Disney-comics digest #133.

[David A Gerstein]

	Hi, Folks!

	Sorry to have sent my urgent demand TWICE before -- I got it
returned and thought the error was with my software, not with the fact
that someone cancelled their subscription (which I now remember has
happened lately).


	Mark on colors
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	"...I recently purchased my *second* old Disney, WDC&S #62, and
noticed that on the cover, Donald is colored with blue eyes, much like
what Disney Comics recently attempted to do with the ducks.  So I
guess that the idea isn't as new as I had thought it to be..."

	It sure isn't, Mark!  WDC&S #1 gives Donald blue eyes and
Mickey a pink face for all the many text illustrations (and half-page
cartoons... that's right, like in the New Yorker magazine, consisting 
of a picture with a caption under it!) in the issue.  One Gottfredson
sunday strip is broken up over four pages with text ("Clarabelle's
Dinner Talks," it's called there) and it colors Mickey's face pink,
too.

	But by the time WDC&S #5 rolled around a few months later,
pink face and blue eyes were gone for good from the inside pages of
the comics until WDC&S #548, decades later.  Believe it or don't!

	As for blue eyes on the comic's *cover*, I believe the
earliest ones I find are on WDC&S #14.

	Some foreign studios still color oddly.  In Germany, Mickey
often had a white face and blue eyes (yes, blue eyes on *Mickey*!)
until about two years ago, when this suddenly stopped.  Now the only
place he keeps that appearance is the cover logo -- and it looks awful
unlawful, since right under that logo is often a cover drawing of him
with a pink face and white eyes!


	Geir discusses cheese, lemmings and lockets
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	[In US 9] "Barks also labelled another cheese "gjetost" in the
original comic.  That is correct Norwegian for "goat (milk) cheese"."

	I have always loved this story (although it's another one
that's been reprinted just *endlessly!*), and less than a year ago it
drove me to buy a large wedge of authentic Norwegian gjetost at the
Hanover, NH Food Co-Op.

	It was *sweet* cheese.  Never had goat cheese like that
before.  I enjoyed it, but it somehow didn't seem like *cheese*, goat,
cow, chinchilla or otherwise.  Just a warning to other fans who might
get the same idea as I...


	Geir on translations
	==== == ============

	"It really depends on a good writer to make good stories, and so:
the translators cannot wreck a good story, but they can definitely
make it flatter."

	I'll say...  I'd say that Gary Gabner's scripts have seemed
flatter in general since Gladstone started again, though they are
improving now.  I'll apologize *now* for "Bugged by Humbug" which has
its moments, but I think it is a little flat in places... still, I
hope you like it.  On the other hand, I'm very excited about nearly
every *other* story I've dialogued, and hope you will feel the same
way.


	Geir on some mysterious bodies of water
	==== == ==== ========== ====== == =====

	"When I think about the story of the 1000 lakes, I shudder at 
the thought of what Disney would have done with something so strong as
that today. They would have sacked Barks, treated him, sued him and 
beaten him up."

	(A QUESTION I'M EMBARRASSED TO ASK)  Uh, Geir... what story is
this?  I think of the Golden River story, and of the water skiing
story (WDC&S 62), but each of those only involves *one* lake.  What
*is* this story?  Might you mean the Marco Polo story?  Don't remember
any lakes there, tho' Disney sure would let Barks know just how they
felt about it were he working now.


	Duck nudity (NEW TOPIC!)
	==== ====== ==== =======

	In Ben Verhagen's story "The Hoard at the Rainbow's End",
which I dialogued and which will be appearing in DDA 25, Disney's
"board of approval" had a most interesting objection.  On page 16 or
thereabouts, Donald removes his jacket to dive into a river.  When he
takes his jacket off, he looks just like you would expect... nothing
under there, just feathers.

	Disney said that Donald should have an undershirt.  Showing
Donald without pants is fine -- showing Donald without a *shirt* is
indecent!  Talk about weird.  Wonder how Disney likes Donald in his
fireman's helmet and nothing beneath in WDC&S 86!  Gladstone can print
all ten-pagers uncensored in their albums, though, so I should worry.


	Lost Library coming in English, eons from now
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	John Clark has ordered "Guardians of the Lost Library" and it
will apparently see print next summer.  Gosh, what a wait!  But we'll
have lots of great Rosa until then starting in DD 283 and then
continuing with the Lo$!!


	DD's 60th anniversary
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	Gladstone is planning to celebrate the Duck's sixtieth year
with a special jubileum issue.  Anyone have any suggestions about a
Barks 10-pager to use in it, or some particularly fine foreign story?
And more importantly, a suggestion which I *did not* make to John
Clark for obvious reasons:  Don Rosa, why don't *you* do something for
that issue?  Just a short story or something... that would be great!
I imagine you'd enjoy writing some story about Donald's youthful days,
or some such;  sort of a miniature equivalent to the Lo$ but just a
short story, since Donald is only about 30!


	That's all for now, folks.

	David Gerstein

	P. S.  PLEASE... I NEED THAT ITALIAN INFORMATION!!!!