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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Wow... I also feel, like Derek, that I could
curse up a storm that would make Scrooge look like a nun! :( I guess
a lot of my current thoughts could be summarized as "Censored!" as Barks would
put in Donald's mouth on occasion. When I read about the cancellations on
the list today it felt like a nasty punch to the stomach!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Before anything else though, I want to follow the
example set by Derek and profusely thank everyone at Gemstone for all they have
done so far and for all they will do in the future. This is a dark day,
but lets remember that if it were not for Gemstone we would have had *no* Disney
comics for the last 3+ plus years. Not only have they provided us with
Disney comics, but they have done so in fantastic fashion! While I am
deeply concerned about the future, I in no way want to forget or diminish what a
great job they have done so far.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I also would like to know how high the prices of
the $2.95 and $7.95 books would have had to have been raised. I can't
speak for others, but I would have contained to buy these titles each and every
month even if there were *hefty* price increases.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>As far as the two prestige titles go, raising the
price from $6.95 to $7.50 is more than fair considering that the price on these
books has not increased since 1997. That gives me an idea though. If
Uncle Scrooge and WDC&S are still successful for Gemstone, why not make
Donald Duck and Friends and Mickey Mouse and Friends monthly $7.50 books?
You could then keep these titles going at a more successful price point. I
know I would love to have both these titles continue as prestige format
titles. What do other people on the list think of this idea? Would
you be willing to buy two more prestige format titles a month? If not two
new prestige titles a month, how about one more prestige title a
month perhaps called "Donald and Mickey and Friends"? The 64 pages of
this prestige title would equal the 32 pages of MMaF and DDaF and only cost a
bit more each month. Wouldn't this be kind of a way of having your cake
and eating it too? You could publish just as many color pages per month,
but at a price point that would be more successful for Gemstone. Or is
there some reason that this would not work? I fully admit I know next to
nothing about the economics of comic book publishing, so please feel free to
educate me all about it.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Back to the two prestige titles that you are going
to publish each month. Since there will now only be U$ and WDC&S on a
monthly basis, could you really limit the amount of reprint material in it,
especially Barks? With only these two monthly titles now, and there being
SO much material that has NEVER been printed for the North American market, I
would like that each and every page be of new to North America
material.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Of course, I imagine people at Gemstone and buyers
of Gemstone comic may still want a good deal of Barks reprints. A couple
of thoughts about that. One, I am hoping that in the next few years
Gemstone will start a Carl Barks Library similar to the EC Library that Gemstone
has just very recently started. If a Carl Barks Library starts in the next
few years (a hint and a hope! :)), there is really no reason to keep reprinting
Barks stories in U$ and WDC&S. Why not keep the pages of U$ and
WDC&S open for new stories?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Perhaps Gemstone thinks many people will not buy a
Carl Barks Library. I however think most serious Disney comics fans
will. This kind of brings up a "big elephant in the room" topic that has
not been discussed much. Since Gemstone started they have had a
strong goal of getting kids to read Disney comics again. That was a
laudable goal and a goal I applaud them for trying for. In my humble
opinion though, this has not happened. I certainly wish kids had come back
to Disney comics and it pains me to think they have not. And if
someone at Gemstone can tell me that I am wrong that marketing for kids has
not been much of a success, please let me know. I would LOVE to be wrong
about that! :) I just think getting kids to read *any* comics in a
traditional format is next to impossible these days. No offense to
Gemstone, but if DC and Marvel can't do it, I don't see how Gemstone could
either. Of course that leaves out manga, Shonen Jump, etc., but I will get
to that later.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>So what I am getting at is for Gemstone to embrace
the fact that 90% of there customers are not kids and instead older
collectors. I think most of us older collectors are not that upset about
the price increase and in fact would like there to be more to buy each
