Disney-comics digest #809.

[David A Gerstein]

	DANIEL:
	Van Horn's D93049 is called "The Better Life" and was used
here some time ago, in WDC&S 594.  What I'd like to know is how there
happens to be a Van Horn story in WDC&S 593, some time ago, which has
a D-code but which, as far as I can figure out, even Egmont has never
published.  Eh?
	I don't really care much for "The Better Life", mainly because
it prepares us for a big-time battle between DD and the kids, but only
shows a moment of it before Daisy steps in and defuses everything.
What's the point of building to a climax when you're not going to put
in the climax?
	On the other hand, I loved Van Horn's story in WDC&S 599, "The
Yawn Patrol."  Classic Van Horn type of situation, and the gag with
dropping the porticullis was particularly inspired.  I only found that
the drawing on the first page (esp. Scrooge) seemed a bit rushed.  For
the most part, that was the kind of Van Horn story I enjoy.

	DON:
	"The Lost Charts of Columbus","An Eye for Detail","The
Once and Future Duck", and "The Tenth Avatar"... I'm not sure if other
American disney-comics at ...etc. etc. readers know that these last four
haven't been printed in Europe yet, either.
	You "decided to write a story for [DUCKTALES MAGAZINE] even
though it had characters in it like Webby and Bubba Duck..."
Actually, it was your decision to put them in, wasn't it?  Van Horn's
old DT stories often involved only Scrooge and HDL, adding Launchpad
about 75% of the time as the ONLY "new" character.  Were you TOLD to
include Webby and Bubba Duck?
	The name "Webby" was one I always found tiresome.  So many
"web" puns in DuckTales cartoons and comics, presumably from
webbed-feet, but actually, the names sounded like they ought to be in
a cartoon about talking spiders!

	MARK:
	"After volume one went on sale, vols. two and three were
supposed to come out in black and white, but they never came out at
all..." [Regarding the Felix the Cat series from Hamilton]
	Felix album #1 was printed in advance in a huge quantity,
apparently before it was solicited.  Only a few hundred copies,
apparently, were ever sold, because Felix fans either couldn't afford
the book or didn't want the later, 1950s stories that were used.  I
kind of liked the book (which I bought), but I really would have
rather had a cheaper book with better stuff.
	The book I mentioned I was working on is my own attempt to
make that cheaper, better book, but now I'm wondering if at its size,
it's really going to be cheaper...
	If I find any original art before the book goes to press, I'll
see about making it available through an easy installment plan.  ;-)
At this point I'm working from newspaper pages.

	FRANK:
	The FORBIDDEN PLANET in Edinburgh refused to order Gladstones
for me, too.  They said they legally weren't allowed to order them,
because Fleetway's license covers direct sales in Britain, too.
	For the same reason, they didn't sell the Marvel Disneys.
	But the cream of the jest was that they didn't sell the
Fleetway MICKEY AND FRIENDS either, because they knew absolutely
nobody who wanted it.
	A small comic shop also in Edinburgh sneakily ordered a few
Gladstones for me, knowing very well that it wasn't quite cricket.
;-)  Jiminy, that is.

	When the hardback CBL first went out of print, it was because
in 1990 Disney decided that the banned Barks stories should not even
be reprinted with changes, and that the CBL was thus dangerous for
young minds... so it had to go.
	Later Gladstone convinced them to turn-around, but figured
that if they printed the whole works in a NEW format, they could then
sell it to a lot of people who already had the bw CBL, too.
	It worked with me (I only have a few bw CBL-boxes, but I
bought those same ones in color paperback format, sigh...)
	Anyone who doesn't usually buy the CBL-albums, by the way, has
got to get CBLDD 10, which came out some time ago.  The colors for
"Lost in the Andes" are breathtaking, and Scott Rockwell did his best
on "Voodoo Hoodoo" (a job worthy of Sue Daigle-Leach, who did color
the square egg story).

	David Gerstein
	<96dag at williams.edu>
	"Have a chestnut, boys! ... OW!"