BOOM! Mediocre Mickey

Ole Nielsen ole2001 at gmail.com
Thu Sep 3 16:18:11 CEST 2009


Going off on a tangent to what Elaine Ramshaw wrote:

New Uncle Scrooge comics with Barks covers? Oh, happy day. We need
those, because our old ones are worn out. Seriously, I do hope those
covers are only mock-ups and new art will be commissioned. Why pay 3
bucks for another reprint of a Barks story, when you can buy the
original on eBay for a dollar more - or less, if you'll make do with
an earlier reprint? Well, okay, if it's a *shiny* cover...

I for one am hopeful that efforts to present new stories in Disney
comics to the American audience will be succesful.
Not only will the upcoming stories appeal to a wider audience than the
rusty ol' Barks canon, it may even turn out as less mediocre than
expected. The Disney readership may be getting older and more
conservative by the year. But don't forget that when Gladstone in the
early years decided to opt for renewal, names like Rosa, Rota, Scarpa,
and Van Horn exploded into recognition.
So give it a chance before you knock it, is all I'm saying.

"European mediocricy" is spoken like an oxymoronic mantra when it
comes to these stories, always by people who never read them.
Yet, when it comes to the Wizards of Mickey story arc you have to
wonder. The average-looking 6.2 rating on COA/INDUCKS hides a far from
average voting spread. ( See it for yourself at
http://coa.inducks.org/recommend.php?c=I+TL+2654-1P )
Half the votes are 0-1 or 9-10?! For a story in ten chapters, drawn by
seven different artists it seems likely that those votes are knee-jerk
love/hate votes. You may find the whole idea of Mickey reborn the
Wizard's apprentice in Tolkien meets Dragonball mode a little too
clever a marketing ploy, as do I. (But if it gets the kids to read
comics, I'll pass on the rant.) So there is no Duckburgian Smalltown,
USA of yesteryear, but the characters are the same. Like Tom Hanks is
always Tom Hanks whatever part he's playing.

You who already read the story and voted, please take a moment to
consider if you evaluated the story fairly. Many of you clearly
didn't, because it just doesn't consistently stink so badly over 266
pages. In all fairness, even if you loved it, it's not that brilliant
and original either.
If you are are yet to read it, please try to cast aside any prejudice
and read it on its own merit, then cast your vote.

I'm curious to see just how the development in rating will be.
Remember you can vote on the story even if you only read part of it
and then *change* you vote (yes!) as you journey through the epic
tale. A year from now we can take the discussion about if COA needs to
abandon the IMDB-type 0-10 point rating and adopt a simplified
win/lose, buy/pass, do/die approach to art appreciation. I would hope
not.


Just so you know, Elaine, before the troll hunters get on my
(duck)tail: I liked your mail. You qualified your opinions well and I
mean no harm to your planet. But I've read similar opinions more than
a few times now and I wanted to express a voice of dissent.
We square, ma'm?

-- Ole


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