Disney-comics digest #571.

[9475609@arran.sms.edinburgh.ac.uk]

      Dear Folks,

      A few comments about the Danish issues Jorgen told us about.  I 
couldn't resist.  But first:

      "Race to the South Seas" was redrawn, first of all, because proofs 
to the original story no longer exist.
      That reminds me... I have some bad news to break to all of you.  
Fabio and I did find a usable version of the original "Darkest Africa" 
in Italy in December, but it was TOO LATE for Gladstone to stop the 
presses on their coming album reprint of the story!  They did make 
copies of the original version for their files and will send the copy 
back to you, Fabio, but until some time in the future, the Dick Vlottes 
version will remain the only one in print.  That's just the way it is.

>The second story is a Mickey story (D93518, 8 pages).
      This story is the first published Egmont work of Scott Saavedra, 
who left Jaime Diaz' studio to do work for them last year.  His art 
isn't extremely bad, but I think his supporting characters are generally 
too ugly and he sometimes uses too much shading.

>Then a Beagle Boys story (D93091, 6 pages).
	     This was in the British weekly about six weeks ago, which shows 
you that the Danes aren't necessarily the first to use something.  The 
fact that "Pork-Barrel Politics" appeared in Germany this week is 
further proof of that.

>- Donald Duck (H8474, 15 pages). Donald gets a job in an airline
>company. His job is to live in a very small house at the top of a 
>mountain, and report the weather to the company....
      This basic premise, although not what happens afterward, is 
identical to that of an Egmont story of the 1970s ("In the Talons of the 
Roc," printed in DDAD 16 in the States).  Sounds like the rest of the 
story could be a lot better!

>- Goofy (D93112, 7 pages).
      In English this story's called "Highbrow Hat."  I agree, it's not 
so bad, but NOT very original.  And I don't like the art.  Anyway, Anina 
Bennett rewrote the last panel.  Goofy was originally saying "Being a 
genius ain't fer me -- I'm glad I'm an idiot."  Anina couldn't believe 
that a writer had Goofy say that, so she altered it.  Tony Strobl once 
had Goofy call himself "stupid" too, and it hurt.  (In "The Two 
Musketeers + 1," WDC 299)

>- HDD (D91338, 2 pages).
      Don't you mean HDL, not HDD?  Anyway, this is a redrawn version of 
a Mickey and Minnie Sunday strip of 1933!  (With MM and Minnie in HDL's 
roles.)

      RoC:
>Jippes knows that he's Barks' first choise for his next >story(!)
>Stop press: Just in today; an interesting WvH U$ serial from 1992!
      What is this next story?  Do you know something about it?  And 
what is the WvH US serial you mention?
>The only card I have is Yellowbeak. Is he a flying creature, wooden leg 
>and all?
      Old Yellow Beak -- from DDOS 9, "Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold" -- 
can't fly.  He's completely humanized, aside from his size.  In the very 
first script for the abandoned film "Morgan's Ghost," Yellow Beak was 
DD's pet, but by the time it became a comic story, he was as parrotlike 
as Donald is ducklike.  When I used Yellow Beak last year, I treated him 
as an old sailor who just happens to be a parrot.

      TOBIAS:
      I don't know how "OSO" came to be on a German safe, but I'm 
guessing that the winking pig in my "Pork-Barrel Politics" must have 
been altered by Egmont JUST before the story went to color separation -- 
and after they mailed me copies of the artwork.
      Could you tell me what the story is called in German, or what the 
pigs are named?

      Back tomorrow, folks (this time, I mean it!)

      David Gerstein
      <9475609 at arran.sms.ed.ac.uk>