Disney-comics digest #408.

Don Rosa 72260.2635 at compuserve.com
Fri Aug 19 05:24:51 CEST 1994


ANDREW:
	The easy way to get the "feel" for whatever time or place that
one of my Lo$ chapters is set in is to simply read everything I have
about it in my reference library, then check out every book in local
libraries that cover it. I shouldn't imply that I READ these references
cover-to-cover... my allowable time for research on stories that
wouldn't even pay that well if I just dashed them off the top of my head
is very short... but I'll spend up to a week browzing many, many books
for ideas, reading sections carefully that look promising, making pages
and pages of notes which will mostly be of no further use when my final
ideas are picked, and just enjoying the heck out of all the fun facts of
history. It's easilly the most fun part of the job (naturally) since it
doesn't require the brain-twisting and puzzle-solving that my tight,
all-in-15-pages plots require, or the physical labor that drawing
entails. But I always have that gnawing feeling in my belly that while
I'm doing research, it's all on my time, and the bank is about to
foreclose on my mortgage or something if I don't get something done that
produces $. I wish I could be working in a system like other American
comics... but my "creations" never pay me a penny beyond the moment I'm
actually doing it the first time, so I've always got myself on a
schedule to get X amount of stuff done every day or week.
	Anyhow, I can't say where else you'll come across info on the
Anaconda Mine. I did that story about 2 years ago and I don't recall.

HARRY:
	You're sharp. Yes, it wasn't the letterers fault, but I didn't
make it clear enough to John Clark that all these titles should start
with a "The". I was disturbed enough when I saw the CBG ad saying the
story title would be "RaiderS of the Copper Hill", ruining the whole
motif at once.
	But did you notice how they corrected that other
"misinterpretation" that had irked me? They started giving poor $crooge
that BROWN HAIR and they said they didn't know how to stop without it
looking odd (though I wanted them to just plain stop cold); but did you
notice when $crooge's hair turns from brown to white?

KNUT and JAMES:
	Since I know I'm prejudiced against Disney's TV comics as true
"Disney comics", I shouldn't listen to me. But I sorta agree with Knut.
It's not a matter of quality... it's the whole style and attitude behind
the Dell stuff (that I grew up with) and anything based on those TV
cartoons and produced by super-hero fans. None of the Disney TV shows
are comics are even remotely "Disney" to my thinking. They are a whole
new Disney style designed to appeal to modern juvenile tastes. Sure,
there were lousy Disney comics (I think I've done my share of them and
just did another last month)... but the worst Donald Duck adventure or
most boring Daisy and Donald story is of a whole different genre than
these wacky "Darkwing Duck" type shows (and comics, I can only assume,
if they are successfully authentic). I really see nothing "Disney" in
their new animated features, regardless of how wildly successful the
stuff is; I know that the whole reason the stuff IS popular is that
they've changed their styles to match modern kids' hyper-speed tastes.
ALADDIN as a Hanna-Barbera/Warner Bros. cartoon. And as I've said on
here before, I like Roger Rabbit, but I get actually offended when I see
the guy in the RR suit in DisneyWorld. RR has nothing whatsoever to do
with Disney. What a concept!
	Anyway, I think there should be a panel for Disney Dell comics
and a separate one for Disney TV comics. And the only reason I can think
of against that idea is that I'd be embarrassed for the TV comic people
if no one showed up for them but some mommies with their toddlers.

MATTIAS:
	I wish I could have come along with you on your trip through
Kentucky. I wish I could do that for a few days, but it would require
boarding Gyro and lots of other complications if it were even just
overnight. (We can't leave Gyro alone for one night, anymore than that
should be done to a child). Then when we have time for a decent
vacation, we feel like we should be going someplace far away from
Kentucky.
	But we have spent time in Slade and...uh... that other town down
there by Natural Bridge Park; we sometimes go camping in the Red River
Gourge right there. I wonder if you could see parts of that -- the
Bridge is part of it. It's like a miniature, tree-covered Grand Canyon.





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