Dear Uncle Donald...

[deckerd@agcs.com]

> In Holland we don't have a letter column like Gladstone's. Only children 
> telling about their pets or adventures. But it's sure funny to see 
> *what* they write:
> 
You've put your finger on something important here. In America, comic
books have ceased to be a mass medium for children. I don't know if it's
because comic books simply cost too much now for children's allowances
("zakgeld" for you), or if the kids just don't have any interest in
something that isn't on TV. When I was a boy (an awfully long time
ago, I'm afraid), every kid in America read comic books, it seemed,
and most kids had a subscription to Walt Disney's Comics & Stories
at some point in their lives. Thirty-five years later, that has all
changed. Comic books are a remnant fringe market for adolescents and
older. In Europe, Disney comics in particular are still aimed at the
children's mass market, so that's why the letter columns are 
different. In Europe, you still get letters like "Dear Uncle Scrooge,
Why are you so mean to Donald?" while in the US it's an older crowd:
"Dear Sirs, You just reprinted that story eight years ago, and while
it's one of Barks's classics..."

--Dwight Decker