Sv: Ludwig von Drake, "finally back!"

[Lars Jensen]

Nils Lid Hjort <nils at math.uio.no> wrote:

>Egmont Norway are publishing a little series entitled
>"Finally back!", featuring half-forgotten Duckburg characters
>in solo-albums. These are around 100 pages and come with 
>three-page introductions written by suitable (or unsuitable)
>persons. So far, these are 
> #1: Fethry Duck (preface: Jon Gisle)
> #2: Moby Duck (preface: Erik Hørthe)
> #3: Ludwig von Drake (preface: Nils Lid Hjort)
> #4: John D Rockerduck ("Rikerud", not out yet) 
>
>What make these slightly awkward publication-wise is that these
>characters are declared "dead and unusable" in other quarters,
>notably "Egmont Central". A contemporary writer or artist 
>for Egmont is not allowed to use or refer to any of these
>(as far as I understand).

Actually, I spent most of last year writing Fethry stories for Egmont and in one of my stories there is a clear reference to Rockerduck. (Who by the way appears in Egmont's pocketbook stories on a semi-regular basis.) And, to be honest, I doubt anybody *wants* to use Moby Duck. He was loathed for years by readers, writers and editors alike, until Egmont decided to kill him off some ten years ago. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing him again, but only because it would add a little variety.

Of the four the only character that's missed to this day is Ludwig von Drake - and the perception at Egmont is that Gyro Gearloose and various one-off characters fill out Ludwig's role in the Duck Universe just fine.

>This might explain why this series
>is published in Norway but not in the usual parallel editions
>in Sweden and Denmark.

The series is published in Sweden, too. Denmark opted not to publish it for a variety of reasons.

Lars Jensen