Harry's off-topic queries:

Don Rosa donrosa at iglou.com
Wed Apr 18 08:05:34 CEST 2001


From: "Fluks, H.W." <H.W.Fluks at kpn.com>
>>>> I just got my copy of the "Don Rosa Archives" in the mail today
First, a big THANKS to Nils Lid Hjort for making these editions!

AMEN TO THAT! I had no way to conveniently read these old stories myself,
as they were spread through about a dozen fanzines and 150 newspaper
clippings! Now I have these 2 lovely hardbacks!

>>>My xeroxes of episodes 67 - 127 are from the RBCC reprint. Episode 66
was
used at the start of part 2 and 3 of the reprint. In part 2, the character
"Freddie" was crossed out. In part 3, Freddie was replaced by a picture of
Gerald Atrix. (Question 1: was that a new drawing for RBCC?)

I originally drew that opening episode for the college paper thinking I
would use Freddie in that story, then changed my plans. So when it was
reprinted in the RBCC I replaced Freddie with a pic of Gerry Atrix, at
least for that third installment.

>>>>Episodes 128-133 came from "Don Rosa's Comics and stories #1" (BTW, it
would
have been nice to see the covers of these issues in the Norwegian book...).
Two pages, which were only 2/3 filled in the original, were taken together
as one page in the DRCS reprint. With one panel of new art, or so it seems.
("Ah, there's prof. Cistims now...". Question 2: is that really new art?
And
why were the original pages only 2/3?)

Okay, those episodes were not taken from DRC&S, they were taken from RBCC.
Fantagraphics' DRC&S reprinted the RBCC stuff. But when they were laying
out the issue, my story contained 2 pages too many to fit into the correct
number of "signatures" (the folded sets of pages that make up books &
magazines) they had planned. So I needed to go through the story and find
places to delete two pages. When I found the two sequences, I then had to
create a few *new* panels to bridge the gaps. The two sequences were (just
going by memory) the scene in the dean's office you mention, then another
scene when the characters reach Point Barrow and need to buy a dogsled. I
have actually not gotten out my old DRC&S issue to compare what's in the
new books, but I, myself, am not sure why there are those partial pages in
the new hardbacks. All of that hardback was shot directly from the original
art, so there should have been a complete story with full pages. But having
that explanation, maybe you can look at it and figure out what's goin' on.
However, whatever the case, I suspect this means that those bridging panels
that appeared in DRC&S do *not* appear in the new hardback. But then, why
are there partial pages? Hm. Now I'm curious, too. I'll go look........

>>>>Another page had a footnote saying "a reference to an earlier
"Pertwillaby
Papers" adventure to be reprinted in volume 3." I don't think volume 3 (of
DRCS) ever appeared. The Norwegian book doesn't have the text "to be
reprinted in volume 3", for obvious reasons. I think the *original* strips
don't have such a footnote at all.

What you see in the hardback is the original art from the original pages.

>>>>And then there's another page, which was composed from 2 original
pages.
Again with one panel of new (?) art. ("Vell, gett it OUT, here is our first
stop.". Question 3: why did that happen?)

Okay, I should have checked this before I started typing! Can't stop now.
I'll go look later. But what you're referring to must be that Point Barrow
scene.

>>>>Summarising, the following Pertwillaby artwork doesn't (seem to) appear
in
the Norwegian book:
- partly redrawn episode #66 for RBCC;
- two new panels for DR's Comics and Stories #1;
- cover of DR's C&S #1, illustrating "Sub-zero";
- cover of DR's C&S #2, illustrating "Vortex";
- a (unpublished?) cover illustrating "The Black Knight";
- cover of RBCC #148, "in King Arthur's court!";
- poster-format strip (5 x 4 panels) advertising RBCC 148.

I guess they might have published those last three items if I had told Nils
about them. I guess I didn't since I knew he had no plans to print the
covers of DRC&S, so why would he want the other covers?

>>>>If the above is correct, then my Pertwillaby collection is complete!

Ah, but do you have the special poster that they printed as an extra for
people who bought the books through Tronsmo? That was a wrap-around
magazine cover that was to be on the first issue of a magazine called,
simply, DON ROSA (or never had a finalized title) back in 1980. It never
saw print because I pulled the plug on it myself in the face of the "new"
direction that "fandom" was taking, that being no longer "just for fun",
but "for profit". And I did not want to make a profit off my hobby -- that
would taint it in my eyes and philosophies. This DON ROSA was to have been
an ongoing magazine reprinting some of my "Pertwillaby Papers" and "Captain
Kentucky" strips in each issue, then perhaps containing new material later
on. As it turned out, the editor who was organizing the material had asked
me for copies of the art, text pieces, a new wrap-around cover, etc., then
he sent all of that to a publisher he had contacted. It was at the printers
and ready to go. Then I had a conversation with this editor -- I can't
recall the course of the conversation, but at some point he revealed to me,
with utter innocence since I had been doing free work for his fanzine for
about 7 years, that once I had done ALL the work and sent the material to
him, he simply took all of that material and shipped it to the publisher
who then paid him $900 as the middle man. $900 of which I got NIL. I don't
mind doing all the work in the spirit I had always done my
hobby-cartooning, but I refused to allow someone else to reap ALL of the
profits from what was 100% my labor. So I told him to scrap the magazine,
it was not an endeavor I wanted to participate in, and that was the point
in my life that I retired from cartooning, packed the drawing table and
other equipment down into the basement, and had no intention of ever being
a cartoonist again. But here I am now -- and why am I allowing a licensing
corporation to do to me on a worldwide scale what I wouldn't allow that
editor to do to me on a *much* smaller scale in 1980? Good question. I
guess because I don't do the work for free now -- though I still enjoy
parts of it, I could not do it for free simply because there's not that
much time in my life. So, as long as I have a normal relationship with the
publisher I work for and with, I just ignore what the third-party licensing
corporation is doing to both of us.
But, anyway, if you don't have that "Pertwillaby Papers" poster from
Tronsmo, your collection can't be complete. (And neither is mine! I still
need one of the posters myself! They were too big to carry back from Oslo
in my suitcase!)








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