Crook Article

[HATHAWAY@stsci.edu]

Fellow Duckophiles, 

  I am distressed to report on a newspaper article in today's (17-FEB-1994) 
Washington Post.  Front page article by Rick Atkinson of the Washington Post 
Foreign Service.  Special correspopndent Ute Huebner contributed to the report.


  To quote the first lines: 

  "BERLIN - He may be the most ingenious crook since the Penguin tormented 
Batman, an extortionist-turned-folk hero who specializes in electronic 
wizdardry, narrow escapes and duping the authorities. 
  For 20 months he has baffled police - and captivated the German public with 
fiendishly clever plots that involve blowing up department stores whenever his 
demands for an $800,000 payoff are not met.  His inspiration - and perhaps 
some of his schemes - appear to be drawn from Walt Disney comic books, 
specificially those featuring Donald Duck's tightfisted trillionaire (sic) 
uncle, Scrooge McDuck; hence the culprit's chosen nom de guere, "Dagobert," 
the German name for the comic character."  


  The article goes on to describe several attempted extortion plots of 
his, including a "two-foot-long homemade scooter powered by batteries 
and designed to ride atop a rail", in which 1.4 million German marks 
were to be delivered to him.  (It derailed when it hit a spike.)  

  Also, "Police are said to be combing through 6,000 pages of Walt 
Disney comic books looking for clues.  Of particular interest are the 
Uncle Scrooge Adventures, first drawn by Disney artist Carl barks in 
1947 and still wildly popular in Germany." 
 ... 
 "Like the police, Disney devotees in Germany - including those belonging 
to a fan club called DONALD - have been scouring their comic stacks for 
hints on Dagobert's next move." ... 


  The article is quite too long for me to quote the whole thing right 
now, (and of course is copywritten by the newspaper) but it should be 
of interest.  

  In case this is something that was recently discussed on the list, 
I may have missed it during a vacation earlier this month.  So sorry 
if this is a repeat of old news.  For the Washington area it is 
front page news today.  Anyone who know more care to comment on it? 

  I suppose the knee-jerk reaction from the non-Duck folk would be 
to expect an immediate condemnation from all Duck fans of this crook's 
activities.  Me - I don't accept a damn bit of responsibility for this 
guy's actions as my love of Ducks has nothing to do with his alleged 
mis-use of the stories.  I'd feel insulted to be associated with him 
in any way.  

  It is refreshing that the (reading) public can learn of the 
international popularity of Scrooge and family.  It is unfortunate 
the media needs violence to get their attention though.  

Wm. Hathaway