Mickey: a boring character?

Olivier mouse-ducks at wanadoo.fr
Tue Mar 20 22:57:44 CET 2001


(Sorry, I forgot to switch to "Plain Text" in the previous
message. I think I've found a way to avoid confusions now)

As regards Mickey, I cannot identify the artists, but it is true that
in the "Mickey Parade" stories (then in "Le Journal de Mickey"),
his stories were much less enjoyable than the ducks'. It's not that
the stories were boring: there were nice ideas. It's not exactly that
Mickey was "boring" either. He was just plain obnoxious. I really
did not like (OK, hated) his know-it-all smirk.
The duck stories, however, I've always enjoyed, generally.
The Gottfredson ones stand apart: they are great. The Murry ones
have a certain charm.

This is just a matter of  taste, naturally. But still, it seems to be
quite a common taste: readers usually prefer the duck stories--
do you know many site dedicated to the Mickey comics?

Now, how can this be accounted for? It must have to do with the character
and the way he has evolved. The Mickey of  "The Prince and the Pauper"
or "Mickey and the Beanstalk" is OK. So it's in the comics.

The ducks seem to have more potential-- whatever combination you
consider: Donald, Donald & the nephews, Donald & Scrooge & the nephews, ...

For one thing, the number of  characters makes for diversity & variations:
Donald as a parental figure, Donald as Scrooge's bumbling employee,
Scrooge vs Rockerduck, ... Whereas on the other hand you can only have
Mickey and Goofy / Minnie / the police. New characters have been created,
but still.

Then of  course, the ducks have flaws, whereas Mickey is conceived as
the perfect hero.

I wish I knew those famous Mickey stories by David Gerstein.
I do know a few drawn by Cesar Ferioli and like them.
But Gottfredson leads-- ie, Gottfredson / de Marris, Osborne, Walsh.


Olivier




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