Comic Book Confidential

[Tryg Helseth]

Hello All:

Last night I watched a documentry on television titled "Comic Book 
Confidential."  I had never seen it before, but I think the copyright date 
was 1988.  Anyhow, it was a brief history of comic books in the US 
featuring artists, writers, publishers, etc.  In this 1-1/2 program, 
however, not a word was said about Disney comics. (They did pan over some 
comic book covers and Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold was there, but...)

I began to wonder about the fate of Disney comics in the US.  Since Disney 
gave the publication rights back to Gladstone, I assume they didn't find it 
profitable enough.  While kids under 10 may read them, older kids don't.  
On a recent visit to a local comic book store I watched two kids (about 12 
years of age, I would guess) pawing thorugh a box of old comics.  They came 
across some classic funny animal comics (including Dinsey) and one kid 
remarked "there's nothing in here but silly stuff!"  (And here I thought 
costumed super-heros looked silly... <g> )

How well do Disney comics sell in Europe?  I get the impression that they 
are much more popular there.  The fact that this mail list originates out 
of Sweden is a good indicator of that.  

Torsten posted some stats about Gladstone here a few weeks back.  If I 
remember right, they showed a slight increase in Gladstone sales toward the 
end of the year, but it was still less than 1/2 a percent of the market.  Is
that good or bad?

Tryg

Tryg Heseth  <tryve at maroon.tc.umn.edu>

"I wish the all could be Calisota Ducks!" -The Beach Drakes