character as much as I like the >idea--a world unknown to us that exists right under our feet. For the same >reason I was fascinated by Warner Bros. Mary Jane and Sniffles as well as >Walt Scot's Little People. I'm not so sure, though, that today's kids >would be so impressed. Is Gladstone allowed to publish these characters? I seem to recall that the Disney stable of characters was split between Gladstone (classic characters?), and Disney/Marvel (film characters?). I would assume that Lil Bad Wolf and Winnie the Pooh could be used by Gladstone. Torsten Adair adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Wellington, New Zealand From 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM Mon Apr 11 05:30:47 1994 From: 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM (Don Rosa) Date: 10 Apr 94 23:30:47 EDT Subject: Disney-comics digest #296. Message-ID: <940411033047_72260.2635_EHB280-1@CompuServe.COM> DAVID: Your #1: I don't know what had you confused about Angus/Pothole? On the very first page of the story I clearly show, when $crooge asks someone about an Angus McDuck, that this is someone known on the Mississippi as "Pothole" McDuck. How could I have done it more clearly? A Pothole is the American steamboat-era name for a basin in the river mud caused by swirling currents -- surely this is not a name a Scots couple would give their child upon birth. I felt it was obvious that I had to take one moment out to show that this had to be a nickname. What about other names like Swamphole or such? If I ever, for some reason (and I'm sure I won't (?)), did a story all about Sir Swamphole McDuck, I'm sure I'd find a way to briefly point out that a name like "Swamphole" must be a nickname. How could it not be? #2 - CHECK! Those FLESH colored false teeth looked rather disturbing to me, too! I'm surprised that Sue D-L would make a mistake like that, unless she isn't so much a Barks buff as a fine colorist. Hadn't she read Lo$ part 1? You might also notice that she didn't color any of the boats or clothing correctly compared to the old Barks riverboat story -- even though they DID color those last two panels on my text-page correctly. Speaking of those two panels, you can see that I changed $crooge's attire slightly from that old Barks tale -- $crooge would not have had his glasses or his spats in 1880. Also, the lettering of the riverboat names didn't match the old story either, but big deal. #3 - I know the problem you refer to about these off-register colors in a few recent issues... but my U$ #286 was just fine. You got a bad'n. #4 - Ah, YES! I DID notice my own mistake about the owner of the "heirloom watch". But the mistake was IN MY TEXT, not in the story. What makes you so certain the mistake was in the story, even when you say you can't recall the Barks original without checking back? In the "Heirloom Watch" story, Barks/$crooge says the watch has been in his family for two hundred years, and that it belonged to his grandfather's grandfather. In Lo$ #1 I show Fergus saying the watch was his great-grandfather's. Bingo -- Seafoam McDuck, right on the nose. All we know from "The Heirloom Watch" was that the RUBY EYE belonged to Quagmire McDuck, Fergus' uncle, already dead by 1877 (but whose estate was tied up by this Swindle McSue stuff). Also, in case it's just occured to you, "Seafoam" is another obvious nickname for a McDuck who went to sea; my family tree shows his name to be Hugh McDuck. In other words, I have had all this intricately worked out for YEARS. You won't be able to catch me so easilly. #6 - I know of no instance where the pig-villains that Barks used numerous times have ever had the same name, or even the same last name, twice. Am I wrong? Even when Barks used the last name of McViper a few times, though I believe it was only by chance and not design, I worked "the McViper Clan" into the Lo$ just to please anyone who would pop up and say "what about his first meeting with the McVipers?". So they appear in parts 3 and 11. But I don't know anything about a pig named Argus McSwine having appeared twice -- which issues were these? The pig-villain who was destroying forests in "The War of the Wendigo" was (in my script) Ravage DeFlora. Heh, heh. By the way, I just noticed that Egmont must have removed the manufacturer's name from the plate on safe aboard the Drennan Whyte... I should've known this and had Gladstone replace it: "Oso Safe Co.", just like $crooge used later. From 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM Mon Apr 11 05:41:02 1994 From: 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM (Don Rosa) Date: 10 Apr 94 23:41:02 EDT Subject: Disney-comics digest #296. Message-ID: <940411034102_72260.2635_EHB280-2@CompuServe.COM> DAVID: Two last thoughts that just occured to me: The spots in #286 where the color-everything-yellow bothered me the most was on the page where the Beagles are clearitatin' the river, and the page where the riverboats go over the Falls. But these were the exceptions -- the effort put into the coloring in general was superb. It's just that I was puzzled by how those two pages stuck out among the others. And I was thinking -- maybe the name "McSwine" was used twice for one of those pig-villains? I think the reason that I put the McVipers into the Lo$ was that one of the times THAT name was used, it was stated that $crooge had met them in the old days, so they HAD to be in the Lo$. If there were two McSwines, they were still villains that $crooge first met in those Barks stories they appeared in. From H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl Mon Apr 11 09:57:36 1994 From: H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl (Harry Fluks) Date: Mon, 11 Apr 1994 09:57:36 +0200 Subject: Dutch Brothers Won't Spare Dimes either Message-ID: <199404110757.AA15566@athena.research.ptt.nl> Mattias wrote: > As per promise, I've checked with Stefan Dios about his translation > of the punchline to "Brother, Can You Spare A Dime". I bought the Dutch version this weekend. They translated it with a pre-war Dutch song: "If you're born a dime (you'll never become a quarter)". If Dutch children don't know this song, their parents or grandparents can certainly sing it for them. The song is from the same depression era, but maybe that's a coincidence. --Harry. From H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl Mon Apr 11 10:25:17 1994 From: H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl (Harry Fluks) Date: Mon, 11 Apr 1994 10:25:17 +0200 Subject: Ducks, mice and other critters... Message-ID: <199404110825.AA17127@athena.research.ptt.nl> Tryg: > it would be nice to see some of the other characters that have graced the > pages of WDC&S over the years. Lil Bad Wolf, Lil Hiawatha, Chip 'n' Dale, > and Scamp come to mind. I don't think Gladstone is allowed to use Li'l Hiawatha. He's an Injun, you know. --Harry. From trygve at maroon.tc.umn.edu Mon Apr 11 14:51:24 1994 From: trygve at maroon.tc.umn.edu (Tryg Helseth) Date: Mon, 11 Apr 94 06:51:24 CST Subject: Ducks, mice and other critters... Message-ID: <39158.trygve@maroon.tc.umn.edu> Harry: >I don't think Gladstone is allowed to use Li'l Hiawatha. He's an Injun, you >know. Don't I know it! I live in the heart of Injun country. The name of our state was derived from the Dakota tribes who inhabited the plains here. (Minnesota literally means "we waited for you all day in the rain") The American Indian Movement celebrated its 25th anniversary last year and is very strong here. In the 1970's a local radio station was rebroadcasting the Lone Ranger series. The local AIM got it removed on the grounds that Tonto spoke broken English and that was demaning to Indians. That was 20 years ago--long before the political correctness movement had swept the US--so I'm sure that reprinting Lil Hiawatha today would be out of the question. Tryg Helseth Minneapolis, MN, USA or "I wish they all could be Calisota Ducks!" -The Beach Drakes From BRENNERG%SNYNEWVM.BITNET at SEGATE.SUNET.SE Sun Apr 10 17:42:47 1994 From: BRENNERG%SNYNEWVM.BITNET at SEGATE.SUNET.SE ([ c7890-=PEFINED) Date: Sun, 10 Apr 94 11:42:47 EDT Subject: No subject Message-ID: <9404111206.AA18210@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE> send info From mas at cs.bu.edu Mon Apr 11 15:30:44 1994 From: mas at cs.bu.edu (Mark Semich) Date: Mon, 11 Apr 1994 09:30:44 -0400 Subject: Disney-comics digest #296. In-Reply-To: <940411033047_72260.2635_EHB280-1@CompuServe.COM> (message from Don Rosa on 10 Apr 94 23:30:47 EDT) Message-ID: <199404111330.JAA23106@csa.bu.edu> Done Rosa wrote that any McDuck name like "Pothole", "Swamphole", "Quagmire", or "Seafoam" must be a nickname. I think that Barks originally intended these names to just be funny names. If their departure from "real-world" names means that they must be nicknames, then using the same logic, how could "Scrooge" not be a nickname? Who in their right mind would ever name their son "Scrooge?" From tamn63bv at ciao.trail.bc.ca Mon Apr 11 21:50:06 1994 From: tamn63bv at ciao.trail.bc.ca (Tammy NELSON) Date: Mon, 11 Apr 1994 12:50:06 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Unsubscribe Message-ID: Please unsubscribe me because I do not have enough time to to write and be part of this thanksx and keep up the good work! Tammy Nelson tamn63bv Gr.6 Student Beaver Valley Middle School 604-367-9467 ### From hellman at proxxi.uf.se Mon Apr 11 21:05:40 1994 From: hellman at proxxi.uf.se (Bror Hellman) Date: Mon, 11 Apr 1994 21:05:40 +0200 (MET DST) Subject: Ducks, mice and other critters... In-Reply-To: <39158.trygve@maroon.tc.umn.edu> Message-ID: On Mon, 11 Apr 1994, Tryg Helseth wrote: > Harry: > > >I don't think Gladstone is allowed to use Li'l Hiawatha. He's an Injun, you > >know. > Indians. That was 20 years ago--long before the political correctness > movement had swept the US--so I'm sure that reprinting Lil Hiawatha today > would be out of the question. Well, that ain't stopping Egmont. They even make new (somewhat prejudiced) Li'l Hiawatha stories... Bad ones, even. Steamboat Willie ---------------------------------------------- ... Does The Little Mermaid wear an algebra? ---------------------------------------------- Internet: hellman at proxxi.uf.se, DuckNet: hellman at 313:100/13.0 From David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu Tue Apr 12 02:27:09 1994 From: David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu (David A Gerstein) Date: Mon, 11 Apr 1994 20:27:09 -0400 Subject: Disney-comics digest #297. In-Reply-To: Your message of Tue, 12 Apr 1994 01:18:08 +0200 Message-ID: <9404120027.AA16722@hancock.cc.williams.edu> Dear Folks, Lessee here: The McSwine debate ================== "I know of no instance where the pig-villains that Barks used numerous times have ever had the same name, or even the same last name, twice. Am I wrong? Even when Barks used the last name of McViper a few times, though I believe it was only by chance and not design, I worked "the McViper Clan" into the Lo$ just to please anyone who would pop up and say "what about his first meeting with the McVipers?". So they appear in parts 3 and 11. But I don't know anything about a pig named Argus McSwine having appeared twice -- which issues were these?" 1. Barks' pig villain looks, acts, and dresses identically in several stories, including "Micro-Ducks from Outer Space," "Crown of the Mayas," and "The Status Seeker." (I have not read "The Great Wig Mystery," but the villain may be the same there, too.) In each story he gets a different name. In "Donald the Milkman" he is McSwine, and I believe that he may also have that name in "Northeaster on Cape Quack." 2. In any event, Egmont needed to name him consistently, and they picked McSwine (at least, when they were using the character very frequently around the mid-1980s). Gladstone and Disney have both gone along with this. I find nothing wrong with that. I like this pig villain. Clearly Barks liked the idea of him having various aliases, but I frankly find THAT... yes, a weakness. When a character who is plainly the same (as opposed to the DIFFERENT pig villains in some stories like "Swamp of No Return" and "Have Gun, Will Dance") is never consistently called the same thing, it gets irritating. In any event, McSwine HAS been McSwine twice in Barks, I believe. His first name of Argus appeared on one of the aliases, and when a first name was needed in two Egmont stories, Byron Erickson, I believe, added it to McSwine. The pig villain is now Argus McSwine to Gladstone, and, I believe, at least McSwine alone, to Egmont. (In one Disney Comics issue (US 244) an Egmont story was printed in which the (different) pig villain was named ANGUS McSwine and referred during the story to "my cousin Argus", but I don't view THAT as gospel. My guess is that the original story had none of that... no sir, I don't like it.) But I do like Argus McSwine, a name which IS rooted in Barks, and since the character now has a continuing name -- as opposed to an alias -- I certainly prefer this one to Scalpnick, John the Con, Porkman de Lardo, and Foulcrook. (Well, "Porkman de Lardo" isn't so bad, but is "Porkman" supposed to mean something? Sounds like a superhero parody...) BTW, the character is the villain in my second Egmont story (sold last year), and when I referred to Argus McSwine they knew immediately who I was talking about. Characters Gladstone can use ============================ Gladstone can use the following characters, I believe: A) Vintage characters from the MM, DD, GO, and Silly Symphony cartoons. (That lets in Bucky Bug, Li'l Bad Wolf, etc. Note that there was a Li'l Wolf story in Gladstone's WDC&S 586.) B) Characters from older animated features, EXCEPT for direct adaptations of those features. Gladstone can print a Li'l Wolf story with Pinocchio in it, or the Pinocchio story from WDC&S 63, but not an adaptation of the Pinocchio film, I believe. Furthermore, I think Gladstone would probably not be able to use Pinocchio AT ALL around the time that the feature is next released (1999, I guess). (I think "older" animated features means those before Eisner's team took over, but I'm not sure.) C) Gladstone can use characters from Disney TV shows on a case-by-case basis as long as those characters DON'T have their names above the titles in a story. Hence some upcoming Gyro stories with Launchpad in them by Van Horn (which apparently haven't been printed by Egmont yet, hence their non-use here). These were "Launchpad" stories in Europe, but here they have to be "Gyro" stories. Hiawatha ======== As for Hiawatha, Whitman was reprinting them as late as WDC&S 507 (1984). My guess is that Gladstone could reprint them... IF they rewrote all the dialogue, and IF they shied away from the sizable number which revolve around pointing out Hiawatha's tribe as backward compared to the "modern" world (i. e. stories in which Hiawatha visits the city and attacks fire hydrants with his tomahawk, and such -- a lot of those done around 1953). But there's an easier way to use the character. From 1939-1941 the Silly Symphony strip featured solely Hiawatha gags. They were almost all in PANTOMIME -- no stereotypical talk-um whatsoever. My guess is that Gladstone could use some of those... although again, Disney is impossible to predict. There was a recent pocket-sized (2" by 2") book of three Silly Symphony adaptations published by Disney Press. One of the three stories inside was Hiawatha, illustrated by scenes from the original film. The "Disney Road to Reading" series of 20 books, sold through supermarkets, includes "Hiawatha's Kind Heart." The character is not wholly banned. Bucky Bug ========= Someone (Tryg Helseth) said that here in the U. S., kids might not be very thrilled by these stories. But... but... both Gladstone and Disney printed them, to gleeful reader response, in the past. Only one letter-writer -- Kevin Kuffa, who started writing during the Disney period -- has complained. Right before they stopped (in WDC&S 579) Disney announced plans to print Bucky Silly Symphony strips from 1932. (One panel was even reproduced!!!) According to David Seidman this was to have begun around WDC&S 586 with the classic "war with the flies" story of '32-33. It's frustrating... I love Gladstone's new WDC&S issues very much, but simply feel that the comic's format is not being used to its best potential, good as the current stories are. *** HAVE THE EARLY BUCKY SUNDAY STRIPS BEEN REPRINTED BY OBERON... AND IF SO, WHERE AND WHEN? *** From David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu Tue Apr 12 02:56:00 1994 From: David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu (David A Gerstein) Date: Mon, 11 Apr 1994 20:56:00 -0400 Subject: Filling a gap Message-ID: <9404120056.AA17883@hancock.cc.williams.edu> Dear Folks (particularly RoC), The ar.index has this gap: AR 132 DT 4 4 WH Flights of Fancy AR 133 AR 134 M&D 9 4 WH Duel Personalities I can fill it. AR 133 WDC 537 10 WH WH T:DD in Heavy Duty This was in the van-horn.index. A very funny story -- DD is under the impression Daisy likes fat men, so goes on an eating binge. I remember how delighted I was when it was first published... Good night, folks. David Gerstein From 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM Tue Apr 12 05:52:50 1994 From: 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM (Don Rosa) Date: 11 Apr 94 23:52:50 EDT Subject: Disney-comics digest #297. Message-ID: <940412035249_72260.2635_EHB277-1@CompuServe.COM> TRYG: The year that Lo$ #2 takes place is 1880; that's shown on the cover and on the text page. The only reason Lily Langtry is mentioned was that I needed a closing line for a scene at that point, I guess. This is one of those instances that I'm doing something completely subconciously -- I never considered WHY it was so important for Ratchet to say something useless at that exact point... it was just something that I knew was essential to lead into the fade-out for the day's actiion. $crooge didn't have brown hair in part 1??? Your eyes must really be going bad! If your U$ #285 doesn't have $crooge with brown hair, please send it to me -- that's the version I'd like to have! MARK: Of course "Scrooge" is a funny name -- but it's still a NAME. "Pothole" and "Seafoam" are words that refer to the jobs these characters eventually took. Wouldn't you consider a plumber named Abercrombie to be somewhat less ridiculous than one who claimed he was named Pipewrench at birth? MATTIAS: I'm counting on you to tell me what all those text features concerning my Duck Family Tree are in ANDERS AND & CO. #13 & 14. Also, by now you're reading chapter 11 of the Lo$, and I'll certainly want to know your reaction to $crooge's meeting with Foola Zoola and Bombie the politically incorrect Zombie, IF somebody doesn't pull some hanky-panky and delete something. Speaking of my Duck Family Tree, I just learned that Egmont never did send it to Gladstone, even after MONTHS of repeated requests, and it WON'T appear in the DD 60th Birthday issue. But, maybe that's okay, since now it can appear in an issue where there'll also be room for a few pages of histories of each family member, just as they have apparently just done in Sweden. From trygve at maroon.tc.umn.edu Tue Apr 12 14:16:34 1994 From: trygve at maroon.tc.umn.edu (Tryg Helseth) Date: Tue, 12 Apr 94 06:16:34 CST Subject: Hairy Ducks and other critters... Message-ID: <37254.trygve@maroon.tc.umn.edu> Bror Hellman on Lil Hiawatha: >> I'm sure that reprinting Lil Hiawatha today would be out of the question. >Well, that ain't stopping Egmont. They even make new (somewhat >prejudiced) Li'l Hiawatha stories... Bad ones, even. Now that IS surprising. I could see them making new ones to get around the dialog problems of the older stories, but wouldn't they be careful about continuing the old stereotypes? David Gerstein on Bucky Bug: > Someone (Tryg Helseth) said that here in the U. S., kids might >not be very thrilled by these stories. But... but... both Gladstone >and Disney printed them, to gleeful reader response, in the past. Thanks for reminding me of that. I do remember reading those stories in previous lives of Gladstone (and Disney). Now were those gleeful reader responses from kids, or folks who had read Bucky Bug before? Don Rosa on brown-haired ducks: > $crooge didn't have brown hair in part 1??? Your eyes must >really be going bad! If your U$ #285 doesn't have $crooge with brown >hair, please send it to me -- that's the version I'd like to have! Well in this case I think it was my memory... :) (I was going to try to weasel out of this by saying that I was thinking of Scrooge's sisters, but dang if if they don't have hair too!) But, alas, my copy does have that brown hair poking out from under his cap. Now why don't H, D & L have brown hair? Or hair at all, for that matter. The genetic characteristic must have been lost somewhere. Tryg Helseth Minneapolis, MN, USA or "I wish they all could be Calisota Ducks!" -The Beach Drakes From Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se Tue Apr 12 15:06:17 1994 From: Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se (Mattias Hallin) Date: Tue, 12 Apr 1994 15:06:17 +0200 Subject: Diuerse Message-ID: <01HB3C6SKEV88WWED6@castor.ldc.lu.se> I've had a coupla busy days -- sorry for not answering before! DON: About fees and Egmont and stuff -- if that's how you feel, t'ain't much I can say or do, is there? though I still feel that if you spend time doing what other people tell you to do (as in "stay in this booth", "sign comics for our customers", "meet this guy, and say hello to these gentlemen from the press", "don't give away drawings to YOUR fans" etc. etc. -- then that's work wether you enjoy it or not! And if it's a job of work, you're not greedy either to ask or accept a fee/salary, but rather the contrary: that's your right, no more no less! To my mind (and excuse me for being a tad philosophical) there is a difference between doing work, and just doing things which however has VERY LITTLE or NOTHING to do with whether or not you enjoy what you do. Me, for example, expect to enjoy IMMENSLY my trip to the U.S. this summer, and will even have to pay anywhere from $1000 to $2000 out of my own pocket to do so (and that hurts!), yet for me this is NOT an instance of sacrificing either personal pride or money, but a matter of take it or leave it -- those that I will WORK for in the U.S. (two jazz festivals) can't afford, or so they claim, to bring me over all-expenses-paid-and-also-a-handsome-fee, which means I have a choice between a rock and a hard place -- but of course I go, because I expect to get my money's worth of enjoyment, but not because I feel I oughtn't to actually come out ahead, since I'll be doing work for these people. Fun work, sure, but work all the same! Sorry if I'm rambling -- and I'm not trying to wheedle you in any direction at all; I don't presume to know what's best for anyone else. We all have to do what we feel we have to do. CHANGE OF TOPIC: I'll try'n git aholt of Anders And 13-14, and translate those textpieces for you! Might take a while -- but I'll do it eventually! All my best, dont you know! Mattias Oh, and I should say I haven't gotten my copy of Gladstone's Lo$ #2 -- thus my taciturnity on that subject. Nor have I yet seen the Swedish (if there is one?) publication of Lo$ #11. Get back to you, I will, on those! !==============================================================================! !* Mattias Hallin ** ** Phone: +46 46-14 84 43 **! !* Trollebergsvagen 24 B ***** Work: Lund University, Box 117, S-221 00 Lund **! !* S-222 29 Lund, SWEDEN **************************** Phone: +46 46-10 71 37 **! !==============================================================================! !***** "Oh, the villain onward stole... While a wicked smile he smole!" ******! !==============================================================================! From revry at tjhsst.vak12ed.edu Tue Apr 12 19:58:36 1994 From: revry at tjhsst.vak12ed.edu (Ronald A. Evry (Ronald)) Date: Tue, 12 Apr 94 13:58:36 EDT Subject: silly question Message-ID: <9404121758.AA19340@tjhsst.vak12ed.edu> This may seem a silly question, but WHERE is the disney-comics ftp site? I know, I know, it's listed in the FAQ, which I can find at the disney-comics ftp site, right? :) Ron BTW, just got LO$ pt two this weekend & love it, brown hair & all (it's not really brown hair, it's Mississippi mud...) I think it's a shame it isn't being released on a MONTHLY schedule, considering the interest in it...You might be interested to know that those Wall-Mart copies VANISHED in about 48 hours, while other Disney, Marvel & DC books on their rack have just been sitting there! Ron From deckerd at agcs.com Tue Apr 12 20:20:55 1994 From: deckerd at agcs.com (Dwight Decker) Date: Tue, 12 Apr 94 11:20:55 MST Subject: Lil Hiawatha Message-ID: <9404121820.AA09772@gtephx.com> Since there's been some discussion of Lil Hiawatha stories here, I'd like to ask the Europeans a question. How are the Lil Hiawatha stories translated in your countries? That is, are they written in some sort of Indian dialect (the American English equivalent would be something on the order of "Me scalp-um heap bad paleface, ugh!"), or are they more dignified? I ask because I've had to translate/rescript some Lil Hiawatha stories in English for Egmont in the past and I haven't been sure how the stories will be handled when they're translated into other languages based on my English scripts. I've been writing them in proper English, if a little "poetically" elevated: "My son, why do you spend your time chasing butterflies? Why do you not hunt the mighty buffalo?" "Because the net's too small, Father!" Given the growing sensitivity to ethnic matters in the US, even the most harmless Lil Hiawatha stories may be unpublishable here, but for the European market I'm trying to make them as inoffensive as I can even so. I think this all reflects a European fascination with American Indians (and more generally, the American West), and European writers despite their good intentions are still working at a distance. When they write about Indians, the writers get things wrong or fail to realize that times have changed. They're in love with the long-dated view of Indians as cute characters with colorful names and charming habits and customs, and don't consider that in the United States of 1994 Indians are very real people caught in changing times, with very real problems. An example might be Peter Pan, both Barrie's original play and the Disney version, which is starting to draw complaints every time it's released (I fully expect that Peter Pan will one day be on the shelf with Song of the South), because of its depiction of Indians. The explanation is that those aren't real Indians, but British storybook Indians (and the Darling boys aren't sure whether to fight them or join them), and reflects mainly that fascination from a distance Europeans have for Native Americans. That being as it may, I've worked on stories in the past by European writers that made me wince because of how they depicted Indians. The writers weren't trying to be offensive or insulting; they just didn't know. What do you Europeans think? --Dwight Decker From gadducci at DI.UniPi.IT Tue Apr 12 19:22:26 1994 From: gadducci at DI.UniPi.IT (Fabio Gadducci) Date: Tue, 12 Apr 1994 20:22:26 +0300 Subject: Scattered remarcks... Message-ID: <9404121823.AA18390@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE> Some time ago, David wrote, about "In search of Jungle Treasure" > A few years ago this story was reprinted in an oblong comic in >Germany, three strips to the page in original format (albeit with >color added). That version apparently had an Italian origin, >according to Fabio. My guess is that you European readers may have >gotten your own local editions at that time -- it was a supplement >with the weekly 26/1991, so maybe you have it. Well, the newstands edition came out in the late-Eighties, but the whole 1930-1945 run first appeared as a collector's edition some years before, around mid-Eighties. Besides that, there was another edition of FG's stories during the years 1970-1972 (almost all the 1930-1945 stuff), in an series of oblong comics (just two strips per page) called "Topolino d'Oro", even if this edition was b&w: does anybody know if this edition was reprinted anywhere? Just curious... > As Don suggested regarding some story (perhaps the story in >which DD kills an eagle for Thanksgiving), there are some that are >just better left to "complete library" sets, and should not appear >elsewhere. What is the view in Europe when the more offensive stories >("Darkest Africa" in Barks, or this one for FG) are reprinted OUTSIDE >of such library sets? I understand that there was a protest when "An >Education for Thursday" appeared, and I'd be interested to hear >something about that... Well, even if Disney Italy is more politically correct than Mondadori (I remember a nice article in The Barks Collector, talking about the unfairness of the Italian $crooge of the late Seventies), we still feel a lot more free in dealing with certain topics. The only exception is the vegetarian issue: now every character is pro-WWF and vegetarian in the (Italian) ducks and mouses universes, since so is Elisa Penna, one of the most influential editors... > Jas. Williams said, "David, you are our resident Mickey Mouse >expert. What did you think of [Disney Adventures comic strip 'Return >to Blaggard Castle']?" {Well, I'm not the resident MM expert ;-), but I think the story is quite silly...) [...] > "Second, as usual the Phantom Blot was totally out of >character. The Phantom Blot's speciality is espionage. Having him >spend a fortune to rebuild the castle made no sense." > The Blot was a spy in the very first story made about him. >Romano Scarpa did the second one -- "The Blot's Double Mystery" in >1954 (first printed here, 1988). In that excellent tale, the Blot's >main goal was to get revenge against Mickey. Other Italian stories >may have followed the same tack (I don't know). Well, in almost ALL the Italian stories with the Blot (and Macchia Nera has been used quite a lot of times after "Double Mistery", expecially in 60's and 70's), he mainly seeks revenge against Mickey. Much more than Pete, whose main interest is still getting money... (Btw, the writer of "Double Mistery" is Guido Martina, I remember...) > > *** HAVE THE EARLY BUCKY SUNDAY STRIPS BEEN REPRINTED BY >OBERON... AND IF SO, WHERE AND WHEN? *** Yes, in Italy. Comic Art is reprinting all the Thirties MM sunday pages in full colors and in their original format: this means that they have the MM sunday page below the Silly Symphonies strip (including Bucky -Buci in Italian). And now, it is up to Fredrick >But then, about a week ago when I was out shopping, my eyes fell on >a brand new comic book. Standard Italian digest format, 100 pages, >cover featuring Mickey and Minnie being attacked by horrible >zombies and the title "Musses mysterier" (Mickey's Mysteries). >Acting on impulse (something I rarely do) I picked this up and, >later at home, read it. To my utter surprise, it was very good! > >There are no codes for the stories, but format and style both >indicate Italian origin. The two stories it contains seem to feature >Mickey in yet another of these universes that are perfectly >consistent within themselves, but not necessarily so with other >Disney comics (like DuckTales). Mickey is a detective with his own >agency. Minnie hosts a popular TV show. I do not remeber of having read those stories you talk about, but actually there is a monthly called "I misteri di Topolino", i.e., "Mickey's Misteries", devoted, as it is obvious, to misteries involving MM. It is mainly devoted (I'd say only, but I miss three issues) to Italian artists, and till now 27 issues are out. Last year a similar series (called "Paperinik and other suoperheroes") was out, reprinting msainly Italian stories with Paperinik, and a few classical American stories with SuperGoofy. >To the point, I guess: This story made me remember that there are in >fact quite a few good Italian long stories. Ah, how kind of you... >Perhaps my favourite >(that has been mentioned as a favourite by both Per and Harry >previously) is "The Flying Scotsman". Another good (certainly >Scarpa) story is one where Mickey gets to meet intelligent penguins >from the North Pole. There are others as well, but coming to think >of it, they are probably by Scarpa almost all of them... Yes, even the story with the penguins is by Scarpa. It was reprinted in a "classico" (I do not remember how you call those big pockets) in the early seventies. But I must confess that it is not one of my favourite... And now, something completely different... I'm leaving for a week. I'll be in Munich for a workshop from 14 to 20 of this month. Is there any German duck fan out there? Bye, Fabio ================================================================ Fabio Gadducci Dip. di Informatica Home: +39-50-541725 Universita` di Pisa Off.: +39-50-887268 Corso Italia 40, 56100 PISA (ITALY) FAX: +39-50-887226 E-mail:gadducci at di.unipi.it ================================================================ From deckerd at agcs.com Tue Apr 12 20:38:48 1994 From: deckerd at agcs.com (Dwight Decker) Date: Tue, 12 Apr 94 11:38:48 MST Subject: Bucky Bug Message-ID: <9404121838.AA09796@gtephx.com> I have no idea what current plans are for Bucky Bug, but I do know that local (Phoenix) writer Don Markstein sold several new Bucky Bug scripts to Disney Comics about three years ago. They were written in rhyme (of course) and were to have much the same flavor as the old stories, but would have a new ecology theme. Maybe David Gerstein knows if any of the stories were ever actually drawn and published. After he sold his first Bucky Bug story, Markstein used it to wangle free admission to a science-fiction convention as a pro SF writer. "Does what you write have anything to do with science fiction?" "Well, its about a civilization of intelligent insects who talk in rhyme." That qualified! Dwight Decker From d91fe at tethys.pt.hk-r.se Wed Apr 13 00:35:37 1994 From: d91fe at tethys.pt.hk-r.se (Fredrik Ekman) Date: Wed, 13 Apr 94 00:35:37 +0200 Subject: Van Horn index stuff Message-ID: <9404122235.AA07328@tethys.pt.hk-r.se> Hi folks, I'm back from my Easter hollidays! More than a week ago, Mikko wrote: > I could update Don Rosa and Van Horn indexes for Finnish books. > Can I update the files myself (and mess up everything...) or > can somebody tell where to post the information. Like Harry said; send the Van Horn stuff to me and I'll decide what to do with it. Either I'll include it in the Scandinavian column if it's similar enough, or I'll give it a column all by itself, or perhaps it will even get a whole new file. /F From d91fe at tethys.pt.hk-r.se Wed Apr 13 01:40:25 1994 From: d91fe at tethys.pt.hk-r.se (Fredrik Ekman) Date: Wed, 13 Apr 94 01:40:25 +0200 Subject: Grand Comics Index Message-ID: <9404122340.AA07424@tethys.pt.hk-r.se> On April 3, Torsten wrote, > Announcing the GRAND COMICS DATABASE I'm actually slightly surprised there has been no reaction to this message. Has anyone written these guys and told them about all our indices? There's a gold mine for them AND a golden opportunity for us. They would just have to convert our indices to their format, and we could use their service for getting info about our favourite artists, books, et c. Of course we would still keep the indices on our FTP site and in our (Harry's) format, but it would, IMO, be a good complement at little or no extra effort on our behalf. Speaking of FTP, Ron Evry asks: >This may seem a silly question, but WHERE is the disney-comics >ftp site? ftp.lysator.liu.se in directory /pub/comics/disney. And we still don't HAVE a FAQ... /F From David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu Wed Apr 13 01:56:12 1994 From: David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu (David A Gerstein) Date: Tue, 12 Apr 1994 19:56:12 -0400 Subject: Disney-comics digest #298. In-Reply-To: Your message of Wed, 13 Apr 1994 01:18:09 +0200 Message-ID: <9404122356.AA00218@bigbird.cc.williams.edu> Dear Folks, Donald D. Markstein was responsible for the Disney Comics Bucky Bug scripts??! YYYES! Now I know what really happened! That filled in the final link in a puzzle! Bucky Bug was very popular in Disney Comics' WDC&S -- so much so that new stories were commissioned (for the first time since 1955). When I visited Disney Comics in March 1991, I actually saw a new model sheet for Bucky and June. They were to have been drawn not as they looked in the 1940s or (worse) 1950s, but as they looked in 1930s Sunday pages. Beautiful drawings of them. June even had her spit-curls back. But the stories were never drawn! The Disney Comics cut-down left Disney owning the scripts, but without funding to pay for an artist to DRAW those stories. (The same thing happened to some lost MMA scripts, as well as a few for Disney TV cartoon stars.) And that's that, oder was? Another -- and perhaps the most little-known -- casualty of the Disney cutdown. FABIO: How is Comic Art reprinting these Sunday pages? Are they reproduced from black-and-white proofs (with the color added fresh), or from yellowing old newspapers? Are the strips left in English? (Doesn't sound like it, since you mention Bucky being called Buci.) Most important: IF THESE STORIES ARE BEING REPRODUCED FROM PROOFS (as were the Sunday strips in _Mickey Mouse in Color_), DOES COMIC ART HAVE ACCESS TO ENGLISH VERSIONS? That's presumably what they're working from... Yours, David Gerstein "I'm de Fuller Brush Man! I'm givin' g'way free semple!" From David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu Wed Apr 13 02:08:57 1994 From: David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu (David A Gerstein) Date: Tue, 12 Apr 1994 20:08:57 -0400 Subject: Italian Gottfredson reprints Message-ID: <9404130008.AA01264@bigbird.cc.williams.edu> Dear Folks, Fabio said: "Well, the newstands edition [of a completely uncut "In Search of Jungle Treasure," made from original proofs, which also was published in 1991 in Germany] came out in the late-Eighties, but the whole 1930-1945 run first appeared as a collector's edition some years before, around mid-Eighties." Please, Fabio, tell me the name of this collector's edition, who published it, and most importantly, what the printing quality is like on the earliest (1930-33) strips. I think this would be very useful to Gladstone, PARTICULARLY if the strips are in black and white. If the strips are as clear and as perfect-looking as those for "In Search of Jungle Treasure," well, here's Gladstone's source for proofs. (Never mind that they're in Italian, I know how to get around that...) Is the quality of the strips all good? "Besides that, there was another edition of FG's stories during the years 1970-1972 (almost all the 1930-1945 stuff), in an series of oblong comics (just two strips per page) called "Topolino d'Oro", even if this edition was b&w: does anybody know if this edition was reprinted anywhere? Just curious..." This edition is apparently heavily censored, just as the earlier stories in IO TOPOLINO (and its American edition, the Abbeville MICKEY MOUSE) are. It is no doubt far, far inferior to the mid-Eighties set you described. Your friend, David Gerstein "I'm de Fuller Brush Man! I'm givin' g'way free semple!" From adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Wed Apr 13 04:09:34 1994 From: adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz (adair_t@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz) Date: Wed, 13 Apr 1994 14:09:34 +1200 Subject: Grand Comics Index Message-ID: <0097CE5F.32497940.5812@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz> >On April 3, Torsten wrote, >> Announcing the GRAND COMICS DATABASE >I'm actually slightly surprised there has been no reaction to this >message. Has anyone written these guys and told them about all our >indices? There's a gold mine for them AND a golden opportunity for >us. They would just have to convert our indices to their format, >and we could use their service for getting info about our favourite >artists, books, et c. Of course we would still keep the indices on >our FTP site and in our (Harry's) format, but it would, IMO, be a >good complement at little or no extra effort on our behalf. I've sent the administrator of the GCD Per's address. I've also subscribed to their listserver, and have