The Universal Solvent (minor spoilers)

[Even Flood]

Don!

My complements on the Universal Solvent story - it was on of your best. 
And like all you stories it deserves rereading and rereading to get all
the gags and details - throhoughly enjoyable. The gags are great,
especially at the center of the Earth. Also following the minor
antics of Gyros assistant - that alone required a separate reading.

But this story should not have been told in segments. The pacing and
telling of the the story is so fluid that it should be read in one
sitting to get the flow and impact. Reading it way they presented it
was like listening to symphony by Beethoven played with one
movement each week.  Not a good way to do it. The opening allegro 
must be immediately followed by the andante and the andante of the
middle of the story must be immediately followed by the furioso of
the finale, otherwise all looses its impact. Presenting those parts
days apart - good grief. 

This must be one of the most Jules Vernian duck stories I have
read. Here the antagonists are not villains or magical powers, but
the laws nature and physics. That surprised me a bit, after the
first installment I expected some plot twist with encounters with
mysterious beings. I did not think you could carry a whole story
just battling the forces of nature - was I wrong! 

Which brings me to the one minor letdown - the final page about how
Scrooge could not make a profit of this venture. The gag was great
and the (dare I use the word Moral? No - forget I wrote that.. eh
.. lesson? .. eh .. something ..) of the story is necesarry, but it
depends upon a point of physics that just ain't so. Since you made
a point of having the physics consistent I wish you had thought of
something else. OTOH it is a satisfying ending and conclusion. I
agree fully with your sentiment that facts never should get in the
way of a good gag!

One point puzzles me. In the tunnel under the river there is a door
marked Exit. Now - where does that door lead??

One more thing - did you give the solvent a brand name? In Norway
they named it Skrueloes (oe=o with /) which is an excellent play on
several words:
1) Scrooges Norwegian name, Skrue
2) Loesningsmiddel wich is Norwegian for solvent
3) Skrue loes (two words) means a loose screw or gear -
sligtly crazy. Indeed Gyros Gearloose's name when he first 
appeared in Norwegian DD back in the 50ties was Goggen 
Skrueloes. For unknown reasons it was later changed to
 Petter Smart.

So this time the translateors did something right.






Even Flood
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