D&M golden seashell story... NOPE!

[David A Gerstein]

	Hi, Folks!

	Don said:  "I think D&M [Gladstone's DONALD AND MICKEY comic] 
also recently used one of my very most fondly remembered Murry stories,
the one about the giant golden seashell -- that has some great visuals
in it!"

	HUH???!  The seashell story was last reprinted in Disney
Comics' SUMMER FUN #1, which was issued in summer of 1991.  It was
not in Gladstone's MICKEY AND DONALD prior to that, either.  The ONLY
recent printing of the story was Disney's.  I agree, that's one of the
best Murry stories, with "The Trail to Treasure" and "The Lost Legion"
being the other two.

	I like "The Lost Legion" (written, I believe, by Don
Christiansen) because its version of Mickey is more the way he should
be.  I remember Mickey trying to decoy some Arabian villains by posing
as a royal musician and singing "The Sheik of Araby"!  (This story was
in WDC&S 167-69, I believe.)

	The only stories to appear in Gladstone's D&M so far have been
Jaime Diaz M&tS, or Diaz Goofy history stories.  This will continue
through #24, I believe.  After that there's apparently (HOORAY!) a
Dutch story... can you give us any info, Gary?

	BTW:  I REALLY don't like the art in the "Mickey and the
Sleuth" stories.  Don will probably be glad to hear, given his praise
of it, that "The Case of the Wax Dummy" was paired with his own
"Master Landscapist" in the 1991 German printing.  I myself was
irritated.

	As for MM in the Foreign Legion, there's an Arab villain,
Yussuf Aiper (is there a pun there?  I CAN'T find it!), paired with
some even MEANER American ones, Pete and Trigger Hawkes, showing that
villainy comes in all colors.  Meanwhile, Mickey also has a friend,
Peikh Abou, who helps him out in his plan to defeat the villains.
This friend is an Arab.

	The Arabs *are* stereotypically drawn, with big schnozzes.
Also there are some references to the villains as being a "tribe" or
their being "natives," suggesting that "they're all this way," but
these minor things could be changed...
		
	The only really prejudiced point is when MM disguises himself
as a native to get off the ship, with blackface makeup, and is accosted
by two equally grotesque policemen.  This is only two strips, and
the makeup could be altered to resemble a BEARD, and the dialogue
could go from:

	"I sure make a funny-lookin' native, but if it's dark enough,
I can get away with it!" to
	"I sure look funny in a beard, but if it's dark enough, I can
get away with it!"

	The policemen would need some major retouching to make them
acceptable by Disney, but they're only in two strips.

	As for "The Sacred Jewel," I don't know if this one could be
made acceptable.  Disney printed a lot of panels from it in their
recent trading card set though, including many with Arabs shown,
absolutely unchanged from the original versions.  The Arabs are black
with white faces, but that's, I believe, because they're designed with
the same style that MICKEY is!

	Zassall for now, folks.

	David Gerstein
	<David.A.Gerstein at Williams.edu>