a copy of the indices in progress. I'll scan it again for Disney titles, but I don't think there are any yet. The format is rather simple. The first line is for issue and cover details, and the following lines are for stories in the issue. However, it is longer that Eighty characters. >Speaking of FTP, Ron Evry asks: >>This may seem a silly question, but WHERE is the disney-comics >>ftp site? >ftp.lysator.liu.se in directory /pub/comics/disney. I recently posted instructions on how to get this by Gopher, which allows you to get the files sent to you by e-mail. >And we still don't HAVE a FAQ... Yeah, well, but compared to the stuff we DO have, it's fairly minor. Torsten Adair adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Wellington, New Zealand From adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Wed Apr 13 05:32:33 1994 From: adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz (adair_t@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz) Date: Wed, 13 Apr 1994 15:32:33 +1200 Subject: Grand Comics Database Message-ID: <0097CE6A.CA26BA60.6148@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz> I've just checked the Grand Comics Database index list, and while Gold Key titles are being indexed, no Disney titles were listed. Torsten Adair adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Wellington, New Zealand From adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Wed Apr 13 06:16:34 1994 From: adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz (adair_t@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz) Date: Wed, 13 Apr 1994 16:16:34 +1200 Subject: FTP Suggestions Message-ID: <0097CE70.F036EEE0.6273@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz> I was browsing through the FTP files at Lysator. Considering how long it takes to access the Gladstone index (as compared to the other files), and given the fact that new issues will be added each month, I would like to suggest that the Gladstone files be split into titles. For instance (I don't remember the correct file name): Gladstone.Index.Donald_Duck Gladstone.Index.Uncle_Scrooge Gladstone.Index.Misc Gladstone.Index.Walt_Disney_Comics_and_Stories Just a suggestion. Torsten Adair adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Wellington, New Zealand From 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM Wed Apr 13 06:22:00 1994 From: 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM (Don Rosa) Date: 13 Apr 94 00:22:00 EDT Subject: Disney-comics digest #298. Message-ID: <940413042200_72260.2635_EHB132-1@CompuServe.COM> DAVID: I never knew that Egmont had used the same name for all the appearances of the pig-villain in their editions. Interesting. But you're also saying that when Gladstone reprints those Barks stories, they CHANGE the names, all to "Argus McSwine"??? With the policy of never tampering with the originals, I'd find that surprising. But if a single name is choses, that's not such a bad idea... however, I would STRONGLY vote AGAINST "Argus McSwine". I get a bit weary of Barks' constant use of gag Scotch names (McThis, McThat), when he could sometimes vary it with an Irish O'this or O'That... or something Italian (as he did with Magica and the one DeLardo use). In fact, in times past when I've heard fans give a single name to the pig-villain, it's been Porkman DeLardo, not McSwine. I find Porkman DeLardo much more interesting for some reason, maybe just because I'm tired of all the Mc's. And it's not pronounced "Pork-MAN", like a super-hero -- it's "Porkmin"; at least that's how I pronounce it. MATTIAS: I'm not sure what your advice or attitude is about this Swedish trip I'm being offered. You do see my point, I guess, that losing a week or two of work a year on such trips is one thing, but the trip to Sweden will be extending my lost work time for the year into the 5 or 6 or even 7 week range. It's just not a matter of whether it's a good deal by then -- it's just getting close to dangerous when I have a hefty mortgage to meet every month without fail. I mean, if I won a lottery prize of a free 2 month super-deluxe world cruise, I couldn't accept that either -- this is pretty much the same thing. The bills don't stop just because the pay does. And please don't think that Egmont ever TELLS me what to do, when to sit in the booth, what reporters to talk to, etc., when I'm there. They always ASK me if I'd LIKE to do such and such. Of course, it's not "Would you like to meet this reporter or go on a tour of Gothic churches" or something; I know who's paying the bills, and I would never think of NOT doing exactly what they wish every moment of every day. (The only thing I ever resented was, as you've recalled, the "don't do free sketches for your fans", which I won't ever again tolerate.) I THINK I've come to some logical decision on the matter. I still can't think of asking the local publishers to pay me a fee to visit and be treated like semi-royalty -- that's unthinkable. And I still won't refuse to come -- as I said, my only value to Egmont might be as a source of publicity, so I'd better cooperate! What strikes me as the logical answer is to ask the division I work for to UP my page rate to the max. Vicar and them get the higher page rate because of their being the backbone of the comics; I could suggest that I deserve that same pay for the apparent need of me for publicity. Then that extra few bucks per page would cover the lost work weeks. Does that make sense? The problem is that these are TWO DIFFERENT DIVISIONS of one company, each with their own separat budgets... and the division I work for has no need of me for publicity, so my reasoning would be lost on them. What to do....... And remind me when your American trip is, and whether you'll be visiting me. I need to put it on my calander so I won't agree to do another @#$%$ trip just when you come past! RON EVRY: Hey -- thanks for those magazines you sent! But now... are you saying that you saw the UNCLE $CROOGE #286 (the Lo$ #2 issue) disappearing off the Walmart racks? How is that possible? It just came out at the direct-market comic stores... it can't be at the regular newsstand-distributed areas for weeks yet! Surely Walmart gets the Marvel-logo Gladstones, not the direct-sales issues, right? From efferd at cs.tu-berlin.de Wed Apr 13 13:01:27 1994 From: efferd at cs.tu-berlin.de (Gilbert Roser) Date: Wed, 13 Apr 1994 13:01:27 +0200 Subject: Scattered remarcks... In-Reply-To: <9404121823.AA18390@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE> (gadducci@DI.UniPi.IT) Message-ID: <199404131101.NAA25446@centaur.cs.tu-berlin.de> >And now, it is up to Fredrick > >>But then, about a week ago when I was out shopping, my eyes fell on >>a brand new comic book. Standard Italian digest format, 100 pages, >>cover featuring Mickey and Minnie being attacked by horrible >>zombies and the title "Musses mysterier" (Mickey's Mysteries). >>Acting on impulse (something I rarely do) I picked this up and, >>later at home, read it. To my utter surprise, it was very good! >> >>There are no codes for the stories, but format and style both >>indicate Italian origin. The two stories it contains seem to feature >>Mickey in yet another of these universes that are perfectly >>consistent within themselves, but not necessarily so with other >>Disney comics (like DuckTales). Mickey is a detective with his own >>agency. Minnie hosts a popular TV show. > > >I do not remeber of having read those stories you talk about, but actually >there is a monthly called "I misteri di Topolino", i.e., "Mickey's >Misteries", devoted, as it is obvious, to misteries involving MM. It is >mainly devoted (I'd say only, but I miss three issues) to Italian artists, >and till now 27 issues are out. Here in Germany these comics Frederik mentioned are presented in a digest called "Ein Fall fur Micky" and until today four books were selled. The comics are Denish stories of the nineties (the index-numbers are beginning with D9.... ( I have to consult my notes for the exact numbers)), but I don't know the author or the artist because in Germany are no credits given in most comic books till today. From Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se Wed Apr 13 15:00:25 1994 From: Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se (Mattias Hallin) Date: Wed, 13 Apr 1994 15:00:25 +0200 Subject: A short reply (please hold...) Message-ID: <01HB4PRRL1ZO8WWEUB@castor.ldc.lu.se> DON: I got Lo$ #2 yesterday at my local store, and read it last night, and I have, too, some comments on colouring etc. -- I will also want to reply to your last posting; but right now I'm busy-busy-busy at work (my colleague is on vacation this week, so I'm running the registrar's office singlehanded). But, anyway, we've finally had our Macintosh computers hooked up to the network, which means I can go home and write in my own time and the comfort of my home and my own computer, bring that file to work on disk, and mail it to you! So -- please hold; I'll be back! Mattias !==============================================================================! !* Mattias Hallin ** ** Phone: +46 46-14 84 43 **! !* Trollebergsvagen 24 B ***** Work: Lund University, Box 117, S-221 00 Lund **! !* S-222 29 Lund, SWEDEN **************************** Phone: +46 46-10 71 37 **! !==============================================================================! !**************** "Quick! Go outside! I must change my dress!" ****************! !==============================================================================! From James_Williams at ESS.NIAID.pc.niaid.nih.gov Wed Apr 13 18:53:55 1994 From: James_Williams at ESS.NIAID.pc.niaid.nih.gov (James Williams) Date: Wed, 13 Apr 94 11:53:55 EST Subject: Disney-comics digest #298. Message-ID: <2dac1593@ESS.NIAID.pc.niaid.nih.gov> On two separate ocassions today's digest starting talking about Disney's newspaper strips. Once about L'il Hiawatha (a character I cannot ever recall having seen) and then Bucky Bug. My knowledge about Disney's newspaper strips is minimal at best. What Disney strips have existed? When did they run? Which characters did they feature? And, Who worked on them? >Thanks for reminding me of that. I do remember reading those stories >in previous lives of Gladstone (and Disney). Now were those gleeful >reader responses from kids, or folks who had read Bucky Bug before? Tryg, I cannot speak for anyone else. But, I had never read a Bucky Bug story until about three years ago. All it took was one story to get me hooked. >Last year a similar series (called "Paperinik and other suoperheroes") >was out, reprinting msainly Italian stories with Paperinik, and a few >classical American stories with SuperGoofy. Fabio, who is Paperinik? I've never heard of this character? James Williams From gadducci at DI.UniPi.IT Wed Apr 13 17:19:31 1994 From: gadducci at DI.UniPi.IT (Fabio Gadducci) Date: Wed, 13 Apr 1994 18:19:31 +0300 Subject: Italian Gottfredson reprints Message-ID: <9404131620.AA28959@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE> Dear folks, David wrote: > Fabio said: "Well, the newstands edition [of a completely >uncut "In Search of Jungle Treasure," made from original proofs, which >also was published in 1991 in Germany] came out in the late-Eighties, >but the whole 1930-1945 run first appeared as a collector's edition >some years before, around mid-Eighties." > > Please, Fabio, tell me the name of this collector's edition, >who published it, and most importantly, what the printing quality is >like on the earliest (1930-33) strips. I think this would be very >useful to Gladstone, PARTICULARLY if the strips are in black and >white. If the strips are as clear and as perfect-looking as those for >"In Search of Jungle Treasure," well, here's Gladstone's source for >proofs. (Never mind that they're in Italian, I know how to get around >that...) Is the quality of the strips all good? Well, it was published by Mondadori and distributed to bookstores. It was never sold at newstands. Years 1930-1943 were published in four colours, with few pages (usually a complete story) for each volume. Later, Mondadori published years 1944-1955 in big, b&w volumes, one for each year. The quality of the strip is really good. I think they made the b&w proofs from the original newspapers (the editor of that edition, Ernesto Traverso, lives in Genova, where there is a big group of collectors, and a club, Anni Trenta, mainly interested in classical comics) Still David, on Bucky and Sunday pages > FABIO: How is Comic Art reprinting these Sunday pages? Are >they reproduced from black-and-white proofs (with the color added >fresh), or from yellowing old newspapers? Are the strips left in >English? (Doesn't sound like it, since you mention Bucky being called >Buci.) > Most important: IF THESE STORIES ARE BEING REPRODUCED FROM >PROOFS (as were the Sunday strips in _Mickey Mouse in Color_), DOES >COMIC ART HAVE ACCESS TO ENGLISH VERSIONS? That's presumably what >they're working from... Well, as for the Mondadori edition I told you before, I think Comi Art made the b&w proofs from the original newspapers, and then added the color. Obviously, those books are in Italian... :-). Since CA print less than 1000 copies for issues, they are not interested at all in the foreign market. That's all for now. See you next week... Fabio ================================================================ Fabio Gadducci Dip. di Informatica Home: +39-50-541725 Universita` di Pisa Off.: +39-50-887268 Corso Italia 40, 56100 PISA (ITALY) FAX: +39-50-887226 E-mail:gadducci at di.unipi.it ================================================================ From maittola at snakemail.hut.fi Wed Apr 13 20:28:13 1994 From: maittola at snakemail.hut.fi (Mikko Henri Juhani Aittola) Date: Wed, 13 Apr 1994 21:28:13 +0300 (EET DST) Subject: Comics festifal in Finland, and Lo$ Message-ID: Finland's biggest (still not very big, I'm afraid) comics con is arranged 28.-29.5.1994 in Helsinki, in the place called 'Kaapelitehdas'. One of the main themes this year is disney-comics. Byron Ericson and Bob Foster should be there too. That's all I know about it. I just bought the U$ #286. I haven't read Lo$2 before. The story and art was very good. (Well that's a surprise...) It's actually quite incredible how well Don can make the story flow between Bark's 'facts'. When I read Lo$3 back in 1992 I didn't have a slightest idea that the series is sort of based on older $crooge stories. I didn't catch any of the references to Bark's stories, simply because I have used to the idea that there is absolutely no continuity in Duck universe. I'm really glad that Don thinks otherwise. References to past stories in general adds so much more depth in the characters. The colors in #285 were better than in #286. Looked like colouring was done in a hurry. I accept that in some cases it's better to colour only the main characters of the panel, but in this issue the background was left too many times without good colouring. Not to mention those WHITE gold teeths... Looking forward to parts 11 and 12... /Mikko From efferd at cs.tu-berlin.de Thu Apr 14 14:12:37 1994 From: efferd at cs.tu-berlin.de (Gilbert Roser) Date: Thu, 14 Apr 1994 14:12:37 +0200 Subject: Disney-comics digest #298. In-Reply-To: <2dac1593@ESS.NIAID.pc.niaid.nih.gov> (message from James Williams on Wed, 13 Apr 94 11:53:55 EST) Message-ID: <199404141212.OAA01262@sphinx.cs.tu-berlin.de> >>Last year a similar series (called "Paperinik and other suoperheroes") >>was out, reprinting msainly Italian stories with Paperinik, and a few >>classical American stories with SuperGoofy. > >Fabio, who is Paperinik? I've never heard of this character? Paperinik (Superduck) is the secret identity of Paperino (Donald Duck) as a superhero. He is an Italian creation. Gilbert Roser From efferd at cs.tu-berlin.de Thu Apr 14 14:38:58 1994 From: efferd at cs.tu-berlin.de (Gilbert Roser) Date: Thu, 14 Apr 1994 14:38:58 +0200 Subject: 2000th Micky Maus Message-ID: <199404141238.OAA01508@sphinx.cs.tu-berlin.de> In Germany is Micky Maus #2000 published. It is #16/1994 and contains as an extra the first German Micky Maus ever published from September 1951. The stories in MM #16/1994 are: H 90164 Donald Duck "Held 2000" (Dutch Story) MM 39 E Pluto (one page gag) OS 456 Onkel Dagobert (US one page gag) Micky Maus Schatzjagd quer durch Entenhausen (German story, I think) D 90314 Wiedersehen mit Tralla La (Teil 2) (Don Rosa story) a.k.a. Return to Xanadu Stories in MM #1/1951: WDC 95 Donald Duck (later titled as Der Perlsamen) (Carl Barks story) Micky Maus und der sprechende Hund (story of the dailies) Der kleine böse Wolf (old Li'l Bad Wolf story) and many Mickey Mouse one pager and half pager. Gilbert Roser From d91fe at calypso.pt.hk-r.se Thu Apr 14 14:58:14 1994 From: d91fe at calypso.pt.hk-r.se (Fredrik Ekman) Date: Thu, 14 Apr 94 14:58:14 +0200 Subject: Paperinik Message-ID: <9404141258.AA14175@calypso.pt.hk-r.se> > Paperinik (Superduck) is the secret identity of Paperino (Donald Duck) as a > superhero. He is an Italian creation. I could add that, according to my sources, no Paperinik story has ever been published in the US, but a few has been published in England where the name is Super Duck. However, it is probably less confusing if we continue to use the Italian name since that is the original anyway. I think it was David who originally provided me with the above info... If anyone is wondering, Paperinik is a hero of the Batman type with lots of gadgets (designed by Gyro), including a pair of bouncing boots and a modified 313 that can hover above ground. /F From mayerson at sidefx.sidefx.com Thu Apr 14 15:59:41 1994 From: mayerson at sidefx.sidefx.com (Mark Mayerson) Date: Thu, 14 Apr 1994 09:59:41 -0400 Subject: Paperinik and Darkwing Message-ID: <9404141359.AA24832@sidefx.sidefx.com> How closely does Paperinik resemble Darkwing Duck. Do you think that he supplied inspiration? ___________________________________________________________________ Mark Mayerson Side Effects Software Inc., Internet: mayerson at sidefx.com Toronto, Ontario, Canada (416) 366-4607 From efferd at cs.tu-berlin.de Thu Apr 14 16:55:35 1994 From: efferd at cs.tu-berlin.de (Gilbert Roser) Date: Thu, 14 Apr 1994 16:55:35 +0200 Subject: Paperinik and Darkwing In-Reply-To: <9404141359.AA24832@sidefx.sidefx.com> (mayerson@sidefx.sidefx.com) Message-ID: <199404141455.QAA02452@sphinx.cs.tu-berlin.de> >How closely does Paperinik resemble Darkwing Duck. Do you think that >he supplied inspiration? No, I think they have nothing in common. Paperinik lives in Duckburgh, his costume is different and he really is Donald Duck. He behaves like a real hero and solves the cases in a not so ridiculous way as Darkwing Duck. Paperinik mostly operates alone. Gilbert From alex at alex.smec.sel.sony.com Thu Apr 14 18:32:24 1994 From: alex at alex.smec.sel.sony.com (Alex Agostini) Date: Thu, 14 Apr 1994 11:32:24 -0500 Subject: Paperinik Message-ID: <9404141132.ZM18031@alex> I have a question (and if the answer is in the archives, don't just tell me to look, there, tell me exactly where to look). We all know that there are stories created in Europe about Disney characters that are never seen in the U.S. Does Disney have any control over this? I would have to say so, based on all the lawyer reports that I have read about when ever someone tries to use Disney Characters without permision. If Disney allows this to happen, why are does stories not published here in the states? -- ______________________________________________________________________ Alex Agostini E-Mail:Alex_Agostini at smec.sel.sony.com 3 Paragon Drive MDS-200 Phone: (201) 358-4331 Montvale, N.J. 07645 Fax: (201) 358-4977 Troi to Worf: "Deal with it!" from "Genesis". ______________________________________________________________________ From niko at otto.ramz.ing.tu-bs.de Thu Apr 14 19:07:15 1994 From: niko at otto.ramz.ing.tu-bs.de (Nikolaus Andresen) Date: Thu, 14 Apr 94 19:07:15 +0200 Subject: Al Taliaferro book in english? In-Reply-To: Mail from 'disney-comics@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE' dated: Thu, 14 Apr 94 01:32:18 +0200 Message-ID: <9404141707.AA15449@otto.ramz.ing.tu-bs.de> Hi there! Sorry I haven't followed the discussions the last days but nevertheless I have a question: Some weeks ago there was a book published here in Germany which included the first Donald Duck sunday pages by Al Taliaferro. It had a nice new colouring (like the CBL in color). As I prefer reading comics in their native language, I'd like to know: Is there an american (or english) original version of this book and where can I buy it? Cheers, Nikolaus. From adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Fri Apr 15 04:03:29 1994 From: adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz (adair_t@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz) Date: Fri, 15 Apr 1994 14:03:29 +1200 Subject: Uncle Scrooge circulation figures (Sept. 1993) Message-ID: <0097CFF0.AD6CD300.14954@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz> Source: Uncle Scrooge #286 June 1994 Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation (Required by 39 U.S.C. 3685) 1. A. Title of publication: Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge B. Publication Number: ISSN 0894-5268 2. Date of Filing: September 9, 1993 3. Frequency of issue: Bi-monthly A. No. of issues published annually: 6 B. Annual subscription price: $9.00-$18 for 2 years 4. Complete mailing address of known ofice of publication: Gladstone Publishing, 212 S. Montezuma, Prescott, Yavapai County, AZ 86303 5. Complete mailing adressesses o the headquarters of general business offices of the publisher: Gladstone Publishing, 212 S. Montezuma, Prescott, Yavapai County, AZ 86303 6. Full names and complete mailing address o publisher, editor, and managing editor: Publisher, Bruce Hamilton, 212 S. Montezuma, Prescott, AZ 86303; Editor: Leonard Clark, 212 S. Montezuma, Prescott, AZ 86303; Managing editor none. 7. Owner: The Bruce Hamilton Company, 212 S. Montezuma, Prescott, AZ 86303; Bruce Hamilton, 212 S. Montezuma, Prescott, AZ 86303; Helen Hamilton, 212 S. Montezuma, Prescott, AZ 86303. 8. Known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning or holding 1 percent or more of total amount o bonds, mortgages or other securities (if there are none, so state): none. 9. For completion by non-profit organizations authorized to mail at special rates. 10.Extent and nature of circulation: Average no. copies each issue during preceeding twelve months. A. Total no. copies (net press run): 160,425 B. Paid and/or requested circulation: 1. Sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors and counter sales: 154,884 2. Mail subscription (paid and/or requested): 3,891 C. Total paid and/or requested circulation (sum of 10B1 and 10B2): 158,775 D. Free distribution by mail, carrier or other means, samples, complimentary and other free copies: 142 E. Total distribution (sum of C and D): 158,917 F. Copies not distributed: 1. Office use, left over, unaccounted, spoiled after printing: 1,058 2. Returns from newsagents: 0 G. Total (sum of E, F1 and 2--should equal net press run shown in A): 160,425 Actual no. copies o single issue published nearest to filing date. A. Total no. of copies (net press run): 146,830 B. Paid and/or requested circulation: 1. Sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors and counter sales: 141,272 2. Mail subscription (paid and/or requested): 3,943 C. Total paid and/or requested circulation (sum of 10B1 and 10B2): 145,215 D. Free distribution by mail, carrier or other means, samples, complimentary and other free copies: 145 E. Total distribution (sum of C and D): 145,360 F. Copies not distributed: 1. Office use, left over, unaccounted, spoiled after printing: 1,470 2. Returns from news agents: 0 G. Total (sum of E, F1 and 2--should equal net press fun shown in A): 146,830 11. I certiy that the statements made by me above are correct and complete. Signed: Steven C. Calrow, Business Manager ----- Torsten Adair adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz 212 S. Mont.... oops. Wellington, New Zealand From 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM Fri Apr 15 07:01:57 1994 From: 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM (Don Rosa) Date: 15 Apr 94 01:01:57 EDT Subject: Disney-comics digest #300. Message-ID: <940415050157_72260.2635_EHB122-1@CompuServe.COM> GERMAN 2000th WEEKLY: This is the only country where the weekly is named after the wrong character. Those Germans -- always being contrary! I'm usually in pretty close contact with the German translation editor. I see the #2000 has (part 2?) of my "Return to Xanadu" under the title "(something) to Trala La". So, the surprise of Xanadu being Trala La is merely given away in the TITLE of the story? What did they use for a title to "Citizen Kane" in Germany? "The Man with the Sled Named Rosebud"? PAPERINIK: As violently opposed to this idea of demeaning Donald Duck with American-super-herodom, I see these in the digests (of Italian stuff) they send me from Scandanavia and these stories are apparently not as bad as one might fear. Donald doesn't actually have super-powers, but he has all sorts of gadgets made for him by Gyro. Still, it makes me wanna cry... Alex: What control does Disney have over the (huge volume of) Disney stories being produced overseas? Practically none. For instance, Egmont produces about 4000-5000 pages of stuff each year, and Disney never sees any of it until they get their subscription copies in the mail (which you KNOW they sit around and read -- like, sure). In other words, Egmont is allowed to operate as if they own the characters, and why not... they DO own the characters as far as I'm concerned. Dell created and developed them... now Egmont has taken them up. Disney should hafta pay a royalty to even use them. NIKOLAUS: You're referring to the series of monthly books which are reprinting the DONALD DUCK newspaper strips starting with the first'n and doing about one year each month, or each 3 months. I have copies of the Norwegian editions. No, we've never had anything like that in America. Gladstone has been reprinting them barely a month-worth per every bimonthly issue of DONALD DUCK comics (meaning they lose ground with every issue -- they'll never catch up!), and skipping some banned episodes... so it's really not the same thing. From James_Williams at ESS.NIAID.pc.niaid.nih.gov Fri Apr 15 21:51:03 1994 From: James_Williams at ESS.NIAID.pc.niaid.nih.gov (James Williams) Date: Fri, 15 Apr 94 14:51:03 EST Subject: Disney-comics digest #300. Message-ID: <2daee217@ESS.NIAID.pc.niaid.nih.gov> >Paperinik (Superduck) is the secret identity of Paperino (Donald Duck) >as a superhero. He is an Italian creation. Gilbert, thanks for the reply. One of the most interesting things I've found since joining this list is the existance of various Disney characters who I've never even heard of. Are there other characters like Paperinik and Feathery Duck, who have large followings but have never appeared in the US? I wonder what Paperinik fans thought of Don Rosa's very anti-superhero Super Snooper story. >How closely does Paperinik resemble Darkwing Duck. Do you think that >he supplied inspiration? Mark, I've never even seen Paperinik, but I can tell you that at least visually he wasn't an influence on DWD. DWD's costume is an almost exact copy of the Shadows. I've always been surprised that Code Nast didn't claim copyright infringment. >We all know that there are stories created in Europe about Disney characters >that are never seen in the U.S. Does Disney have any control over this? Alex. Unless the copyright on the material has expired, Disney has complete control and rights over the material. Almost every Disney comic in the world is licensed from Disney and all the stories are approved by Disney before being published. As Don Rosa will probably remind us, Disney also owns all of the artwork. James Williams From adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Sat Apr 16 01:22:56 1994 From: adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz (adair_t@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz) Date: Sat, 16 Apr 1994 11:22:56 +1200 Subject: Uncle Scrooge #286 / Lo$ #2 Message-ID: <0097D0A3.6A6BB7C0.18793@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz> When I read this for the first time, I didn't notice any of the glaring details that others had discussed here previously. I enjoyed the various running gags (the barmaid, the muddy Mississippi, the pickpocket), the background detail (perhaps the third panel on page one should be a half page?), and, of course, the fantastic action and scenery! Now, for a few nitpicks. Should the Beagle Boys on the cover have serial numbers? According to the story, they received their numbers after the river incident. In the second panel of page four, Hogg looks like he's been bronzed. Are there mistakes on the splash panel, or are the blank spaces a result of recovered space? (Shouldn't Alabama and Georgia be labled?) Also, Oklahoma wasn't opened to settlement until 1889. I think it was called the Indian Territory at that time. When the series is collected, Don, you might want to add the missing boundaries of Texas and Ohio. I also found a word duplicated in the text, but I can't find it now. The coloring was muted (it almost reminded me of the old Gladstone issues), probably because of the Mississippi and the antiquated colors now seen from the period. The graduation of color in the Drennan Whyte was well done. Where did Ratchet come from? (I don't mean his lineage, I mean his bibliography.) Don, any response from the Louisville media? And for those who are interested, the Mississippi is muddy because of the Missouri River ("Muddy Mo"), and the erosion of prairie soil. More of this in Part Three. Torsten Adair adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Wellington, New Zealand P.S. Congratulations on Digest #300!!! From clawton at TFS.COM Sat Apr 16 02:25:00 1994 From: clawton at TFS.COM (Chris Lawton) Date: Fri, 15 Apr 94 17:25 PDT Subject: Still Here :) Message-ID: > Hi, Chris! > > Just wondering if you're still with us. If you're miffed from >Don Rosa's comments the last time you were actively writing letters, I >plead with you NOT to be! You oughtta see how Don and ME argue... but >we're STILL friends just the same. He has angry feelings about how >thanks to the way Disney promotes its characters in this country, >they're much more visible as simple images on merchandise than as >comic or animation characters. When you mentioned something along the >lines of being Mickey's fan since first encountering him in a >non-comic, non-cartoon form, that's what set him off. Take it from me >-- it always does! But that's no reason to go silent on us! > > (BTW: When I said "This means war" during that discussion, I >was joking around -- quoting the very line from Bugs Bunny which had >surfaced during the discussion -- not offering flame bait!) > > In any event, why not contribute to our conversations these >days? I hope everything's all right with you... > > Your friend, > > David Gerstein > Hi David & and everybody else here too! Yep, I'm still here. I'm still reading most of the stuff that comes in. No. I'm not miffed at all with what Don said. :) It's just that I've been *VERY* busy here at work. Also, the local theater where I play trombone in the orchestra has started the next show we're doing. Bye-Bye nights and weekends for 6 weeks! But I have been trying to catch up with the comics in my 'spare' time. Let's see...I just bought 4 new issues of stuff that I fell behind on. I just picked up the last two "Donald and Mickey"'s, LO$2, and WDCS #??? (The most recent one.) I think "Mickey an' Hoppy" was one of the best Mickeys I've seen! (Is that what it was called?) But the Slueth title left me wanting, although, it did have its moments. What else?... LO$2 is great! ... I also liked the Goofy King Tut story. I seem to like that sort of hap-hazard presentation style. I wonder if I should re-start reading MAD? Hmmm...I haven't seen one since I was about 12. I also finished my re-read of the Roger Rabbit stuff and the Toontown stuff. I still like it. :) (While I was reading some of the latter RR issues, I was listening to the WFRR soundtrack. Neat. Try it.) Lastly, I purchased two of the Carl Banks Library issues. DDA #1 and WDC&S#2 (I'm at work right now, so I'm not really sure of the issue numbers but they were the lowest that I could find) I really liked the DDA pirate story with the parrot. (The title eludes me right now.) And most of WDC&S, too. However, Good Neighbor...whew. Boy! Donald was just plain mean! I guess I didn't think he had it in him to be so cruel! That 'Shrapnel Football Bomb' seemed wicked! Anyway, these two collections are my start of trying to become a more educated Disney comic reader. [note the lowercase c] Maybe in a few hundred more...:) Overall, I'm starting to tell some differences between Carl Barks and others. My biggest wish though is still "More Mickey" (I did get and save your poll. Now if I can find time to complete it!) Chris Mickey's #1 Fan!! :) :) From mayerson at SIDEFX.SIDEFX.COM Sat Apr 16 03:04:54 1994 From: mayerson at SIDEFX.SIDEFX.COM (Mark Mayerson) Date: Fri, 15 Apr 1994 21:04:54 -0400 Subject: Justice Book Wanted Message-ID: <9404160104.AA07143@sidefx.sidefx.com> This is not exactly relevant to this list, but I assume that the readership has a good knowledge of what Disneyana is available and where. I'm looking for a copy of Justice For Disney by Bill Justice. If anybody has a copy for sale or can point me to a dealer who's got it, please email me the details. Thanks very much. ___________________________________________________________________ Mark Mayerson Side Effects Software Inc., Internet: mayerson at sidefx.com Toronto, Ontario, Canada (416) 366-4607 From 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM Sat Apr 16 05:55:47 1994 From: 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM (Don Rosa) Date: 15 Apr 94 23:55:47 EDT Subject: Disney-comics digest #301. Message-ID: <940416035546_72260.2635_EHB154-2@CompuServe.COM> JAMES: Whoaa! You are quite incorrect there! As I was saying, Disney may hold legal ownership of the characters and the material produced concerning same... but they do NOT have control (at least, they have no feasible way of exerting it) over the comic book stories from somebody like Egmont. Perhaps it's Egmont's track record of producing quality material... perhaps it's that Disney is LOST when it comes to understanding who these characters are except as the mere empty-shell "actors" they use them as... perhaps Disney feels thay have 10,000 more important things to do than approve thousands of pages of material that never even appears in America... perhaps Europe is too far away? They DO keep a firm grip on Gladstone, seemingly out of pure spite considering how little control they exert on any other comic publisher in the world. Also, it's not unusual that you can't quite grasp this -- no matter how many times I spell it out for people familiar with American comics, they always seem to think it's so fantastic that I must be kidding them. No, Disney does NOT own my art or any other freelancer's art, nor do they CLAIM they do. They can't possibly own physical material that they have never paid for nor which the owner has ever agreed has been sold. The case is that publishers are told by Disney to simply NOT RETURN such art... and since there are so few freelance Disney artists outside of art studios (whether it's comics art studios like Vicar or Diaz or Branca or Scarpa or any of those, or it's commercial art studios), there's never been an uproar about it. It's flatly illegal but they get away with it since everyone allows them to. The rest of the American comic industry has never been interested in helping me out in this regard since they know my situation can't effect the sweet deals they are now guaranteed, so why should they get involved? No, Disney does NOT own, nor do they claim to own, the artwork. What do the Paperinik fans think of my "Super Snooper Strikes Again"? Not many of them have ever seen ANY of my work. They have nothing but digest-type Disney books in Italy (other than some Barks reprint series), so the Italians never see my work nor any comic book style Disney stuff (or so I'm told). But then, I guess the many readers of the Scandanavian Italian-reprint-digests see my stories; I don't know what they think, but I do know that they understand that the comic books and the digests are like two different "universes" of Disney stuff -- sorta like DuckTales is to us. And it's not "Feathery", but FETHRY; I assume it's a British name that they use since it sounds like "feathery". GLADSTONE CIRCULATION FIGURES: I suddenly realized the answer to the paradox of these much-too-high circulation figures found in Gladstone's first set of "statement-of-ownership"s. We KNOW that these Disney comics are not selling 160,000 copies per issue in America! It's more like half that many, if not 1/4 that many. But the deal is that Gladstone prints 160,000 copies, sells what they do in direct sales, and turns over a certain percentage of the run to MARVEL. Marvel then must do what they can to sell those issues on the newsstands, but they cannot return any of those issues to Gladstone and therefore the entire print run is SOLD as far as Gladstone is concerned. Note the line concerning "number of issues returned unsold: 0"!!! This would seem to be a sweet deal for Gladstone -- to be guaranteed to sell 160,000 copies of everything per issue would seem to guarantee a nice profit and a rather successful (by modern American standards) line of comics; but I dunno how much or little Marvel pays for their portion of the run. Knowing Disney, the deal might well be that Gladstone must give them to Marvel for FREE -- I wouldn't put it past Disney to demand something as unfair as that. It would be their style. So, we really have NO idea how the Gladstones are selling by just looking at those statement-of-ownerships. But just judging from the level of interest I see between now and the Gladstones of 7-8 years ago, I don't think they are selling all that well, due to how much Disney Comics ruined the market for them. From mas at cs.bu.edu Sat Apr 16 06:19:56 1994 From: mas at cs.bu.edu (Mark Semich) Date: Sat, 16 Apr 1994 00:19:56 -0400 Subject: Disney-comics digest #301. In-Reply-To: <940416035546_72260.2635_EHB154-2@CompuServe.COM> (message from Don Rosa on 15 Apr 94 23:55:47 EDT) Message-ID: <199404160419.AAA09518@csa.bu.edu> >From: Don Rosa <72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM> >The rest of the American comic industry has never been interested in >helping me out in this regard since they know my situation can't effect >the sweet deals they are now guaranteed, so why should they get >involved? No, Disney does NOT own, nor do they claim to own, the >artwork. What could another comic book company do to help the situation between you and Disney? >GLADSTONE CIRCULATION FIGURES: > I suddenly realized the answer to the paradox of these >much-too-high circulation figures found in Gladstone's first set of >"statement-of-ownership"s. We KNOW that these Disney comics are not >selling 160,000 copies per issue in America! It's more like half that >many, if not 1/4 that many. How do we know that? > But the deal is that Gladstone prints 160,000 copies, sells >what they do in direct sales, and turns over a certain percentage of >the run to MARVEL. And then Marvel prints new covers (with the "Marvel Comics" imprint) for these old issues? It seems more likely to me that a big chunk of Gladstone's market is the overseas market. > So, we really have NO idea how the Gladstones are selling by >just looking at those statement-of-ownerships. But just judging from the >level of interest I see between now and the Gladstones of 7-8 years ago, >I don't think they are selling all that well, due to how much Disney >Comics ruined the market for them. Well, I've been seeing a great deal of interest. All the Gladstones (except for D&M) consistently sell-out at all the comic book stores around here, and I've often seen people asking for them, only to be turned away. From Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se Sat Apr 16 17:29:24 1994 From: Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se (Mattias Hallin) Date: Sat, 16 Apr 1994 17:29:24 +0200 Subject: Gladstone's Sales in Sweden Message-ID: <01HB91XWUADW8WWGNK@castor.ldc.lu.se> GLADSTONE'S SALES IN SWEDEN is of course a subject on which I'm fairly ignorant, nor do I have any idea of their aggregate overseas sales, but i DO know that my local dealer carries a complete run of Gladstones, including the albums, and have no particular problem turning them over, I'd say... OK, Lund, as a student town, has a larger than average comic book market, all types of comics -- but still, as I said, from what I see, Gladstone seems to be doing well right here; and it's the Gladstone Gladstones, not Marvel Gladstones, too! Mattias !