Japanese comics are best!

[Ole Reichstein Nielsen]

Stefan Persson asked if there are Japanese editions of Disney comics
and there are. From what I've seen the so-called 'manga-style' isn't
as outrageous as I was expecting; actually it looks quite nice, and
not nearly as unusual as some Italian stories.

For a laugh, here's a page from an Alvarado-drawn Winnie-the-Pooh story:
  http://hjem.get2net.dk/ole.roc/pic/nippooh.jpg
You can get the rest of the story too (for educational purposes only!)
if you like, Frank.

Frank Stajano even wants to contact the publisher for a subscription,
but since I can't read any of the words, he'll have to do with numbers:
phone: 03-3404-1201, fax: 03-3404-0338. Wakarimasu??

To give you an idea about what you're going to yell on the long distance
connection, here are some ads for what appears to be the equivalent of
WDC&S - and the Japanese version of the blue book, MM's 70th Anniversary:
  http://hjem.get2net.dk/ole.roc/pic/nipads.jpg

It doesn't show on the scans, but these Pooh-books are, paper quality-wise,
perhaps the best Disney books in the world! Maybe they have to be printed
on extra heavy grade paper to withstand the reading habits of the average
4-year old Disney fan. Imagine, in some far and foreign countries, KIDS
read comic books!!

My friend, "=?iso-8859-1?Q?S=F8ren?=", stirred up a bit of controversy
about the concept of "the best Disney comic book" in the world.
True to say, it's funny how the two Scrooge titles in France ("Picsou"),
Italy ("Zio Paperone") and the Greek "Komix" - and not "I Maestri Disney"
as Sprea thought, and I'd agree with - somehow gained that reputation
without much argumentation about what actually makes up a "good book".
By common consensus 90% Barks, Rosa and Scarpa on white paper is the
right stuff.

>Tell us then: according to you, which are the top 3 Disney publications in
>the world today? 

NOT the Danorwegian weekly for sure!
S<oe>ren just fell in love with Paperino Mese, and a million Italians agree
with him; at heart he's an Italian who was born too far up North. :-)

I kind of agree with him for the moment: to me it is much more interesting
to get a copy of some classic Italian story than another edition of a story
I already have, no matter how crisp and pearly white the paper. But that is
of course the words of a year-long reader and collector of comic books -
not the average customer, the publishers are aiming at. We may be 600+
members on this list, but a typical book in Italy sells perhaps a thousand
times as many copies, and mostly to readers who don't have most issues from
the last 40-50 years. So except for absolutes, like paper quality, every
question concerning relative merits of a title will depend on local tradition,
readers' back issue collection and, especially, preferences. 

>What criteria would you use? If original stories is your only and primary
>criterion, then as far as I know, only two companies consistently produce
>today brand-new stories: Disney Italia and Egmont. Still, I never heard
>concerted and consistent praises for either Topolino or the Egmont weeklies. 

That could be because so many of the dcml members actually don't read the
'meat-and-potatoes' weeklies! At least I have repeatedly had nice words to
say about the stories in Danish and Italian weeklies in recent years.
Too many are basing their opinions on experiences with the books they read
ten years ago, when the overall quality was much lower than now. At least
this goes for Egmont and Italy.

So, how many of you people out there in Europe have read the latest giant
pocket? That's Jumbo, Lustige Taschenbuch, Kalle Anka Pocket, Taskukirja, Super
Komiks, Myndasogu Syrpa, Donald Duck Pocket etc. to you wherever you are.

There's a quite nice story ret-conning the "Steamboat Willie" incident by
that concerted and consistently praised writer Tito Faraci. Try and skip
that 14th annual re-read of "The Square Eggs" and read something new instead.
Who knows, you might even like it.

P.S. I LIKE Komix, Maestri Disney and WDC&S, and I wish we had something like
them in Denmark! But I don't think I'd trade the weeklies for them, if I was
on a desert island, and the plane could only drop one book a week.

oLe
_U       [ Ferioli! Faraci! Fumetti fantasticci!! ]