Standardization of Artwork

[Mark Mayerson]

James Williams wrote:

> I often wonder if one of the reasons that Disney comics don't sell well
> in the United State is because Disney comics are stagnate.  It is not
> healthy for each new generation of comics to be based on the old. 
> You've got to bring in concepts from outside of comics.  Egmont and
> GP keep trying to churn out Barks and Gottfredson, but the people
> they have working for them aren't Barks and Gottfredson.

I didn't read the Disney comics that Disney did when they turfed Gladstone
out, but I suspect that they were trying to update things.  That's why
they hired mainstream comics people like Marv Wolfman.  In this case, it
didn't work.  The older Disney fans were alienated and they didn't gain
enough newer fans to offset the loss.  Since I haven't read these comics,
I can't judge if they botched the attempt or if U.S. Disney comics readers
just didn't want to change.

> Shortly after I discovered Disney comics, I discovered Don Rosa.  I'll
> be frank, I hated Rosa's stories.  I couldn't get over the artwork.  It
> wasn't bad, it just wasn't like anything else in any other Disney
> comic.  Don's artwork reminded me more of Robert Crumb than Carl Barks. 
> As I've seen more of Egmont and GP's bland attempts to recreate Carl
> Barks, I've started to realize just how special Rosa's artwork is. 
> Rosa's stories which turned me off 3 or 4 years ago are now amoung my
> favorite comics.

Of all the comics, Disney's have the strongest house style.  I think this
is because they were based on pre-existing animated cartoons, and every
artist who worked on them in the 1940's and '50's had to match that look.
A lot of the artists (Barks, Gottfredson, Bradbury) had actual animation
experience so it wasn't difficult for them.

I also had problems with Rosa's work because it was so different.  However,
I realized that I was a hypocrite.  As a kid, I was conditioned to accept
different artists on Marvel titles.  In about a year, Captain America
went from being drawn by Jack Kirby to Jim Steranko to John Romita to John
Buscema to Gene Colan, and I just accepted it, enjoying the specific
qualities of each artist on the character. It's only because Disney comics
are so homogenous that Rosa sticks out, and I've learned to give Rosa the
same leeway that I gave to the above artists, much to my reading pleasure.
___________________________________________________________________
Mark Mayerson				Side Effects Software Inc.,
Internet:  mayerson at sidefx.com          Toronto, Ontario, Canada
					(416) 366-4607