==============================================================================! !* Mattias Hallin ** ** Phone: +46 46-14 84 43 **! !* Trollebergsvagen 24 B ***** Work: Lund University, Box 117, S-221 00 Lund **! !* S-222 29 Lund, SWEDEN **************************** Phone: +46 46-10 71 37 **! !==============================================================================! !******************** "Hello, all you happy tax-payers!" *********************! !==============================================================================! From David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu Sat Apr 16 18:52:18 1994 From: David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu (David A Gerstein) Date: Sat, 16 Apr 1994 12:52:18 -0400 Subject: Those Germans In-Reply-To: Your message of Sat, 16 Apr 1994 01:18:07 +0200 Message-ID: <9404161652.AA18659@bigbird.cc.williams.edu> Dear Folks, Don discussed the German weekly: "This is the only country where the weekly is named after the wrong character. Those Germans -- always being contrary!" >Snort!< Them's fightin' words! Sure, the German weekly is named after Mickey! SO'S the Italian one, and the British one. It's easy to explain in Italy and Germany. Both of those countries get all the stuff produced in Italy (it comes to the Germans in a whopping THREE pocket books per month, one with 256 pages!), in which Mickey has appeared in his Gottfredson version continuously. And in Italy Gottfredson's stories have never been out of print. It is the strong characterization of MM by Gottfredson, and those who worked in his footsteps, that is enough to keep Mickey up there with DD as a popular character. It is the countries which have given constant exposure to this characterization (since the 1950s) where MM is equal in popularity to DD and US. As for the British situation, I haven't a clue. Actually, Mickey's name vanished from the weekly when Gottfredson stopped doing the adventure stories in the late 1950s. It only returned about three years ago. Regarding "Return to Xanadu"'s German publication: "I see the #2000 has (part 2?) of my "Return to Xanadu" under the title "(something) to Trala La". So, the surprise of Xanadu being Trala La is merely given away in the TITLE of the story? What did they use for a title to "Citizen Kane" in Germany? "The Man with the Sled Named Rosebud"? No, but "War of the Wendigo" is there called "Return to the Land of the Pygmy Indians," spoiling any surprise in the sudden reappearance of the Peeweegahs. Yep, them Germans can't keep a secret. Your pal, David Gerstein From 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM Mon Apr 18 05:55:57 1994 From: 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM (Don Rosa) Date: 17 Apr 94 23:55:57 EDT Subject: Disney-comics digest #302. Message-ID: <940418035557_72260.2635_EHB141-3@CompuServe.COM> MARK: No, I didn't mean that American comic COMPANIES could have done anything to help Disney freelancers. I meant that American comic professionals were quite obvious in not doing or saying a thing about Disney's policies, even when CBG had a top, front-page headline about Disney not allowing art to be returned. These are the same people that raise all hell when Jack Kirby couldn't get back artwork he knowingly allowed to be kept 30 years ago (because at the time he saw no value in it), but wanted back later. I, on the other hand, always demanded my art returned and it was withheld for no other stated reason other than Disney not wanting me to have it back. Apparently, the professionals were distressed by Kirby's problem since his situation would reflect on THEIR situation; what happened to a freelancer doing Disney work (which they had no interest in for its lack of potential profitability) did not matter to them. Also, even the other Disney comics freelancers didn't try to help improve their own situation -- they cooperated in their own subjugation when they could have protested with me. That sort of situation can only last as long as people don't object to its flagrant unfairness -- as long as no one (or only one) objects, there's no good business reason to change the policy. How do we know the Gladstone's aren't selling 160,000 per issue? Common sense. They used to sell about 70,000 per issue 6 years ago; Disney Comics eroded that to 40,000 copies; I know that store orders have not increased much, not even back up to the levels of 6 years ago, much less to have doubled that number! No, I remembered how Hamilton explained their new deal, that they print a certain number of issues for Marvel to sell to the newsstands; these issues are marked as SOLD WITH NO RETURNS on Gladston'es books, even if they never ARE sold by Marvel... Marvel eats those returns and they aren't reimbursed for them. For the direct sales, which Gladstone handles, there ARE no returns. Therefore, as I said, Gladstone prints for both direct and newsstand markets, yet they have 100% sales on the entire runs on their books. The only way this isn't a phenomenally great deal is that Marvel may not pay much for those issues. And what do you mean "old issues with new covers". They are part of the same press run, only a certain number have the Marvel logo in place of the Gladstone. They are concurrent with the Gladstone issues, and part of that same sales figure list. Gladstone's international sales have always been important, but not all that much. The only way they can be sold outside of the U.S. and Australia and Canada is in those direct sales stores in Europe, and there aren't that many of them there. Too bad there's not -- an average American direct-sales store orders about 5 or 10 copies of a Gladstone comic; the comic stores I've visited in Norway sold about 400 issues of each Gladstone Duck title (and about 50-100 once Disney took over). If direct-sales stores were the way comics were mostly sold in Europe as in America, Gladstone would be sittin' onna gold mine. In my travels to many American comic shows, I "have my finger on the pulse" of the interest in Gladstone's new Disneys... and the lack of interest between now and 6-8 years ago is clear and tangible. The number of issues that Gladstone PRINTS has not changed (probably) from those days (though I'll guess it's lower) -- it's just that they are able to claim their entire print run as "sold" which they couldn't in those days. DAVID: I haven't seen the German weekly #2000, but are you saying that the "Return to Xanadu" story is NOT titled "Return to Trala La"? I just got a FAX fro the translator himself who verified that the title used IS "Return to Trala La" and he apologized for it. That's not the title you see? From H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl Mon Apr 18 12:10:32 1994 From: H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl (Harry Fluks) Date: Mon, 18 Apr 1994 12:10:32 +0200 Subject: Disney-comics digest #298. Message-ID: <199404181010.AA02836@athena.research.ptt.nl> (I have been away for a week, so here are some replies to old mail...) About Argus McSwine ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Dutch name of this pig is Venijn MacSnekke. I think he was named so even in the 60s and 70s, before Egmont made a lot of stories with him. Maybe even in several Barks stories. Bucky Bug ~~~~~~~~~ David asked: > *** HAVE THE EARLY BUCKY SUNDAY STRIPS BEEN REPRINTED BY > OBERON... AND IF SO, WHERE AND WHEN? *** Not that I know of... A lot of sunday newspaper strips have been reprinted in Holland, including Hiawatha, Panchito, Joe Carioca, etc. But I can't recall a reprint of any Bucky Bug strip. (For those who don't know: Oberon was the name of the Dutch publisher for years.) AR-index ~~~~~~~~ David made some corrections and additions to the ftp-file 'ar-index'. Don't worry too much about updating this: when I'm finished with the Disney comics Database, this file and some others will be constantly up-to-date, or at least consistent with other files (because the 'source' information will be stored on one place only). Hiawatha translated ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dwight asked: > How are the Lil Hiawatha stories translated in your countries? In Holland they used to use some "broken Dutch", a language that is used for uncivilised peoples (I know the French equivalent is called "Petit-ne`gre": Little Negro). It had sentences like "Mij ziek zijn" ("Me be sick"). Holland had a big production of Hiawatha stories in the 60s and 70s, because he was a popular character here and no USA stories were available. >From 1983 on, Hiawatha talks normal Dutch, like everybody else. Nowadays, he appears only once in a while in an Egmont story. Golden Mickeys ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fabio: > there was another edition of FG's stories during the years > 1970-1972 (almost all the 1930-1945 stuff), in an series of oblong comics > (just two strips per page) called "Topolino d'Oro", even if this edition > was b&w: does anybody know if this edition was reprinted anywhere? Just > curious... Not in Holland. Rosa and Van Horn indexes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fredrik replied to Mikko: > Like Harry said; send the Van Horn stuff to me and I'll decide > what to do with it. Either I'll include it in the Scandinavian > column if it's similar enough, or I'll give it a column all by > itself, or perhaps it will even get a whole new file. Mikko sent me the Finnish updates for the Don Rosa index, and it sufficed to add an 'F' to some of the entries. I just sent the new version of this file (don-rosa.index) to Per (to put on ftp). --Harry. From H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl Mon Apr 18 12:40:33 1994 From: H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl (Harry Fluks) Date: Mon, 18 Apr 1994 12:40:33 +0200 Subject: Databases, mysteries and newspapers (Re: Disney-comics digest #299.) Message-ID: <199404181040.AA04288@athena.research.ptt.nl> Comics databases ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Torsten: > Announcing the GRAND COMICS DATABASE Fredrik: > I'm actually slightly surprised there has been no reaction to this > message. Has anyone written these guys and told them about all our > indices? I planned to react, but haven't (yet). I'm not sure these people would be interested in Disney (or other funny animal) stuff. The superhero world is quite distinct from 'our' world. But maybe they at least ought to know that we HAVE an index. > And we still don't HAVE a FAQ... And we still don't HAVE time... But I'm still working on the Disney comics Database (which takes more time than I thought). Myckey's Misteries 8-) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fabio: > I do not remeber of having read those stories you talk about, but actually > there is a monthly called "I misteri di Topolino", i.e., "Mickey's > Misteries" Gilbert Roser (hi, Gilbert!): > Here in Germany these comics Frederik mentioned are presented in a digest > called "Ein Fall fur Micky" and until today four books were selled. The > comics are Denish stories of the nineties (the index-numbers are beginning > with D9....) Maybe this is an example of the case that Egmont gives re-worked Italian material its own numbers? (Like we saw before in the Rota story of "Andold Wild Duck") Disney newspaper strips ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ James Williams asked: > What Disney strips have existed? When did they run? Which characters did > they feature? And, Who worked on them? I hope to answer a lot of these questions exactly when I have finished the Disney comics database. From my mind, there are or have been at least the following Disney newspaper strips: - Mickey Mouse, daily, 1930-present. Gottfredson, Walsh, and even Jippes in the early 80s. Listed in ftp file 'mickey-mouse.dailies'. - Donald Duck, daily, 1938-present. Taliaferro, currently reprinted by Gladstone. - Scamp, daily. From 1952 till ? - Mickey Mouse, sunday. Gottfredson, ... Listed in ftp file 'mickey-mouse.sundays' - Silly Symphonies, sunday. Featured a lot of different "sub-series", like Donald Duck (Taliaferro), Hiawatha (Grant), Panchito (Murry), Joe Carioca (Murry), Pluto, Bambi. A lot of various artists, including Gottfredson, Taliaferro, Murry - Donald Duck, sunday. - Brer Rabbit, sunday. Dick Moores. 50s. - Scamp, sunday. 60s/70s. - Disney's Treasury of Classic Tales, sunday. Listed in ftp-file 'classics'. - Winnie the Pooh, sunday. 80s. Reprinted by Gladstone. - Christmas tales, sunday. Only in Chistmas time (November/December). All kinds of characters, like Dumbo, Peter Pan, Cinderella etc. (That's it.) --Harry. From H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl Mon Apr 18 12:48:40 1994 From: H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl (Harry Fluks) Date: Mon, 18 Apr 1994 12:48:40 +0200 Subject: Two milestones (Disney-comics digest #300 and German MM #2000) Message-ID: <199404181048.AA04997@athena.research.ptt.nl> Gilbert Roser wrote: > In Germany is Micky Maus #2000 published. It is #16/1994 and contains as an > extra the first German Micky Maus ever published from September 1951. Strange. Dutch DD Weekly started in 1952 and had its 2000th in early 1991. Did they skip some weeks in Germany? > The stories in MM #16/1994 are: > H 90164 Donald Duck "Held 2000" (Dutch Story) Yeah. By Mau Heymans. It's in that 2000th Dutch issue (91-06). Did they reprint the entire story, including the 1-page panels? (Total should be 16 pages). Is there still an ad for FLUX soap in one of the panels? (Just curious 8-) > Micky Maus Schatzjagd quer durch Entenhausen (German story, I think) What makes you think it's German? Do they 'ueberhaupt' make any Disney stories in Germany nowadays? --Harry. From lrn at daimi.aau.dk Mon Apr 18 13:41:43 1994 From: lrn at daimi.aau.dk (Lasse Reichstein Nielsen) Date: Mon, 18 Apr 94 13:41:43 METDST Subject: From RoC Message-ID: <199404181141.AA06635@clarice.daimi.aau.dk> WARNING: highly inflammable material: ===================================== Jan Lund Thomsen, who may still be lurking out there, has elevated a phrase of mine to A Quote. It goes "Nobody likes Tony Strobl!" Not one to speak ill of the dead, or even the mortal, I'd like to elaborate on that: The recent tribute to Tony Strobl in WDC&S #592 and D&M #25, both of which I have yet to see, perpetuates the American publishers' obvious preference to old and tried material. I would rather have seen some of the numerous Studio stories from ca. 1970 with Scrooge as a newspaper editor, Donald and Feathry as his un- enthusiastic bullpen, and Daisy as a meter maid. Just as fictive as the Duck Tales show, these stories are, with no quality judgment implied, simplistic and trivial; a comic book version of the TV sit-com usually dismissed offhand as typical bad, or complete lack of, taste. They do, however, within the limits of the set-up, excell in stringent plots, ironic comments, and absurd events, otherwise unknown to Disney comics. Without dismissing the role of the (unknown?) scripter, this is IMHO Strobl's most original contribution to disneydom. ("Engage flame shield, Lieutenant!" "Aye-aye, Commander!") Don asked: ========== > Anyone here from Denmark? I also just received a ANDERS AND & >CO. #13 (1994), and on page 14/15 there seems to be a large text piece >explaining my Duck Family Tree they just finished serializing (with >stickers). What is this all about? I sure get curious when I see text >sections in these foreign comics that say "blah blah blah blah DON ROSA >blah blah blah". Yes, an explanation is what it is. It simply recapitulates who is what to whom, if you can't figure out the tree, and relates some trivia and token characterizations, if you haven't read the stories. The bold type tells that there are conflicting ideas of the relations, and this version "has been done by Don Rosa based on ideas and sketches by the famous Disney artist Carl Barks." (Yes, you're just a talented assistant of Barks' to Egmont/Denmark.) The Norwegian Donald Duck must tickle your curiosity a lot. They seem to be dropping your name all over the place, like mentioning your 7th anniversary on april 7th. Congratulations. Re: Lo$, chapter 11, part 2, 'Return of Bombie the Lost Zombie'. Not wanting to *SPOIL* too much, I'll just say I enjoyed this part even more than the recent ones, not only because of Bombie and the big ship; Recent chapters have been, like, glorifying Scrooge to the point of apotheosis, and Scrooge's actions here reminds us that he is, after all, human. Will the final chapter reveal that it is in fact an autobiography by Scrooge, or are you yourself, Don, so biased in his favor? (Sorry, do I sound like I'm using the keyboard as a blunt instrument?=) Oh, and another idea on how to make big bucks on ducks: would it be possible to get a cut from limited and signed editions of posters, you know, the ones on expensive paper in monstrous sizes, that sell for hundreds of dollars? All the others do it. And if you skip the ducks(TM) from them, you could probably avoid (legal) problems with Disney Corp. Harry's data base: ================== Totally overwhelmed by your description of the data base format, I was hoping to see an example. Just to get an impression, and to know if it would work at all. On a need to know basis, I can tell you that I'd really hate to see the issue lists stripped of information, they should remain as they are. A story index must however, if it is to have any value, contain information on all publishings of a story worldwide. Some stories, like OS 456, will require space for dozens of entries, with all the additional information we have. Other stories will just be a number to the left. Not to mention the old uncoded Dell stories. I'll quote myself from an unfinished letter: >>> On indexes: I think we can do with two types of lists; those by issue and the specials. The Dutch, Danish, and USA lists are fine as they are, and in time a complete American index will hopefully be compiled. Maybe other foreign nationals will feel obliged to chart their local Disney publications. Ideally we should have lists of all Disney books ever published (and zen ve vill take over ze vorld!:) >From these it would be simple to extract lists at the drop of a hat of, for instance, "all Don's stories for Gladstone over 2 pages in American, German, or French" or "Ludwig von Drake by Tom Yakutis since 1992 in Uncle $crooge." It won't even be necessary to re-arrange the indexes we have; a program could hold the parameters for each list (at which position what data is located, and date format). Actually stripping information from one list and making room for non-existing data in another, and place the most at some central list would leave the other indexes worthless without THE list and THE program. I prefer them to be of use also as separate files. I also like to have information twice. Of course, I can't expect you to agree, Harry: >I myself also archive everything from this list (My archive is about >3 1/2 floppy disks by now) and I always edit out the unnecessary >texts manually. So is mine, and I don't!? (How about a program that deletes lines starting with a '>', wouldn't that save you some work? Or do you mean texts that say 'From RoC'?;) <<< So, the point I was trying to make above, is that what we need is not another index, that requires a program to read, but a program that can read what we want from the old indexes. No, I don't know C from Z:) If anybody cares, my project with Danish comics is now making headway with my recent purchase of CB&Co. #17 with a lot of Italian names, and a future parcel from Fabio with heavy data density. Thanks, Fabio, I'm looking forward to it like a kid to christmas eve! Please, please: =============== Due to the 'interesting' ways of mail handling favored by my brother, (he also reads my mail before he sends it: Hi, Spot!) some of this list's digests never reached me. Would someone please dig out #s 98, 178, 228 and 284, and mail them to me? I know lysator have them as individual letters, but I prefer Per's hardcover collectors edition:) I'm can also use good copies of #1-77. ... Appendicitis ============ One week later, this letter appears not to have been mailed, so I'll append another description of a 2000th issue; Norway, take it away: 56 pages instead of the usual 48, it features a great 16 paged Mau Heymans special (H 90164) for (Dutch) Donald Duck's 2000th(?) issue. It has three full page panels: one of them with about 50 people around the banquet table. Included are Bombie the Zombie and Smorgasbord. The next 4 pages are also Mau Heymans, they were also in Danish and Swedish editions, if I remember correctly, like the Vicar story next. The rest is a Barks one pager (US 13c), a Taliaferro sunday, and the first part of Lo$ chapter 11. The editorial stuff consists of a 4 page history of the Norwegian magazine, a date-the-cover competition and a competition about how many characters you can name from the previously mentioned Heymans page. A very good issue, but the Norwegian ones usually are. As a Dane I can only be ashamed that Anders And & Co. has missed the opportunity to celebrate the same event in Denmark (according to my count). The frequency of supplementary issues has also been limited to 1 in 6 instead of the usual 1 in 4, still done in Norway. Evidence of impeding poverty is also a recent inlay with two of Murry's Phantom Blot stories that was printed on what you call parchment paper/greaseproof paper. Not exactly what I'd consider a quality edition. From d91fe at venus.pt.hk-r.se Mon Apr 18 13:37:02 1994 From: d91fe at venus.pt.hk-r.se (Fredrik Ekman) Date: Mon, 18 Apr 94 13:37:02 +0200 Subject: Databases... Message-ID: <9404181137.AA24502@venus.pt.hk-r.se> Harry wrote: > Comics databases > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Torsten: > > Announcing the GRAND COMICS DATABASE > [...] > > I planned to react, but haven't (yet). I'm not sure these people would > be interested in Disney (or other funny animal) stuff. The superhero > world is quite distinct from 'our' world. But maybe they at least > ought to know that we HAVE an index. Well, I've been in touch with him and he seemed to be interested. It's probably a safe guess, however, that superheroes are priority one. And there's no need for you to contact him. I gave him your address and he will contact you if he really is interested. >Disney newspaper strips >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ About the newspaper strips; before Christmas they published a daily Beauty and the Beast in a regional newspaper here in Blekinge, Sweden. Perhaps this is just some spin-off or daily publication of the Sunday Christmas Tales? /F From H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl Mon Apr 18 15:51:50 1994 From: H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl (Harry Fluks) Date: Mon, 18 Apr 1994 15:51:50 +0200 Subject: DcD and Norwegian #2000 (Re: From RoC) Message-ID: <199404181351.AA12919@athena.research.ptt.nl> Apart from my previous mail about the Disney comics Database (DcD), I have some remarks to Ole's mail: > It won't even be necessary to re-arrange the indexes we have; Well, I just did that and found a lot of inconsistencies and errors... > I also like to have information twice. It's much better to have to UPDATE information on just one place, and then GENERATE files with the same information in 2, 3 or more forms. > Of course, I can't expect you to agree, Harry: I hope we come to some kind of compromise... me> I myself also archive everything from this list (My archive is about me> 3 1/2 floppy disks by now) and I always edit out the unnecessary me> texts manually. RoC> So is mine, and I don't!? Maybe you didn't store the messages from the start? My almost 4 disks also include private mail about Ducks and Mice, and a few messages from rec.arts.disney. > If anybody cares, my project with Danish comics is now making headway > with my recent purchase of CB&Co. #17 with a lot of Italian names, and > a future parcel from Fabio with heavy data density. Great! Please contact me about abbreviations of new artists. Wouldn't it be nice if your Danish index could become part of the D.c.Database? > [Norwegian Donald Duck #2000] features a great 16 paged Mau > Heymans special (H 90164) for (Dutch) Donald Duck's 2000th(?) issue. > [It also contains] a competition about how many characters you can name > from the previously mentioned Heymans page. For whoever wants to join that contest: Donald appears twice on the panel! --Harry. From H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl Mon Apr 18 16:05:33 1994 From: H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl (Harry Fluks) Date: Mon, 18 Apr 1994 16:05:33 +0200 Subject: Disney Comics Database [retry] Message-ID: <199404181405.AA14178@athena.research.ptt.nl> [first attempt bounced; sorry if this message arrives twice - HF] FYI (on request by Ole): I already made some files and programs. There are three kinds of files in the database: - DBS (DataBase Story files). Contain story information like number of pages, creators, dates etc. Not all story files have the same format (because newspaper strips have no 'number of pages', Dell comics have no 'end date' etc.) - DBI (DataBase Issue files). Contain entries for all issues. Most entries have only the codes of the stories, referring to the DBS files where the full information is stored. - DBL (DataBase List files). These files are generated by programs from the DBS and DBI files. The DBL files are the only interesting files for people who only want the information in a readable form, and don't want to add information themselves. Here are some examples of parts of the various database files. ar.dbs: AR 101 10 MGr MGr DD T:Big Feet! AR 102 26 DR DR US T:The Son of the Sun AR 103 10 DR DR US D:Nobody's business AR 104 10 DR DR DD D:Mythological Menagerie w-us.dbs: W US 4-FC 1 53-05-07 CB CB US O:Bill treated coat W US 4-01 1 53-05-21 CB CB US D:Ballet School W US 4-02 32 53-05-28 CB CB US R:Hawaiian Hideaway W US 4-03 1 53-05-21 CB CB US O:your weight 1 cent W US 4-04 1 53-05-21 CB CB US O:Money bags for tramp gladsdis.dbi: GCA 24a FC DR DR US T:A Cold Bargain GCA 24b W US 17-02 GCA 24c 1 W US 31-05 GCA 24d W US 31-01 GCA 24e W US 5-01 gladsdis.dbl (based on gladsdis.dbi, with information added from the .dbs files. The format is a lot like the current format of the 'gladstone-disney.index' file): GCA 24a FC DR DR US T:A Cold Bargain GCA 24b 26+ W US 17-02 CB CB US T:A Cold Bargain GCA 24c 1 W US 31-05 CB CB US T:The Secret Book GCA 24d 17 W US 31-01 CB CB US T:All At Sea GCA 24e 1 W US 5-01 CB CB US D:Hospitality Week w-us.dbl (based on w-us.dbs, but a program has gathered the reprints from all DBI files): US 4-FC 1 US O:Bill treated coat US 4-01 1 US D:Ballet School US 260d US 4-02 32 US R:Hawaiian Hideaway US 190, GCA 11b, USD 5c US 4-03 1 US O:your weight 1 cent US 214g US 4-04 1 US O:Money bags for tramp WDC 513f Note that some "irrelevant" information is skipped. If a story is (partly) not by CB, this is added as a comment [Not by CB], [CB art only] etc. In fact I tried to let it look like the Helseth files. My idea is to put the DBL files (the output generated by programs) on the ftp site, and *maybe* the original DBS and DBI files on a separate directory. Since I don't have programs (yet) to perform data entry in a consistent and user-friendly way, I think updates should go through a central point (i.e. me). For instance, if someone indexes the contents of a Gladstone comic containing a Barks WDC reprint, a Danish story and a new AR story with a new artist, several files have to be updated: gladsdis.dbi, d.dbs, ar.dbs, creators and several files have to be re-generated: gladsdis.dbl, w-wdc.dbl, ar.dbl (and others, depending on which DBL files we want to have). The first version of the Disney comics Database (DcD) on ftp can be expected in May (I hope!) --Harry. From d91fe at venus.pt.hk-r.se Mon Apr 18 16:35:06 1994 From: d91fe at venus.pt.hk-r.se (Fredrik Ekman) Date: Mon, 18 Apr 94 16:35:06 +0200 Subject: Disney Comics Database [retry] Message-ID: <9404181435.AA24962@venus.pt.hk-r.se> Harry, on the subject of DcD: > I already made some files and programs. Everything looks just great so far, Harry. You've done a magnificent job! > My idea is to put the DBL files (the output generated by programs) > on the ftp site, and *maybe* the original DBS and DBI files on a separate > directory. Yes, please put the DBS and DBI files there as well, along with the source for your programs, if you don't mind. That way, anyone who wants to make some special purpose program can do so without having to contact you. For instance, I could try to make a program to generate something similar to the van-horn.index. This program would, of course, be submitted along with yours at the FTP site. In addition, I could produce lists that are intended for my personal use only. After all, we can't have EVERY possible DBL file on the site... There must of course be a README file in the subdirectory indicating that the files are NOT intended to be used as they are. /F From revry at tjhsst.vak12ed.edu Mon Apr 18 17:10:00 1994 From: revry at tjhsst.vak12ed.edu (Ronald A. Evry (Ronald)) Date: Mon, 18 Apr 94 11:10:00 EDT Subject: Disney-comics digest #303. In-Reply-To: <9404181450.AA10453@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE>; from "disney-comics@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE" at Apr 18, 94 4:50 pm Message-ID: <9404181510.AA14201@tjhsst.vak12ed.edu> To DON: I meant the Lo$ part one. It came out well after the direct market got theirs & vanished from the Wal-Mart shelves in a single weekend. The other duck, mouse & super-hero books just sit there. I am certain that Lo$ will continue to perform as well in the future.... BTW, if you won't get paid for reprinting your work in a trade pb version of Lo$, maybe you can convince the powers that be to let you write an original "introduction," and then pay you royalties for that. Stan Lee pulled that stunt at Marvel dozens of times so he would get paid for reprint pb's & the artists would get stiffed (frequently, the COVERS of the books were paste-ups of old stuff, so no one had to get royalties for that either). Ron From David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu Mon Apr 18 18:17:39 1994 From: David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu (David A Gerstein) Date: Mon, 18 Apr 1994 12:17:39 -0400 Subject: McSwine In-Reply-To: Your message of Mon, 18 Apr 1994 16:43:48 +0200 Message-ID: <9404181617.AA27245@bigbird.cc.williams.edu> Dear Folks, Don Rosa said: "I never knew that Egmont had used the same name for all the appearances of the pig-villain in their editions. Interesting." I can't say for sure. But they do NOW, as indicated by their immediate recognition of "Argus McSwine" in one of my own scripts. "But you're also saying that when Gladstone reprints those Barks stories, they CHANGE the names, all to "Argus McSwine"??? With the policy of never tampering with the originals, I'd find that surprising." NOOOOOOOOOOOO! Gladstone has never done this, and neither did Disney! The character keeps his various aliases in reprints of his Barks appearances. "But if a single name is chosen, that's not such a bad idea... however, I would STRONGLY vote AGAINST "Argus McSwine".... In fact, in times past when I've heard fans give a single name to the pig- villain, it's been Porkman DeLardo, not McSwine. I find Porkman DeLardo much more interesting for some reason..." Probably because it's almost IDENTICAL to the villain Porko DeLardo in "Old California", a much more famous story!!! I note "Argus McBRINE" (the last name being from "Forbidden Valley") given consistently to the character in the fanzine _Barks Collector_ in the early '80s. My guess is that this is why Argus has now become the consistent first name, out of all those which he had in Barks' stories. Gladstone's Gary Gabner finalized "Argus McSwine" in the U. S. Just after he began doing a LOT of stories with the character, Disney started, and printed Barks' "Milkman" story, in which the pig's called McSwine. Loads of publicity abounded -- and since the name began with Barks, even if it was one in many, it seems like a good idea to keep it, if consistency is what's now desired. It was ultimately Gary Gabner's decision. After all, he could have given varying aliases to the character in the American versions of Egmont's stories -- even if the hog was named consistently in Egmont -- but chose not to. I know, we're groaning under the weight of Scottish character-names... but as far as I'm concerned, it would be awfully weird to see the character who is now known as Argus McSwine called something else. Oink! David Gerstein From David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu Tue Apr 19 02:29:32 1994 From: David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu (David A Gerstein) Date: Mon, 18 Apr 1994 20:29:32 -0400 Subject: Various things Message-ID: <9404190029.AA04170@bigbird.cc.williams.edu> Dear Folks, LONG Digest today, with lots of things to talk about. Regardez: Return to Tralla La =================== Don: "I haven't seen the German weekly #2000, but are you saying that the "Return to Xanadu" story is NOT titled "Return to Tralla La"? I just got a FAX from the translator himself who verified that the title used IS "Return to Trala La"... That's not the title you see?" Er... ahem... I never said that wasn't the name! I just pointed out that naming the story "Return to Tralla La" was in the tradition of their title for "War of the Wendigo," which similarly spoiled the surprise. Mickey Mysteries ================ Gilbert: "In Germany these comics Frederik mentioned are presented in a digest called "Ein Fall fur Micky" and until today four books were selled. The comics are Danish stories of the nineties (the index-numbers are beginning with D9...." Harry: "Maybe this is an example of the case that Egmont gives re-worked Italian material its own numbers?" Nope. These are EGMONT stories, but drawn by ITALIAN artists. Egmont has quite a program going with Disney Italy to draw the now-sizable number of pocket-book stories they make. There you go, STRAIGHT from the horse's mouth. (Horace, mind you.) And Gilbert... isn't the title of the comic "Micky Aktion"? The cover of the first one has a SUBTITLE "Ein Fall fur Micky", but I thought the title was "Micky Aktion"... Newspaper strips ================ Harry: "There are or have been at least the following Disney newspaper strips" ... [SNIP] You missed a few, Harry. The one-panel "Merry Menagerie" ran for a while from the '50s-'70s. This was simply a Disney-drawn series with domestic and farm animals exchanging snide jokes. Ecch. There was also a True-Life Adventures strip in the '50s for awhile, drawn in a realistic style, showing the lives of real animals. RoC described Scrooge-as-newseditor Strobl stories ================================================== This is not directed at YOU RoC... but... I don't know about anyone else, but I would never buy ANYTHING like this. A story has appeared in Germany and Norway which is =================================================== "a great 16 paged Mau Heymans special (H 90164) for (Dutch) Donald Duck's 2000th(?) issue. It has three full page panels..." Many of you wrote about this. If 2000 can be replaced by any other large number, this seems IDEAL for WDC&S 600 next year! Can someone please give a synopsis of the story? I would like to make the English version for John Clark. I would like to talk to him about it as SOON as possible. Please, can someone help me? I ALSO WOULD WANT TO ACQUIRE THE GERMAN EDITION OF THIS. Can someone help me THERE? I'll pay for it... honest! Fredrik noted that ================== "before Christmas they published a daily Beauty and the Beast in a regional newspaper here in Blekinge, Sweden. Perhaps this is just some spin-off or daily publication of the Sunday Christmas Tales?" It IS from the Christmas Tales strip (1992) but was presented in daily form here, too. And in '93 it was a... yawn... Aladdin story. How predictable. Gladstone's sales ================= John Clark told me that "our comics are already selling MUCH better than Disney's were... about twice as well." Or something along those lines. Apparently Gladstone is doing well. So well that they wanted to begin expanding their line, and WDCiC was to have been only the first example of this, but Disney nipped that in the bud, for no reason that ANYONE can figure out. Egmont expands the MM universe ============================== I got some updated Mickey material for writers from Egmont, today. Among them were illustrated sections about Eli Squinch and Montmorency Rodent, both of whom are to be regulars from now on! Also a copy of a 24-page story by Byron Erickson himself which is the best MM story ever done by Egmont, I think. Only the script. The villain is Peg-Leg Pete -- called that, and with the peg-leg. Mickey wears his red shorts. Yep, things are getting back to basics. Just wait 'til all of this hits publication later this year... Yours, David Gerstein "I'll hold the pipe like this, and when I nod my head, YOU hit it with th' hammer!" (nod) *** CLONK! *** "Fur gawrsh sakes, Mickey! I did just whut yuh TOLD me to!" From 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM Tue Apr 19 05:23:28 1994 From: 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM (Don Rosa) Date: 18 Apr 94 23:23:28 EDT Subject: Disney-comics digest #303. Message-ID: <940419032328_72260.2635_EHB139-1@CompuServe.COM> TORSTEN: Your comments on Lo$ #2: Correct -- the Beagle Boys on the cover should NOT have their prison numbers. But I thought readers would find them more recognizeable, especially at that distance, if they looked completely like the modern BB's, particularly since they would not yet have read the interior tale to know the BB's aren't supposed to have numbers at that point. Artistic license. All your other comments involved coloring and lettering/map labels, something that I have no control over. The reason there was no border between Indiana and Ohio on that map is that the caption box has been redrawn as have been ALL my balloons; I make them larger than all those you see in the American editions to fit in all that outlandish Scandanavian gibberish! I would definitely have labeled Oklahoma as "Indian Territory" if it had been in my script that that area was to be labelled. I left out all but the pertinent labels just to make it easier on the Egmont publishers who really DISLIKE all the extra work I put on them in labelling background details already! They don't have staff letterrers over there, and such extra work is a real pain. Ratchet Gearloose, if I didn't explain it in my text page, came from that Barks story in UNCLE $CROOGE GOES TO DISNEYLAND. From 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM Tue Apr 19 05:51:34 1994 From: 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM (Don Rosa) Date: 18 Apr 94 23:51:34 EDT Subject: Disney-comics digest #304. Message-ID: <940419035134_72260.2635_EHB139-2@CompuServe.COM> ROC: Yes, you are very correct in your analysis of what I did with the Lo$. Chapter 8 was the CLIMAX (in the Shakespearean sense)... chapters 10 & particularly 11 are the "falling action". In other words, I built $crooge up to his PEAK of strength and perfection in chapter 8, but chapter 11 shows his near-downfall due to "the dark side of the force" of finally becoming as successful at everything he does, as he had been UNsuccessful prior to the Yukon. Bombie the Zombie is his punishment which haunts him for decades. No, the Lo$ does not end up as being autobiographical. $crooge wouldn't want anyone to know all this stuff about him... especially the parts you're seeing in these last two chapters. And I thank you for your suggestion of how to make extra $ off the sale of expensive posters. But, I'm not sure I follow -- are you saying that I could avoid problems with Disney if these posters did not include their Ducks? Of course I'd avoid problems with Disney. I'd also avoid problems with anyone BUYING the posters... and before that, I'd avoid problems in that I'd find no one interested in producing such posters. I mean, without the Disney Ducks, what would be the point? And I thank the other nice person who suggested I could collect a royalty off my text pieces. But again... Gladstone would avoid this by not using my text pieces any longer. The thing you nice folks don't seem to grasp is that neither Gladstone nor Egmont are TRYING to find a system by which they would HAVE to pay me more money! No publisher WANTS to pay royalties -- but they find they MUST in order to get the work they want. Gladstone and Egmont MUST pay royalties to Disney to use my work (or any Disney stuff)... but they do not need to pay ME, so they'd be foolish to figure out a way to compel themselves to do so. Any Disney freelancer is free from the worry of ever receiving royalties for his work... that's why you only see the work coming from art studios in Chile and Spain and Italy and other economically primitive countries. That's why somebody like Daan Jippes got OUT of it a decade or two ago. From H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl Tue Apr 19 10:00:33 1994 From: H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl (Harry Fluks) Date: Tue, 19 Apr 1994 10:00:33 +0200 Subject: Rosa, Jippes, and others Message-ID: <199404190800.AA04674@athena.research.ptt.nl> Don: > Any Disney freelancer is free from the worry of ever receiving royalties > for his work... [...] > That's why somebody like Daan Jippes got OUT of it a decade or two ago. Jippes left the Dutch comic business in 1982 and went to the USA to get an even less rewarding job at Disney. He did the Gladstone covers in his own time, and the payment was welcome. In 1991-1993, he re-inked those Barks Woodchuck stories because *he needed the money*! Jippes' motivation has always been artistically: he (thought he) could develop his artistic skills at Disney better than in Holland. He didn't know much of the USA Disney company then... BTW, about Dutch artists: a lot of Dutch artists (and writers) started at Disney (Oberon, Holland), worked there a few years, and then started a comic on their own. Famous (well, in Holland...) examples are Robert van der Kroft and Hanco Kolk. But they don't have the Disney-comics-attraction that some of the other artists I know have... A different question: Don, have you ever considered only *writing* Duck comic stories? --Harry. From starback at Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE Tue Apr 19 12:08:21 1994 From: starback at Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE (Per Starback) Date: Tue, 19 Apr 94 12:08:21 +0200 Subject: FTP updates: "oils" and "don-rosa.index". Message-ID: <9404191008.AA08057@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE> There are two recent updates to the Disney comics ftp archive in pub/comics/disney at ftp.lysator.liu.se. 1. "oils" listing Barks's oil paintings with Disney motifs has been updated by David. He corrected and added some information, and introduced entries showing when older paintings have been reissued as lithographs. Among other things he corrected the info on An Astronomical Predicament, which in this file was believed to be the painting on the cover of a Gladstone album. In fact the cover of Gladstone Giant Album #5 is a preliminary version of a painting for which the final draft was never done, so it's not mentioned in this list. I added a note about this (with David's wording) at the end of the "oils" file. When sending me this David also asked me why the earlier paintings' titles are given in only lower-case. That's because Harry typed them in that way. The inconsistency was because I didn't keep writing it that way when I added new stuff. I've inserted some caps here and there now, to avoid that inconsistency. 