U.S. comics, Rosa, Disney stores

[Crocker, John]

Hey all, its taken me a couple of days to catch up on the barrage of e-mails that have been sent to the list lately.  I'm not complaining, though, its uplifting to see the list very active and on-topic again.

Couple things:

a) Disney comics back in the U.S. -->  awesome!!

b) I agree with the majority opinion that not only will it be great to see Rosa's most recent stories in English, but I'm also excited about seeing recent works from many other great writers/artists.  There was a list provided of the most likely artists to be seen. <<William and Noel Van Horn, the Blocks, The McGreals, Dave 
Rawson, the Gilberts, Vicar, Daan Jippes, Daniel Branca, Marco Rota, 
David Gerstein, Don Markstein, Geoff Blum, even yours truly, et al - is 
what Gemstone will be about for the near future.>>     I would like to extend to Gemstone to consider bringing over other great artists that I have only been able to hear about through DCML for the past couple years, such as Scarpa and the Paperinik stories.

c) Regarding Don Rosa's strike -- as for now, I understand Rosa's request to handle this himself.....but I question where the point in time comes that the strike and the treatment of Rosa becomes a real issue for fans.  Yes, it is Don's personal situation, but over time the lack of new stories from one of Disney's greatest will become a disappointment for many fans who can't wait to see what he'll come up with next.  So, I'm not trying to overturn Don's request, but would just like some thoughts on whether or not anyone thinks that there is a point in which this becomes an issue for fans to confront Egmont with as well.

d) Regarding Disney comics in the Disney stores -- obviously I would love to see this and think it absurd that the stores have never carried their "own" comics.  Now, I don't know the actual mindset that says no to comics, but I believe it could possibly be due to 1) the extended connection between the comics and Disney and b) the separate universe(s) that exist in Disney comics.  Furthermore, I have seen that recently Disney stores have been very focused in regards to what items are in the store.  Most stores instead of having all things Disney only have items of certain "hot" characters or current "hot" movies and Disney comics would not fit in since (as someone else mentioned) the ducks don't get much attention at Disney stores.  Now, at the parks themselves, this last comment doesn't hold water.         Besides the obvious reasons, I would really like to see the upcoming Disney comics in Disney stores, b/c I'm worried about the ability to get the average crowd back into the comics.  Having the comics in the stores is great b/c it puts them in front of people who are already interested in Disney and who would have a good chance of appreciating the comics.   The one reason I would be worried about the comics having success in the stores is b/c the Disney store puts almost no emphasis on the few Disney books they already sell and from what I've seen the kids that do come into the stores are much more interested in the toys and the parents in the clothes and movies, and the books basically go untouched.  And though Disney comics have the ability to appeal to adult Disney fans, everything in Disney stores tends to have a kid-focus and thus I believe most teens and adults would disregard the comics as child comics as they have been mistaken for in the past as well.

Now I must go to make a group presentation about the oil & gas industry.

Bye,
John Crocker.