William Van Horn

[Fredrik Ekman]

David writes, on the subject of William Van Horn:
> 	One critical comment:  I find that Van Horn tends to do a
> story now and then which just has too many weird elements in it to be
> taken seriously.  Still, he has lots of good stories.

Examples, please! I think I agree with you, even though I can't say for
sure until I see exactly what you mean.

> 	FAVORITE STORY #1:  The Bees Have It!  This was weird, but had
> a very Barksian interpretation of the characters and some of WH's best
> art, so I really liked it.

I agree! Absolutely! The artwork of that story is nothing short of
exceptional. Especially, check the page where Donald first appears the
bee hive (pg 4?). The different size of the panels and the change of
perspective is comic art when at its best. The story is also very good
and reaches the standards set by Barks when at his best.

My second favourite will have to be "Sky-High Hi-Jinks", partly because
that was the first WVH-story I ever read. I was hooked immediately in
spite of (or maybe because of) the somewhat sloppy art.

> 	LEAST FAVORITE STORY #1:  Just a Humble, Bumbling Duck!

Nope! I actually like that one. It, too, has great art and quite a few
hilarous situations. MY least favourite is "Snore Losers", simply because
I find the story itself to be the only real loser of that one. The only
thing I like about it is when Donald uses part of his new-found fortune
to buy several thousand pairs of shoes. Oh, well...

Someone (was that Mark?) mentioned the small insects (I'm not quite sure
they are all mosquitos) that seem to fly around in all his comics. I
would guess that this is his signature, kind of like Don's D.U.C.K. I
have yet not found any Van Horn comic that has not had at least one of
these.

On the whole I think that William Van Horn is great! And besides Don
Rosa he is the only one that has really succeeded in taking the Barksian
universe and make something that has a feeling of freshness to it. I
even prefer Van Horn to Rosa, simply because I find him to be less tied
up to Barks' works.

Speaking of WVH; does anyone have any plans to release a new version of
the Van Horn index? If so, tell me and I will send some additional info.
If not, send updates to me and I will do it instead.

  /F