2. "don-rosa.index" with an index on Don Rosa's comics and covers with Disney characters has been updated by Mikko and Harry. Info on Finnish reprints are added, as well as some info on different versions of some of Don's comics and covers. Harry also wrote that he corrected the info the story Don wrote (but didn't draw) for DuckTales Magazine. Earlier it said 27 KJ004/1 DTM 17-18/909 4 DT Back in Time for a Dime! [art JD] but now it just says 27 K... DTM .. 4 DT Back in Time for a Dime! [art JD] Was that code and issue of DTM wrong? -- " Per Starback, Uppsala, Sweden. email: starback at minsk.docs.uu.se "Life is but a gamble! Let flipism chart your ramble!" From James_Williams at ESS.NIAID.pc.niaid.nih.gov Tue Apr 19 15:22:39 1994 From: James_Williams at ESS.NIAID.pc.niaid.nih.gov (James Williams) Date: Tue, 19 Apr 94 08:22:39 EST Subject: Disney-comics digest #304. Message-ID: <2db3cd0f@ESS.NIAID.pc.niaid.nih.gov> >I hope to answer a lot of these questions exactly when I have finished >the Disney comics database. From my mind, there are or have been at >least the following Disney newspaper strips: Harry, thanks for the reply. >- Silly Symphonies, sunday. Featured a lot of different "sub-series", like > Donald Duck (Taliaferro), Hiawatha (Grant), Panchito (Murry), > Joe Carioca (Murry), Pluto, Bambi. Who is Grant? I don't recognize that artists name. Likewise, I'm not familiar with characters called Panchito or Joe Carioca. Who are they? >- Christmas tales, sunday. Only in Chistmas time (November/December). All > kinds of characters, like Dumbo, Peter Pan, Cinderella etc. Interesting. I'm surprised these never showed up in the Christmas specials printed by Gladstone and Disney. ===== Since no one else has the time, I volunteer to write the FAQ. For now, all I need is for each of you to post to the list which questions you think should be contained in the FAQ. James Williams From H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl Tue Apr 19 15:02:01 1994 From: H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl (Harry Fluks) Date: Tue, 19 Apr 1994 15:02:01 +0200 Subject: "don-rosa.index". Message-ID: <199404191302.AA18554@athena.research.ptt.nl> Per wrote: > 2. "don-rosa.index" with an index on Don Rosa's comics and covers with > Disney characters has been updated by Mikko and Harry. (...) Harry also > wrote that he corrected the info the story for DuckTales Magazine. (...) > Was that code and issue of DTM wrong? The code was of a long 2-part story in the regular comic 'Ducktales' from Disney Comics. That comic has full credits, and does not mention Don Rosa. The 4-page story that WAS written by Don has been published somewhere else, in a Ducktales MAGAZINE. It must be a coincidence that the story titles are (almost) the same. We discussed this long ago (before Don was on the list I think). --Harry. From H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl Tue Apr 19 15:14:37 1994 From: H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl (Harry Fluks) Date: Tue, 19 Apr 1994 15:14:37 +0200 Subject: Disney newspaper strips Message-ID: <199404191314.AA19383@athena.research.ptt.nl> James: > Who is Grant? Bob Grant drew a lot of newspaper strips (including Hiawatha, and the animal gags David was talking about). I don't think he did anything in comic books. > I'm not familiar with characters called Panchito or Joe Carioca. Joe (Jose) Carioca is a Brazilian parrot, first seen in the film 'Saludos Amigos'. He is still quite popular in Holland, and he has his own comic in Brazil. Panchito is a Mexican bird, he joined Donald and Joe in the film 'The Three Caballeros'. They can both be found in Walt Kelly's version of The Three Caballeros, in Disney Comics' comic WDC 282 + 283, or in Gladstone's WDC Digest 1. > >- Christmas tales > Interesting. I'm surprised these never showed up in the Christmas specials > printed by Gladstone and Disney. The quality of these stories is not quite.. ehm.. > Since no one else has the time, I volunteer to write the FAQ. Great! David Gerstein posted a question list a few months ago; maybe he (or I) can dig it up. And have a look (at least) at the README files on "our" ftp site. A lot of answers are already there (but not as structured as we would like...). --Harry. From efferd at cs.tu-berlin.de Tue Apr 19 15:20:57 1994 From: efferd at cs.tu-berlin.de (Gilbert Roser) Date: Tue, 19 Apr 1994 15:20:57 +0200 Subject: Two milestones (Disney-comics digest #300 and German MM #2000) In-Reply-To: <199404181048.AA04997@athena.research.ptt.nl> (message from Harry Fluks on Mon, 18 Apr 1994 12:48:40 +0200) Message-ID: <199404191320.PAA22121@sphinx.cs.tu-berlin.de> Harry Fluks wrote: >Strange. Dutch DD Weekly started in 1952 and had its 2000th in early 1991. >Did they skip some weeks in Germany? Micky Maus started in September 1951 as an monthly title, was later published biweekly and since '56 or '57 it has a weekly distribution. >Yeah. By Mau Heymans. It's in that 2000th Dutch issue (91-06). Did they >reprint the entire story, including the 1-page panels? (Total should be >16 pages). >Is there still an ad for FLUX soap in one of the panels? (Just curious 8-) As I remember ('cause the book is at home) Ehapa has published the whole 16 pages. For the FLUX soap ad I have to read it again. I don't know because there were so many ads. >What makes you think it's German? Do they 'ueberhaupt' make any Disney >stories in Germany nowadays? I've got a couple of comics with an index beginning with G which stands for (as long as I know) Germany. This special story was about a treasure hunt in which the first German Micky Maus book was found. So I think the story was especially written and drawn for this anniversary. Maybe You know the "Aus Onkel Dagoberts Schatztruhe" comics of the mid '80s: 1. Der Regengott von Uxmal 2. Wei_es Gold vom Matterhorn 3. Der Ausflug nach Key West 4. Picasso-Raub in Barcelona 5. F_nfmal Grand Canyon und zur_ck As long as I know these are German Disney stories and their ID-numbers started with G. Gilbert From d91fe at bengan.pt.hk-r.se Tue Apr 19 17:51:52 1994 From: d91fe at bengan.pt.hk-r.se (Fredrik Ekman) Date: Tue, 19 Apr 94 17:51:52 +0200 Subject: FAQ Message-ID: <9404191551.AA21489@bengan.pt.hk-r.se> > Since no one else has the time, I volunteer to write the FAQ. For now, > all I need is for each of you to post to the list which questions you > think should be contained in the FAQ. Excellent! May I offer a suggestion: Now, if I were to do this FAQ, I'd start by going through all the old messages from the list. They can be found on the FTP site. This is tedious work, but not only do they include lots of relevant info (if you can find it among all the stuff) but they can also give an idea of which questions ARE really frequently asked. I won't mail my own suggestions before someone digs up David's own message. I seem to remember that it was quite well formulated, although there are no doubt questions that are not mentioned in it. /F From tcelenti at AGSM.UCLA.EDU Tue Apr 19 22:33:49 1994 From: tcelenti at AGSM.UCLA.EDU (Theodore Celentino) Date: Tue, 19 Apr 94 13:33:49 PDT Subject: No subject Message-ID: <199404192033.AA13342@risc.agsm.ucla.edu> Hi all! I'm a list newcomer and I have what may be a very simple or simple-minded question. However, the answer would help me set up a nifty introduction to a discussion of cross-cultural communication problems. Here goes: Is there an easy way to get a simple list of our dear friend Mickey Mouse's name in each country of the world? Thanks Ted From starback at Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE Tue Apr 19 22:55:08 1994 From: starback at Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE (Per Starback) Date: Tue, 19 Apr 94 22:55:08 +0200 Subject: Mickey Mouse's name In-Reply-To: Theodore Celentino's message of Tue, 19 Apr 94 13:33:49 PDT <199404192033.AA13342@risc.agsm.ucla.edu> Message-ID: <9404192055.AA08076@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE> List newcomer Theodore (welcome!) asked > Is there an easy way to get a simple list of our dear friend Mickey > Mouse's name in each country of the world? Well, not exactly every, but you will find quite a few names in the file characters/interlingual in the ftp archive for this list. His name is Mickey, more or less, in most countries, even though it's spelt in some other ways. Notable exceptions are Italy (Topolino) and Sweden (Musse Pigg). -- " Per Starback, Uppsala, Sweden. email: starback at minsk.docs.uu.se "Life is but a gamble! Let flipism chart your ramble!" From David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu Wed Apr 20 02:04:55 1994 From: David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu (David A Gerstein) Date: Tue, 19 Apr 1994 20:04:55 -0400 Subject: Disney-comics digest #305. In-Reply-To: Your message of Wed, 20 Apr 1994 01:18:10 +0200 Message-ID: <9404200004.AA16464@bigbird.cc.williams.edu> Dear Folks, Lessee... (mumble, mumble) Ducktales Magazine ================== Per: "Harry also wrote that he corrected the info on the [Don Rosa] story for DuckTales Magazine .... Was that code and issue of DTM wrong?" Harry: "The code was of a long 2-part story in the regular comic 'Ducktales' from Disney Comics. That comic has full credits, and does not mention Don Rosa. The 4-page story that WAS written by Don has been published somewhere else, in a Ducktales MAGAZINE. It must be a coincidence that the story titles are (almost) the same." And it is. DUCKTALES MAGAZINE was a kids' activity magazine, with a 4-page comic strip in every issue, that was offered at magazine racks in the United States from 1987-1989. The magazine's features were very like the middle section of the Italian TOPOLINO. Features included "Magica De Spell's Magic Tricks," "Recipes by Mrs. Beakley," "Inventions from Gyro's Brainstorming Barn" and "Beagle Boys Belly Laughs." I believe I may have even SEEN the issue with "Back in Time for a Dime!" but did not buy it. Since the magazine went off sale I have never seen any back issues anywhere. Apparently they made a few extra 4-page comics that didn't get used when the magazine folded, because those ended up in Disney Comics issues of UNCLE SCROOGE (i. e. "The Puzzle of the Lost Pyramid" in US 266, and "The Hidden Treasure of Quackistan" somewhere else). The dead giveaway for spotting these stories is the lettering, which is very wide -- looks like Daan Jippes' and probably is, given that he was in the Disney Studio art dept. when those strips were prepared. Gilbert on German stories ========================= "[The German 2000th issue's] special story was about a treasure hunt in which the first German Micky Maus issue was found. So I think the story was especially written and drawn for this anniversary. Maybe you know the "Aus Onkel Dagoberts Schatztruhe" comics of the mid '80s... [list deleted] As long as I know these are German Disney stories and their ID-numbers started with G." Right you are! Those Schatztruhe stories, written (and drawn??) by Adolf Kabatek, are pretty darn good, too -- their major weakness, I think, is their length. They move too slowly. Perhaps Kabatek also drew this new story. Kabatek has drawn many puzzle pages for the German weekly in which Ducks and Mice appear together, so it shouldn't be all _that_ hard to identify his Mickey. Do the Ducks appear with Mickey in this special story? (Shut your eyes, Don) I MUST HAVE THIS GERMAN 2000TH ISSUE! Can someone help me get it? I will trade Gladstones for it through the mail... Just write to me, David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu Panchito ======== Harry: "Panchito is a Mexican bird..." Not just a random bird in fact. He's a charro rooster, "by trade" as he occasionally reminds us in the film. (We at disney-comics at Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE have trouble distinguishing chickens from generic birds... ;-) Panchito later reappeared in "Blame it on the Samba," a short cartoon first included in the compilation _Melody Time_, then released on its own as part of the Donald series. James Williams on the Xmas newspaper strip ========================================== "I'm surprised these never showed up in the Christmas specials printed by Gladstone and Disney." But... but... Disney printed one of them in the Christmas special WDC&S 580!!! Gottfredson's only attempt at the Three Pigs and Li'l Bad Wolf... thank goodness. (No, you DIDN'T hear me criticize a GOTTFREDSON story. Go back to your ducks.) Silly Symphonies ================ Harry mentioned the characters who'd been in this strip. I think that I can list the characters/stories: 1. Bucky Bug (1932-34) 2. Benny Bird (1934) in "Birds of a Feather" [for 1 week there were two MM half-pages, the bonus one reprinted last year in WDC&S 581] 3. DD and Peter Pig (1934) in "The Wise Little Hen" 4. Max Hare and Toby Tortoise in "The Boarding School Mystery, or Who Swiped the Croquet Funds?" (1934) 5. Peter and Polly Penguin in "Penguin Isle" (1934) 6. Ambrose the Robber Kitten (1934-35) 7. "Cookieland, a Romance of the Cake and Candy World!" (1935) 8. Elmer Elephant (1935) 9. Three Orphan Kittens (1935) 10. Three Little Pigs (1936) "Further Advs. Of..." 11. Donald Duck (1936-37) 12. Practical Pig (1937-38) 13. Timid Elmer (1938) 13. Mother Pluto (1938) 14. Pluto (1938-39) 15. The Ugly Duckling (1939) 16. Hiawatha (1939-42) 17. Jose Carioca (1942-44) 18. Panchito (1944-46) I'm not sure if these are all in quite the right order, but I think this is all of them. The title "Silly Symphonies" on the first panel ended with Hiawatha. The "Pinocchio" strip of '39-40 has a Silly Symphony title on the original version (Disney Comics removed it when using the story), but was not, I believe, actually part of this strip. The earlier stories all appeared in early issues of WDC&S, with the sole exception of "The Wise Little Hen" (which was printed last year, anyway). "The Boarding School Mystery" is a real classic... it's a REAL shame it has not been reprinted since 1941. Many of the 1935-1939 stories appeared in Abbeville's collection of Silly Symphony and Classic Tales Sundays, which came out in 1980. This book was their own, original companion to their translated Mondadori books, but unlike those, it used uncensored original strips as source material. It seems clear that Bucky Bug was originally intended as continuing star of the strip, appearing in several different serials one after the other like Mickey. Only one of those serials appears in the Abbeville book. David Gerstein From H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl Wed Apr 20 09:19:03 1994 From: H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl (Harry Fluks) Date: Wed, 20 Apr 1994 09:19:03 +0200 Subject: German comics and Silly Symphonies Message-ID: <199404200719.AA09430@athena.research.ptt.nl> Gilbert: > Maybe you know the "Aus Onkel Dagoberts Schatztruhe" comics of the mid '80s Yeah, and there's one more, with a DANISH code (but identical to the others in the series). It's about the Ducks looking for a tartan in Schotland. These stories were written by Kabatek, and drawn by some studio artist (according to Per who said this when we first discussed it here). But this was a few years ago. And from the fact that the last story had a D-code, I concluded that German publisher Ehapa would not produce their own comic stories anymore. So, in David's reply, replace 'Kabatek' by 'that (yet unknown) artist': > Perhaps Kabatek also drew this new story. Kabatek has drawn > many puzzle pages for the German weekly in which Ducks and Mice appear > together, so it shouldn't be all _that_ hard to identify his Mickey. David again, about Silly Symphonies: > Harry mentioned the characters who'd been in this strip. I > think that I can list the characters/stories: Thank you. I already have a (not quite complete) list with the start and end dates of the sequels, which I plan to embed in the Disney comics Database. According to my Dutch index, there was also a Snowwhite sequel in 1937/1938 (Practical Pig was after that, in 1938 only). And Bambi appeared in 1942 (weeks 29 through 40). --Harry. From H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl Wed Apr 20 09:28:11 1994 From: H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl (Harry Fluks) Date: Wed, 20 Apr 1994 09:28:11 +0200 Subject: ftp files Message-ID: <199404200728.AA09927@athena.research.ptt.nl> Finally, I was able to get the new files from ftp.lysator.liu.se. Here are some remarks for David: Thank you for the updates in the "oils" file! In the file 'peter-pig' you write: # Peter is not to be confused with Percy Pigg, a friend of Mickey (...) # Percy's wife Patricia Pigg had a starring role in one early cartoon, # "Mickey's Follies" (1929), as well as appearing in various gag strips # and "Love Trouble." # Percy and Patricia Pigg are the only Mickey Mouse characters to be # enjoying married life. How about Captain and mrs. Churchmouse? --Harry. From Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se Wed Apr 20 09:43:35 1994 From: Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se (Mattias Hallin) Date: Wed, 20 Apr 1994 09:43:35 +0200 Subject: Would anyone care for a tedious job? Message-ID: <01HBE6TFKQMC8WWA47@castor.ldc.lu.se> 'ELLO, ALL YOU 'APPY TAXPAYERS: I've been asked by my brother Jakob, and by our resident Murryist Germund Silvegren to ask if anyone with access to all or most old WDC issues would care to help them dig out some information for their upcoming Murry-index. It seems -- although details will be furnished later -- that what they need to know concerns publications in WDC of Paul Murry's daily Mickey Mouse strip, sometime way back when; and that the only help they'll be able to offer is photostats of the particular stories they're interested in. This means work, if anyone'd be willing AND has the necessary access to a reasonably complete run of WDC. If so -- let me know, and they'll snailmail those photostats to The Chump... ... sorry; to the Lucky Winner! All my best! Mattias !==============================================================================! !* Mattias Hallin ** ** Phone: +46 46-14 84 43 **! !* Trollebergsvagen 24 B ***** Work: Lund University, Box 117, S-221 00 Lund **! !* S-222 29 Lund, SWEDEN **************************** Phone: +46 46-10 71 37 **! !==============================================================================! !***** "Oh, the villain onward stole... While a wicked smile he smole!" ******! !==============================================================================! From jonlo at ifi.uio.no Wed Apr 20 14:23:09 1994 From: jonlo at ifi.uio.no (Jon Cato Lorentzen) Date: Wed, 20 Apr 1994 14:23:09 +0200 Subject: Some comments on Lo$ 11 Message-ID: <199404201223.17789.gjalp.ifi.uio.no@ifi.uio.no> Don wanted some reactions, and having just read the two first parts of the three parted chapter 11, I have some comments. But first: MAJOR LO$ SPOILER WARNING ! Ok, Don. First of all I must say that the references to Barks stories are very well done. In the hands of a less capable writer/artist, this chapter could soon become a dry collection of Barks Facts, but you manage to keep a small story flowing inbetween all the references. This chapter is very different from the others, mainly because the story suffers much under the weight of the Barks references. Most of the other chapters have had a great story with a lot of Barks facts thrown into the storyline. This chapter has mainly been a load of Barks facts with a small story connecting the various facts. Under the weight of all the references, the storyline seems supressed. However, I haven't read part 3 of the chapter yet, so my views may still change. There are some very impressive scenes in the story, and as I mentioned above, you manage to avoid the story being *JUST* facts, but keep them connected and flowing. Scrooges rage and his imperialistic actions in the jungle are handled very well. Scrooge is almost unrecognisable as he performs this evil deed, with his blackened face and furious eyebrows. I can't see any reason why Disney would want to ban this. What they'll probably see a problem with is the gun pointing at Scrooge on page 3 (Gasp! THREE guns pointing at Scrooge at the same time!). The Titanic drawing was awesome, and really grabbed me by surprise, but all those people jumping into the ocean is probably too much for the tender people at Disney. I mean, thats a mighty long fall. The coloring in the Norwegian version was overall good, except for one major error. A small map is shown after Scrooge leaves Africa, showing Scrooge traveling through Egypt and towards a train track. The colouring here is all screwed up, with the oceans and some of Africa green, and all of Europe blue. It took a long time before I managed to make any sense of that map. One question for Don: The medicine man (Hoku Poku is his name in Norwegian) signs the contract with an X, but then he reads Scrooges name from the contract. I thought X was signed by people unable to read or write. Or has the medicine man learned to read, but not to write ? Jon C. Lorentzen From mayerson at sidefx.sidefx.com Wed Apr 20 15:05:07 1994 From: mayerson at sidefx.sidefx.com (Mark Mayerson) Date: Wed, 20 Apr 1994 09:05:07 -0400 Subject: Panchito Message-ID: <9404201305.AA08076@sidefx.sidefx.com> David Gerstein: David, I don't think that Panchito was in Blame it on the Samba. That's Donald, Jose Carioca and the Aracuan (spelling?) Bird. It is a terrific short film and one of the most interesting live/animation combinations done to that time. ___________________________________________________________________ Mark Mayerson Side Effects Software Inc., Internet: mayerson at sidefx.com Toronto, Ontario, Canada (416) 366-4607 From hellman at proxxi.uf.se Wed Apr 20 12:37:41 1994 From: hellman at proxxi.uf.se (Bror Hellman) Date: Wed, 20 Apr 1994 12:37:41 +0200 (MET DST) Subject: Disney-comics digest #304. In-Reply-To: <2db3cd0f@ESS.NIAID.pc.niaid.nih.gov> Message-ID: On Tue, 19 Apr 1994, James Williams wrote: > >- Silly Symphonies, sunday. Featured a lot of different "sub-series", like > > Donald Duck (Taliaferro), Hiawatha (Grant), Panchito (Murry), > > Joe Carioca (Murry), Pluto, Bambi. > > Who is Grant? I don't recognize that artists name. Likewise, I'm not > familiar with characters called Panchito or Joe Carioca. Who are they? Panchito and Jose Carioca is the supporting cast of Donald duck's various adventures in south america. A rooster and a parrot from The Three Caballeros (1945) and Saludos Amigos (1943), both Donald Duck features. As for the FAQ, what about these: Who's that Carl Barks dude you're always talking about? Didn't Walt Disney draw all those comics? Who's Don Rosa? Al Taliaferro? William van Horn? Daniel Atterbom? Egmont? Paul Murry? All these funny numbers in these comics, what do they mean? Hey! I found a D.U.C.K Don signature! is there more? I couldn't find more in any comics i looked in! Where are they? I can't find it in Tailspin? ... Some ideas, perhaps? Steamboat Willie ---------------------------------------------- ... Does The Little Mermaid wear an algebra? ---------------------------------------------- Internet: hellman at proxxi.uf.se, DuckNet: hellman at 313:100/13.0 From Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se Wed Apr 20 16:02:12 1994 From: Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se (Mattias Hallin) Date: Wed, 20 Apr 1994 16:02:12 +0200 Subject: Disney-comics digest #304. In-Reply-To: Your message dated "Wed, 20 Apr 1994 12:37:41 +0200 (MET DST)" Message-ID: <01HBEJTIQ3K48WWIZN@castor.ldc.lu.se> Dunno -- but Ah'd say, Ah mean, AH'D say that one of our MAJOR FAQ's would bi this'un: ---------------------------------------------- ... Does The Little Mermaid wear an algebra? ---------------------------------------------- Hmmm...? Mattias From Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se Wed Apr 20 16:15:18 1994 From: Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se (Mattias Hallin) Date: Wed, 20 Apr 1994 16:15:18 +0200 Subject: More about FAQ Message-ID: <01HBEL48IRV88WWJ2R@castor.ldc.lu.se> BROR HELLMAN: Maybe I ought to explain why I replied to your sarcastic message about FAQs in a similar sarcastic vein -- I just didn't like your sarcastic attitude in the first place! Sure, to us-in-the-know it might SEEM stupid or something not to know who Carl Barks or Floyd Gottfredson is/was; or not to know that WDC is our common abbreviation for "Walt Disney's Comics and Stories" and so on and so on. Sure. But who said that prior expertise should be required qualification in order to join this list? There's nothing whatsoever wrong with lack of knowledge, as long as one is willing to learn -- and how the $%/& are you supposed to learn unless you're allowed to ask those questions that answers your particular need of knowing -- whether or not the answers seem selfevident and obvious to those who has that knowledge already. Now, it sure ain't none of my business, and I don't wear no stinkin' badge or nuthin'; but I DO think that it's downright wrong to poke fun at those of our lurkers, or future listjoiners who might not know very much about e.g. disney comics, and therefore also might feel that they have no right to voice their opinions or questions on the list. Which of course is exactly what they DO have! I've seen it happen several times while I've been on the list that people have been scared off it, just because we keep our discussions at a high level. AND, may I add, I DO NOT mean to say we should lower the standards or level of discussion -- nosireebob! -- but we SHOULD always welcome anyone to participate, no matter what level that person'd be able to enter the discussion on. I'm well aware that fandom often enough IS a mmeritocratic society, and maybe that's alright; but lets not stoop to snobbery and elitism, shall we? AND this is exactly why a FAQ-file would be an excellent thing to have -- it means there'll be a place to find those basic answers you as new to the subject might need in order to dare come out of the broom-closet, as it may be, and help make this list even better and more diversified. I honestly admire those who has the guts to admit their ignorance of this or that, and ask for what they want/need to know -- and ain't none of us got any business ridiculing them for that! Sure! I agree we must all be allowed to say what we think of any subject, including that which we don't like. But I also think we should try to keep that kinda critique in the open and to the point. If you think that someone is an idiot -- say so, but don't hide it as an in-joke between "us REAL disney-comics-fans" or whatever. Sorry 'bout the sermon -- but I got a bit mad, don't you know; no hard feelings I hope! All my best! Mattias !==============================================================================! !* Mattias Hallin ** ** Phone: +46 46-14 84 43 **! !* Trollebergsvagen 24 B ***** Work: Lund University, Box 117, S-221 00 Lund **! !* S-222 29 Lund, SWEDEN **************************** Phone: +46 46-10 71 37 **! !==============================================================================! ! "Great groaning guzzards! Did I write that? I must have been out of my mind!"! !==============================================================================! From revry at tjhsst.vak12ed.edu Wed Apr 20 18:19:40 1994 From: revry at tjhsst.vak12ed.edu (Ronald A. Evry (Ronald)) Date: Wed, 20 Apr 94 12:19:40 EDT Subject: Disney-comics digest #305. In-Reply-To: <9404192324.AA10556@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE>; from "disney-comics@minsk.docs.uu.se" at Apr 20, 94 1:24 am Message-ID: <9404201619.AA21235@tjhsst.vak12ed.edu> TO DON: you said: And I thank the other nice person who suggested I could collect a royalty off my text pieces. But again... Gladstone would avoid this by not using my text pieces any longer. The thing you nice folks don't seem to grasp is that neither Gladstone nor Egmont are TRYING to find a system by which they would HAVE to pay me more money! No publisher WANTS to pay royalties -- but they find they MUST in order to get the work they want. Gladstone and Egmont MUST pay royalties to Disney to use my work (or any Disney stuff)... but they do not need to pay ME, so they'd be foolish to figure out a way to compel themselves to do so. Actually, they would probably be better off letting you write a forward to a collected Lo$ AND paying you additional royalties for it for: a) the publicity...they could put you on "Good Morning America", etc...signings, the works...Marvel never HAD to pay Lee to write forwards to the collections, but the publicity value was enormous. b) world-wide good will. It's about time that Disney Corp. realized that old Walt is dead, dead, dead & they should hitch their future on some warm bodies. A global personality cult centered itself on CB without Disney's participation. Imagine how their books would sell if they threw some of that enormous PR machine on active artists.... c) future developments. I am assuming that they at least realize the new life you and William Van Horn have breathed into their characters. European stuff is nice, but you guys are responsible for jump-started a dead vehicle in America. Well, I've said my piece. Probably you're right, they just don't give a tinker's damn about their own stuff. PS-- regarding your comments on the mouse -- Dan O'Neill knew what MM was all about twenty years ago. THAT mouse had character! Ron From James_Williams at ESS.NIAID.pc.niaid.nih.gov Wed Apr 20 19:46:54 1994 From: James_Williams at ESS.NIAID.pc.niaid.nih.gov (James Williams) Date: Wed, 20 Apr 94 12:46:54 EST Subject: Disney-comics digest #305. Message-ID: <2db55c7e@ESS.NIAID.pc.niaid.nih.gov> >The code was of a long 2-part story in the regular comic 'Ducktales' >from Disney Comics. That comic has full credits, and does not mention >Don Rosa. The 4-page story that WAS written by Don has been published >somewhere else, in a Ducktales MAGAZINE. It must be a coincidence that >the story titles are (almost) the same. Three questions: o What was DuckTales Magazine? I've never heard of it. What else was in it? o What was Don's story about? I love to see a synopsis of the story. o Don, I knew that early on your drew some stories which were written by other people. How did you end up writing a story which was drawn by someone else? >And have a look (at least) at the README files on "our" ftp site. A >lot of answers are already there (but not as structured as we would >like...). I plan to read EVERYTHING on the ftp site at least once. Expect a lot of IAQs (Infrequently Asked Questions) soon. James Williams From hellman at proxxi.uf.se Wed Apr 20 14:08:16 1994 From: hellman at proxxi.uf.se (Bror Hellman) Date: Wed, 20 Apr 1994 14:08:16 +0200 (MET DST) Subject: your mail In-Reply-To: <199404192033.AA13342@risc.agsm.ucla.edu> Message-ID: On Tue, 19 Apr 1994, Theodore Celentino wrote: > Is there an easy way to get a simple list of our dear friend Mickey > Mouse's name in each country of the world? No, there's not (not that I know of). You can try looking trough this lists ftp-site. I'm doing some sort of translation-index and have these names: English: Mouse, Mickey Swedish: Pigg, Musse or Mus, Mikky (uncommon, not official) Mus, Micky (even more uncommon) Germany: Maus, Micky Norway: Mus, Mikke Italy: Topolino SerboChroatic: Maus, Miki Slovakia: Mys`'jak Miky Hungary: Miki Ege'r Poland: Myszka Mickey Japanese: Miki Kuchi Argentina: Raton Mickey Colombia: Raton Miguelino Finland: Mikki ? Anyone that have more names or can help me with the old names are welcome to post me. I'm especially embaressed that I don't have the ful Finnish name... If some one else have some (more or less) listing of local names to ANY character in the Disney universe, please send them to me. (You don't have to go through this mailing list.) Steamboat Willie ---------------------------------------------- ... Does The Little Mermaid wear an algebra? ---------------------------------------------- Internet: hellman at proxxi.uf.se, DuckNet: hellman at 313:100/13.0 From starback at Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE Wed Apr 20 21:05:55 1994 From: starback at Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE (Per Starback) Date: Wed, 20 Apr 94 21:05:55 +0200 Subject: Translating names and ftp news In-Reply-To: Bror Hellman's message of Wed, 20 Apr 1994 14:08:16 +0200 (MET DST) Message-ID: <9404201905.AA28810@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE> Theodore> Is there an easy way to get a simple list of our dear friend Mickey Theodore> Mouse's name in each country of the world? Bror> No, there's not (not that I know of). You can try looking trough this Bror> lists ftp-site. Bror> I'm doing some sort of translation-index and have these names: You're not the only one! Over a year ago Andreas Gammel (hi!) suggested that we should try to get names of Disney characters in as many different languages as possible and now Fredrik maintains such a list, available at the ftp archive as characters/interlingual. Maybe that was before you joined the list? The main input to the first version of that list came from my own such collection, for which I had used several sources, among them some files I got from you. I advise you to get the interlingual file and compare with your own stuff! It's sort of fun to collect all those names I guess, but most of the time it really doesn't matter much to me what Chief O'Hara is called in Latin... There is at least one practical use of that list near at hand though, namely to aid members of this very list who have read Disney comics mostly in other languages than English so they will be able to understand and participate in the English language discussion on those characters on this list. I will (Real Soon Now) send out special lists translating between one particular language and English to all list subscribers who have addresses that seems to indicate a non-English-speaking origin. By the way, there is a new version of that file as of today, as well as of the Van Horn index van-horn.index. Thanks to Fredrik, Mikko who sent Fredrik info on Van Horn publications in Finnish, and Gilbert who sent Fredrik some info for the interlingual list. -- " Per Starback, Uppsala, Sweden. email: starback at minsk.docs.uu.se "Life is but a gamble! Let flipism chart your ramble!" From David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu Thu Apr 21 00:10:41 1994 From: David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu (David A Gerstein) Date: Wed, 20 Apr 1994 18:10:41 -0400 Subject: DONALD DUCK #286 published? Message-ID: <9404202210.AA23637@bigbird.cc.williams.edu> Dear Folks, I'm wondering if DD #286 has come out this week. If so, it has probably hit the comic shops today. I'm not so desperate to get it that I'm after someone to mail it to me before it reaches the local drug store (thank you, Mark ;-), but I do wonder exactly what's in it, and particularly whether there are any suspicious gaps in continuity other than Sundays. What's on the cover... and is there a 1-page ad for all the month's issues somewhere, or a blurb for DD 286 in the letter column? I have to admit that "The Secret of Mars" is going to absolutely stun American readers who most certainly have seen nothing like it -- art is a bit like Wilhelm Busch in places. I don't mean "stun" as in "amaze with fantastic detail," I just mean surprise, because I don't think most people realize that foreign DD stories actually predated "Pirate Gold." As a story, it has its moments. I don't really know what it's going to feel like, given that Bruce Hamilton apparently wrote an English version almost exactly like the original Italian. I hope he at least put it into duck-speak. That's all for now, folks. David Gerstein From David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu Thu Apr 21 01:56:58 1994 From: David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu (David A Gerstein) Date: Wed, 20 Apr 1994 19:56:58 -0400 Subject: Disney-comics digest #306. In-Reply-To: Your message of Thu, 21 Apr 1994 01:18:15 +0200 Message-ID: <9404202356.AA00608@bigbird.cc.williams.edu> Dear Folks, A few things to comment on today. Air Pirates Funnies =================== Ron Evry: "Dan O'Neill knew what MM was all about twenty years ago. THAT mouse had character!" This is a reference to a series of underground comics, only 2 of which were published, titled _Air Pirates Funnies._ These contained pornographic adventures of Mickey Mouse, Bucky