Disney-comics digest #326.

[Don Rosa]

SWEDEN:
	Yes, Sweden WILL be getting the Lo$ part 12, only it will be
delayed until Christmas (since it's a Christmas story -- I can't argue
with that). But also Sweden will delay my DD's special 60th Birthday
story for one year since their editor has already written a special
birthday story. This is not something in my control or any of my
business, but my story was both clearly a story celebrating a "special"
birthday, not the umpty-first. Also, it deals specifically with the 60th
Birthday... it will need some rewriting and page deletions to remove
that reference.

HARRY:
	I see now what you meant about the nephew saying he could
"barely recognize the JW emblem" on the book in the case when it looked
quite clear. As the upside-down Guardian symbol, it was barely
recognizeable as just a shape... but only *I* knew that since I wrote
the story! As a JW symbol, which is what everyone in the story thought
it was, there wasn't much reason for anyone to say it wasn't
recognizeable. Hm. I guess I shouldn't have worded that just so.

RoC:
	The "official" Egmont title to Lo$ #11 WAS "The Richest Duck in
the World". Sometimes Byron and I don't quite agree on everything, but
he's the boss; he chose that as the title for #11 and the title for #12
will be "The Recluse of McDuck Mansion". If I ultimately decide I don't
like those titles, I'll suggest others to Gladstone and see what they
think when it comes time for them to reprint them. "TRDitW" has a very
special ring to it, and I wanted that as the title of the final chapter;
my title for #11 was "The Empire-Builder from Calisota".
	By the way, are you saying that you've mailed those comics to me
now? By air-mail? I look forward to receiving them! I'm sure you
included your address so I can send you some CAPTAIN KENTUCKYs... but
don't you want more, such as postage???

MIKKO:
	Yes, Egmont most certainly owns your Finnish publisher of Disney
comics and all those other best-selling publications. Egmont is a @#$#&%
big company -- they own over 100 publishers and TV/movie production
companies around the world.
	And how do you know they received lots of favorable mail for my
"Wendigo" story? Did they announce that in the comic or something? They
never tell me stuff like that.

DANIEL van E.:
	Of course, thanks for the kind words!
	As to your specific questions -- my putting a squished MM on the
bottom of the elephant's foot in Lo$ #6 was just a joke between me and
Byron Erickson. He was SUPPOSED to delete that. He thought the
publishers would get a chuckle out of it, then THEY would delete it.
Nobody deleted it and it was published in all editions! Gah! I know I
kid a lot about how much more I like DD than MM... but I don't mean to
be that disrespectful to poor MM.
	As for the comment in Lo$ #5 about $crooge selling all the
furniture from the castle -- yes, I DO put an enormous amount of
detailed references to old stories, many of which you won't spot for
years... but THAT wasn't one of them. It was just something funny for
$crooge to be saying in that panel.

MARK M.:
	You know, you're the SECOND person to ask me if that guy in
"GotLL" was supposed to be ME. And I can't figure this out. Why would
anyone think it's ME? Does it look like it was drawn to LOOK like
someone??? Why ME?
	Nah, it's not me -- I have a full red beard, not a black
pencil-thin moustache and tiny goatee. And I'm not thin as a rail. And
I'm not Egyptian. And I don't have a lil' black nose. Why would that be
me?

BARKS' NASTY COMMENTS:
	I'm steeling myself for a deluge of this sort of thing during
Barks' European tour. There is evidence that the whole idea for this
tour came from how much attention I've been getting in Europe, and he
seems to offer at least two unsolicited more-and-more direct attacks on
me with each interview he gives. I'm delighted he's going to Europe to
enjoy how wildly popular his work is there, and I've always freely
admitted that I thought all the attention I get was that the Europeans
saw me as his "proxy" and I was all they had... but now they have the
real thing. But I DO sorta resent the fact that he can't enjoy that
popularity without taking swipes at me for no apparent reason -- maybe
that's his revenge on me, in his eyes? I dunno, but as much as it hurts,
I CAN'T react to it publicly. He is Barks.
	The way I'm trying to look at it nowadays is that if my lifelong
idol fears me so much that he goes out of his way to make these
mean-spirited and, perhaps, cowardly sneak attacks on me, I should take
that as a supreme complement? At least that might help cut down on the
nightmares I get each night that I hear his latest remark about me. Ah,
well.