<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1400" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Thanks for all the good points you made
Olivier! I will respond to some of them and give you some more of my
ideas, for what they are worth.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In regards to the "Barks reprint dilemma", I have a few different
thoughts. You ask how could people new to Disney comics discover Barks if
the are not in the regular comics. Well, I have a sad thought about
that. Hopefully I am wrong, but I think the idea of many people
discovering Barks in North America in North America is mostly wishful
thinking. I believe Gemstone has to concern itself most for the good it
has (current Disney comic fans and collectors) than with what it has not
(getting kids to read Disney comics, getting new readers, etc.) Except for
the Shonen Jump style book, I think they must have somewhat given up on the hunt
for new and young Disney comic fans. Why do I say this? When
Gemstone started, they said that U$ and WDC&S were aimed at the collector
due to their high price. They also seem to have said or imply that
DD&F, MM&F, and the monthly pocket books were geared more towards
getting younger and new readers. Now of course that was not a hard and
fast rule, and I am sure that they hoped *lots* of people would buy *all* of the
titles. However, it seems like they knew the two prestige titles were
geared for the collectors market, and the two newsstand titles and the pocket
book aimed for a more mainstream and young audience. So which titles
has Gemstone cancelled? The two newsstand titles and the two pocket
books. It seems to me that Gemstone realizes (quite sadly) that the market
that they do have *now* is the collector market and to focus on it. Since
most older Disney comic fans already have a good portion of Barks'
stories, I really think there should be as little as possible reprints in
the two prestige titles. Why reprint Barks' stories to the readership
most likely to have copies of them already?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Of course another way Gemstone could successfully reprint Barks' stories is
what they did this year: they could print volumes devoted solely to
Barks. They published two different TPB volumes of "Carl Barks' Greatest
DuckTales Stories". Perhaps someone at Gemstone could tell us if they sold
well? I certainly hope they did! This way Barks' stories can be
reprinted for the people who have not read or own them yet, and at the same time
people who have these stories already can pass on these volumes if they
wish. I myself bought both volumes even though I have all of these
different stories a few times already. I want to do everything I can to
help support Gemstone and I imagine a number of other older Disney fans bought
both volumes for the same reason! :)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Gemstone says that they may resume printing the two 32 page titles and the
pocket books if either the price of paper falls or better
marketing opportunities arrive. I wonder if Gemstone could tell us
how realistic such a chance is. I have *no* knowledge whatsoever
about the price of paper. Is it *realistically* possible that
the price of paper could fall significantly in the next few years? I
just do not have a clue, but perhaps some at Gemstone, or someone who does know
something about the price of paper could tell us. Also, does Gemstone
foresee any better marketing opportunities arising in the next few years?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>As for a new Barks Library, I sincerely hope one is in the works. I
also have the CBLiC album series, but would *love* to have a new, definitive
volume like the EC Comics Library Gemstone is just starting. While the
albums are nice, I would really love to have a "normal" size Barks
library. Ideally, I think it would make sense to have both softcover
and hardcover volumes like they did with "Mickey and the Gang" so that they
could reach the widest possible audience. I will gladly buy them whichever
way they choose to publish them though!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>As for the Walt Disney Treasures volumes, I like the idea of timing them to
come out the same time as the DVDs except for one problem: the DVDs come out
only once a year! :( I certainly hope that Walt Disney Treasures volumes
come out on a monthly basis, or at the very least a bi-monthly or
quarterly basis. In regards to what their content should be, I would be
happy for them to retain the compendium format *as long as* there was a similar
series of volumes that covered certain creators. Why settle for one TPB
volume series if we could have two! :)</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>As for the Shonen Jump style volumes, I think the key is to get them to the
bookstores in North America. I know Gemstone wanted to get their pocket
books in bookstores, but I do not think they succeeded in that. Yes, you
could get them at Barnes and Noble online and Amazon online, but did anyone in
North America ever see them in a brick and mortar Barnes and Noble or Borders
bookstore? I never did. So while it may be nice to have these titles
at online stores, I think it is *crucial* to get them into actual
bookstores. If not, I do not see the Shone Jump style volumes succeeding
anymore that the pocket books did. Is there a new marketing plan to get
the Shonen Jump style volumes into actual bookstores? I really think
the pocket books could have been successful if they had been placed in with the
manga tiles in US bookstores. I think the best remaining hope for getting
new and younger Disney readers is this Shonen Jump style book. They
definitely will offer the most "bang for your buck"!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Unlike Olivier, I have not had much experience with black and white Disney
comics. Whether I grow to appreciate the black and white experience or
not, the most important thing is for there to remain Disney comics here!
If it takes black and white titles to do that, that is terrific by me!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>As before, thanks *very* much for all Gemstone has already done and
will do in the future! Also as before, I would love to hear the opinions
of others on the mailing list on these subjects. Finally as before,
*please* be kind Gemstone and give us *whatever* news you can *whenever* you
can!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Dean Rekich</DIV></FONT></DIV></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>