Bug, and "Dirty Duck" (a parody of George Herriman's "Gooseberry Sprigg" character in _Krazy Kat_). I consider those comics a good parody of society as symbolized by Disney, but I *DON'T* appreciate what they did to Floyd Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse. Disney sued Air Pirates Inc. for plagiarism -- I think that they were justified, honestly. They settled for rights to the two comics rather than an enormous fine. Bror Hellman imitating a newbie =============================== referred to one "Daniel Atterbom" amid a list of Disney comic writers/artists. Er... you mean Daniel Branca, right? Then: "I found a D.U.C.K Don signature! Are there more? I can't find it in Tailspin?" Maybe not ;-), but you're closer than you ever dreamed, because Don wrote 2 episodes of Talespin for Disney-TV in 1989. Mark Mayerson caught my mistake =============================== Mark: "David, I don't think that Panchito was in Blame it on the Samba. That's Donald, Jose Carioca and the Aracuan Bird." Good call! I mixed them up! Remember the Aracuan Bird's call... "Adapapapapapapapapapapapapapadiya!" Anyone know if the Aracuan appeared in either Jose's or Panchito's Sunday strips? Jon Cato Lorentzen on LO$ 11 ============================ "Scrooge's rage and his imperialistic actions in the jungle are handled very well. Scrooge is almost unrecognisable as he performs this evil deed, with his blackened face and furious eyebrows. I can't see any reason why Disney would want to ban this." Simple... merely because it is a DEPICTION OF the oppression of natives in Africa, no matter whether the oppressor is shown as good or evil. Besides, I'm sure DISNEY will say it is out of character for Scrooge, although we know that's not true at that point in his life. I already fear that Disney and Gladstone will come to tremendous loggerheads on this one. Don, if Gladstone was denied permission to print the story, would you, for example, do ANOTHER chapter 11 just so Gladstone could print a LO$ that made sense? I don't know how committed you are to what Gladstone does. Mattias referred to =================== "Paul Murry's daily Mickey Mouse strip" as it appeared in WDC&S. Well, I know that Murry did some of the pencilling on "The House of Mystery" which ran in WDC&S 72-74. He of course did a lot of work on the long "gag" period from 1944-45. Unfortunately, I just don't have enough of the issues from the 1940s period (about 35%) to tell you which ones contain Murry's work. Worse, the gags (presented as half-pagers) have all had dates removed, so the reader must go by the mere inking style alone. It's tough, because Murry was trying very hard to imitate FG at the time. Harry on Patricia Pigg ====================== In my characters/peter-pig file, I wrote that "Percy and Patricia Pigg are the only Mickey Mouse characters to be enjoying married life." Harry: "How about Captain and Mrs. Churchmouse?" Er -- uh -- I meant to say that. ;-) Now that I think about it, Mickey left Spooks in the jungle at the end of "In Search of Jungle Treasure," so perhaps our pongid pal found himself a better half since then, too. Interesting update -- although Percy and Patricia are definitively shown as married in several stories, Patricia's last name is always spelt Pigg, while Percy's remains Pig. In the characters/peter-pig file, I accidentally said that their last names were BOTH Pigg -- maybe that can be fixed? Patricia kept her last name when married. Oink! David Gerstein From trygve at maroon.tc.umn.edu Thu Apr 21 04:13:08 1994 From: trygve at maroon.tc.umn.edu (Tryg Helseth) Date: Wed, 20 Apr 94 20:13:08 CST Subject: FAQ's Message-ID: <82954.trygve@maroon.tc.umn.edu> Mattias Hallin wrote: >Dunno -- but Ah'd say, Ah mean, AH'D say that one of our MAJOR FAQ's would bi >this'un: > >... Does The Little Mermaid wear an algebra? >Hmmm...? Only when seated at a log table... :) How about, "If Carl Barks, what do the rest of them do?" Or "If Gyro is a chicken, has he dated Clara Cluck?" Tryg Helseth Minneapolis, MN, USA or "I wish they all could be Calisota Ducks!" -The Beach Drakes From mas at cs.bu.edu Thu Apr 21 06:05:09 1994 From: mas at cs.bu.edu (Mark Semich) Date: Thu, 21 Apr 1994 00:05:09 -0400 Subject: Oops - apologies to Don and [Re: DONALD DUCK #286 published?] In-Reply-To: <9404202210.AA23637@bigbird.cc.williams.edu> (message from David A Gerstein on Wed, 20 Apr 1994 18:10:41 -0400) Message-ID: <199404210405.AAA28807@csa.bu.edu> > I'm wondering if DD #286 has come out this week. If so, it >has probably hit the comic shops today. Nope, but DD #285 did... :-) >... I do wonder exactly what's in it, and particularly whether there >are any suspicious gaps in continuity other than Sundays. DD in "Cheltenham's Choice" by Carl Barks (WDC&S 168, April 1954) and Al Taliaferro's dailies from March 17 to April 22, 1938, and there are *no* missing strips... > What's on the cover... One of Bruce Hamilton's Al Taliaferro re-designs - this one has H&D looking on as Donald jumps about with mattress springs on his feet. >and is there a 1-page ad for all the >month's issues somewhere, or a blurb for DD 286 in the letter column? Both. :-) D&M 24 has Barks' "A Descent Interval" (Donald deep-sea diving) and more "Don't call me Tut!" but the *big* news is that USA 27 contains Don's "Guardians of the Lost Library" (!) Which leads me into the apology section of this letter: (Warning - SPOILER for "Guardians of the Lost Library" follows) ------ Many months ago, I first heard on this list of Don Rosa's story, "Guardians of the Lost Library". I also read that it contained the origin of the Junior Woodchucks. I was very excited about this story and anxious to read it, so I fired off a letter to Gladstone that basically said, "Do you have any plans to print Don Rosa's 'Guardians of the Lost Library' (which features the origin of the Junior Woodchucks)?" It wasn't until *after* I mailed this letter to Gladstone that I discovered (from one of Don's messages) the the origin of the Junior Woodchucks was the SURPRISE SECRET ENDING of "Guardians of the Lost Library" Unfortunately, my letter was just published in DD 285, so I managed to *spoil* the SURPRISE SECRET ENDING of "Guardians of the Lost Library" for *every* Gladstone reader! Argh! As one who *hates* having stories spoiled, I am most upset that I did this. For what it's worth, I apologize - it was unintentional. ---- Anyways, the blurb for DD 286 says that it will contain: Carl Barks' "Victory Garden," his first 10 pager; Floyd Gottfredson's "The Vanishing Coats," the first "adventure" (starring MM) in which DD participated; Don Rosa's "The Duck That Never Was," detailing what the world would have been without Donald in it; Federico Pedrocchi's "Donald Duck and the Secret of Mars," first published in the December 1937 issue of Italy's Topolino, and "which we believe was the first solo Donald adventure to be printed in comic form anywhere!" William Van Horn "ties it all together with his cover and a ten-page framing sequence commisioned especially for this edition" ---- I wonder if "The Duck That Never Was" is a depressing story - I imagine that Uncle Scrooge never recovered from his grumpy, depressed, trapped-in-his-dusty-old-mansion-all-alone stage (from which Donald rescued him). And since DD wasn't around to care for HD&L, they must have gone to some child reform house for misbehaviour (when their mother couldn't stand them anymore) and grown up to become criminals. The letter column also mentions that Disney banned the nephews' first appearance, and they use David's letter asking to see foreign 1930s Donald stories as a segue into the DD 286 blurb. See ya in the funny papers... From 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM Thu Apr 21 06:00:23 1994 From: 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM (Don Rosa) Date: 21 Apr 94 00:00:23 EDT Subject: Disney-comics digest #306. Message-ID: <940421040022_72260.2635_EHB237-1@CompuServe.COM> JON L.: Thank you for your comments on Lo$ #11. Actually, I had been asking Americans for comments on #2, but I can't recall getting much feedback. Hm. Do I need a "spoiler warning" here? I don't think I'll say much that isn't more than tantalizing, and American readers will forget it all in the near 2 years they'll await to read this chapter anyway. Yes, when I laid out the ground to be covered in each Lo$ chapter, I KNEW #11 was gonna be murder! I had set $crooge up in business as a tycoon, but there wasn't much of anything that needed to be said about his life between 1902 and 1947 ("Bear Mountain"). There were lots of Barks references that would be included in those 45 years, but how to tie everything into a PLOT to last that long and in so FEW pages!?!? I originally figured I had no choice but to SKIP the whole Bombie bit, partly because of Disney's ultra-politically-correct attitudes, and partly because that ancient Barks story had too many inconsistancies with his own later version of that character, both in his physical appearance and in his villainous ways. Then I decided that THAT was the only interesting thing to try to hang a slim plot on, since I never want to introduce anything altogether NEW to the whole legend. It was STILL maddening to make sense of the physical appearance that $crooge had in "Voodoo Hoodoo"'s flashback, and how to string some idea through most of 45 years. It was really a catch-all chapter which had to be done if I was to complete the project of including EVERY Barks reference into the series without leaving out a single one... and I finally did so. Anyway, given as difficult a job as I expected it to be, and accepting the fact that what I came up with may not be, in and of itself a very interesting story, I think I did a MASTERFUL job of tying all those Barks bits together in a logical fashion. And the ending is rather unusual for a Disney comic book... but then, so was the ending to chapter 9 and the world didn't end. Why did Foola Zoola (the witchdoctor) sign with an "X"? How else should I have done it? There's nothing there that says he could READ the contract... but he had no choice but to sign it, and there's nothing worse that the contract could have said than what he was TOLD it said (what else did he have to lose than the tribal land?) Again, the TRICK here that stumped me for days before I figured out the complex set of circumstances that would get it to work even in my contrived way, was WHY would Foola Zoola know who $crooge McDuck was and what he'd done, but think that $crooge looked like a completely different Duck (as it turns out, like Donald would years later). That was a brain teaser. I have a question for YOU or another Norwegian reader: there seems to be some sorta contest in the last several weeklies, perhaps a tie-in to #2000? It seems to involve a story (in issue #10) where readers are to place stickers into panels that are being included in subsequent issues. The story involves $crooge telling his life story to HD&L... and to DAISY? Where's Donald??? And I just noticed that the plot of the story seems to involve Magica stealing his #1 Dime, but then something is said to render this as not a serious problem for some reason, and the whole story hinges on $crooge, in the last panel, showing pictures (from my L0$ #1) of himself earning that Dime. Just what's going on here??? JAMES W.: My DUCKTALES magazine story? It was a shortie about Magica sending $crooge's MANSION (?!?!) with herself back into the Jurassic (I guess) era until he tosses his Dime out to her. I'm even pretty vague on the details now, but I think he tosses it over to a certain spot so that when she grabs it and returns the mansion and grounds to the present, she's standing where the POOL (!?!?) is and falls in and they grab her, ta da. I recall how they screwed it up proper in several ways... one of which is a throw-away gag in the first panel where $crooge says "What's that TREMOR running through the house?" and some dull-witted character pointing to a tiny mouse saying "That's a MOUSE!" No big yuk, but the gag was rewritten into "The whole house is shaking!" "That mouse is shaking it!" These tiny imbecilities by editors are what drives people like me nuts! WHY did I "stoop" to do this job? I had just lost my job with Gladstone when Disney told them not to return my artwork (reducing my income to about $10,000 per year which I couldn't get by on). I needed WORK. And when they called, I still originally refused the idea of doing a DUCKTALES story OR writing something that someone else would draw. But they were paying a LOT for that simple-mined drek, so I did a story. I figured on doing a few more, but I had trouble getting them to PAY; so after I complained a few times, they paid me, and then went to someone else for the next script. I was spared further debasement! I now leave for a 4 day funnybook convention in Oakland, CA. I won't be back until Monday if people ask me any questions and I don't reply. From maittola at snakemail.hut.fi Thu Apr 21 10:36:12 1994 From: maittola at snakemail.hut.fi (Mikko Henri Juhani Aittola) Date: Thu, 21 Apr 1994 11:36:12 +0300 (EET DST) Subject: Disney-comics digest #306. In-Reply-To: <9404202331.AA04622@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE> Message-ID: David asked if Donald Duck #286 is out yet. Rec.arts.comics.info 'New Releases' article claims that DD #285 is out this week. ^ Maybe it's typing error? Well, I'll find out tomorrow (friday) when this week's comics arrive Finland. /Mikko From jonlo at ifi.uio.no Thu Apr 21 12:27:19 1994 From: jonlo at ifi.uio.no (Jon Cato Lorentzen) Date: Thu, 21 Apr 1994 12:27:19 +0200 Subject: Norwegian DD#2000 Message-ID: <199404211027.3285.gjalp.ifi.uio.no@ifi.uio.no> There has been some discussion about various things appearing in the Norwegian DD #2000. I'll try to give a couple of answers here: DON: You wanted to know about the little comic that came with Issue#10, which includes some stickers from Lo$ 1. This is not a contest in any way. Since the seventies, the publishers of DD has included something extra in each issue (extra meaning a poster, stickers, small games, etc.). In number 10 this extra was a small magazine that is supposed to be a little story of Scrooges life. Then in the following issues came stickers, so that the kids could sorta place them into the story where they belong. This has been done before. What happens is that Huey Dewey and Lewey are looking in Scrooges old photo-album. Scrooge tells them the stories behind many of the pictures. Suddenly Magica appears and steals Scrooges #1 dime. But the kids have already replaced it, because they "suspected" that Magica would show up (This story really stinks, you know). Then Scrooge explains how he got his dime, and shows them two pictures in his photoalbum, taken from Lo$1. As I said, no contest, just a little extra for the kids. BTW: A contest began this week, where the first prize is a Barks Painting ! This is a special #2000 contest, and I for one will send in my replys. New questions will arrive in every issue for a month or so, and they can all be answered yes or no. DAVID: You wondered if Hero 2000 with Donald could be used in a forthcoming #600 issue from Gladstone. I can't see why not, but then again, I can't see why you would want to. The story is very lame, the only highlight is the big panel where a LOT of Barks Characters are seated. The story is about Someone in Duckburg arranging a hero 2000 competition, where the hero must have been on 2000 adventures. Donald then grabs his 2000 issues of Donald Duck, and races into town. He tears off all the front pages that embarrass him. When showing the issues to the jury, he is elected to be the hero, and the next day the town is filled with pictures and advertisements with his face and name. While doing some pictures on a mountaintop, Dolly falls off, and Donald has to risk his life to save her. While doing this, all the embarrasing front pages fall out of his pocket, and the wind carries them to Duckburg. Once the people see them, they don't want Donald to be their hero, and becomes angry. Donald then has to arrange a huge dinner for everyone to compensate.... Jon C. Lorentzen From hellman at proxxi.uf.se Thu Apr 21 10:11:32 1994 From: hellman at proxxi.uf.se (Bror Hellman) Date: Thu, 21 Apr 1994 10:11:32 +0200 (MET DST) Subject: Translating names and ftp news In-Reply-To: <9404201905.AA28810@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE> Message-ID: On Wed, 20 Apr 1994, Per Starback wrote: > Bror> No, there's not (not that I know of). You can try looking trough this > Bror> lists ftp-site. > Bror> I'm doing some sort of translation-index and have these names: > > You're not the only one! Over a year ago Andreas Gammel (hi!) > suggested that we should try to get names of Disney characters in as > many different languages as possible and now Fredrik maintains such a > list, available at the ftp archive as characters/interlingual. Maybe > that was before you joined the list? That was before I joined it *THIS* time. > The main input to the first version of that list came from my own such > collection, for which I had used several sources, among them some > files I got from you. I advise you to get the interlingual file and > compare with your own stuff! I shall try to get it, I missed that one... > It's sort of fun to collect all those names I guess, but most of the > time it really doesn't matter much to me what Chief O'Hara is called > in Latin... There is at least one practical use of that list near at > hand though, namely to aid members of this very list who have read > Disney comics mostly in other languages than English so they will be > able to understand and participate in the English language discussion > on those characters on this list. What I'm doing is this *!"#!#"&/(= list for Egmont, so what I *should* do is a translation index between English, Swedish and Italian; but NAFS(k) requested I made it as multi as I could. With first appearences and such. Steamboat Willie ---------------------------------------------- ... Does The Little Mermaid wear an algebra? ---------------------------------------------- Internet: hellman at proxxi.uf.se, DuckNet: hellman at 313:100/13.0 From starback at Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE Thu Apr 21 12:59:40 1994 From: starback at Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE (Per Starback) Date: Thu, 21 Apr 94 12:59:40 +0200 Subject: Upcoming events In-Reply-To: Don Rosa's message of 21 Apr 94 00:00:23 EDT <940421040022_72260.2635_EHB237-1@CompuServe.COM> Message-ID: <9404211059.AA19784@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE> Don> I now leave for a 4 day funnybook convention in Oakland, CA. I Don> won't be back until Monday if people ask me any questions and I don't Don> reply. Have a good time there! I'm sure list members would be interested in knowing about conventions you will attend, when they are in the vicinity, and I guess they often are in the vicinity of *someone* at least, as we are all over the globe (more or less). As Barks's European tour draws closer I guess many European duck fans will want to know when he will be where, and what will happen, so I thought of making the itinerary of the tour (as published in CBG 1057) available by ftp, but then I thought of combining this with other upcoming stuff, and composed a list of upcoming events pertaining to Disney comics. Most of it is Barks's tour but there's also some information on Don Rosa's doings and other stuff. Of course additional facts on these items or wholly new items are very much welcome. -------8<-------- [Upcoming events around the globe pertaining to Disney comics. I've suffixed the dates with the country where something is happening. Sometimes I've added the source in []'s at the end. The information on Barks's European tour is from The Comics Buyers Guide #1057 (typed in by Tryg Helseth.) /Per Starback] 1994: April 23, SWEDEN: NAFS(k) meeting in Stockholm. May 28--29, FINLAND: One of the main themes of the comics con at Kaapelitehdas in Helsinki will be Disney comics. Byron Erickson and Bob Foster will attend. [Mikko Aittola] May 30, ICELAND: Start of Barks's European tour. He arrives in Reykjavik. May 30--June 6, GERMANY: "I'm still to be in Frankfurt and Erlangen this May 30 to June 6." [Don Rosa] (Two different comics conventions? When and where?) June 3, NORWAY: Barks arrives in Oslo. June 9: 60 years since Donald Duck's debut (in the cartoon "The Wise Little Hen"). June 9, DENMARK: Barks arrives in Copenhagen. June 12, DENMARK: Barks attends gallery closing. (Where?) June 14, FINLAND: Barks arrives in Helsinki. June 16, FINLAND: Barks attends a gallery opening. (Where?) June 17, SWEDEN: Barks arrives in Stockholm. June 21, GERMANY: Barks arrives in Berlin. June 24, FRANCE: Barks arrives in Paris. June 28, GERMANY: Barks arrives in Munich. June 29, GERMANY: Barks attends gallery opening. (Where?) July 2, GERMANY: Barks in Stuttgart. This date is marked as flexible. July 4, ITALY: Barks arrives in Verona. July 7, ITALY: Barks in Venice. July 10, ITALY: Barks in Milan. July 11, ITALY: Barks attends gallery opening. (In Milan. Where?) July 14, SWITZERLAND: Barks to Zurich. July 18, THE NETHERLANDS: Barks to Amsterdam. July 21: Barks's European tour is over, and he returns to Oregon. October 26--30, SWEDEN: Book and Library Fair in Gothenburg. *Maybe* Don Rosa will attend. October 31--November 6, NORWAY and SWEDEN: "From the Goteborg Book Fair to Oslo to the Stockholm comic convention. Nothing for sure yet, but that's what is being mentioned as a possibility." [Don Rosa] -------8<-------- I've made this available at the ftp server as "upcoming". -- " Per Starback, Uppsala, Sweden. email: starback at minsk.docs.uu.se "Life is but a gamble! Let flipism chart your ramble!" From hellman at proxxi.uf.se Thu Apr 21 10:05:11 1994 From: hellman at proxxi.uf.se (Bror Hellman) Date: Thu, 21 Apr 1994 10:05:11 +0200 (MET DST) Subject: More about FAQ In-Reply-To: <01HBEL48IRV88WWJ2R@castor.ldc.lu.se> Message-ID: On Wed, 20 Apr 1994, Mattias Hallin wrote: > BROR HELLMAN: > > Maybe I ought to explain why I replied to your sarcastic message > about FAQs in a similar sarcastic vein -- I just didn't like your sarcastic > attitude in the first place! I weren't sarcastic at all. I know these questions are NOT "frequently asked", but I think you should consider them in the FAQ anyway JUST because lurkers and newbies propably want to know. ONE of the most common questions I get on CONs *IS* "Didn't Walt Disney draw everything himself?" and Anyone that llurks around Disney-comics without knowing the least would want to know who all these names are that we are using as if they were our brothers. ---------------------------------------------- ... Does The Little Mermaid wear an algebra? ---------------------------------------------- Internet: hellman at proxxi.uf.se, DuckNet: hellman at 313:100/13.0 From Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se Thu Apr 21 13:16:39 1994 From: Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se (Mattias Hallin) Date: Thu, 21 Apr 1994 13:16:39 +0200 Subject: More about FAQ In-Reply-To: Your message dated "Thu, 21 Apr 1994 10:05:11 +0200 (MET DST)" Message-ID: <01HBFSDXXKXG8WWI9R@castor.ldc.lu.se> "I weren't sarcastic at all. I know these questions are NOT "frequently asked", but I think you should consider them in the FAQ anyway JUST because lurkers and newbies propably want to know." ...hey -- I'm real sorry, then, to have thus overreacted; but then we know from previous discussions here on the list how easy it apparently is to misread a message. My sincere excuses, Bror! and I still hope no hard feelings...?! All my best Mattias From Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se Thu Apr 21 13:23:14 1994 From: Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se (Mattias Hallin) Date: Thu, 21 Apr 1994 13:23:14 +0200 Subject: More on Murry Message-ID: <01HBFSIW0LLW8WWI9R@castor.ldc.lu.se> DAVID (et al.): Yeah -- that's what Jakob and Germund told me -- that there were no dates in those WDC&S publishings of Murry. Which is why -- or so I've been made to understand -- they have photocopies of what has been identified as work by Murry, and need someone to go through a large quantity of WDC&S in order to see which set of dailies was published in which issue, or sumpin' like that. Anyone out there see their way to doing that? If so -- lemme know! Oh, and I'm quite sure that Bror Hellman MEANT to say "Daniel Atterbom", not "Daniel Branca" -- Atterbom is president of the Swedish "Seriefraemjandet" -- a fan organisation that covers all kinds of comics, and publishes the rather excellent journal "Bild & Bubbla" /"Picture & Balloon"/. All my best Mattias !==============================================================================! !* Mattias Hallin ** ** Phone: +46 46-14 84 43 **! !* Trollebergsvagen 24 B ***** Work: Lund University, Box 117, S-221 00 Lund **! !* S-222 29 Lund, SWEDEN **************************** Phone: +46 46-10 71 37 **! !==============================================================================! !********** "A flier! A frier! I must shave the women and children!" **********! !==============================================================================! From James_Williams at ESS.NIAID.pc.niaid.nih.gov Thu Apr 21 15:20:27 1994 From: James_Williams at ESS.NIAID.pc.niaid.nih.gov (James Williams) Date: Thu, 21 Apr 94 08:20:27 EST Subject: Disney-comics digest #306. Message-ID: <2db66f8b@ESS.NIAID.pc.niaid.nih.gov> >But... but... Disney printed one of them in the Christmas special >WDC&S 580!!! Gottfredson's only attempt at the Three Pigs and >Li'l Bad Wolf... thank goodness. David. Interesting, I didn't realize that Gottfredson had worked on any other strips for Disney. None of this is mentioned in Mickey Mouse in Color. Other than his Mickey Mouse work, what else did Gottfredson do for Disney? >According to my Dutch index, there was also a Snowwhite sequel in >1937/1938 Harry, I saw Snow White for the first time last summer. It seemed a rather final ending to me. I'm not sure what the newspaper strip to do afterwards. What was the sequel about? Mattias and Bror. Lets not start a flamewar. I appreciated both of you comments. I'll be honest, I'm not writing a true FAQ (i.e. it won't be a stack of questions followed by a stack or answers). What I want to write is an Introduction to Disney Comics. It will be a series of small paragraphs/articles on various topics. I'll cover basic topics like what Disney Comics are, who the main characters are, who the creators are, and more. I plan to write it for anyone. You will not need to have read a disney comic to follow this FAQ. I volunteered to write this because I wanted to learn more about Disney Comics. I know about Disney then your average reader, but there is an alful lot which I don't know. I'll be asking a lot of detailed questions in the future. >I'm wondering if DD #286 has come out this week. If so, it >has probably hit the comic shops today. Yes, it came out yesterday. My inlaws are visiting, so I haven't even gotten a chance to open the cover. >As a story, it has its moments. I don't really know what it's >going to feel like, given that Bruce Hamilton apparently wrote an >English version almost exactly like the original Italian. I hope he >at least put it into duck-speak. David. I disagree. I hope the translation is almost exact with no editing. I think it is important. Most people are more interested in this story because of it uniqueness than because of its content. I'd rather it be accurate than interesting. James Williams From H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl Thu Apr 21 17:05:32 1994 From: H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl (Harry Fluks) Date: Thu, 21 Apr 1994 17:05:32 +0200 Subject: Gottfredson Message-ID: <199404211505.AA11695@athena.research.ptt.nl> James: > Other than his Mickey Mouse work, what else did Gottfredson do for Disney? I found two 'FG' entries in our list of "Classic tales": FG drew and inked the story "Lambert, the Sheepish Lion" in 1956, and he did the layouts of "101 Dalmatians" in 1961. That's all I could find in our archives... I wrote: > there was also a Snowwhite sequel in 1937/1938 James: > I saw Snow White for the first time last summer. It seemed > a rather final ending to me. I'm not sure what the newspaper strip to > do afterwards. What was the sequel about? I think I used the word "sequel" in a wrong way. The story does not necessarily take place after the film. I can't remember what it was about though... --Harry. Harry PTT Research ()_() Disney comics Database freak Fluks Leidschendam (_) H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl "Yeah... I've _heard_ of coral barques!" From clawton at TFS.COM Thu Apr 21 18:18:00 1994 From: clawton at TFS.COM (Chris Lawton) Date: Thu, 21 Apr 94 09:18 PDT Subject: Disney-comics digest #306. Message-ID: Hiya Gang! DON ROSA: I now leave for a 4 day funnybook convention in Oakland, CA. I won't be back until Monday if people ask me any questions and I don't reply. Hope you see this in time. Is this the Oakland Convention Center? I work about a 5 minute walk away! I'd love to come by and say "Hi"! Chris Mickey's #1 Fan!! :) :) From David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu Fri Apr 22 04:58:54 1994 From: David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu (David A Gerstein) Date: Thu, 21 Apr 1994 22:58:54 -0400 Subject: Disney-comics digest #307. In-Reply-To: Your message of Fri, 22 Apr 1994 01:18:10 +0200 Message-ID: <9404220258.AA24472@bigbird.cc.williams.edu> Dear Folks, So what else did Gottfredson do besides MM? He drew that Three Little Pigs story for the Christmas strip in, I believe, 1963. He drew an adaptation of the cartoon "Lambert the Sheepish Lion" for the newspaper strip _Treasury of Classic Tales_ (in 1954). Two of the Silly Symphony Donald Duck Sundays in 1937 are very clearly his work... two of the ones appearing in DD 283. Gladstone lists these as all Taliaferro, but FG is actually shown drawing one of the two in a photo in _Mickey Mouse in Color_ and under close inspection, that strip and the next week's don't look a whit like AT's work. So he did those two Donalds. On another tack... (OW!) DD 285 says that "The Secret of Mars" appeared in the Dec. 1937 _Topolino_???! Gosh, no... it was in the December, 1937 issue of _Paperino_, a companion series which only lasted for two years. It was presented in serial form, going into Feb. '38. But the correct information will appear in DD 286, in an article I wrote to accompany the story. That info is partly taken from the book _Disney Italia_, and partly from what Fabio has told me at times. As for my wondering whether DD 286 was NOW on sale... I meant 285, yeah, definitely 285. I have DD 286 on the brain. Yours, David Gerstein P. S. Since Don's away, I'll mention that GotLL features the origin of the Woodchucks' GUIDEBOOK, not of the Woodchucks themselves. From David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu Fri Apr 22 05:22:21 1994 From: David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu (David A Gerstein) Date: Thu, 21 Apr 1994 23:22:21 -0400 Subject: Snow White "sequel" In-Reply-To: Your message of Fri, 22 Apr 1994 01:18:10 +0200 Message-ID: <9404220322.AA25890@bigbird.cc.williams.edu> Dear Folks, Harry: "According to my Dutch index, there was also a Snow White sequel in [the Silly Symphonies Sunday strip in] 1937/1938." James: [The film's conclusion] "seemed a rather final ending to me. I'm not sure what the newspaper strip to do afterwards. What was the sequel about?" Actually, I think that the word "sequel" in Harry's letter was a misprint for "serial." The story was a direct adaptation of the film, with some extra stuff developing the prince further which was cut from the film. This strip version was reprinted by Dell in 1954, by Abbeville Press in 1980 (from original newspaper pages -- I've mentioned that book, unique and not originally made by Mondadori) and again by Gladstone in 1987. Gladstone's printing is the best, IMHO. As for Snow White sequels -- Pedrocchi and his gang did one around 1940 in Italy, which to this day is the Italian story that has been printed more times than any other. "Snow White and the Magic Basilico" (what's a Basilico? That's one word I can't translate) And Dell has done a number of short stories, one in _Disneyland Birthday Party_ (which Gladstone reprinted in full), which are just short adventures of Snow White and the Dwarfs which supposedly took place during the period of time when she lived at their home, before the film's conclusion. That's just fine by the original fairy tale, because she DID remain there for a while. Hi ho, hi ho... David Gerstein From H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl Fri Apr 22 09:30:50 1994 From: H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl (Harry Fluks) Date: Fri, 22 Apr 1994 09:30:50 +0200 Subject: Gottfredson Message-ID: <199404220730.AA27412@athena.research.ptt.nl> (I tried to send this messages yesterday, but it bounced. Something rotten in Denmark [aarhues.dk]...) James: > Other than his Mickey Mouse work, what else did Gottfredson do for Disney? I found two 'FG' entries in our list of "Classic tales": FG drew and inked the story "Lambert, the Sheepish Lion" in 1956, and he did the layouts of "101 Dalmatians" in 1961. That's all I could find in our archives... I wrote: > there was also a Snowwhite sequel in 1937/1938 As David now said, I used the word 'sequel' in a wrong way. --Harry. Harry PTT Research ()_() Disney comics Database freak Fluks Leidschendam (_) H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl "Yeah... I've _heard_ of coral barques!" From mas at cs.bu.edu Fri Apr 22 13:57:30 1994 From: mas at cs.bu.edu (Mark Semich) Date: Fri, 22 Apr 1994 07:57:30 -0400 Subject: Disney-comics digest #306. In-Reply-To: (clawton@TFS.COM) Message-ID: <199404221157.HAA05494@csa.bu.edu> >From: clawton at TFS.COM (Chris Lawton) >DON ROSA: > I now leave for a 4 day funnybook convention in Oakland, CA. I > won't be back until Monday if people ask me any questions and I don't > reply. > >Hope you see this in time. Is this the Oakland Convention Center? I work >about a 5 minute walk away! I'd love to come by and say "Hi"! It's a bit late now, but according to a CBG ad, Don was at "Bobby the `K's` Comic Depot" in Fremont from 4-7 PM on April 21. The ad also says that he'll be at Wonder Con April 22-23. From rivera_miguel at jpmorgan.com Fri Apr 22 14:45:07 1994 From: rivera_miguel at jpmorgan.com (rivera_miguel@jpmorgan.com) Date: Fri, 22 Apr 94 08:45:07 -0400 Subject: Disney-comics digest #307. Message-ID: <9404221245.AA04336@eraserhead.ny.jpmorgan.com> From trygve at maroon.tc.umn.edu Fri Apr 22 16:11:49 1994 From: trygve at maroon.tc.umn.edu (Trygve J Helseth) Date: Fri, 22 Apr 1994 09:11:49 -0500 (CDT) Subject: FAQ's, Lurkers, and unsubscribers Message-ID: Hello All: When James volunteered to write a FAQ file, I began to think a bit about questions asked here and this mail list in general. I am a relative newcomer as I've only subscribed to this list since December 1993. I first heard of this list back in August 1992 when I read a message from Per in a cross-posted by Eric Walker in the Disney conference on the RIME network. It was what I had been looking for and I was ready to sign up immediately; one hitch--I didn't have Internet access. Since joining the list, I've seen numerous references to the lurkers as to why they don't participate. Of the approximately 100 subscribers, it seems like no more than a dozen regularly post messages. When I first joined I was overwhelmed by the depth of knowledge that the regular participants displayed on Disney comics. I was reluctant to post messages as I felt I had nothing to add to the topic at hand. After a while, though, I decided that if I wasn't going to participate I would rather not be here. So I started posting messages even if my facts were shaky. I know now that I will never achieve the depth of knowledge that the regulars have on the subject, but yet I want to ba an active participant in the list. Now I would bet that the other lurkers out there have at least as much and, no doubt, more to contribute than I do, but for one reason or another choose not to participate. Some just don't have the time, and others may not care to post messages. I'll bet, though, that there are others who would like to participate but feel intimidated by the experts. I would guess that eventually they just give up and ultimately join the ranks of the unsubscribed. When I first started posting messages, I noticed that some regulars were rather quick to jump on me when I said something in error. These same folks would basically ignore anything else I had to say. So if you want a response, just bait your message with a few boo boo's. (Bad breath is better than no breath...) Well, I've rambled on a bit, and I'm not sure where I'm going with this post. I just think that this list is hard for that average Joe Lurker to break into; maybe we need a "novice" message area--I know I could use it! Tryg Internet tryg.helseth at tstation.mn.org or trygve at maroon.tc.umn.edu * QMPro 1.51 * "Bother" said Pooh, and deleted the entire message base.. From h.j.bjornhaug at admin.uio.no Fri Apr 22 16:40:55 1994 From: h.j.bjornhaug at admin.uio.no (h.j.bjornhaug@admin.uio.no) Date: Fri, 22 Apr 1994 16:40:55 +0200 Subject: FAQ's, Lurkers, and unsubscribers In-Reply-To: Trygve J Helseth's message of Fri, 22 Apr 1994 09:11:49 -0500 (CDT) Message-ID: <9404221440.AAadmin29932@admin.uio.no> Tryg writes: Since joining the list, I've seen numerous references to the lurkers as to why they don't participate. Of the approximately 100 subscribers, it seems like no more than a dozen regularly post messages. When I first joined I was overwhelmed by the depth of knowledge that the regular participants displayed on Disney comics. I was reluctant to post messages as I felt I had nothing to add to the topic at hand. After a while, though, I decided that if I wasn't going to participate I would rather not be here. So I started posting messages even if my facts were shaky. I know now that I will never achieve the depth of knowledge that the regulars have on the subject, but yet I want to ba an active participant in the list. Now I would bet that the other lurkers out there have at least as much and, no doubt, more to contribute than I do, but for one reason or another choose not to participate. Some just don't have the time, and others may not care to post messages. I'll bet, though, that there are others who would like to participate but feel intimidated by the experts. I would guess that eventually they just give up and ultimately join the ranks of the unsubscribed. I've been lurking here since last summer, and this is my first posting. I'm not at all intimitated by any of our experts, and I see no reason to unsubscribe just because I don't contribute. Like Tryg did at first, I haven't contributed because I haven't had anything relevant to add, especially when I have to add it in English, and my sources (read: Disney comics) are not located where my computer access is. But I'll be back. --- Helge J. Bjornhaug (slash that o, please) H.J.Bjornhaug at admin.uio.no Universitatis Osloensis From David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu Fri Apr 22 16:51:55 1994 From: David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu (David A Gerstein) Date: Fri, 22 Apr 1994 10:51:55 -0400 Subject: German MM search over Message-ID: <9404221451.AA15778@bigbird.cc.williams.edu> Dear Folks, A few days ago I asked if German fans could find me a copy of German MM #2000 and trade it with me. I have now arranged such a trade with list member Boris Wagner, so no one else need try to find a copy. (However, if Gilbert has also bought one, he can e-mail me and I'll still trade something for it, because I told him I'd do that.) Auf Wiedersehen! David Gerstein From Rivera#m#_Miguel.NY_GTO_#h#2 at jpmorgan.com Fri Apr 22 16:30:38 1994 From: Rivera#m#_Miguel.NY_GTO_#h#2 at jpmorgan.com (Rivera, Miguel) Date: 22 Apr 1994 16:30:38 U Subject: new e-mail account Message-ID: <199404222028.QAA17684@tcpg01a.ny.jpmorgan.com> Hi, Would you please send the digest to my new email account. My old email account was rivera_miguel at jpmorgan.com. My new account is Rivera,Miguel at jpmorgan.com Thanks, Mike From adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Sat