Disney-comics digest #290.

David A Gerstein David.A.Gerstein at williams.edu
Tue Apr 5 02:30:49 CEST 1994


	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
	<David.A.Gerstein at Williams.edu>
	




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