month. And for Gemstone buyers who say they still want Barks stories and
will not buy a Carl Barks library, you can really get most of Barks' stories
that were reprinted during Gemstone I, Disney comics, Gemstone II, and even
earlier comics. I imagine you can get most of these earlier re-reprints
for about 7 or 8 bucks, so it is not really more expensive than getting them in
the monthly U$ and WDC&S comics.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I am excited to hear about Gemstone turning Walt
Disney Treasures into a ongoing series. Have you decided if they will come
out on a regular basis? If so, will they be monthly, bi-monthly,
quarterly, etc.? I would encourage considering having them come out on a
monthly basis. From almost the beginning of Gemstone, I have thought
having a monthly trade paperback would be a great idea for Gemstone. The
first Walt Disney Treasures came out this past summer for $12.99 and had
160 pages. Even if you had to increase the price to say $14.99 or $15.99
and could keep the same number of pages it would be a great deal. It costs
$15 a month for both U$ and WDC&S and you will get about 128 pages
total. Well, if there were a monthly Walt Disney Treasures for say $15 you
would be paying the same price as U$ and WDC&S combined and even get *more
pages* for the same amount of money! So having a monthly Walt Disney
Treasures TPB would ease much of the pain of losing MMaF and DDaF.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>What are the content plans for Walt Disney
Treasures? I think it would be nice if they could at least some time focus
on a particular creator. Imagine having Treasures TPBs devoted to
Vicar, Scarpa, Gottfredson, etc. Not to even mention the obvious choice of
having Rosa collections that I can't help but think would sell very
well. Does this idea appeal to other list members beside
myself?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Onto the Shonen Jump style black and white
books. While it may be hard for me to adjust to reading Disney comics in
B/W, I still think this is a great idea. If there is one last chance at
getting kids to read Disney comics, I think this is it. You just get *so*
many pages for *such* a cheap price that it is an incredible deal! Derek
wondered what the paper qualities of the B/W collections would be. I am
just guessing, but wouldn't the paper quality be similar to the quality in DC's
"Showcase Presents" and Marvel's "Essentials" collections? I kind of think
of them as having a "phone book" quality to that paper. So no, they will
not be nice as regular monthly 32 page "pamphlet" comics, but on the other hand
you get so much value for your money. For example, DC's "Showcase
Presents" and Marvel's "Essentials" retail for $16.99 and include between 500
and 600 pages!!! I am not very familiar with "Shonen Jump", but I believe
it is around 300 pages each monthly for about 6 or 7 dollars. Perhaps
some who reads Shonen Jump can be more specific.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>So I would love see these "Shonen Jump" style
collections come out as often as possible and for them to be a huge
success. Are there any plans yet for what stories will appear in these
collections. I think some reprints (even re-re-reprints) would be OK for
this format, but I also hope that there will much new material as well.
Many Italian creators such as Scarpa, Cavazzono and others produce some quite
long stories and these would fit well with these collections due to how many
pages are available in each collection.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>So while I am very saddened about the
cancellations, at least there is some good news as well. I concur with
Derek though that this whole business is unsettling. I realize that there
are NO guarantees in life. However, do we Disney comics fans have anything
to fear like the last time Gladstone cut its production to only two titles a
month? Is there any way you can let us know if Gemstone is still
doing well and plans on being around for a long time to
come? Hopefully these cancellations do not forebode further bad
tidings but on a more positive note are just Gemstone changing which formats it
finds more successful.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>So to close this, *anything* *anyone* at
Gemstone could let us know more about the future of Gemstone know would be
greatly appreciated. I realize that may not be possible at this time
though. Whenever</FONT> <FONT face=Arial size=2>you have "tidbits" or
more though, please let us know! :) I would love to hear what other list
members have to say about Gemstone's new direction and/or some of my
ideas and suggestions. Please feel free to tell me that my ideas stink if
you think they do! After hearing about Gemstone's bad news, hearing that
my ideas are awful won't hurt a bit in comparison! :(</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Dean Rekich</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
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