Disney-comics digest #584.

[Don Rosa]

NISSE:
	If you'd like to try to find me a new CARL BARKS & CO., I think my
address is in the newsgroup files:
	9711 Dawson Hill Rd.
	Louisville, KY 40299

DAVID:
	You say that Rockerduck is easier to use than Glomgold because Glomgold
lives in Africa? Of course, you and I (and Barks) know this, but I was under the
distinct impression that every other use made of the character by foreign
publishers (and by Disney since they knew no better) has always treated Glomgold
as if he lived in Duckburg with everyone else. I think it's just a matter of
some Italian writer or artist choosing Rockerduck over Glomgold in 1963 to use
as a villain for reasons we'll never know. Barks used Rockerduck once, but he
only used Glomgold three times over about 10 years -- and that was always in the
long $crooge stories which this Italian may not even have been familiar with.
But who knows...
	If it bothers us that Egmont has always had Flintheart living in
Duckburg, what about how Disney Disney Comics had him being Scottish and living
in Duckburg? If you think that was bad, consider one of these awful
"collectibles" sets that are made for mindless Disney collectors: there's one
called The Duck House that supposedly wanted to produce very small bisque
figurines of the Disney Ducks. I think they soon realized how few Ducks anyone
really knows about, so they did a bit of careless investigation to find other
Ducks. I picture them being aided by somebody at Disney with access to model
sheets but no knowledge of who the characters were. This resulted in having
figurines of such obscure characters (as far as the great unwashed American
masses are concerned) as Magica and April, May & June. But it also resulted in
idiocy such as Gyro's helper being labelled "Lightbulb Duck". The worst part was
their Flintheart which obviously was based on a Ducktales Flintheart wearing a
kilt and with the long beard and a cane. The ignoramuses interpretted this as an
aged duck with a shawl across his legs, so they assumed he must be the Duck
grandpa and depicted him sitting in a rocking chair and holding an earhorn to
his ear. (In the set, $crooge is depicted as playing a lively set on an antique
piano -- perhaps they never saw him before and judged by his antiquated clothing
that he was a saloon entertainer in the old west. I wouldn't put it past 'em.)