Apr 23 00:03:36 1994 From: adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz (adair_t@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz) Date: Sat, 23 Apr 1994 10:03:36 +1200 Subject: FAQ's, Lurkers, and unsubscribers Message-ID: <0097D618.7E41A6E0.49@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz> \When I first joined I was overwhelmed by the depth of knowledge that the \regular participants displayed on Disney comics. I was reluctant to \post messages as I felt I had nothing to add to the topic at hand. \After a while, though, I decided that if I wasn't going to participate I \would rather not be here. So I started posting messages even if my \facts were shaky. I know now that I will never achieve the depth of \knowledge that the regulars have on the subject, but yet I want to ba an \active participant in the list. I joined this list because I am interested in all aspects of comicbooks and comicstrips. I'll be the first to admit that I know very little about Disney Comics, but if one asks questions and listens, one can learn quite a lot. \Now I would bet that the other lurkers out there have at least as much \and, no doubt, more to contribute than I do, but for one reason or \another choose not to participate. Some just don't have the time, and \others may not care to post messages. I'll bet, though, that there are \others who would like to participate but feel intimidated by the \experts. I would guess that eventually they just give up and ultimately \join the ranks of the unsubscribed. Some might just be bored about the content of this group. I've subscribed to many newsgroups, read them, then decided they weren't what I expected them to be. I am never intimidated by the experts, or else I wouldn't ask questions. The First Rule of Meeting Famous People is to realize that they are human beings too, and that most celebrities like to meet people. Just treat them with respect. \When I first started posting messages, I noticed that some regulars were \rather quick to jump on me when I said something in error. These same \folks would basically ignore anything else I had to say. So if you \want a response, just bait your message with a few boo boo's. (Bad \breath is better than no breath...) That's why this groups has such a high quality. I know that no matter how esoteric or stupid my question is (e.g. Scrooge's Net Worth), I'll get at least one answer, and a usually accurate one at that. It still boggles my mind how much people know about Disney comics. \Well, I've rambled on a bit, and I'm not sure where I'm going with this \post. I just think that this list is hard for that average Joe Lurker \to break into; maybe we need a "novice" message area--I know I could \use it! Every organization needs to seduce, er, RECRUIT new members, or else it tends to collapse upon itself. Thankfully, with new students joining the Internet each year, we shouldn't have that problem. Torsten Adair adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Wellington, New Zealand From adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Sat Apr 23 00:46:28 1994 From: adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz (adair_t@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz) Date: Sat, 23 Apr 1994 10:46:28 +1200 Subject: FAQ question suggestions Message-ID: <0097D61E.7B439A60.85@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz> While most of the FAQ can be taken from the digests, I'd like to make some suggestions on FAQ topics. Section A: Creator biographies. Include the major names, list their main areas of creativity, and notable "freelancing" (such as Barks' Mickey Mouse story). Include information about studios as well, including the Disney Studio stories. It may be best to give each creator a section, and repeat questions. (Who is...? What did they do? What are they doing now? What are some good examples of their talent?) Section B: Publishers and licensees. Include any publisher which has ever printed an approved Disney comic. A geographical list (duplicated to FTP) of current licensees would be nice. Section B.1 Egmont Section B.2 Gladstone Section B.3 _________ (German licensee?) Section C: Where can I find information about....? Describes information in the FTP files, as well as notable reference books. Perhaps online sources as well? Section D: Questions about Uncle Scrooge. (Net worth, lucky dime, money bin) Section E: Questions about Mickey Mouse (why is Donald Duck more popular, which is better...pre or post lobotomy, where does he live) Section F: Questions about Duck characters. (what is Gyro, duck genealogy, JWW info) Section G: Questions about other classic Disney characters (Scamp, Goofy, Li'l Hiawatha, Pooh, Li'l Bad Wolf, Brer Rabbit) Section H: Questions about Disney feature animation characters (Snow White, Bambi, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast) Section I: Disney and controversy. Include censored stories. Section J: Information about Disney comicstrips. Section K: General information (abbreviations, information about disney-comics) Section L: Questions about stories Section L.1 Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Section L.2 Popular Duck stories Section L.3 Mickey Mouse and the Phantom Blot Section L.4 Crossover stories (Mickey Mouse/Uncle Scrooge, Thumper/Seven Dwarfs) Section L.5 Miscelaneous Section M: Other information (under construction) circulation figures, odd topics of discussion, anything which doesn't fit into any of the other sections, but doesn't quite deserve a section of its own. Well gang, that's half of the alphabet. I hope this helps whoever is creating the FAQ. I'll be more than happy to play the part of "stupid user" once the preliminary release is finished. (The easiet way to edit the FAQ is to transfer the FTP files to disk, run it through a word processor, cut and paste, run the spell check, then send it back to your account.) Torsten Adair adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt.nz Wellington, New Zealand From TRYG.HELSETH at tstation.mn.org Sat Apr 23 05:32:16 1994 From: TRYG.HELSETH at tstation.mn.org (TRYG HELSETH) Date: Sat, 23 Apr 1994 03:32:16 GMT Subject: FAQ's, Lurkers, and unsub Message-ID: <2FB7C1B3@tstation.mn.org> Helge J. Bjornhaug (slash that o, please) Writes: HB>I've been lurking here since last summer, and this is my first HB>posting. I'm not at all intimitated by any of our experts, and I see HB>no reason to unsubscribe just because I don't contribute. Like Tryg HB>did at first, I haven't contributed because I haven't had anything HB>relevant to add, especially when I have to add it in English, and my HB>sources (read: Disney comics) are not located where my computer HB>access is. Helge, I guessed that having the added burden of translating to English would deter many people from posting. Translating to another language would certainly limit the posting I do. I find it ironic that this list is in English since it seems that for most of the participants, English is a second (or third) language. HB>But I'll be back. Great! Torsten Adair writes: TA>I joined this list because I am interested in all aspects of TA>comicbooks and comicstrips. I'll be the first to admit that I know TA>very little about Disney Comics, but if one asks questions and TA>listens, one can learn quite a lot. I won't argue with that--I certainly have learned quite a bit from just reading the messages. TA>Some might just be bored about the content of this group. I've TA>subscribed to many newsgroups, read them, then decided they weren't TA>what I expected them to be. That is true. I've done the same with various news groups / conferences. Some are of no interest, others are far too busy and the volume of messages makes them too difficult to follow. Still, I believe there are people who drop out for other reasons beyond lack of interest. TA>I am never intimidated by the experts, or else I wouldn't ask TA>questions. I guess I am, but I'm foolish enough to ask anyway... :) TA>The First Rule of Meeting Famous People is to realize that they are TA>human beings too, and that most celebrities like to meet people. TA>Just treat them with respect. George Bernard Shaw had a list of Laws including one that warned you to never meet an author in person as the only thing tolerable about them is their writings. As I see it, the problem is that we build up images of what celebrities are like which have little basis in fact. Of course the celebrities could never meet the expectations we set for them. (Nor should they.) TA>esoteric or stupid my question is (e.g. Scrooge's Net Worth), I'll TA>get at least one answer, and a usually accurate one at that. It TA>still boggles my mind how much people know about Disney comics. Agreed. TA>Every organization needs to seduce, er, RECRUIT new members, or else TA>it tends to collapse upon itself. Thankfully, with new students TA>joining the Internet each year, we shouldn't have that problem. Certainly there will always be attrition in any group and new recruits are always needed. The problem I've seen with many organizations is that while newcomers are greeted with warm welcomes, they are soon ignored and the other members return to the comfort of their familiar friends. I think this is the crucial point of recruitment--beyond getting someone to join, you have to expend some effort to bring them into the group if you expect to keep them around for a while. Tryg Internet tryg.helseth at tstation.mn.org or trygve at maroon.tc.umn.edu * QMPro 1.51 * Maybe I'm happy; maybe I'm sad; maybe I'm a little mad! From 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM Mon Apr 25 15:19:04 1994 From: 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM (Don Rosa) Date: 25 Apr 94 09:19:04 EDT Subject: Disney-comics digest #307. Message-ID: <940425131904_72260.2635_EHB107-2@CompuServe.COM> DAVID: No... if Disney nixes Lo$ #11, or any other part of any other chapter, that's life. Why should I help them spoil my work!? Besides, if they won't allow the scene of the destruction of the native village, they might as well skip that whole chapter as the rest of it would be meaningless. I base that plot on the idea that $crooge made his money "square" in all but that ONE instance... and he learns a lesson. MARK: Yes, I saw your letter in the comics that gives away the ending of "GotLL", but that's not YOUR fault. The knuckleknobs at Gladstone didn't have to print it or at least that part of it. It's THEIR fault. What happens in "The Duck Who Never Was"? (Not "The Duck THAT Never Was", as in their mention.) Just what you'd expect if you ever saw "It's a Wonderful Life", which is what the story is self-admittedly based on. The alternate title was "It's a Wonderful Duck" or something. Every single thing about Duckburg is screwed up and the lives of ALL the Duckburg characters are ruined... EXCEPT ONE. Can you guess WHO? PER: Yes, I'll be at the cons in Europe I mentioned. I might swear off American cons like in Oakland, however. It's VERY insulting, both for me and for the Ducks, when I am virtually ignored by all the attendees since the teaching of all the modern "collectors" magazines and attitudes is that they should SHUN these characters. I end up sitting in the "poverty row" section with the unknown wannabe's and sign comics for women who have no idea who I am and have never till that moment touched a Disney comic book. And since attending conventions for me is strictly LOST time (and money), I don't need the aggravation! The other guests all benefit from promoting themselves or their work for royalties, or they enjoy being part of grandiose publisher booths, wined and dined and touted by their publishers, and generally part of the whole super-profitable American comic scene that I am completely and irrevocably shut out of. It's just too depressing, so I think I'll just stay home from now on and pretend none of that stuff is going on. From 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM Mon Apr 25 15:35:50 1994 From: 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM (Don Rosa) Date: 25 Apr 94 09:35:50 EDT Subject: Disney-comics digest #308. Message-ID: <940425133550_72260.2635_EHB107-4@CompuServe.COM> DAVID: Since you were trying to correct Mark S.'s comment about what "tGotLL" concerns, I'll correct you in turn: "The Guardians of the Lost Library" (for all you who have already had this part of the story spoiled for you) concerns the origin and history of the group mentioned in the title who are, in a certain sense explained in the story, the predecessors of the Junior Woodchucks of the World. And the story explains the origin of a PORTION of the Woodchuck Manual -- not every word that's in it, but just, perhaps, its framework. The Junior Woodchucks AND their Manual would probably have existed with or without the Guardians of the Lost Library... (but not nearly as well). From 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM Mon Apr 25 15:45:16 1994 From: 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM (Don Rosa) Date: 25 Apr 94 09:45:16 EDT Subject: Disney-comics digest #309. Message-ID: <940425134516_72260.2635_EHB107-5@CompuServe.COM> Since I'm the only "author" on here, is it being implied here that I do not conduct myself in a proper manner? I'll jump down the throat of anybody who says I've ever jumped down anybody's throat! Oops... My comments are seen in a different light by some people because they are somehow intimidated by my presence for no good reason? I can't help that. It's not fair to anyone to say they can't be an equal part of the group and speak their mind as much as everyone else. Shall I un-subscribe and reappear under an assumed name? From Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se Mon Apr 25 15:57:23 1994 From: Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se (Mattias Hallin) Date: Mon, 25 Apr 1994 15:57:23 +0200 Subject: Disney-comics digest #309. In-Reply-To: Your message dated "Mon, 25 Apr 1994 09:45:16 -0400 (EDT)" <940425134516_72260.2635_EHB107-5@CompuServe.COM> Message-ID: <01HBLJDA0QBO8WWAI4@castor.ldc.lu.se> DON: Ought you to "unsubscribe and reappear under a taken name", you ask rhetorically ('though I have to confess I can't recall what posting might have provoked you) -- and the obvious answer to your question is: NO!!! This is so for (at least) two reasons: a) you're in the right, and both SHOULD, MUST and, I sincerely hope, DO have equal rights with the rest of us here to speak your mind freely b) unless you also assumed a taken personality I don't think you could hide yourself under an alias for more'n a few lines -- you DO have a rather distinct style, and besides who could know what you know and think what you think and say so, and not be you? ...so I'm afraid that horse won't even trot. But anyway, as far as MY opinion is concerned, you just as any of us must be free to say what you like to whom you like about what you like -- or dislike! Welcome back, by-the-by, and a pity to hear you didn't particularly enjoy yourself. Mattias From David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu Mon Apr 25 21:19:57 1994 From: David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu (David A Gerstein) Date: Mon, 25 Apr 1994 15:19:57 -0400 Subject: rec.arts.comics Poll Results Message-ID: <9404251919.AA19570@bigbird.cc.williams.edu> Dear Folks, About two months ago the digest contained my review of the current MM Sunday strip. Now rec.arts.comics recently had a poll of strips, rated 1-10, out of ALL known currently-syndicated strips. (10 was the best.) At the end of the result announcement, they named the Ten Worst Strips among those that more than ten people had voted on. Among those came, unsurprisingly: Vote (Mean) Standard Count Average Deviation ---------------------------------------------- 13 2.00+-1.87 0.92 Mickey Mouse And among those that fewer than ten had voted on: 1 1.00 0.00 Donald Duck If it's any consolation, Aladdin (which apparently is now a daily strip!) did far worse than MM... although slightly better than DD. Considering how bad the MM newspaper strip was when I saw it, I don't even think I want to SEE what has been done to our favorite Ducks.... although I think one clue is the Sunday strips that they reprint on the backs of Donald Duck Orange Juice cartons. Ah, my Computer Science instructor just walked by this terminal. He looked at what I was typing and agreed with me on the low standard of the current MM strip (which he got, in some obscure paper, when staying in LA last year). "It's aimed at four-year-olds," was his comment. I bet poor Floyd is turning over in his grave. Disney sure knows how to sell something short. David Gerstein From morrow at physics.rice.edu Mon Apr 25 21:31:06 1994 From: morrow at physics.rice.edu (The Elmos of Madison County) Date: Mon, 25 Apr 1994 14:31:06 CDT Subject: His Majesty McDuck available Message-ID: <0097D7D0.316FF7E0.24864@physics.rice.edu> I have an extra copy of Don Rosa's "His Majesty McDuck" (Gladstone, U$ #260-something, 1989) which I'm willing to give to anyone for the cost of postage. It's in VF-NM physically, but the white areas on the cover show some discoloration and the paper is starting to age. E-mail me if you're interested. For the list, I have a Louisville newspaper article on Don from early April which I'll type in as soon as I remember to bring it into work. greg -- "I still believe in liberalism today as much as I ever did, but, oh, there was a happy time when I believed in liberals." --G.K. Chesterton elmo (morrow at physics.rice.edu,morrow at fnal.fnal.gov) From David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu Tue Apr 26 02:01:58 1994 From: David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu (David A Gerstein) Date: Mon, 25 Apr 1994 20:01:58 -0400 Subject: The Duck Who Never Was In-Reply-To: Your message of Tue, 26 Apr 1994 01:18:41 +0200 Message-ID: <9404260001.AA11871@bigbird.cc.williams.edu> Dear Folks, Don Rosa challenged us to a guessing game on his upcoming story (to be published in DD 286) "The Duck Who Never Was." He explained what would have happened had Donald never existed: "Every single thing about Duckburg is screwed up and the lives of ALL the Duckburg characters are ruined... EXCEPT ONE. Can you guess WHO?" GLADSTONE GANDER!!!!! (Who's already been in FOUR of the five issues of DONALD DUCK Gladstone has published so far in their new run...) BTW, Don, do you think that Disney comics would have remained as popular as they were c. 1988 if Disney had never taken over from Gladstone? (Not that they were VERY popular then... but that they were more popular then than they are now.) I think that the show DUCK DAZE, coming up in fall '95, while it will undoubtedly twist Barks' carefully established universe into smithereens FAR WORSE than DUCKTALES did, will revive some interest in Donald Duck among the general youth population. We have to acknowledge that DUCKTALES was a real boon to Scrooge's popularity -- in this woeful country of ours, this was many kids' first exposure to the character. David Gerstein From clawton at TFS.COM Tue Apr 26 03:28:00 1994 From: clawton at TFS.COM (Chris Lawton) Date: Mon, 25 Apr 94 18:28 PDT Subject: Question. (For the FAQ maybe?) Message-ID: Hiya Gang! Just a simple question. Normally, I read WDC&S, DDA, U$A, US, and D&M. I was wondering... Is there some sort of guide lines as to the type of stories that appear in the "Adventures" titles and opposed to the ones that don't have the word Adventures in the title? Fox example, In DDA, should Donald be on an "Adventure" and not just stay in the house for the story? If a story is in DD, does Donald have to stay near home? Just wondering, Chris Mickey's #1 Fan!! :) :) P.S. Don - I stopped by the Oakland Convention Center just to see you! :) I was there on Thursday, April, 21. I later heard that you weren't there that day! :( Sorry to hear that it wasn't much fun. From mas at cs.bu.edu Tue Apr 26 03:48:51 1994 From: mas at cs.bu.edu (Mark Semich) Date: Mon, 25 Apr 1994 21:48:51 -0400 Subject: The Duck Who Never Was In-Reply-To: <9404260001.AA11871@bigbird.cc.williams.edu> (message from David A Gerstein on Mon, 25 Apr 1994 20:01:58 -0400) Message-ID: <199404260148.VAA21601@csa.bu.edu> >From: David A Gerstein > Don Rosa challenged us to a guessing game on his upcoming >story (to be published in DD 286) "The Duck Who Never Was." > > GLADSTONE GANDER!!!!! I'd guess either Gladstone or Neighbor Jones - Jones makes sense, as he's the only one who's life is ruined by having Donald around.. From torsten at cwis.unomaha.edu Tue Apr 26 04:02:45 1994 From: torsten at cwis.unomaha.edu (Torsten Wesley Adair) Date: Mon, 25 Apr 1994 21:02:45 -0500 (CDT) Subject: Disney-comics digest #309. In-Reply-To: <940425134516_72260.2635_EHB107-5@CompuServe.COM> Message-ID: On 25 Apr 1994, Don Rosa wrote: > Since I'm the only "author" on here, is it being implied here > that I do not conduct myself in a proper manner? > I'll jump down the throat of anybody who says I've ever jumped > down anybody's throat! Oops... > My comments are seen in a different light by some people because > they are somehow intimidated by my presence for no good reason? I can't > help that. It's not fair to anyone to say they can't be an equal part > of the group and speak their mind as much as everyone else. > Shall I un-subscribe and reappear under an assumed name? May I suggest "Name Withheld"? Geez, Don, most industry professionals revel with the power they have to influence unsuspecting fans. Considering the lack of respect you receive from the Industry, you should take all the ego boosting you can from this group! I mean, if we don't respect you, then you might as well commit hari kari with your T-Square, as life wouldn't be worth an 1876 dime. Torsten "So that's what cheek tissue tastes like" Adair adair_t at kosmos.wcc.govt Wellington, New Zealand From David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu Tue Apr 26 04:31:26 1994 From: David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu (David A Gerstein) Date: Mon, 25 Apr 1994 22:31:26 -0400 Subject: The Duck Who Never Was In-Reply-To: Your message of Mon, 25 Apr 1994 21:48:51 EDT Message-ID: <9404260231.AA22803@bigbird.cc.williams.edu> Dear Folks (and Mark), WAIT A SECOND! Did I say that Gladstone would be better off without Donald around? Far from it! He would probably be MARRIED to DAISY then... and I have a hunch they would BOTH be VERY sick and tired of one another... Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. MICKEY MOUSE sure would be a lot better off had Donald never been born. ;-) ;-) ;-) But then, Don refuses to acknowledge his existence in the duck universe. Yeah, I think it must be Neighbor Jones. Or maybe Gus Goose? Gus and Donald have never had any very meaningful moments together. Gus' gluttony has always bothered Donald, particularly in the AT strip, but really, I think that if Donald never existed, Gus wouldn't be any the wiser... or worse off. I'd say that of the MAJOR DD characters, which is probably who this guessing game is limited to, Jones would be our man. From rivers at seismo.CSS.GOV Tue Apr 26 04:41:13 1994 From: rivers at seismo.CSS.GOV (Wilmer Rivers) Date: Mon, 25 Apr 94 22:41:13 EDT Subject: Disney comics in the USA Message-ID: <9404260241.AA28726@beno.CSS.GOV> Don Rosa writes: > I might swear off American cons like in Oakland, however. It's > VERY insulting, both for me and for the Ducks, when I am virtually > ignored by all the attendees since the teaching of all the modern > "collectors" magazines and attitudes is that they should SHUN these > characters. I agree that collectors and speculators are the bane of American comic book fandom. As I have mentioned in previous postings, most of the comics stores around here carry NO Disney comics at all. I therefore spend almost all of my comics-purchasing dollars in the one that does carry them, to make sure that they stay in business! When I was in that store to buy LO$ # 1, along with some other Gladstone and some non-Disney comics, a woman came in bringing her son, who appeared to be about 10 years old. He went through the racks of Marvels and Images, picking the titles on his list, and handed them to his mother. She looked behind her and saw the 2 small racks of "kids' comics" (Glad- stones, Harveys, and Archies). She then turned to the cashier, pointed to LOS # 1 (which obviously had obviously no significance to her), and asked, "These aren't like regular comics, are they? I mean, people don't collect them and they won't ever be worth anything, will they?" The clerk mumbled something about "Well, some people buy them [after all, he had just seen ME pick up several!], but they don't have much collectable value.." and then the mother gave the clerk her kid's superhero titles, paid for them, and left. I really wanted to shout at her, "Won't be worth anything? How much is a great story ever worth?", but I refrained from saying anything, since it was obvious that she wouldn't have had a clue about what I meant. The idea that you might buy a comic book just to read the story and enjoy the art was completely alien to her, and I assume that it was likewise alien to her son, who must have picked his list of titles based on price speculation published in the fan-boy press. If customers continue to make their purchasing decision based on "collectability", how much longer will it be before this store joins all the others in this area in using that rack space for "hot" titles rather than for Gladstones? And, when this kid eventually sees that his comics AREN'T escalating in price as he had supposed, how much longer will he continue to buy any comics at all? And what will happen to the stores then? Unless kids start buying comics simply because they want to read them, with no regard to "investing", then soon enough there will be no comics industry left in the USA at all, I fear... Wilmer Rivers From morrow at physics.rice.edu Tue Apr 26 06:05:09 1994 From: morrow at physics.rice.edu (Ad Astra per Elmo) Date: Mon, 25 Apr 1994 23:05:09 CDT Subject: "His Majesty McDuck" gone Message-ID: <0097D818.017A0E20.24896@physics.rice.edu> Just wanted everyone to know that Mark Semich has snatched up my extra copy of "His Majesty McDuck". It's a good tale, so I hope every one else already has a copy of their own. greg -- "I may be more of a romantic than some of you, so feel free to throw up if you have to."--Prof. Ralph Noble elmo (morrow at physics.rice.edu,morrow at fnal.fnal.gov) From SI2_KB92017 at debet.nhh.no Tue Apr 26 14:42:55 1994 From: SI2_KB92017 at debet.nhh.no (Kjetil Bakken) Date: Tue, 26 Apr 1994 14:42:55 +0200 (WET-DST) Subject: Gladstone Disney Comics Message-ID: <940426144255.204280da@debet.nhh.no> I am new on this list, and I have some questions regarding the publishing of Disney Comics in the US. Some years ago, Gladstone published a lot of different magazines, and these magazines were rather widely distributed here in Norway. When Disney took over this activity themselves, the quality in my opinion went down. Now I hear that Gladstone has once again got their license back. And here is my question: Which of the magazines are now being published, how often and at which price? And do they still emphasize the quality stories (Barks, Rosa etc)? (I hate the Italian stuff) I hope someone can help me on this. __&__ / \ Kjetil Bakken | | Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration ^^ (o)(o) 5035 Bergen-Sandviken, Norway C ,---_) | |,___| Operator OPR_KB at DEBET.NHH.NO | \__/ Student SI2_KB92017 at DEBET.NHH.NO /_____\ /_____/ \ Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they AREN'T after you. ________________________________________________________________________________ From Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se Tue Apr 26 15:05:10 1994 From: Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se (Mattias Hallin) Date: Tue, 26 Apr 1994 15:05:10 +0200 Subject: Present Gladstones Message-ID: <01HBMVP3A2F88WWM8J@castor.ldc.lu.se> KJETTIL: Welcome aboard! You asked about present-day Gladstones, and obviously your best bet would be to get a few; but... yes -- they still do try to keep some kind of flag flying, with a mixture of Barks, Taliaferro, Rosa, Van Horn and Gottfredson AS WELL AS Danish/Egmont-produced and other, to them, "foreign" stories. If your local comic store don't carry'em, you could always order them from NAFS(k) in Sweden, or from one of several post-order retailers I could give you the name and adress of, or you could subscribe from Gladstone themselves. In my opinion this range of Gladstone Comics are worth the money. All my best Mattias Hallin Lund, Sweden !==============================================================================! !* Mattias Hallin ** ** Phone: +46 46-14 84 43 **! !* Trollebergsvagen 24 B ***** Work: Lund University, Box 117, S-221 00 Lund **! !* S-222 29 Lund, SWEDEN **************************** Phone: +46 46-10 71 37 **! !==============================================================================! !******************** "Hello, all you happy tax-payers!" *********************! !==============================================================================! From shg at rhi.hi.is Tue Apr 26 20:49:22 1994 From: shg at rhi.hi.is (Sigurdur Hrafn Gislason) Date: Tue, 26 Apr 94 18:49:22 GMT Subject: Is there already a sequel? In-Reply-To: <9404252330.AA08095@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE>; from "disney-comics@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE" at Apr 26, 94 1:30 am Message-ID: <9404261849.AA15650@hengill.rhi.hi.is> I was just now finishing the final chapter of Lo$11 or 12 (not sure, but it is the chapter with the pursuing zombie) and liked it very much. This story must mark another milestone in the Egmont stories since it contains a scene depicting certain death for hundreds of people. The first one was when Scrooge's mother died and he visited her grave. The scene with Donald's first encounter with Scrooge was hilarious and totally in character. Anyway is this the end of the LO$ series? I have read Don's comments on a certain Bear mountain story, but is that a story that has yet to be puplished or is it a story he did a long time ago? One more thing, Don's "Son of the Sun" story which you have been praising, what was it about? Since they sometime change the titles here, can someone summerize the plot? -Sigurdur -- From SCAV9150%FREDONIA.BITNET at SEGATE.SUNET.SE Tue Apr 26 04:39:00 1994 From: SCAV9150%FREDONIA.BITNET at SEGATE.SUNET.SE (Kristina M. Scavo) Date: Tue, 26 Apr 1994 4:39 pm EDT (20:39:24 UT) Subject: Is there already a sequel? In-Reply-To: Your message of 26 Apr 94 18:49:22 GMT Message-ID: <37052042694163923@FREDONIA> I don't know where to send this, but can someone unsubscribe me. I don't have t he time to read all of this. Thanks. Kristina Scavo Scav9150 at Fredonia.bitnet From David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu Wed Apr 27 01:53:18 1994 From: David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu (David A Gerstein) Date: Tue, 26 Apr 1994 19:53:18 -0400 Subject: Disney-comics digest #311. In-Reply-To: Your message of Wed, 27 Apr 1994 01:18:14 +0200 Message-ID: <9404262353.AA24777@bigbird.cc.williams.edu> Dear Folks, Sigurdur Gislason wanted to know what "Son of the Sun" was about. Well, this is a story of how Uncle Scrooge and Flintheart Glomgold race each other to find lost gold of the Inca Indians. They discover the great temple of Manco Capac, who ancient legends called the "Son of the Sun and the Keeper of the Inca Gold." This was Don Rosa's first story. Meanwhile, the Bear Mountain story you mentioned is in fact the final chapter of the LO$. What you read was indeed part 11. That last one is coming up soon, for you. (It'll be a year and a half until we LUCKY Americans get to read it...) Wilmer Rivers described his experience at the ONE comic shop in his hometown which even CARRIES Gladstones (in which a mother and a comic shop owner talked condescendingly of Disney comics). Well, I'll tell you, it's like this. Most towns I've visited have a single stronghold for Disney fans, where the Gladstone comics do very good business. The other shops either carry Gladstones or don't, but Disney business is usually poor with them because ALL the Gladstone fans seem to concentrate at the other shop. In Santa Barbara, the shop that sells a lot of Gladstones also has good prices on old Dells, and a good selection of older Gladstones. The other shop has a poor selection of back issues, and charges an arm and a leg for all of them (particularly the Dells, which are horribly overpriced). What is strange is that the American comic fanboy-magazines do not hold a pariah on all humorous comics. Only on Disney comics. For example, Jeff Smith's "BONE" series, VERY MUCH in the Disney tradition -- in fact, Smith usually mentions Barks as his prime influence -- is constantly lauded and built up by the media. Some magazines have even said, "We always try to draw attention to products we feel you should see that you otherwise wouldn't be looking at, so therefore..." etc. when writing about BONE. It seems as if the fan media wants to build up this series in particular for some reason. I like BONE and think it deserves the praise, but I am at the same time infuriated that not even a passing nod has been given to the LO$. I think Gladstone could do some things to improve their sales. They need to run ads which actually contain panels from the stories, just like the European comics do. This actually gets the reader interested in the story... they don't only see its cover. Next, Gladstone should advertise in the fanboy magazines such as HERO and WIZARD (the two that most blatantly ignore their comics). I think the ads should use a new approach, as described above. I believe I have heard that Gladstone can't afford to advertise there, but that's what I was told before they began the new Barks sculpture series, which has apparently been a runaway success for them. Gladstone should also advertise in DISNEY ADVENTURES. (Although I have heard the same story -- that they can't afford the ad rates...) Can Gladstone really not afford such ads? I expect that Bruce Hamilton is a multi-millionaire, although I don't have any PROOF of that. Maybe he could stand to drop a few dollars where it would help, even when that isn't part of the money that his Gladstone budget usually includes. If Disney had never taken over from Gladstone, does anyone think that Gladstone would be more successful now? In any event, GLADSTONE NEEDS TO ADVERTISE MORE, I think. The real problem is that most people are not even AWARE of their comics. I think that the comics' bimonthly schedule is one of the causes of that... One interesting note, though. The LO$ has sold out like wildfire at all the comic shops I know that carry Gladstones. John himself tells me that the series is a big success for them. And for the first time since early 1990, Overstreet's "Comic Price Guide Monthly Supplement" magazine has "plus" signs next to most of the Disney series (exception: DONALD AND MICKEY) indicating that interest is apparently rising. Why did only one person enter the poll I posted about two weeks ago? I can post it again if anyone wants... David Gerstein From hellman at proxxi.uf.se Tue Apr 26 22:41:38 1994 From: hellman at proxxi.uf.se (Bror Hellman) Date: Tue, 26 Apr 1994 22:41:38 +0200 (MET DST) Subject: The Duck Who Never Was In-Reply-To: <199404260148.VAA21601@csa.bu.edu> Message-ID: > > Don Rosa challenged us to a guessing game on his upcoming > >story (to be published in DD 286) "The Duck Who Never Was." > > > > GLADSTONE GANDER!!!!! > > I'd guess either Gladstone or Neighbor Jones - Jones makes sense, as > he's the only one who's life is ruined by having Donald around.. I'd guess it's Uncle $crooge or Grandma. $crooge built his fortune by his own hands without the interfering of Donald in the first place. Grandma lives on her farm and don't need much from anyone. She mostly gives. Neighbour Jones would live a VERY different life. Gladstone I think would be poor unfortunate and begging in the streets 'cause Donalds his other pole. It's like Yin and Yang, they can't live without each other. Gladstones luck and Donalds misfortune are two sides of the same coin. I think that without Donald Gladstone wouldn't have his luck. Steamboat Willie ---------------------------------------------- ... Does The Little Mermaid wear an algebra? ---------------------------------------------- Internet: hellman at proxxi.uf.se, DuckNet: hellman at 313:100/13.0 From deckerd at agcs.com Mon Apr 25 22:24:21 1994 From: deckerd at agcs.com (Dwight Decker) Date: Mon, 25 Apr 94 13:24:21 MST Subject: Desperately seeking Fabio Message-ID: <9404252024.AA16761@gtephx.com> I seem to have lost Fabio's e-mail address, right when I need some help with an Italian Disney story I'm transalting. (And to add to the irony, the word I need to know the meaning of isn't even Italian, but an English word the Italians have picked up and given some kind of new spin to). Could Fabio please get in touch with me...? Arrigato! (Wait...wrong language! Dwight Decker "Just a Mickey Mouse translator" From larocqu at gaul.csd.uwo.ca Wed Apr 27 04:45:30 1994 From: larocqu at gaul.csd.uwo.ca (John P. LaRocque) Date: Tue, 26 Apr 94 22:45:30 -0400 Subject: Disney-comics digest #311. Message-ID: <9404270245.AA28367@gaul.csd.uwo.ca> I may be losing my account for several months, and would like ver much to desubscribe from this digest (I'm too lazy to look up the particular command at the moment). I would hate to come back in September looking at 100 pieces of e-mail. John From 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM Wed Apr 27 06:59:43 1994 From: 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM (Don Rosa) Date: 27 Apr 94 00:59:43 EDT Subject: Disney-comics digest #311. Message-ID: <940427045943_72260.2635_EHB124-1@CompuServe.COM> CHRIS L.: You went to the Oakland convention center on Thursday and later learned that I wasn't there that day? The convention I was a guest at ("Wondercon") didn't begin until FRIDAY, so no, I was not there on Thursday. What sort of function did you search for me at there on Thursday??? SIGURDUR: You have just read the "Lo$" chapter 11. There will be ONE more chapter, #12, to complete $crooge's life up till when we first met him in "Christmas on Bear Mountain" in 1947. Too bad the foreign publishers don't bother to let their readers know what's going on as they should... their editorial content is quite limited. Or it's even possible that the editors don't pay attention to what's going on either? The "death of hundreds of people" you refer to is during the boat-sinking sequence, of course. I don't say anyone is dying in that scene. I show people leaping into the water near lifeboats. Naturally I change history in that scene; after all, I change history in the sense that $crooge wasn't REALLY on that boat anyway, and that the people all had little black noses. So I also change it in that nobody died. As to how much attention the editors pay to what they do in Europe, sometimes I'm afraid they aren't trying very hard. Of course, I can't READ the issues I receive from Denmark or Norway, but I can see the COLORING (which is the same in all Egmont countries). And I can see something wrong in many spots... Chapter 11, part 1, page 1: no "kr" symbol on bin, and a comment concerning a date of "1864" as regards the cannon from the Boer War. At least the photos in the splash panel were sepia-toned as they were supposed to be since chapter 1. Page 2 - the scoop is dumping gray money into the bin (but I don't approve of the bin money being colored GOLD anyway, so why should I kick?). Page 7 - panel 6: $crooge's collar is colored orange like his beak, so it looks like he suddenly turned into $crooge McPelican. PART 2 - page 1: $crooge takes a blue neckerchief and ties it into a red bowtie. BUT I SHOULDN'T GRIPE. YOW -- I drew $crooge with TWO pairs of glasses in panel 4!!! How could I spend such endless hours on those pages and not see that till now?!?! Page 2 - panel 1: due to sloppy coloring, $crooge has three hands. Then he picks up a stick and it turns as blue as that strangely colored cane that he uses in Europe. In panel 6 we see how the colorists don't have a clue, and think that the light shining from the tent flap is a trail leading to the tent, regardless of how I shaded it and that the rest of the scene is obviously at night. Page 5 - what