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<DIV>Rodney writes:</DIV>
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<DIV>"I'm surprised to discover some Barks stories that haven't been reprinted
(aside from the Carl Barks Libraries)in over 20 years (since the Whitman run
ended) and I'm wondering why Gemstone isn't publishing these stories like, The
Gold Nugget Boat and Case of the Sticky Money (to name the Scrooge tales).
Would anyone else like to see these?"</DIV>
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<DIV>I sure would! Also The Doom Diamond, The Heedless Horseman, and The Cattle
King. I'd much prefer to see long-unseen Barks work than Only a Poor Old Man or
Back to the Klondike for the twentieth time. Gemstone seems to be following the
same procedure with Barks that Gladstone (second run) did with Gottfredson: only
running stuff that's already been printed in albums. Is there some cost-cutting
move behind this? I hope The Tuckered Tiger, short as it was, represents a move
in a new direction.</DIV>
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<DIV>About FORGET IT!--I didn't understand the explanation of Magica's spell at
first, either, but as soon as it started to take effect on poor old Scrooge and
Donald I got it--and started to roll on the floor. The highlight came when
Donald forgot how to talk--reminded me of his mother Hortense in her early
years! By the way, I think this marks the third time that Don has used that
bright-eyed and hilariously dopey-looking airport receptionist in a story (the
other two being A MATTER OF SOME GRAVITY and SIGN OF THE TRIPLE DISTELFINK). I
like to see even bit characters reused. </DIV>
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<DIV>Daniel Von E. writes: "I think it could be 'The Three Caballeros' that Rosa
rejuvenated. (Donald, Jose, and Panchito as a trio.) But I'm not sure." </DIV>
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<DIV>I think this is correct--as far as I know, no one has ever reunited the
Caballeros since the fifties--and Rosa has made the characters of Jose and
Panchito known here in the States again; I guess I was writing from an American
standpoint.</DIV>
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<DIV>In reply to Daniel's comments on the Blum stories--my feelings on them go
beyond dislike. Maybe they don't extend to hatred, but they come pretty close.
All the humor is either self-consciously "hip" or satirical or recycled from a
Barks story. In all fairness, I don't think this can be said of Rosa
stories--his plot ideas sometimes come from Barks, but his humor is entirely his
own, and even his most heavy-handed stories (WAR OF THE WENDIGO, for example)
have a lot of genuine belly laughs. And the crucial difference between Blum and
all other Duck creators if this: Barks, Rosa, Van Horn, and all other
authors past and present write for the sake of the story, with satire or
social commentary a side issue. With Blum, I get the feeling he picks a topic or
topic to "satirize" and then comes up with an off-hand plot to carry his
"satire." He's always read a bit too much satire into Barks' works, I think, and
he seems to regard satirism as the ultimate goal of a Duck writer.</DIV>
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<DIV>Not to end on a negative note, I'll put my two cents into the Mad Dentist
discussion. It's really a comedy, not a horror film, but W. C. Fields' character
in THE DENTIST represents probably the last tooth doc I'd ever want to see.
Which reminds me--has anyone ever done a story with Donald as a Master of
Dentistry? Seems to me there are a lot of funny possibilities in that.
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