From RoC

Fri Apr 29 19:16:08 CEST 1994

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...