Disney-comics digest #1.

[David A Gerstein]

	JYRKI:
	I read the "Truthspeaker-bird" story in a German edition.
This was at a time when I was choosing some of my favorite H-coded
stories to translate for Gladstone, and this story didn't make it
because I thought the violence was a little too strong (DD and the
kids, together, giving Scrooge that black eye).  The basic concept of
the story had more potential than it ended up with IMHO.
	The art was by Mau Heymans however, which is one thing I LIKED
very much about it!

	If you think the violence is getting worse in Disney comics
these days... we were discussing a story from 1943 when this topic got
started ("The Rabbit's Foot," WDC 32).  Disney's own censorship keeps
battles with villains fairly unrealistic these days (esp. with regard
to MM stories), and I would say that DD's treatment of the boys in
modern stories is less hostile than it used to be... but that dates
back to the late '40s, when conflict between the Ducks in general
began to be less important in the stories.

	Several Gottfredson stories which Gladstone notably hasn't
used have extended battle sequences, but they aren't banned for that
reason.  Instead it's a matter of stereotypes which Disney won't allow
to be reprinted, but won't allow to be "cleaned up" either (unlike
with Barks stories, Disney regards FG art as sacrosanct and will no
longer allow an old story to be altered for reprint... if it's banned,
it's banned).
	Today I don't think I could get away with MM having a "High
Noon" style gunfight with a villain, as happens in some '30s stories.
I also could never do a scene like the Italians did in the '50s, where
an argument among U$ and DD includes U$ shooting his cannon or a
blunderbuss at DD, but I wouldn't be tempted to do that to begin with.

	I think that in the 1991 MICKEY MOUSE ADVENTURES stories
Disney was doing, their editorial staff would not allow "real" guns to
be shown at all.  They also shied away from showing Mickey being
threatened with any kind of weapon in close range.  In my opinion,
that's pretty silly.  Who's offended when Mickey is threatened any
more than when Donald is?  Sure, Mickey is Disney's symbol and all
that, but while that affects HIS behavior, it shouldn't affect, say,
Pegleg Pete's.  Mickey comes out okay, doesn't he?

	David Gerstein
	<96dag at williams.edu>
	"Well, I'll be...!  Poor old Shakespeare -- they GOT him!"