Dutch opinions on Don Rosa

[Daniel van Eijmeren]

ARTHUR:

> I'm used to the Dutch comics, in which they would never talk about
> someone like Don Rosa. That's why I was so amazed to see the piece
> of text about Don. They even showed how Don used references to
> Barks' and his own stories, in making LCoC.

There has been a lot of talking about this subject here. Why does one 
country mention artist-credits while the other doesn't? I remember that 
is said here that Disney does not always allow it. 

I think there's also another reason and that is that there are also 
different ways of approaching readers by editors. The Dutch way of 
approaching is IMHO that they mainly see the Dutch weekly as enjoyment 
for kids. They also see it as enjoyment for adults or collectors, but 
not that much that they publish credits.

But sometimes they do publish credits in a few cases. One of the very 
few examples was a few weeks ago when they published "Horsing Around 
with History":

   "[In this weekly] an extra long Donald Duck adventure, which was
   made by no one less than Carl Barks, the world-famous Disney-artist
   who created Duckburg and all it's inhabitants! The story was drawn
   by the American William van Horn. Much enjoyment with reading it!"

I think it's very clear that this is also meant as a hint to the 
collector: "Hey, this is also by Barks!"

Sometimes I wish that the Butch editor would have chosen a different
way of approaching readers in their *monthly* (we also have a monthly 
besides a weekly, it publishes Rosa-stories very often). Why don't they 
make this monthly a bit more a kind of Dutch Gladstone-comic? Maybe 
there are not enough adult-readers here in Holland who are interested 
in that more collector-like way of reading? Well, I think so.

> As I (or Daniel or Harry) have said before, the Dutch publishers just 
> don't like Don.

Once Thom Roep said to me: "Don Rosa. Good stories, bad art." And this 
was in *1990*.

They seemed to have talked a lot about Don on the comic convention here 
in Holland last month, but I wasn't there at that moment. You told me it 
was very negative, to which I said to you that it surprised me because 
Don's art is a lot better now (just look at "Heart of the Yukon").

So, I'm stilling planning to write a letter to Thom Roep and ask him 
what his opinion is at the moment.  

> This month they printed the following line on the last page of 
> Donald Duck Extra #11: "NEXT MONTH: FINALLY, THE LAST CHAPTER OF 
> LIFE OF SCROOGE."                   ^^^^^^^

>     That can be interpreted in two ways. The first is the positive
> one, in which they meant that everyone is eagerly awaiting to see how the
> Lo$-series ends. The second one is the negative interpretation, which I
> think is more obvious regarding the way in which the Dutch publishers
> think about Rosa: the fact that they're finally released of the so called 
> 'bad' art in Don's Life of Scrooge-series. 

Sorry Arthur, but what's the sense of writing this? In a private letter 
I quoted this line to you and I said as a *joke*: "Are they *that* happy 
that they're rid of the story?" 

But now you've started thinking that this line is a serious attack? If 
so, then also quote the other lines in the preview: 

"A STORY FOR THE REAL FAN, YOU MAY NOT MISS IT!"

Can it be more positive?


Greetings,

--- Daniel


                "This could be heaven for everyone
           This world could be free, this world could be fun"
           
                                              Freddy Mercury