Disney-comics digest #321.

[Don Rosa]

MIKKO:
	Don't worry about seeing the Lo$ #12. I just asked Byron
Erickson about the rumor I heard, and he said that all the publishers
will "of course" be using #12... even Sweden, though they decided to
delay that last chapter EIGHT months until Christmas (since it takes
place on Christmas Day). They apparently wouldn't think of NOT using one
of my stories anymore, he says... in reader surveys, they are the
highest rated stories they use.
	Don't look for Bob Foster at the Finland show, or ANY European
comic show, or EVER representing Egmont, anywhere. He quit Egmont last
month and moved back to America. I haven't asked Byron about his
attending... but I know he's very busy and has little interest in such
shows for various reasons, so I'd be surprized if he was there, but I
hope so.

JAMES W.:
	I can't get too deeply into my philosophy of comic art tonight.
But mainly, I think that all those fancy page lay-outs, to MY way of
thinking, is bunk, and just a way for the artist and writer to skip
doing lots and lots of work by putting less story in the same number of
pages. It's become very popular in American super-hero comics since
readers have become conditioned to not expecting very much plot in an
entire issue, since the stories can last for months or years, and the
American readers are only impressed by HUGE panels of fight scenes.
	Large panels don't give a sense of time any better than small
panels... perhpas the reverse is true. Panels with no dialogue work much
better for that, and I have never heard of any guidelines that tell us
to never have panels without dialogue. The shape and size of my panels
are only dictated but what I need to fit INSIDE each panel -- my main
aim is to squeeze as MUCH plot and gags and everything into my alotted
pages, quite the opposite aim of those super-hero comics. And if I need
to have an empty "beat" of time, I simply have a small no-dialogue
panel. Having a standardized page lay-out forces me (and others) to
concentrate on more important aspects of storytelling... and I would
fight back if they told me to switch to 3-tier lay-outs for the same pay
rate, even though that would mean so much LESS work for the same amount
of money. Can you imagine how mush EASIER it is to do the 3-tier
lay-outs than 4-tier?! With the full 5-member Duck team, that could be
10-15 fewer times a Duck would be drawn per page! 

GREG:
	Since it sounds like people are buying their "Guardians of the
Lost Library" issues now, and I just went out and bought my copy, and I
must make some comments on this story that we ALL have looked forward to
seeing in English.
	I think everyone knows I hate the dark, garish coloring in
modern American comics. But it looked all the worse here because
Gladstone received some rather "muddy" photostats of the art and the
dark coloring just made it look worse. Lots of trouble was taken to
color the story, but the dark colors and muddy art didn't make it look
as good as it should've.
	Especially bad was the LETTERING! The letterer was not as good
as Todd Klein who does Lo$... the lettering here was all much too large
for the balloons, making them all look sloppy and crammed.
	Gladstone incorporated all my art and script changes, both for
correcting errors and for including the original idea involving the
Woodchuck symbol (which they only use in America). And the dialogue is
100% my original script...except in ONE BALLOON, which bothers me so
much that I might ask for a public apology from someone. I don't wish to
be known as the man who introduced the word "BARF" into Disney comicdom.
I complained to Gladstone about this and the reason for this change will
make your head swim! Disney thought my dialogue was "too graphic" (my
dialogue had some obscure comment about a "technicolor yawn", a
reference intended to merely confuse most younger readers)... and DISNEY
THEMSELVES dictated that the word "BARF" be used instead!!! This might
seem incredible, but if you deal with Disney and the changes they
dictate for very long, you'll either go nuts or just learn to enjoy the
bizarre aspects and self-contradictions in their every move.
	Well, I hope the muddy art, dark coloring and bad lettering
won't hinder your enjoyment of this story... but then, how could it NOT?
I mean, what's left?