a panel #6 is, as someone here already mentioned! The colorist, having not read the story, had no idea what he was doing and colored the land as water and the water as land in the map! Wow! But looking back over chapter 11, I'm amazed that I seemingly decided I was doing NORMAL comics which would never be shown to Disney for approval, which they won't be until Gladstone is ready to use this story. I really doubt that Disney will allow all the stuff I show in chapter 11. Time will tell. With all the coloring errors, this may be the ONLY version of this story the world will see! From 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM Wed Apr 27 07:03:49 1994 From: 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM (Don Rosa) Date: 27 Apr 94 01:03:49 EDT Subject: Disney-comics digest #311. Message-ID: <940427050348_72260.2635_EHB124-2@CompuServe.COM> Oops -- more for SIGURDUR: As far as unusual stuff for Disney comics, what about the death of $crooge's father in chapter 9? Did you see that one? "The Son of the Sun" was about $crooge and Flintheart in a race to find the temple of Manco Capac and the lost treasure of the Inca Empire. The story can be most easilly recognized by the appallingly bad artwork! From rivers at seismo.CSS.GOV Wed Apr 27 07:09:52 1994 From: rivers at seismo.CSS.GOV (Wilmer Rivers) Date: Wed, 27 Apr 94 01:09:52 EDT Subject: Penny Wise (remember her?) Message-ID: <9404270509.AA16243@beno.CSS.GOV> Forgive me for dragging up a topic which has been discussed on this list before, but I would like to speculate further on the background of Miss Penny Wise. You will recall that Per called our attention to this interesting character last August. She was a spinster who made her only appearance in WDC&S 164. Scrooge bemoaned the fact that she held a promissory note (or something) of his and, if she should foreclose on him, he would be left destitute. Per asked who Penny Wise was, and how did Scrooge wind up owing her his entire fortune. No one had a good answer for how this came about, although many people agreed that Scrooge's protestations of his impending bankruptcy at her hands was probably an exaggeration, and he well could have owed her a much smaller sum. (Don Rosa, however, noted that Scrooge seemed to worry explicitly that he did in fact owe her ALL his money.) The fact that he owed the old maid any money at all had to be dismissed as a minor plot contri- vance needed to set up a gag in a funny Donald story, and nothing that anyone knew about Scrooge's background would suggest that his indebted- ness to Miss Wise should be considered a legitimate part of the Barks canon. However, I would like now to toss some new fuel onto that old fire. I offer for your consideration the possibility that Scrooge and Penny Wise had been lovers, during their youth. On the basis of just what "evidence" could one jump to such a reckless conclusion? The cover to US # 1 (well, US FC # 368), no less. This cover, which properly intro- duces us to Scrooge's world, shows him in a rowboat sailing through "Money Lake Number 1". And what is the name of his rowboat? It is shown very prominently on the boat's stern that it is named - you guessed it - "Penny Wise". Now presumably this rowboat never leaves Scrooge's money bin, so its name is a private matter to him. Why would he name his boat after someone to whom he owed money? Would he even have named it after a former business partner (who could certainly be in the position of holding a promissory note), if that's what they were? It seems more likely that he would name it after a lost sweetheart. Do you suppose that in a moment of passion a young Scrooge might have made a foolish promise to a certain young lady that he would someday give her all that he owns? Might he have sealed that promise with a token of some sort, or have put it into writing in a love letter? Could it be that, in moments of solitude in his "money lake", he still has some feelings of fondness towards her? Could it even be that - brace your- selves - out of a sense of obligation over his old promise or out of a still lingering affection, he actually helps support the old maid?! Note that when Scrooge and Penny do meet in WDC 164, she declines to take all his money, explaining that she already has as much money as she wants or needs. Could this be because she already receives some financial stipend from Scrooge? And in refusing to make him pay his debt to her, could she be showing that the lingering feelings of affection are in fact mutual? O.K., I realize that Barks certainly never intended for us to place any significance at all on this one-time character or on the name of Scrooge's rowboat, and he almost certainly forgot (or didn't care) that in two different contexts he made reference to the British expression "Penny wise and pound foolish". No connection at all exists between the US # 1 cover and the WDC # 164 Donald story, insofar as Barks is concerned. But can't we make a connection anyway? Can we read between the lines in the Barks canon and draw conclusions that he never intend- ed? As someone (was it Hemingway???) once noted, "There's creative writing, and there's creative reading." So can we speculate that the relationship between Scrooge and Penny Wise, which led to this mysteri- ous debt, was not purely a business one? In "Mickey's Christmas Carol" (to drag up yet another concluded discussion from our archives), should Miss Wise have played the role of Belle, the sweetheart whom Ebeneezer Scrooge lost when he turned to the life of a lonely miser (and deep down, misses still)? Will someday we be treated to the inside story on the "Life AND LOVES of Scrooge McDuck"? Wilmer Rivers From maittola at snakemail.hut.fi Wed Apr 27 08:47:30 1994 From: maittola at snakemail.hut.fi (Mikko Henri Juhani Aittola) Date: Wed, 27 Apr 1994 09:47:30 +0300 (EET DST) Subject: Price of comics In-Reply-To: <9404262330.AA21961@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE> Message-ID: This is for all those living outside U.S. I was just wondering how much you have to pay for your American comics with taxes, shipping and all. Here in Finland $1.50 books are around $2.5, $2.00 books around $3.25, $2.50 books around $4.00 and $10 books around $14. /Mikko From Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se Wed Apr 27 09:56:47 1994 From: Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se (Mattias Hallin) Date: Wed, 27 Apr 1994 09:56:47 +0200 Subject: Price of comics In-Reply-To: Your message dated "Wed, 27 Apr 1994 09:47:30 +0300 (EET DST)" Message-ID: <01HBNZI3C1NO8WWM73@castor.ldc.lu.se> MIKKO: At my local dealer's, I pay 12,50 Swedish kronor per US dollar, at a time when the official rate of exchange is something like 7,75 kronor per dollar; though I also hold a membership card at my dealer's, which entitles me to 15% off of anything I buy there -- both comics and pocket books which are their main stock, but also any hardcover book I'd care to order from anywhere in the world. Now, I could easilly get around this, by subscribing directly from Gladstone, as I actually used to do, in which case I would only pay the flat rate of exchange perdollar, plus whatever it is that Gladstone adds for postage and handling. This however would have several drawbacks, the main one being that Gladstone ships their subscriptions by surface mail, while my dealer gets his copies flown in -- which makes a difference of a mere two months! -- but a further negative aspect would be that I wouldn't help supporting BOTH Gladstone's Disney Comics AND my dealer; and I wouldn't care for that particular outlet to go out of business since they give me EXCELLENT service both with comics and ordinary books -- nor would I of course like to see Gladstone stop printing Disney comics! KJETTIL: I didn't get around to compiling those adressess yesterday, as I promised; but I'll try to be quick about it! DON: I'll try to be quick about those comments I promised you, too; but I've still to get my hands on part 1 of Lo$ 11 -- I missed that one in the week it was for sale, so I'll have to order my copy (and yours too) straight from Serieforlaget's back-issue service. But I'll get back to you on the subject! All my best to all Mattias !==============================================================================! !* Mattias Hallin ** ** Phone: +46 46-14 84 43 **! !* Trollebergsvagen 24 B ***** Work: Lund University, Box 117, S-221 00 Lund **! !* S-222 29 Lund, SWEDEN **************************** Phone: +46 46-10 71 37 **! !==============================================================================! !***** "Oh, the villain onward stole... While a wicked smile he smole!" ******! !==============================================================================! From Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se Wed Apr 27 13:48:07 1994 From: Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se (Mattias Hallin) Date: Wed, 27 Apr 1994 13:48:07 +0200 Subject: Well, whaddya know?! Message-ID: <01HBO79XQITG8WWM1H@castor.ldc.lu.se> ALL: A little digression here -- i jes' heard on the Swedish National Radio, program 2 (which is the main channel for classical and/or narrow and/or "cultural" music) a modern composition by a student composer at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm; and the piece was titled "Magica de Hex" -- which of course is Magica's name in Swedish. Well, whaddaya know!?! (I'm not necessarily saying, though, that y'all should try to hear it -- 'twarn't THAT good, though not that bad either.) Hmm...? Mattias From Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se Wed Apr 27 13:57:57 1994 From: Mattias.Hallin at jurenh.lu.se (Mattias Hallin) Date: Wed, 27 Apr 1994 13:57:57 +0200 Subject: What else, then? Message-ID: <01HBO7NDH7TW8WWM1H@castor.ldc.lu.se> TRYG: You asked the other day why we use English on this list -- but what else could we do? How many would understand Swedish, f'rinstance, which is the language of our "moderator" (I'll call him that for want of a better word -- remember, I'm translating this into English; or rather I don't as much TRANSLATE into English as I THINK in English when I write this -- even though I know Per doesn't actually MODERATE our list, but just makes sure it's running, or sumpin' like that) not to mention Finnish! I don't really think this is a problem, though -- most of us seems to get by fairly well in English, don't you think? All my best! Mattias From HATHAWAY at stsci.edu Thu Apr 28 02:21:34 1994 From: HATHAWAY at stsci.edu (HATHAWAY@stsci.edu) Date: Wed, 27 Apr 1994 19:21:34 -0500 (EST) Subject: LOS help Message-ID: <01HBOIA0181UPSYF8N@avion.stsci.edu> Hi - Hmmmm - it seems there is some concern that (at least?) one of the parts of the LO$ series might not get to American readers due to typical Disney Co. touchiness (how come they're so blind in some areas and so oversensitive in others??? - never mind, don't nobody bothering answering). Now me, I'd be _really_ tee'd off if I could only read 80% or 90% of the story and be denied the full set. (Yes I know I have some of the collector's mania for completeness, but I follow the only good rule for collecting - buy something for yourself because you like it yourself. Eventually all those speculators who buy stuff they wouldn't want to read or own themselves are going to find out they are stuck with stuff nobody, not even themselves, want.) So, is there any chance that maybe, someone on the other side of the ocean, who is getting their sets of the (what is it part 11?) series, could possibly set aside a few extra copies they could make available to folk like me in case we can't get them here when it comes time? I'd be glad to trade or otherwise recompense for the trouble. I'd like to have to full set eventually, even if it's not all in English/American. Wm. Hathaway Baltimore MD From trygve at maroon.tc.umn.edu Thu Apr 28 02:52:14 1994 From: trygve at maroon.tc.umn.edu (Tryg Helseth) Date: Wed, 27 Apr 94 18:52:14 CST Subject: Disney comics in the USA Message-ID: <78529.trygve@maroon.tc.umn.edu> Wilmer Rivers wrote: >stones, Harveys, and Archies). She then turned to the cashier, pointed >to LOS # 1 (which obviously had obviously no significance to her), and >asked, "These aren't like regular comics, are they? I mean, people >don't collect them and they won't ever be worth anything, will they?" Wilmer, your story reminds me of a visit I made to a comic store here about 10 years ago. Someone had brought in some comics for sale on consignment. A couple of kids (about 10-12 years of age) glanced through the comics and promptly dismissed them as "nothing but silly stuff." I then looked at the comics which were mostly Dinsey and other funny animal comics from the '50s and found some that I considered classics. To each their own, I thought at the time. Today when I visit that same store I see kids (sometimes with checkbook bearing mothers in tow) selecting comics for what seems like purely speculative value; when I see that, I thankful the when I was a kid we didn't place monetary value on comics like that--we bought them to read and enjoy. On the other hand, I really wonder how long Disney comics can survive in that kind of market--if the kids shun them, where are the future readers going to come from? >The clerk mumbled something about "Well, some people buy them [after >all, he had just seen ME pick up several!], but they don't have much >collectable value.." and then the mother gave the clerk her kid's >superhero titles, paid for them, and left. I really wanted to shout >at her, "Won't be worth anything? How much is a great story ever >worth?", but I refrained from saying anything, since it was obvious >that she wouldn't have had a clue about what I meant. The idea that >you might buy a comic book just to read the story and enjoy the art >was completely alien to her, and I assume that it was likewise alien >to her son, who must have picked his list of titles based on price >speculation published in the fan-boy press. If customers continue to >make their purchasing decision based on "collectability", how much >longer will it be before this store joins all the others in this area >in using that rack space for "hot" titles rather than for Gladstones? >And, when this kid eventually sees that his comics AREN'T escalating >in price as he had supposed, how much longer will he continue to buy >any comics at all? And what will happen to the stores then? Unless >kids start buying comics simply because they want to read them, with no >regard to "investing", then soon enough there will be no comics industry >left in the USA at all, I fear... > >Wilmer Rivers Tryg Helseth Minneapolis, MN, USA or "I wish they all could be Calisota Ducks!" -The Beach Drakes From trygve at maroon.tc.umn.edu Thu Apr 28 02:52:47 1994 From: trygve at maroon.tc.umn.edu (Tryg Helseth) Date: Wed, 27 Apr 94 18:52:47 CST Subject: What else, then? Message-ID: <78550.trygve@maroon.tc.umn.edu> Mattias Hallin wrote: > You asked the other day why we use English on this list -- but what else >could we do? How many would understand Swedish, f'rinstance, which is the >language of our "moderator" (I'll call him that for want of a better word -- >remember, I'm translating this into English; or rather I don't as much >TRANSLATE into English as I THINK in English when I write this -- even though I >know Per doesn't actually MODERATE our list, but just makes sure it's running, >or sumpin' like that) not to mention Finnish! Mattias: I agree it makes perfect sense to have a common language for this mail list. I just though that it is ironic that the chosen language is English as it seems that Disney comics are not so popular in English speaking countries. (Well Canada and the U.S., anyhow--I can't speak for Great Britain, Australia, etc.) >I don't really think this is a problem, though -- most of us seems to get by >fairly well in English, don't you think? I don't think it's a problem -- I know it would be a problem for me if the conversations were in Swedish, though... :) >a modern composition by a student composer at the Royal Academy of Music in >Stockholm; and the piece was titled "Magica de Hex" -- which of course is >Magica's name in Swedish. Well, whaddaya know!?! Let me guess! The admission price is one thin dime! :) Tryg Helseth Minneapolis, MN, USA or "I wish they all could be Calisota Ducks!" -The Beach Drakes From ajd105 at rsphy1.anu.edu.au Thu Apr 28 02:17:44 1994 From: ajd105 at rsphy1.anu.edu.au (ajd105) Date: Thu, 28 Apr 1994 10:17:44 +1000 (EST) Subject: a question and a warning Message-ID: <9404280017.AA22680@rsphysse.anu.edu.au> A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: not available Type: text Size: 2024 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://nafsk.se/pipermail/dcml/attachments/19940428/add120ce/attachment.pl From David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu Thu Apr 28 05:58:13 1994 From: David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu (David A Gerstein) Date: Wed, 27 Apr 1994 23:58:13 -0400 Subject: "The House of Mystery" In-Reply-To: Your message of Thu, 28 Apr 1994 01:18:09 +0200 Message-ID: <9404280358.AA06056@bigbird.cc.williams.edu> Dear Folks, Don to Sigurdur: "As far as unusual stuff for Disney comics, what about the death of $crooge's father in chapter 9 [of the LO$]? Did you see that one?" Actually, death was a common motif in the Bill Walsh-written MM stories of the mid-'40s (FG was still drawing them then, but not writing them). In "The World of Tomorrow" (recently printed by Gladstone), Mickey finds himself in a land of robots. One female robot, Mimi, falls in love with him. Toward the end of the story, when Mickey is fighting with Pete and is about to be shot by him, Mimi leaps between the two. She takes the shot, which (fired from a futuristic gun) reduces her to only so many wheels and bolts. Later Mickey and Minnie mourn near her remains, which they have placed on a cushion -- they MAY have put a flower there for her, too, although I don't remember. In "The Pirate Ghostship" Greatbeard the pirate, an ancestor of Pete (this is a time-travel story) is fleeing a volcano's eruption with MM toward the climax when the urge overcomes him, and he runs back to take just one chest of treasure along as well. He is buried by the lava. Finally, in "The House of Mystery," the villainess, an evil scientist named Drusilla, is consumed in flames when her mansion burns to the ground. As he realizes she is done for, her caretaker, a wizened coot named Jeremiah who clearly feels affection for her, races inside to be with her when it happens. "She was so great, and so horrible," says Minnie. "She came from the past, and now she's gone back to it..." I'd say that the emotional moments in Bill Walsh's stories are the best thing about them... otherwise they're wildly inconsistent. I far prefer stories that Gottfredson wrote as well as drew, although I do like Walsh's work more than the writing done for most comic-book Mouse stories... Much earlier, in 1932's "Mickey Mouse Sails for Treasure Island," Mickey is under the _belief_ that Minnie has been killed, and spends several strips basically lying on his arms and crying for her. She's perfectly okay, though, as it turns out... And there's the great scene in 1936's "Mickey Mouse in the Foreign Legion" wherein Pete has sent MM out into the desert to die, and his boss tells him that he will be himself shot if Mickey passes on. Pete's reactions to the apparent discovery that Mickey is dead, and in the immediately succeeding parts, comprise my favorite sequence in a FG story (although it's not my favorite FG _story_ per se). Barks tried for a scene like this in "King Scrooge the First," did he not? And Dell deep-sixed it with some cheap gag... easy to do when the story isn't DRAWN yet. * * * * * On to another topic. This can be summed up as follows: We look back fondly at the days when Disney comics, as published by Dell then, were infinitely successful in the United States. Yet the stories Dell had produced for them, aside from Barks and early Murry, contain a remarkable number of clinkers after about 1950. Yet 1953 was when their sales *peaked.* I know that a lot of Egmont's scripts may be poor as well, but I hope I'm not floating alone when I say that in general, the art quality of material in the new Northern European (Egmont/Oberon) Disneys is far, far superior to the general quality from Dell. Do others feel differently? I just can't muster the enthusiasm for Strobl and Bradbury that some seem to have. I like Hubbard's work, but not his renditions of the central characters (DD, MM, US, and such). I even tend to dislike Murry's art after about 1958, although there are some exceptions. I realize that nostalgia is powerful, but do some people like this work for any other reason than that they grew up on it? (I'm *NOT* trying to attack nostalgia, which I think is good, or Strobl fans, for that matter -- I'm merely wondering.) PLEASE don't take this as a flame!!!!!!!!!!!! David Gerstein "My airplane exploded! Mickey done it! Gimme yer gun, Squinch... I'm gonna clean out Mickey Mouse *right now!*" From maittola at snakemail.hut.fi Thu Apr 28 13:56:04 1994 From: maittola at snakemail.hut.fi (Mikko Henri Juhani Aittola) Date: Thu, 28 Apr 1994 14:56:04 +0300 (EET DST) Subject: Disney-comics digest #312. In-Reply-To: <9404272330.AA05334@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE> Message-ID: David wrote: > Why did only one person enter the poll I posted about two > weeks ago? I can post it again if anyone wants... The reason I didn't enter the poll is simple. I don't know what to answer your questions. I buy Gladstone's comics quite randomly. I get a book if it has story by William Van Horn or Don Rosa - if I don't have a Finnish version already. I also decided to buy the Lo$ series. I usually skip the Bark's stories because I don't know if I have 'em already. Maybe I should buy one of those books that contains all info where and when was the stories published. I am also planning to buy Carl Bark's library or CBL in color, but I just can't afford it. I hope someday I can... Don wrote: > As to how much attention the editors pay to what they do in > Europe, sometimes I'm afraid they aren't trying very hard. Of course, I > can't READ the issues I receive from Denmark or Norway, but I can see > the COLORING (which is the same in all Egmont countries). And I can see > something wrong in many spots... I just thought if it is ok to forward your comments to our publisher...let me know. Mattias wrote: > At my local dealer's, I pay 12,50 Swedish kronor per US dollar, at a time > when the official rate of exchange is something like 7,75 kronor per dollar; Damn! I have to use a calculator to find out what the hell you pay for those comics.... :) /Mikko From starback at Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE Thu Apr 28 14:18:47 1994 From: starback at Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE (Per Starback) Date: Thu, 28 Apr 94 14:18:47 +0200 Subject: Desperately seeking Fabio In-Reply-To: Dwight Decker's message of Mon, 25 Apr 94 13:24:21 MST <9404252024.AA16761@gtephx.com> Message-ID: <9404281218.AA23014@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE> > I seem to have lost Fabio's e-mail address, Have you got it yet? Anyway, it's gadducci at di.unipi.it. -- " Per Starback, Uppsala, Sweden. email: starback at minsk.docs.uu.se "Life is but a gamble! Let flipism chart your ramble!" From James_Williams at ESS.NIAID.pc.niaid.nih.gov Thu Apr 28 16:31:25 1994 From: James_Williams at ESS.NIAID.pc.niaid.nih.gov (James Williams) Date: Thu, 28 Apr 94 09:31:25 EST Subject: Marvel's Disney Comics Message-ID: <2dbfbaad@ESS.NIAID.pc.niaid.nih.gov> The latest Comic Buyer's Guide contains an overview on most American comic book publishers. The section on Marvel Comics lists five Disney comics which they will publish - The Little Mermaid, Beauty and The Beast, Aladdin, Gargoyles (based on a Disney Afternoon cartoon which will premier this fall) and The Disney Afternoon (which I assume is an anthology). James Williams From H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl Thu Apr 28 17:40:52 1994 From: H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl (Harry Fluks) Date: Thu, 28 Apr 1994 17:40:52 +0200 Subject: various ('diuerse'?) Message-ID: <199404281540.AA08351@athena.research.ptt.nl> There were some problems with my mail today, so let's see if this arrives... Languages ~~~~~~~~~ Sometimes, when I want to reply to a message on this list, I can't find the right English words. Then, when I reconsider my reply, I decide it is not worth the effort of looking up the words, so I skip the message. So language *is* a barrier sometimes... but I saves you all a lot of unnecessary Fluks messages! Gladstone poll ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ David: > Why did only one person enter the poll I posted about two > weeks ago? Mikko: > The reason I didn't enter the poll is simple. I don't know > what to answer your questions. Apart from being quite busy, I basically agree with Mikko. I buy a comic as a single issue and I wouldn't be able to choose the best *title* out of the six. Also, I never gave much attention to letterers, scripters (apart from Gerstein and Decker 8-) and colourists. Mikko said: > I buy Gladstone's comics quite randomly. I get a book if it has story by > William Van Horn or Don Rosa - if I don't have a Finnish version already. That's slightly different with me: I *always* buy the Rosa issues, except the issues that have only a Rosa cover. I like to compare the different versions in different languages of Don's work. Barks index ~~~~~~~~~~~ Mikko: > I usually skip the Bark's stories because I don't know if > I have 'em already. Maybe I should buy one of those books > that contains all info where and when was the stories published. Or have a look at our ftp information. We have a Swedish Barks index, and it should not differ that much from a Finnish one. Also, a complete list of Barks' WDC ans Uncle $crooge stories is on ftp. (And soon to be expected: a complete USA Barks index, generated by a program of the Disney comics Database) > I am also planning to buy Carl Bark's library or CBL in color, > but I just can't afford it. I hope someday I can... Yeah, they're expensive. In Holland, those albums cost 3 times as much as a Dutch Barks album of the same quality... Colours and colors in Rosa's stories ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Don complained about the European colouring of the Life of Scrooge part 11. But part 2 of the Lo$ has been coloured much better in Europe than it was done by Gladstone! Gladstone had all the background characters the same color, while Egmont coloured every "irritating" detail separately! One question, Don: in the Egmont version, the Beagle Boys had sweaters with all kinds of colours before they went to jail (and got numbers), and orange sweaters afterwards. In the Gladstone version, the sweaters were orange from the start. Which was your intention? --Harry. From shg at rhi.hi.is Thu Apr 28 18:15:04 1994 From: shg at rhi.hi.is (Sigurdur Hrafn Gislason) Date: Thu, 28 Apr 94 16:15:04 GMT Subject: Disney-comics digest #312. In-Reply-To: <9404272330.AA05308@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE>; from "disney-comics@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE" at Apr 28, 94 1:30 am Message-ID: <9404281615.AA05461@hengill.rhi.hi.is> Concerning european prices. Here in Iceland we have to pay approx. 4 us$ per issue. By subscribing I can get it down to 3.5 or something like that. What artist? Who was the artist who did the motorcar story 2 issues ago? Something about Donald renting a bigger car to impress Daisy. Was it the same one who did the "Donald as a Pizza delivery man" story? Kinda weird, that rubbery style he uses. DON I kinda feel silly asking you this but could you ...please send me a autographed issue of Lo$1 or 2 I would like one to show my duck oriented friends (and brag a little). I will send you my address if you agree, not wanting to appear presumptious. -- From HOEHN at VAXA.CLARION.EDU Thu Apr 28 21:58:14 1994 From: HOEHN at VAXA.CLARION.EDU (SHAWN HOEHN) Date: Thu, 28 Apr 1994 15:58:14 -0400 (EDT) Subject: UNSUBCRIBE Message-ID: <940428155814.20605a9c@VAXA.CLARION.EDU> WOULD YOU PLEASE UNSUBSCRIBE ME , I DO NOT HAVE THE TIME TO READ ALL OF MY MAIL AND THE SCHOOL YEAR IS ALMOST OVER. THANKS SHAWN From HOEHN at VAXA.CLARION.EDU Thu Apr 28 22:39:50 1994 From: HOEHN at VAXA.CLARION.EDU (SHAWN HOEHN) Date: Thu, 28 Apr 1994 16:39:50 -0400 (EDT) Subject: UNSUBCRIBE Message-ID: <940428163950.2060571b@VAXA.CLARION.EDU> PLEASE UNSUBSCRIBE ME I DO NOT HOAVE TIME OT (OOPS) TO READ ALL MY MAIL, THANKS. From HATHAWAY at stsci.edu Fri Apr 29 00:34:58 1994 From: HATHAWAY at stsci.edu (HATHAWAY@stsci.edu) Date: Thu, 28 Apr 1994 17:34:58 -0500 (EST) Subject: UNSUBSCRIBE Message-ID: <01HBPT2W9BXUM9OK39@avion.stsci.edu> As much as I've enjoyed the list and would like to continue, pressing business requires I spend no more time reading this. Please unsubscribe me for the time being. If possible I may return. WHH From starback at Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE Thu Apr 28 23:48:41 1994 From: starback at Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE (Per Starback) Date: Thu, 28 Apr 94 23:48:41 +0200 Subject: UNSUBSCRIBErs -- take notice! In-Reply-To: HATHAWAY@stsci.edu's message of Thu, 28 Apr 1994 17:34:58 -0500 (EST) <01HBPT2W9BXUM9OK39@avion.stsci.edu> Message-ID: <9404282148.AA22066@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE> William Hathaway hath gone away from our list and said: > As much as I've enjoyed the list and would like to continue, pressing > business requires I spend no more time reading this. Please unsubscribe > me for the time being. If possible I may return. WHH Welcome back then. Since I guess this is a time of the year that lots of persons will unsubscribe from this (and other) lists, I'll take this opportunity to remind everyone that there is an administrative address of the list, disney-comics-request at minsk.docs.uu.se, and that that kind of address (with "-request" added after the name of the list) is very common. Please use it! -- " Per Starback, Uppsala, Sweden. email: starback at minsk.docs.uu.se "Life is but a gamble! Let flipism chart your ramble!" From David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu Fri Apr 29 03:52:24 1994 From: David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu (David A Gerstein) Date: Thu, 28 Apr 1994 21:52:24 -0400 Subject: Gladstone's publication frequency and ads Message-ID: <9404290152.AA05881@bigbird.cc.williams.edu> Dear Folks (and Gary Leach, to whom I am also posting this in the hope that it will have an effect), The real problem with Disney comics in America is that no one, including most people who would like them, is aware of their existence. The word has gone around my school that I work with Disney characters (because last year when I first began working for Egmont, I foolishly shot my mouth off about it). Most people think I write television cartoons for the Disney Afternoon (!) if I mention the Ducks. When I explain that, no, there are actually COMIC BOOKS out there with the characters, people are amazed. Many Disney fans I know have *never* seen them or even heard of them. A lot of people faintly remember the Gladstones from the first run, but only as a dim memory and believe now that the comics are no longer made. Gladstone needs to increase its production schedule. If the company feels that having bimonthly comics means that they are on sale longer, they're right. But from what I've seen, comics will appear, and however many are bought, they tend to be bought quickly. The new issues will come, and in a month or less, all the copies that are GOING to be bought have BEEN bought. (And those that are left are often yanked anyway -- see below.) Most shops I know buy a relatively small number of Gladstones. They generally sell pretty well. But since so few are issued, there are just not a sizeable NUMBER of Disney comics on the racks at any given time. The fans who know about them are clearly buying them, but the books aren't visible enough -- due to the bimonthly schedule -- to be seen by a lot of people. As a result, though the comics do a brisk business (as noted, better than Disney Comics did) with many CONSISTENT buyers, the shops feel no need to INCREASE their orders, because no one else KNOWS about their existence and asks for them. Further news: I know of virtually no shops, either direct or regular market, which leave DD on the racks when DDA comes out and vice versa. Same with US and USA. D&M and WDC&S often share a rack, because they are obviously different titles. But dealers who know little about Disney comics simply assume that Donald Duck gets one title a month, and when one appears, it's time to yank the other one because the month is over. By contrast, way back when two DD and US titles came out each month, their frequency (as with DC'S Superman comics now) was a clear cue to all shops to leave them both on sale at once. Gladstone needs to advertise more. By all means, the Disney comics should be advertised in Hamilton's Mighty Morphin Power Rangers comic. And in the Marvel Disney comics. And Disney ADVENTURES as well -- I have heard that this was too expensive... but that was when the new titles were just starting up, and now they're apparently more successful. Can this be afforded now? Second, Gladstone could make publicity posters available to comic shops, and ads with the same design for comic "fanboy" magazines (not just the CBG, but I mean magazines which kids at comic shops buy), which simply advertise the comics with dynamic panel art from the stories. The posters could be along the lines of Gladstone's 1988 subscription ad, but with an added punch. I propose this: * * * * * (Top 1/4 of poster) [in big letters] "DUCK!" [Barks images of Donald and US, a FG Mickey, and a Jaime Diaz Goofy [?] running, as a "tidal wave" of Gladstone comics, made from cover reproductions, flops toward them from right] (Middle half of poster) "What's so special about Gladstone's Disney comics? They have ADVENTURE! [Splash from "Lost in the Andes," DD and kids discovering Plain Awful] THRILLS! [From "Monarch of Medioka": "That's the end of yer power, Duke Varlott -- ya big *dumb* palooka!"] COMEDY! [From "Master of the Mississippi": Scrooge, Ratchet, and ship's cabin impaled on steeple, as Scrooge rattles off a list of the Beagle Boys' crimes ending with "dressing up in *women's clothing!*"] The stories of CARL BARKS, DON ROSA, FLOYD GOTTFREDSON, AL TALIAFERRO, and other top talent!" (Bottom 1/4 of poster) [A jumble of cover logos from the various comics, and then at bottom:] GLADSTONE WALT DISNEY COMICS! Catch them HERE!" [Clarabelle Cow from "The Great Orphanage Robbery": "I'm so excited I could break down on all fours and *moo!