DCML Digest Issue 21

Don Rosa donrosa at iglou.com
Wed Apr 7 16:03:55 CEST 2004


> From: "deanmary" <deanmary at worldnet.att.net>
> Subject: Barks/Rosa differences, and Gemstone
>     I think there are a number of ways in which Barks' view of Scrooge
> was different than Rosa's.  I'll bring up one.  In my opinion, Barks'
> Scrooge had acquiring and making money as his primary concern and
> going on great adventures as a secondary concern.  Rosa's Scrooge
> seems to put the great adventures first, and having and making money
> second.
> I think Barks' Scrooge would quickly sell the diamond and be thrilled
> to be 999 million ahead.  However Rosa's Scrooge would most likely
> keep the diamond for the sentimental reason that it was a remembrance
> of this great adventure.

Thanks for noticing that that's exactly how I use $crooge. I never intended
to duplicate Barks' exact style or philosophies -- from the start, I think
from the first text or interview I gave in 1987 for "the Son of the Sun", I
said that I wanted to "build on Barks' stories as a foundation", not
"duplicate Barks' stories" (as if anyone could). I knew that I could not
long tell stories of a character motivated solely by greed -- I feel greed
is the base cause for virtually every problem in the world today. (Several
years ago I would say it was the cause of *all* the problems in the world,
but now I realize that fundamentalist religion is right up there, too.) The
$crooge in my stories must have a different primary motivation, or I
couldn't go on.
(And I think I've written fundamentally this same message to various MLs
over the years. Sorry to repeat myself.)
I try to still show that he is very *cheap*. Incredibly CHEAP. And
cheap-gags can easily fill in for all the missing greed-gags. I know it's
possible for someone to not be greedy but still be a very stingy hoarder for
other reasons. I just look inna mirror.
But (as is constantly said here) there are many other writers who treat
$crooge as motivated by greed, so if there are readers who prefer that
$crooge, there's plenty of $crooge to go around.




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