David, Daniel, Mike

[H.W. Fluks]

DAVID:
> a Vic Lockman 17-page story, "Beagle Bug-Off" [involves Gyro's]
> "thinking cap" (a huge hat that looks like a chimney, with
> sleepy crows inside it who need to be awake for the hat to work).

I remember that thinking cap from a few stories from the Gold Key (or
Whitman) period. They must have been by Lockman as well.
BTW: I can't believe Gladstone is filling *17* pages with Lockman stuff
while there are so many good stories waiting to be (re)printed...

----
DANIEL (about the "Treasure of Marco Polo"):
> Well, I have the CBL-version here. There is some censoring in the 
> dialogue, but that's all.

There is also one panel where a killing device is removed (David showed me
this). You have the German version: compare them!

----
MIKE AND DANIEL ("Horsing around")
> Mike: And what the hell did they need to change that button to a 
> Mike: microphone if the albatross had a one too?

The button contained the microphone and a short-range transmitter.
The albatross contained a receiver and a recorder. If the microphone
would have been in the albatross, the quality of the reception would
have been too poor. If the transmitter would have sent the messages
to a receiver miles away (so no need of an albatross), the rest of
the world could have listened too, and some other criminals could have
made their own plans and spoil the BB's plans.

Of course, Barks suggests in his story that the albatross is listening
to the conversations. But he could have had just the command to stay in
the neighborhood (to receive the messages from the button). That's what
I think should have been explained in the story.

> [HDL in the tailor's shop]
> Yeah, this part bothered me a lot! Why didn't Barks just skip this 
> whole part?

He needed the prune part to "prepare" the ending of the story.

> Is there an old Barks story in which the Beagle Boys are 
> fond of prunes?

I think the "Giant Robber" story (which Mike also mentioned) is the
_only_ Barks story where one BB likes prunes. But there are also some Rosa
stories referring to that, of course...

----
DANIEL (about Disney stories set in Egypt):
> I don't know if this story is mentioned already, but you also have a 
> (long) Dutch Verhagen-story taking place in Egypt.

I didn't mention this one because it hasn't been published in the USA yet.
Dwight Decker translated and scripted it. I think it is to be published
somewhere in 1996. Dutch title: "DD en de tempelschatten van Gaos".

--Harry.