*"] * * * * * Next, Gladstone really needs to restore "CROSSTALK," or something similar, to their comics. Last fall someone wrote in asking for that, and was told, "We'd like to add it again, but as it stands now, we would have to drop an ad page for that, and cannot do it." But as of last month, every Gladstone comic has had enough space to run an extra 1-pager on the inside back cover. I'd sure like to see "CROSSTALK" there. I could *write* it if Gladstone wants! I think if any one of the above suggestions is more important than the others, it is to issue the comics more often. If Disney will not let Gladstone add additional titles to the line, I cannot see how they could object to the current ones more often. I suggest WDC&S and US being published 10 times annually (due to their serial format, which is kinda slow to follow over two-month breaks), and the others 8 times annually. If Gladstone decided it had the manpower to make WDCiC (before Disney refused) then maybe this is possible. Some of the above suggestions may be very naive, because although I know a lot about the stories themselves, I know little about the distribution and advertising of comics in this country. But I know that many potential readers simply don't know about the comics. Yours, David Gerstein From David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu Fri Apr 29 04:48:52 1994 From: David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu (David A Gerstein) Date: Thu, 28 Apr 1994 22:48:52 -0400 Subject: Gladstone, continued Message-ID: <9404290248.AA10629@bigbird.cc.williams.edu> Dear Folks, One other comment about Gladstone's sales. I think that at a lot of comic shops, more Gladstones are ordered than they sell. The LO$, by contrast, sells out consistently... Again, though, I'm sure that US and *every* other Disney title would sell even *better* if it was published more frequently and advertised more widely. David Gerstein From 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM Fri Apr 29 05:50:41 1994 From: 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM (Don Rosa) Date: 28 Apr 94 23:50:41 EDT Subject: Disney-comics digest #313. Message-ID: <940429035041_72260.2635_EHB68-1@CompuServe.COM> ANDREW: Newsstand copies of Gladstone comics are handled by Marvel, and if Marvels are on the stands in Australia/New Zealand, then it must be Marvel's job to distribute the Gladstones there. However, even though I'm sure Gladstone AND DISNEY are expecting Marvel to be living up to their agreement, I very, very seldom see the "Disney Comics distributed by Marvel" Gladstones on the American newsstands next to the other Marvels. They sell out before I see them? Yeah, right. No, it may be Marvel falling down on the job, or even the local distributors or stand owners who know what a waste of time it is to set out the Disney comics since, after all, "they're not like normal comics" and that most American kids shun them like books or good music or black & white movies. MIKKO: There's no reason to mention anything to your Finnish Egmont branch about the coloring of their comics. The coloring is all done on computers in Copenhagen and sent to the branches on disc or something. Your publisher has no control over those colors -- if the color is good or bad in one Egmont country, it will be identicle in ALL Egmont countries... and even in many other publishers who use Egmont's computer coloring (like Oberon). Doggone -- what is it I try to remember to call Oberon now? QV or something? HARRY: QV? What color did I intend the Beagle Boys' sweaters to be, before or after incarceration? Uh... I don't think I even considered it. I think I would say that I figured their clothing beforehand to be completely different since I show it to be ragged with patches. In fact, did you notice that each of the three Beagles had a different set of patches on his knees and elbows? One had squares, one had circles, and one had both. (Hm... actually, if that WAS the case, the result would be that the patches on the identicle Beagles would seem completely random. What a waste of my time!) Anyway, I figured that the later clothing was new prison-issue -- I didn't think the patches healed. S'funny that the Egmont coloring looked better to you... but I think I see your point. The Egmont colorists are not "artists" and never tried to be very creative with shading or such, nor did they worry too much about what color things should be. But they DID seem to spend more time coloring the details. That might put them and me in the same league -- I'm not such a refined cartoonist, so I try to make up for it by putting in all that extra detail. SIGURDUR: So, do you want Icelandic copies or American copies of the Lo$ #1? BOTH would be a problem. It's very unlikely that I have an extra Iceland issue, and I hafta fight to get the very few American issues I have. I usually have plenty of Norwegian copies, Norway being the ONLY publisher who sends me copies. Well... Denmark sends ONE and Gladstone sends TWO, which ain't many, but then everyone else on earth sends NIL. Which remonds me -- Harry, what story of mine has Oberon-QV-whateveritis published lately??? Sigurdur, your best bet is to send me a copy to be signed. Is that okay? (Of course, this goes for EVERYBODY, anytime.) From H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl Fri Apr 29 09:35:34 1994 From: H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl (Harry Fluks) Date: Fri, 29 Apr 1994 09:35:34 +0200 Subject: Colo(u)rs in Lo$ 2 Message-ID: <199404290735.AA15061@athena.research.ptt.nl> DON: > Doggone -- what is it I try to remember to call Oberon now? QV > or something? The Disney publisher in the Netherlands (formerly part of the bigger company Oberon) is now called GP (Great Pain). Which reminds me: names like Egmont, GP, Gutenberghus, Oberon should certainly be explained in our FAQ. Maybe in an alphabetic words list? (About the Beagle Boys' sweaters in Life of Scrooge part 2 in Europe:) > did you notice that each of the three Beagles had a different set of > patches on his knees and elbows? No, I didn't (and I'm ashamed). I'll have a look if that is consistent with the colours of the sweaters. BTW: one bad Gladstone colouring that annoyed me: on one panel, after the Beagle Boys get mud all over them, one BB takes off his mask. In Europe, the mud is dark brown, while the un-mudded skin (where the mask was) is "skin-colour". It looks very funny. In the Gladstone version, mud and skin have (almost) the same colour, spoiling the effect of the panel. > S'funny that the Egmont coloring looked better to you... Well, I was talking specifically about Lo$ part 2. I haven't seen part 11 yet. And as far as I could see, European part 2 had only one colouring error: a USA state coloured blue... > Harry, what story of mine has Oberon-QV-whateveritis published lately??? Only Lo$ stories. Part 6 (the Transvaal story) has been published last week. Your Lo$ stories now mostly serve as a backup story, so without special covers. Your copies of Dutch parts 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 are virtually on their way. --Harry. From elon at VNET.IBM.COM Fri Apr 29 10:09:42 1994 From: elon at VNET.IBM.COM (Elon V. Brisola) Date: Fri, 29 Apr 94 10:09:42 BSC Subject: help gettin' LO$ Message-ID: <9404291342.AA12974@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE> Hi, I went to Sao Paulo last weekend (I'm in Brazil) to see if I could get some Gladstones. Lots of American "super-hero" comics there, but very few Gladstones or import Disney comics at all! So ... I'd like to get LO$. My best bet is to subscribe to the US publication. Can some kind soul tell me Gladstone's address, and which title should I subscribe to in order to get LO$?? I would probably wait forever to see it published here... On an aside, there was a thread on duck heroes a while ago (Paperinik). Has anybody seen stories in which Fethry Duck is a superhero (Batman-like, but Fethry-style, if you know what I mean)? The name was "Morcego Vermelho" in Brazil. I wonder if it could be a Brazil-only creation. Though this one was not bad, I'm sorry to say that Brazilian made stories are not good in my opinion. There was a series of stories (also published in Denmark, I guess) in which the Disney characters formed a "space patrol"! Cheers, Elon From mayerson at sidefx.sidefx.com Fri Apr 29 15:56:30 1994 From: mayerson at sidefx.sidefx.com (Mark Mayerson) Date: Fri, 29 Apr 1994 09:56:30 -0400 Subject: Gladstone Message-ID: <9404291356.AA17243@sidefx.sidefx.com> I can't agree with David about Gladstone publishing more titles. I think that's been the bane of the American comics biz. Marvel regularly expands with dozens of extra titles, trying to monopolize shelf space. Inevitably, the retailers can't support this expansion and everything collapses back to a normal level. Some of the most successful comics companies have done it with very few titles. EC and early '60's Marvel both succeeded with under 10 titles per company. How many Disney titles were regularly published in the 1950's anyway? I do agree with David that Gladstone needs to advertise better. They've got to create more of a demand for the titles, so that readers ask for them and retailers stock them. On a different subject, in Toronto I've seen Marvel distributed Disneys at Coles bookstores, including the immodestly and innacurately titled World's Biggest Bookstore. I don't have any idea how well they sell, though. ___________________________________________________________________ Mark Mayerson Side Effects Software Inc., Internet: mayerson at sidefx.com Toronto, Ontario, Canada (416) 366-4607 From ipkh at marge.cs.mcgill.ca Fri Apr 29 16:17:56 1994 From: ipkh at marge.cs.mcgill.ca (Kwok Hung IP) Date: Fri, 29 Apr 1994 10:17:56 -0400 Subject: Disney-comics digest #313. In-Reply-To: Don Rosa's message as of Apr 28, 23:50 Message-ID: <9404291417.AA18622@binkley.cs.mcgill.ca> In reply to your message on Apr 28, 23:50 SUBJECT: : > Sigurdur, your best bet is to send me a copy to be signed. Is >that okay? (Of course, this goes for EVERYBODY, anytime.) > > -------------------end of your message----------- Cool. Where should we mail it to? Cheers... -- ============================================================================= Jack Kwok Hung Ip | McGill University ipkh at binkley.cs.mcgill.ca | Montreal, Quebec, Canada ============================================================================= From lars at mri.mri.com Fri Apr 29 16:57:28 1994 From: lars at mri.mri.com (lars@mri.mri.com) Date: Fri, 29 Apr 94 07:57:28 PDT Subject: Disney-comics digest #313. Message-ID: <9404291457.AA14394@sun38.mri.com> > ANDREW: > Newsstand copies of Gladstone comics are handled by Marvel, and > if Marvels are on the stands in Australia/New Zealand, then it must be > Marvel's job to distribute the Gladstones there. However, even though > I'm sure Gladstone AND DISNEY are expecting Marvel to be living up to > their agreement, I very, very seldom see the "Disney Comics distributed > by Marvel" Gladstones on the American newsstands next to the other > Marvels. They sell out before I see them? Yeah, right. No, it may be > Marvel falling down on the job, or even the local distributors or stand > owners who know what a waste of time it is to set out the Disney comics Here in San Jose, all the Marvel stands I have seen (3-5) have had their Gladstones in them. It works - I bought LO$ 2 on impulse even though I'm really waiting for the book version. /Lars Petrus From krieg at ct.med.ge.com Fri Apr 29 17:13:20 1994 From: krieg at ct.med.ge.com (Andrew Krieg 5-5379) Date: Fri, 29 Apr 94 10:13:20 CDT Subject: Disney-comics digest #312. Message-ID: <9404291513.AA04865@tricorder.ct.med.ge.com> >>If Disney had never taken over from Gladstone, does anyone >>think that Gladstone would be more successful now? Perhaps. As Don noted, sales dropped from 70,000 to 40,000 during their run. I myself believe a big part of the decline was due to the massive price increase. Jumping from $.95 to $1.50 was a huge increase, especially when most of the more popular super-hero comics were still in the $1.00-1.25 range. I remember as a kid, scrimping and saving so I could afford a .25 or .30 comic. Kids today have it very, very rough! Since we are an adult group discussing Disney comics, we tend to forget that kids are a large part of comic sales. I cringe every time I see a price increase now. They raise prices .25 at at a time (no more nickel and dime stuff). I find this outrageous. The most recent increases were totally greed motivated, as inflation has been held in check for quite some time now. How do prices for Disney comics in other countries compare to the current Gladstone pricing? From gadducci at DI.UniPi.IT Fri Apr 29 17:58:32 1994 From: gadducci at DI.UniPi.IT (Fabio Gadducci) Date: Fri, 29 Apr 1994 18:58:32 +0300 Subject: I'm back... Message-ID: <9404291659.AA18962@Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE> ... I'm baaaaaack. Hello, my dear friends. It is nice to come back home and find my e-mail box filled with yours letters... A long time ago, James Williams asked >Fabio, who is Paperinik? I've never heard of this character? and Don added >PAPERINIK: > As violently opposed to this idea of demeaning Donald Duck with >American-super-herodom, I see these in the digests (of Italian stuff) >they send me from Scandanavia and these stories are apparently not as >bad as one might fear. Donald doesn't actually have super-powers, but >he has all sorts of gadgets made for him by Gyro. Still, it makes me >wanna cry... and > What do the Paperinik fans think of my "Super Snooper Strikes >Again"? Not many of them have ever seen ANY of my work. They have >nothing but digest-type Disney books in Italy (other than some Barks >reprint series), so the Italians never see my work nor any comic book >style Disney stuff (or so I'm told). But then, I guess the many readers >of the Scandanavian Italian-reprint-digests see my stories; I don't know >what they think, but I do know that they understand that the comic books >and the digests are like two different "universes" of Disney stuff -- >sorta like DuckTales is to us. Well, I can only add that Paperink was created in the Sixties by Guido Martina e Giovanbattista Carpi. As I wrote some time ago to David, "Paperinik was created with a parodistic intent: during the Sixties, in Italy were well spread a kind of comics called 'I neri' as a genre. Their "heroes" were violent, ruthless law-breakers. Their names, very derivative of the first one of them, Diabolik, always ended with a K: Satanik, Demoniak and so on... Besides, in the same period there was a revival of Fantomas, a French pulp character of the first years of the century, whose first story with Paperinik is reminiscent of (as for the name as Fantomius, the former owner of the building were DD decides to become Paperinik, after reading that guy's diary, and so on...)" I think Paperinik is a good character, very nice. But I know that, for Don, any Italian story happens in a different universe... :-) Then David > RoC described Scrooge-as-newseditor Strobl stories > ================================================== > This is not directed at YOU RoC... but... I don't know about >anyone else, but I would never buy ANYTHING like this. while Ole > They do, however, within the limits of the set-up, excell in stringent >plots, ironic comments, and absurd events, otherwise unknown to Disney >comics. Without dismissing the role of the (unknown?) scripter, this is >IMHO Strobl's most original contribution to disneydom. I'm sure that nostalgia plays a big part here, but... yes, I like those stories, too! I find them quite amusing, even if maybe the translation makes the difference in these stories... And then Don > Any Disney >freelancer is free from the worry of ever receiving royalties for his >work... that's why you only see the work coming from art studios in >Chile and Spain and Italy and other economically primitive countries. >That's why somebody like Daan Jippes got OUT of it a decade or two ago. To tell the truth, the Italian situation is quite different. The most important stories in Italy came not from studios: nor Scarpa neither Cavazzano, Bottaro, Carpi were part or owned a studio. All of them worked freelance and, as for you, they did not take any royalties for reprintings and other stuff. Sadly to say, even Mondadori in the Seventies found cheaper to buy from studios, as for "Comicup" and "Staff di If": the first one is Spanish (as for Ferioli), the second one Italian... Then David > Air Pirates Funnies > =================== >Ron Evry: "Dan O'Neill knew what MM was all about twenty >years ago. THAT mouse had character!" > This is a reference to a series of underground comics, only 2 >of which were published, titled _Air Pirates Funnies._ These >contained pornographic adventures of Mickey Mouse, Bucky Bug, and >"Dirty Duck" (a parody of George Herriman's "Gooseberry Sprigg" >character in _Krazy Kat_). I consider those comics a good parody of >society as symbolized by Disney, but I *DON'T* appreciate what they >did to Floyd Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse. > Disney sued Air Pirates Inc. for plagiarism -- I think that >they were justified, honestly. They settled for rights to the two >comics rather than an enormous fine. Ah, I (almost) got you.The Air Pirates printed also a special issue: "the turtle and the hare", reprinting the whole cartoon spin-off. Great stuff, really. David again > Mattias referred to > =================== >"Paul Murry's daily Mickey Mouse strip" as it appeared in WDC&S. >Well, I know that Murry did some of the pencilling on "The House of >Mystery" which ran in WDC&S 72-74. He of course did a lot of work on >the long "gag" period from 1944-45. Unfortunately, I just don't have >enough of the issues from the 1940s period (about 35%) to tell you >which ones contain Murry's work. Worse, the gags (presented as >half-pagers) have all had dates removed, so the reader must go by the >mere inking style alone. It's tough, because Murry was trying very >hard to imitate FG at the time. I have no time at all to check, but Becattini's Index has all the information on the strips of that period, and looking in my collection of the Italian edition of FG reprints I could tell you exactly which are the contents of the ones by Murry... Finally, David :-) > As for Snow White sequels -- Pedrocchi and his gang did one >around 1940 in Italy, which to this day is the Italian story that has >been printed more times than any other. "Snow White and the Magic >Basilico" (what's a Basilico? That's one word I can't translate) Well, you got the name wrong! Basilisco means (sweet) basil. The correct title is "Snow White and Basilisk, the wizard". There was another sequel during the early Mondadori years, with the same authors. Besides, Snoe White appeared in some Italian stories with the other Disney characters (as in Paperin Fracassa, a great 1965 story by Scarpa). During the late Eighties, Romano Scarpa himself wrote another sequel, linking directly with the end of the movie. Till now, he wrote 2 other long stories, all linked together. Not his best works, imho. Last two things. Here I am , Dwight. And about the comics price: I usually pay 1300 liras for each dollar, that is, a little less than the current exchange rate. My dealer get his comics directly from Diamond, so that they give him a 40% discount over the price of each sigle comic, and he can sell them to me with a 20% discount. Bye for now, Fabio ================================================================ Fabio Gadducci Dip. di Informatica Home: +39-50-541725 Universita` di Pisa Off.: +39-50-887268 Corso Italia 40, 56100 PISA (ITALY) FAX: +39-50-887226 E-mail:gadducci at di.unipi.it ================================================================ From lrn at daimi.aau.dk Fri Apr 29 19:16:08 1994 From: lrn at daimi.aau.dk (Lasse Reichstein Nielsen) Date: Fri, 29 Apr 1994 19:16:08 +0200 Subject: From RoC Message-ID: <199404291716.AA01677@stinne.daimi.aau.dk> SCATTERED THOUGHTS ON RECENT DIGESTS: Don: >"This is the only country where the weekly is named after the wrong >character. Those Germans -- always being contrary!" David mentioned Italy and United Kingdom, and I'll add Greece, France, Egypt, Russia, and China. My guess is that MICKEY (MOUSE) is the most common title for the main title/weekly, and that the US is the only country with no MICKEY title proper at all. David: > Mickey Mysteries >[...] > Harry: "Maybe this is an example of the case that Egmont >gives re-worked Italian material its own numbers?" > Nope. These are EGMONT stories, but drawn by ITALIAN artists. >Egmont has quite a program going with Disney Italy to draw the >now-sizable number of pocket-book stories they make. There you go, >STRAIGHT from the horse's mouth. (Horace, mind you.) Uh, I had the idea that Tello Team and Esteban, who do most new Mickeys, are SPANISH. Not to mention Ferioli (again). A 'orce!? David again: > RoC described Scrooge-as-newseditor Strobl stories > ================================================== > This is not directed at YOU RoC... but... I don't know about >anyone else, but I would never buy ANYTHING like this. You mean to say you haven't read them? Harry: >Don, have you ever considered only *writing* Duck comic stories? All in favor say "AYE!" If Don is relieved from the hours of inking and blotting out superfluous details, it would leave him time for so many more *good* stories. James on DD's Mystery on Mars, DD#286 >>As a story, it has its moments. I don't really know what it's >>going to feel like, given that Bruce Hamilton apparently wrote an >>English version almost exactly like the original Italian. I hope he >>at least put it into duck-speak. > >David. I disagree. I hope the translation is almost exact with no >editing. I think it is important. Most people are more interested >in this story because of it uniqueness than because of its content. >I'd rather it be accurate than interesting. I agree with James' here. I personally lived through a decade of Danish vandalism to Barks' stories, and once a student of classical filology I have come to prefer non-edited material to NEW!SUPER!IMPROVED! editions. A classic Golden Age story like MOM should not be tampered with. However, I - and probably others on this list - would very much like to read your script, David, how about posting it? David: > As for Snow White sequels -- Pedrocchi and his gang did one >around 1940 in Italy, which to this day is the Italian story that has >been printed more times than any other. "Snow White and the Magic >Basilico" (what's a Basilico? That's one word I can't translate) The correct title is "Biancaneve e il Mago Basilisco", meaning, and I'm guessing here, "Snowwhite and the Basilisk Mage". - Somebody (and not me, no sir!) discalculated by a fraction; recently I mused that Danish #2000 had been passed in silence. Today #17/94 came with a golden "2000" on the cover and a supplementary issue, with the Barks 10 pager from #1 and the now well known Mau Heymans story. (The Flux Soap ad is there, but there's only one Donald. Really.) A MATTER OF FAQ An innocent mentioning of a FAQ caused a stir, a skirmish, and an out- burst of true grit with James taking responsibility for the project. Suggestions to its content range from Torsten's Encyclopedia Calisotica to James' more modest Tourist's Guide to Duckburg, and as the project gets rolling, more are bound to follow. If we stick with the idea of a FAQ as a sort of introductory pamphlet to future members, it should be readable in itself. No unexplained acronyms or lists of any kind. Just a straight text piece starting maybe something like this: "Donald Duck is a mouse." :) Next to this we could have an encyclopedia, with entries being added as we go, about all the creators, abbreviations, publishers, book titles, famous stories, and named objects, characters, and events in Duckburg. Anyone could join with their favorite subjects, and it would just have to be alphabetized. Easy job up for grabs... Me, I'll try and dig up biographies of our app. 400 known creators... From rreeves at acs.bu.edu Fri Apr 29 19:33:44 1994 From: rreeves at acs.bu.edu (Robert Reeves) Date: Fri, 29 Apr 94 13:33:44 EDT Subject: Prices Message-ID: <9404291733.AA184411@acs3.bu.edu> Andrew Krieg: ...I remember as a kid, scrimping and saving so I could afford a .25 or .30 comic. Kids today have it very, very rough! Since we are an adult group discussing Disney comics, we tend to forget that kids are a large part of comic sales. I remember when the Gold Key comics went from .25$ to 30 cents. I think between that and the fact that the stories by 'the good Duck artist' were getting few and far between caused me to stop bugging my mom for comic book money. I guess the thrifty Scrooge had rubbed off on me. The lucky thing was that my girlfriend who is 4 years younger than I was just getting into the Disney comic habit. When we combine our duck collection there are surprisingly few repeated issues! Still trying to build a complete Scrooge collection but at least we don't have to look for those awful Whitman-era books! -robert From morrow at physics.rice.edu Fri Apr 29 21:18:23 1994 From: morrow at physics.rice.edu (Ad Astra per Elmo) Date: Fri, 29 Apr 1994 14:18:23 CDT Subject: Don Rosa article Message-ID: <0097DAF3.144B5B20.25142@physics.rice.edu> >From the [Louisville Kentucky] Courier-Journal, Sunday, 3 April 1994. Reprinted without permission. Comic Art Louisville cartoonist finds fame in Europe with Uncle Scrooge by Vince Staten (special writer) At a Norwegian convention center, the tall bearded man can't walk the halls without being besieged for autographs. Fans flood around, just to get a glimpse; reporters trail, asking question. No, he's not an Olympic ski champion or luge hero. He's Louisville's Don Rosa. Rosa, who doesn't even get so much as a second look when he roams the aisles of a local Kroger [sic], is treated like an Olympic champion in many European countries. What's going on? Rosa writes and draws Uncle Scrooge comics for a European comic-book publisher. Rosa is an international star among comics fans--and there are millions of them in Europe. They love his unique rendering of Scrooge McDuck, Donald's rich uncle. They adore his recent 12-part history of Uncle Scrooge. And they appreciate his encyclopedic knowledge of comics, comic characters and comic artists. If the name Don Rosa sounds familiar, it should. Rosa, a Louisville native, has been part of the local pop-culture scene for two decades, since returning to town after his graduation from the University of Kentucky in 1973. He was a regular guest on Milton Metz's WHAS radio show, answering trivia questions. He's a regular at comics conventions and shows. And he's probably best-known for his Captain Kentucky comic strip, which ran for three years in SCENE in the early 1980s. Best-known for Captain Kentucky until now. Now it is his Uncle Scrooge comics that are bringing him renown. Rosa started drawing Uncle Scrooge for Gladstone Comics in 1987. How he got the job is a story in audacity. ``A little tiny company in Arizona got the Disney license because nobody in America wanted it anymore,'' he says. ``I saw one of the comics in a bookstore in '86. So I called up the company and told them I was the only person who was supposed to write Uncle Scrooge. It was my manifest destiny.'' He explained how he had been an Uncle Scrooge fan since he was old enough to turn the pages of a comic book. He told them he owned every Uncle Scrooge comic published. The audacity worked, and the next day he was at work on his first Uncle Scrooge story, ``The Son of the Sun.'' Although comic books continued to be popular in Europe, they had all but disappeared in America, supplanted by ``collectible'' superhero adventure comics. Until 1986 that is, when four Disney comics fans in Arizona formed Gladstone Comics--named for good luck for the character Gladstone Gander--and snared the Disney license for America. They then landed Rosa to draw and write for them. Rosa turned out Uncle Scrooge comics for Gladstone for two years--``until Disney started screwing around with them, telling them things, like they couldn't return my artwork. I needed the artwork (to sell to collectors) because I didn't make that much off the comics. When they told them not to return the artwork, I had to quit.'' Since Rosa had liquidated his family business, the old Keno Rosa tile company, he needed to find work. So he did--with Disney. ``I did a little writing for Disney animation,'' he says. ``I wrote the two first episodes of `Tale Spin.' '' ``Tale Spin'', based on ``The Jungle Book'', is an animated TV show, part of Disney's syndicated afternoon cartoon block that runs in Louisville on WBNA-21. ``It was a good job; it paid real well,'' Rosa says. ``But there were too many fingers in the pie. And I never intended to be a TV screenwriter anyway. People try for years, and here I fell into it. I didn't enjoy it.'' In the meantime, he was contacted by a Denmark-based publishing company--``Egmont, founding 125 years ago by Egmont Peterson.'' Rosa stops to chuckle at the cartoon-sounding name of Egmont Peterson. ``It's a worldwide business,'' he continues. ``They didn't name it `Peterson' because that sounds funny in some languages. `Egmont' only sounds funny in English.'' Egmont held the European license to Disney comics, and once again Rosa was writing and drawing his childhood friend Uncle Scrooge. ``Before, they would never have given me a chance because my artwork is very un-Disney. But they saw how popular the Gladstone comics were and asked me to draw Uncle Scrooge.'' he has been drawing Donald's rich uncle for Egmont since 1990. And it has brought him fame--in Europe--if not necessarily fortune. ``I figure I am the best-selling, most-famous, least-paid artist in the world because Disney takes all the money for itself. There is no royalty. It gets frustrating, but I knew that's the way it would be so I can't complain. It's just great to be able to do something that's so much fun for a living and get paid fairly well.'' Nowadays, Rosa says, a typical issue of Uncle Scrooge will sell 50,000 copies in North America. ``When I was a kid, it sold 3 million,'' he says. ``In Norway it's still published weekly. They'll sell a quarter of a million a week. Norway is about the size of the state of Kentucky. So to sell a comparable amount, it would have to sell 70 million in America. That's not going to happen.'' [announcement of autograph session] Uncle Scrooge visits River City [Louisville] at Derbytime Don Rosa's latest Uncle Scrooge project, ``The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck,'' is a 12-part history of the wealthy duck. ``Part of their charm is they go on years and years and never change,'' he said of the Disney characters. ``These stories aren't designed to change them but to show how they got where they are.'' Rosa says his interpretation of Scrooge's history is ``based 100 percent'' on the Uncle Scrooge comics that artist Carl Barks drew from 1947 until 1973. ``There may be one sentence buried on Page 6 of an old issue that said Scrooge was on a gold rush to Taboolie.'' Rosa takes that one offhand remark and turns it into part of the Uncle Scrooge history. The series takes Uncle Scrooge from age 10 to the present, the present being the 1950s. He says most of his Uncle Scrooge stories take place in 1955--``that's when...I was first reading them.'' Uncle Scrooge's history even include Louisville. I knew that in the 1880s Scrooge had worked on riverboats, probably for his Uncle Pothole McDuck on the Mississippi,'' Rosa says. ``I needed to start someplace in the United States on the Mississippi. So the first place he stops upriver is Louisville, where he knows his Uncle Pothole is. ``It's Derby Eve 1880, the sixth annual Kentucky Derby, and he finds his uncle in the Galt House. That's where he meets the Beagle Boys, who are attracted to Louisville during Derby week.'' Rosa says he devotes four pages to Uncle Scrooge's Louisville adventures in the Scrooge history. ``And when they leave Louisville, they head to Monkey's Eyebrow downriver.'' Gladstone Comics of Arizona publishes Rosa's Uncle Scrooge comics for U.S. distribution. The first installment of ``The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck'' was featured in ``Uncle Scrooge No. 285.'' The second installment, in issue ``Uncle Scrooge No. 286,'' features Scrooge's early adventures in Louisville. It has just arrived in comics stores. Caption: Don Rosa' work for ``The Life and Times of Uncle Scrooge'' begins with the captions and roughs of the artwork. Then he supplies the finished artwork, and someone else copies in the captions. -- "An idealist is one who, on noticing a rose smells better than cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup."--H.L.Mencken elmo (morrow at physics.rice.edu,morrow at fnal.fnal.gov) From matd61bv at ciao.trail.bc.ca Fri Apr 29 21:46:19 1994 From: matd61bv at ciao.trail.bc.ca (Matt DUNLAP) Date: Fri, 29 Apr 1994 12:46:19 -0700 (PDT) Subject: unsubscribe Message-ID: UNSUBSCRIBE From revry at tjhsst.vak12ed.edu Fri Apr 29 22:06:24 1994 From: revry at tjhsst.vak12ed.edu (Ronald A. Evry (Ronald)) Date: Fri, 29 Apr 94 16:06:24 EDT Subject: Bone / Kelly / Barks Message-ID: <9404292006.AA02514@tjhsst.vak12ed.edu> David Gerstein has brought up Jeff Smith's "Bone" as being very much in the Disney tradition -- with Barks as his prime influence. I'll pretty much agree on the Disney tradition, but the obvious flat on its face influence is Walt Kelly. Of course, the Disney studio style is perhaps much more important in Kelly's work than Barks' (IMHO), but bothe artists diverged in different directions as their careers progressed. Kelly's bold brush work made memorable covers & his infrequent interior comic work for Disney showed a more visual slapstick orientation than Barks (who could slap a stick with the best of 'em: note the neighbor Jones stories). Another more neglected influence on Kelly is the magificent work of T.S. Sullivant, which seems to be lacking in Smith's stuff. Needless to say, Smith's work shows promise, and I suppose that since it is currently being serialized in Disney Adventures, it makes him fair game for potshots from this list... :) I read all of the Bones last night (from my thirteen year old son's collection) and found them interesting, with obvious parallels of Kelly characters (Fone Bone = Pogo, Smiley = Albert [right down to the cigar], and Phoney = Howland Owl). There is a hint of more sexuality in the Smith strip (but not all that much) and a little more black & white differentiation between the "good guys" and the "bad guys." Still, if I had my druthers, I'd buy a reprint book of, say, "Prehysterical Pogo in Pandemonia" (in fact I really would love to get my paws on that book -- I have Pogo 1st eds. to trade for it) than a new collection of Bone. But I still admire what Smith is doing. Anyone else have any feelings one way or the other? Ron From David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu Sat Apr 30 04:06:57 1994 From: David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu (David A Gerstein) Date: Fri, 29 Apr 1994 22:06:57 -0400 Subject: Disney-comics digest #314. In-Reply-To: Your message of Sat, 30 Apr 1994 01:18:13 +0200 Message-ID: <9404300206.AA14544@bigbird.cc.williams.edu> Hi, Folks! A whole lotta things to banter about today! So let's wind up the week with: Don on Marvel's distribution ============================ "I very, very seldom see the "Disney Comics distributed by Marvel" Gladstones on the American newsstands next to the other Marvels. They sell out before I see them? Yeah, right. No, it may be Marvel falling down on the job..." I'll say it is. My local drugstore does fairly good Disney business -- sells only about 3 of each issue (of 5 which they're shipped), but no more of almost every other comic they get, including superhero stuff. But Marvel NEVER ships them UNCLE SCROOGE. NEVER. Whenever it's the month for DDA/WDC&S/US, which are supposed to be a week apart, there's always a 1-week break where WDC&S should be, and then it comes, alone, the next week when there should also be US. Nope, from #283-286 (those have appeared on newsstands since I've been at school this year), none of them have shown up here. I've had to have Mark Semich send them to me. A newsstand at a mall some ten miles from here gets all Gladstones, and puts them all out. They DO get US, although I don't know about the other titles... four were there: DM, US, WDC&S, DDA. It's clear that, like most places, they remove DDA when DD comes up and vice versa... same with Scrooge titles. I'll see comic racks of Marvels in supermarkets. Very often with Gladstones among them. But by no means always. In airports, there are racks of comics sometimes. When the rack only has, say, space for 8 different comics, Marvel will NEVER put Disneys in it. But if it has 12 titles, there's at least one place for Gladstones... sometimes two. Elon on Super-Fethry ==================== "Has anybody seen stories in which Fethry Duck is a superhero (Batman-like, but Fethry-style, if you know what I mean)? The name was "Morcego Vermelho" in Brazil." Never saw them. Sounds like Disney in this country would find it too close for comfort to Darkwing Duck, though. Darkwing even looks (a little) like a costumed Fethry, although not as much without his costume on. Is Darkwing on TV in Brazil? If not, these could be Darkwing stories from DISNEY ADVENTURES redrawn for Fethry. Ron Evry on BONE as Kelly ========================= "[This strip contains] obvious parallels of Kelly characters (Fone Bone = Pogo, Smiley = Albert [right down to the cigar], and Phoney = Howland Owl)." Jeff Smith himself has drawn this connection: Fone Bone = Mickey Mouse, Smiley = Goofy, and Phoney = Uncle Scrooge! Believe it or don't! "I'd [like to] buy a reprint book of, say, "Prehysterical Pogo in Pandemonia" (in fact I really would love to get my paws on that book --)" Haw! You gone about it absolutibobble wrong! Just take yo' natcheral born self down to some used-book shops, all and sundry-like. Soon er later you find yo' self some character who don't know CO-lecters pay inbelievabubble potfuls for them books. S'what I did -- at a store near my house, where'bouts "Prehysterical Pogo" cost me a true-blue *** $3.50!!! *** Destroy a boy's faith in decent prices, will you? David Gerstein "A good landeeng, no, Dawnaldo?" "NO!" From 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM Sat Apr 30 05:02:01 1994 From: 72260.2635 at CompuServe.COM (Don Rosa) Date: 29 Apr 94 23:02:01 EDT Subject: Disney-comics digest #314. Message-ID: <940430030201_72260.2635_EHB76-1@CompuServe.COM> HARRY: My Lo$ stories are now the BACK-UP stories in DONALD DUCK EXTRA??? Well, howcum? You think they weren't so popular? Or... maybe they preferred having a Donald Duck cover than a character who was not recognizeable as either Donald or $crooge. What's been the lead features? FABIO: Did you receive the package of magazines I sent? MM MEETS THE AIR PIRATES FUNNIES: I recently learned an interesting detail in the story of Disney suing Dan O'Neil over this underground MM parody. Regardless of the content, I think we can agree that Disney had every right to sue... whether it had been obscene or not. We've discussed (haven't we?) that Disney has little choice than to persue such copyright infringements, otherwise they are liable for lawsuits from their paid licensees and for establishing the basis for someone to negate the Disney copywrite to their own characters due to their allowing others to use them (you can't retain a copywrite if you are shown as not having defended it). Anyway, someone who was part of the underground industry at the time of the AIR PIRATES FUNNIES told me that Disney was absolutely powerless to stop or even object to the publication of issue one of MM MEETS THE AP. This falls under free use as a parody, protected under the first ammendment and all that. But once there was an issue #2 -- ho, ho... that mdid the trick! At that moment it was clear that the idea was not as a parody but as a continuing infringement of copywrite! And Disney was very "big" in settling for simply the ownership of the books (which law already gave them) rather than punitive damages to which they were entitled. This is why you've never seen MAD publish a series of parodies, rather than just one-shot parodies. Somebody was mentioning those awful Whitman Disneys. Yeah, they sucked, but, y'know, it gets irritating for me to have a full set of every (American) Disney comic book ever published... EXCEPT some Whitman issues. Have I ever posted a list of the Whitmans I need to see if anyone here can help me fill in the holes? I'll do so now. I would be very grateful to get any of these -- maybe even do someone a Duck drawing (in addition to paying) if they can supply me with any of these, ESPECIALLY the UNCLE $CROOGE issue I lack. Here's my wantlist: UNCLE $CROOGE #179 DONALD DUCK #222 243 WDC&S #480 MICKEY MOUSE #208 210 216 HUEY DEWEY & LOUIE #61 65 66 72 73 75 76 79 80 DAISY & DONALD #39(GK) 45 47 49 53 54 55 56 SUPER GOOF #61 62 64 67 68 70 72 74 CHIP & DALE #68 69 70 75 76 77 78 79 80 WINNIE THE POOH #21 22 24 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 And while we're at it, here are some Gold Keys that I need: ARISTOKITTENS #3 MOBY DUCK #29 O'MALLEY & THE ALLEY CATS #9 SCAMP #15 17 18 And these movie adaptations or wotever: CINDERELLA (GK) JUNGLE BOOK (Whitman) LADY & THE TRAMP (GK,25 cents) Of course, I collect nearly ALL old comics, but these are only the Disney issues I need. DON ROSA ARTICLE: I waited until someone posted this article as promised before making a few comments. Naturally, the local reporter, an old friend and whose job it was to make me sound important, DID exaggerate how popular I am in Norway (but not by much!). There were also tiny inaccuracies that crop up in such interviews when the reporter doesn't know much about what he's writing -- you all spotted those. I didn't realize that the guy had the impression that I ONLY do Uncle $crooge comics, and NOT also Donald Duck stories! But I thought it was especially amusing that the newspaper typesetters seemed to have no idea that anyone would have an autograph session to sign mere COMIC BOOKS... and always wrote the current issues that I was signing as "UNCLE SCROOGE No. 285" and "UNCLE SCROOGE No. 286" -- I honestly believe that they thought these were NOVELS that I'd written! From trygve at maroon.tc.umn.edu Sat Apr 30 15:39:57 1994 From: trygve at maroon.tc.umn.edu (Tryg Helseth) Date: Sat, 30 Apr 94 07:39:57 CST Subject: Marvels and Whitmans Message-ID: <41810.trygve@maroon.tc.umn.edu> MARVELS: David Gerstein wrote: > But Marvel NEVER ships them UNCLE SCROOGE. NEVER. Whenever >it's the month for DDA/WDC&S/US, which are supposed to be a week >apart, there's always a 1-week break where WDC&S should be, and then >it comes, alone, the next week when there should also be US. I haven't been following the Marvel distribution of Gladstones, but the few racks I checked didn't have any Disney titles. Does Marvel now have its own distribution, or do they sub-contract to local news agencies. Before direct distribution, the only game in town here (Minneapolis) was Gopher News Agency. If they didn't carry it, you didn't get it. > In airports, there are racks of comics sometimes. When the >rack only has, say, space for 8 different comics, Marvel will NEVER >put Disneys in it. But if it has 12 titles, there's at least one >place for Gladstones... sometimes two. I'm sure they will always give preference to their own characters comics. That is the problem with the racks I've seen--they are too small and so Gladstone gets squeezed out. > A newsstand at a mall [...] DO get US, [...] It's clear that, >like most places, they remove DDA when DD comes upand vice versa... same >with Scrooge titles. I never did understand why Gladstone gave those comics such similar titles! It is confusing to me at times, so it's no wonder that the folks refilling the racks never bother to make the distinction between them. WHITMANS: Don Rosa wrote: > Somebody was mentioning those awful Whitman Disneys. Yeah, they >sucked, but, [...] I would be very grateful to get any of these -- maybe >even do someone a Duck drawing (in addition to paying) if they can supply >me with any of these, ESPECIALLY the UNCLE $CROOGE issue I lack. > UNCLE $CROOGE #179 > DONALD DUCK #222 243 > WDC&S #480 Well I was all set to send in my request for a drawing of Gyro until I checked my records and realized I was missing the same comics! (I may, however, have DD 243, and many of the other titles (MM, HD&L, D&D, SG, C&D, WtP...) I'll look for those this weekend... Tryg Helseth Minneapolis, MN, USA or "I wish they all could be Calisota Ducks!" -The Beach Drakes From rivers at seismo.CSS.GOV Sat Apr 30 19:55:36 1994 From: rivers at seismo.CSS.GOV (Wilmer Rivers) Date: Sat, 30 Apr 94 13:55:36 EDT Subject: getting Gladstones (FAQ) Message-ID: <9404301755.AA11368@beno.CSS.GOV> I e-mailed subscription information about Gladstones to Elon, but now I realize that other people on the list may want to know it too. This should probably be included in the FAQ. Gladstone publishes 6 titles: Walt Disney's Comics and Stories, Uncle Scrooge, Uncle Scrooge Adventures, Donald Duck, Donald Duck Adventures, and Donald and Mickey. The subscription price is the same for each of these : $18.00 in the USA, $23.00 foreign. Order them from: Gladstone P.O. Box 2079 Prescott, Arizona 86302 USA The FAQ should probably also include information about subscribing to the CBL in Color albums. How about information on subscribing to Disney comics published in Europe, too? As for me, I think I'll go into self-publishing with a "Scrooge and Penny Wise" teen-age romance comic. :-) I'm sure the Walt Disney Corporation (and Unca Carl) would approve enthusiastically... Wilmer Rivers