DCML digest, Vol 1 #8

[Don Rosa]

All this bickering about KOMIX is interesting (but leave us not get
hostile).

What are the criteria for a superb Disney comic. Two things that you cannot
take into consideration are the language it is written in and whether the
stories are new or reprints. Most of the Disney comics in the world are
reprints from old American editions or Italy or Egmont. Some publishers
don't even have a license to *do* anything but reprint! And the first time
a story is used is certainly not, by any stretch of the imagination,
necessarilly the *best* printed version that story will see. Paper quality
is not even important -- I prefer the way colors sink in to the cheaper
paper, like in ZIO PAPERONE or the old Dell comics. I think the way color
sticks to the surface of glossy paper is garish and hides or overpowers the
art.
The criteria, to me, for a superb comic is:
A) Excellent design of covers and interior. (That needs no explanation,
eh?)
B) Editorial pages that show respect for both the readers and the material.
These should be written on an adult level... that will please the adults,
yet not alienate the kiddies who can simply skip those pages. These pages
can be original and/or also a knowledgeable selection of quality writings
from other sources about the history of the stories, writers and artists.
Comics can be done simultaneously for both children and adults. This is
proven by the way a good children's movie, with attention to detail and
quality that no average child would notice, will appeal to both the chidren
*and* the adults, doubling or tripling its success. (And believe me, lots
of smart children know quality and *like* it when they are not being talked
down to. And besides, what's wrong with raising children on quality
entertainment rather than what we do to 'em in America?)
C) Good *coloring*! Good coloring, applied by an artist rather than a
computer technician, adds *so much* to the drama and mood of a story,
perhaps improving the work 100%. An imaginative colorist acts as part
writer when he/she applies the colors with an eye to drama rather than
simply trying to fill spaces as fast as possible.
D) Good PRINTING. This means NOT COMPUTERIZED printing which eliminates
fine detail and thickens what is left, making the result muddy looking.
Printing of comic art should be by good ol' fashioned lithography, like
comics of the past, where every line prints just as it was drawn. I'll
happily accept digitized printing when they decide to do it with a fine
enough dot-screen or scan-line (or whatever) that doesn't make me moan when
I look at the results and cry about how much of my work is being lost
inside some @#$% computer somewhere.
E) Good lettering. That means hand-lettering (or a computer-font to
simulate it, though that will never be quite as nice as the real thing). A
page of comic art should be 100% made-by-hand. This is even more important
as regards background signage and sound effects. As with coloring, good
sound-effects lettering improves the impact or drama of a sound by an
immeasurable amount (is it loud? is it quiet? is it waivering? etc.).
Lettering should not look like it was done by a child with a marking pen.
Good lettering is like a good musical score in a movie. Imagine CITIZEN
KANE with music written by a child and played by a high school band. Even
it might suffer a tad. (A LOT!)
F)A respect for the writers and artists of the stories and a sincere
interest in their intentions, rather than an idea that these stories fall
off trees somewhere and are the raw material for the whims and ideas of the
editors to be inserted. And the fact is that the stories will be better and
more enjoyable when someone works with the creators of the stories (whether
new or reprint, both is possible, we're not all dead) to present the
stories in the best manner possible. Everyone benefits.

And my three nominations for the best Disney comics on the earth (and a few
other categories) are, in alphabetical order:
1) PICSOU
2) KOMIX
3) ZIO PAPERONE

Hall of Fame:
1) Everything from Gladstone
2) I Maestri Disney

Life Achievement Award / Sentimental Favorite:
1) DELL!!!!!!!!

And finally........................
Thank you, Geir!!! I actually almost wept when I read your Kalevalian poem!
That was very nice. (And you're not even getting paid to do it like a
translator would be!)
By the way, Harry, Kalevalian rune-o-meter is not supposed to rhyme, but
yours was great also.