Ghosts in Disney comics

Dwight Decker deckerd at agcs.com
Sun Oct 9 16:56:18 CET 1994


It was interesting to read Don Rosa's remarks on ghosts
in his Life of Scrooge series. I suppose it might be
argued that in a story about talking ducks, ghosts aren't
that much of a stretch. Still, I did have a nagging
feeling in the latest Scrooge chapter to appear here
that the use of ghosts was a bit much and the scenes
of a Scottish golf-course heaven almost too comic-burlesque.
The fine line that has to be walked in this instance is
keeping the ghosts from helping Scrooge too much, so
that he solves his problems by his own wits instead of
relying too much on supernatural assistance, and keeping
Scrooge's life from starting to sound so predestined that
he achieved his success by luck or spectral intervention
rather than by his own efforts. All in all, I think
Rosa's Life of Scrooge is a remarkable achievement
despite my occasional quibbles, and I'm glad he's taking
advantage of a unique-in-Disney-history opportunity to
do it.
	About three years ago, when Disney Comics was still
publishing Scrooge, I translated a two-part Italian
story ("The Money Ocean"). Somebody else polished the
dialogue so I wasn't officially credited, but I was the
one who supplied the raw translation. Anyway, I was curious
about reader response, but Disney Comics got rather erratic
about then about letter columns. The only major direct
reader comment I remember seeing about the story came from
a lady in North Dakota, and she mainly wrote in to complain
about the use of a witch in the story (Magica de Spell). 
The lady seemed sincerely convinced that if children saw
witches in popular media like comic books, they would be
softened up for any Satanist recruiters who came by. The
editor, David Seidman wrote a conciliatory reply that was
a lot more diplomatic than I would have been.
	Well, with my own occasionally published black and
white independent comic Rhudiprrt, one of the major 
characters is the Egyptian cat goddess Bast. I exchanged
a couple of letters with a fundamentalist Christian fan
who was extremely upset about pagan goddesses appearing
in a comic book he wanted to like. He was almost tearfully
begging me to "explain" Bast as an Angel of the Lord in
charge of the Feline Affairs Department, but some deluded
fools mistakenly believed she was a goddess in her own
right. Sorry, pal. This is my comic book and what I say
goes. And what I say is that she's a goddess. I almost
hated to disappoint the guy, since he was trying so hard
to like my modest little funnybook, but I can't please
everybody.
	And Don Rosa doubtless feels the same way, so there
you have it!

--Dwight Decker




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