press conference Oslo with Rosa, re Barks 100

[Lunnan & Hjort]

A report from Oslo:

In connection with Barks' 100 year anniversary (March 27) Egmont
these days publish a "The Best of Barks" type de Lux book. I assume
it is being simultaneously issued in Norway, Sweden, Denmark,
and possibly in (some, but not all) other Egmont countries as well.
It is big, it is exquisitely done, has a preface by professor Øystein
Sørensen, and is expensive (NOK 498, about 55 USD).

This morning Egmont (through hired PR-group forces, alias "inferno")
organised a rather spectacular press conference, to mark and celebrate
the life work of Barks, and of course to promote the new book and
to remind people of the ever ongoing weekly editions, which these
weeks provide selected Barks stories and new Rosa stories.
Two weeks from now they are e.g. issuing a nice "double volume"
with Barks' Pygmy indians (US #18) back-to-back and upside-down(!)
with Rosa's followup story. Some further weeks down the road there
is a Rosa story about the Beagle Boys, involving a finely worked out
"blueprint" of the architecture & layout of the money bin (and the
psoter-like cover to this story is wonderfully made). And this week
Egmont is re-issuing the Pirate Gold 1942 story, & cetera & cetera.

The press conference very appopriately took place in the History
Museum in Oslo. The surroundings were actively and rather creatively
used to remind us of the broad importance of the Duck stories by Barks.
A panel consisting of Svein Erik Søland (Egmont chief), Don Rosa
(qua himself, and qua Disney comics artist working in the Barks domain),
Øystein Sørensen (professor of history & recognised comics scholar),
and Per Ditlev-Simonsen (mayor of Oslo, and whose name was misspelt
in the expensive-looking handouts). I will not here tell you about
the "national commune mayor Donald knowledge competition" involving
the 442 (?) mayors of the different communes in Norway, nor list the
100 quiz questions they have to answer & get rates for more or less
publicly;
if you are Norwegian you may hear about it in a local newspaper close
to you. But Sørensen gave a lecture on Barks and his enormous
influence, and Rosa followed up in fluent American, focussing more on
Barks' opus and influence than on his own efforts.

Don Rosa's Second Reason (or perhaps First Reason) to be in Oslo
this week was also pointed to at the press conference, namely the
World Launch of the Captain Kentucky and Pertwillaby Papers
harcover books, published this week by Gazette Bok, Oslo, Norway.
There was a long list of interviewers crowding themselves around
Don after the main event. He has been interviewed today by
several major newspapers, the National Press Agency NTB, and
was on the Metropol TV five minutes ago. Tomorrow morning
we've got to find our way to TV2 and later on to the mayor's office
in the town hall. The book signing event takes place at "Tronsmo
Books and Comics" Saturday 12-16. They have not yet finalised,
polished and anglofied the ingredients at
    www.gazette.no/donrosa/index.htm ,
but you get the idea. One can order the books from Timbuktu to
Herringtail via this link -- at least after Saturday. Again, Don R would
be happy to meet "list people" on Saturday. People not able to
attend can contact the Tronsmo shop for reserving signed copies.

After the press conference we were all served "Donald-brus",
complete with a "Barks 100" label, and Donald cake.

Nils Lid Hjort