Articles from KOMIX #155

[Kriton Kyrimis]

Here is the translation of two articles from last month's issue of Komix.
I found the second article particularly interesting. [As usual, comments
in square brackets are my own.]

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            A ride around Duckburg on the legendary 313
                         Donald's Jalopy

  Less impressive than Batman's shiny Batmobile, less talkative than
  TV's Knight Rider's KIT, Donald's Jalopy is one of the most lovable
  vehicles of the Ninth Art.


The automobile is an inseparable part of man's everyday life in the 20th
century. And when the boisterous duck named Donald, who made his first
appearance in a cartoon of the 1930s, began transforming into an almost
human everyday hero, his creators made sure to also give him a vehicle
for moving around...


IN THE ASPHALT JUNGLE

Comic book Donald first acquired a car in Al Taliaferro's strips in
the 1930s.  In a strip, first published in February 1938, we see Donald
getting ready to sell a vehicle of rather archaeological value with a
113 license plate. In July of the same year, the familiar convertible of
indeterminable model makes its appearance, while in 1941 we see Donald
crossing the United States on another type of car which, however, will
not be used again. It was probably exchanged for another car... [The
term they use here was the one used in Greece a couple of years ago
when one could get a discount on a new car with a catalytic converter
engine if they would bring in their old car to be destroyed. Obviously,
this was not quite the case in 1941!]

Carl Barks will draw the familiar jalopy with a 313 license plate in the
fourth panel of the page before last of the classic story *Good Neighbors*
(_Carl Barks 1X10), which was first published in _Walt Disney Comics
and Stories_ #38 in November 1943.


JALOPY, MY LOVE

Since that time, to adorable convertible will accompany Donald in
countless adventures and will become an inseparable part of the familiar
microcosm that Carl Barks will set up around his hero. And the modern
or younger creators, who will follow the Duck Man's footsteps, will also
draw their version of the jalopy...

Don Rosa will also make his own version, and this in one of his first
and best stories. In the story *Recalled Wreck*, Don Rosa explains to us
what is this that makes this vehicle so unique. Donald adores it not only
because he has made it with his own hands, but because it is unique and
irreplaceable, as well, since it is made from spare parts of old models
that are no longer available: "This Gem is built from classic car parts
that have been out of production for decades! There's not a single bit
that's replaceable!"

This phrase reminds us of Don's stories themselves. Don's comics are
small "gems" made with love and ???(*) from memories of books and comics,
of films and TV series "that have been out of production" and which are
part of the personal "good old times" of a charismatic creator. For
the heroic crew of _Komix_, Donald's love for his jalopy is something
like a symbol of Don Rosa's sensitivity. And unlike Donald's car, which
belongs only to its owner, Don's comics also belong to its readers. In
each of his stories, Don shares with us the small and large treasures
of his personal mythology.

(*)[They use the Greek word "meraki", which means the kind of love and
attention to detail that one puts in a labor of love, and for which,
I have it on good authority, there is no translation into English.]

[Legend, first page, upper right]
*Above* The first appearance of 313 in a Carl Barks story.
*Below* The panel from the one page story by Carl Barks which was one
of the sources of inspiration for Don Rosa's story. Donald says that he
is going to a junk yard to buy parts for his car.

[Legend, first page, bottom]
*Above* Donald's old car from Al Taliaferro's strip which was published
in the daily newspapers on February 24, 1938.
*Below* Donald's convertible jalopy makes its first impressive appearance
in an Al Taliaferro strip (July 1, 1938).

[Legend, second page]
*Above* A drawing by Don Rosa for the story _Recalled Wreck_.
*Below* In addition to classic comics, Don Rosa also has an impressive
collection of all sorts of gadgets inspired by Disney's heroes. In the
glass cases of Don's collection there are figures with Donald on the
wheel of 313.

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               Jerry Siegel in Carl Barks' territory
                    From Metropolis to Duckburg

  Jerry Siegel, the creator of Superman, wrote scripts for Duck stories
  during the last years of his career.

In the field of American comics, "transfers" of creators from one
publishing house to another were a common occurrence. Many times they
might be due to financial or personal motives; very often, however, these
transfer lead to more or less unforeseen encounters and collaborations. One
such unforeseen turn of events led Jerry Siegel, the creator of Superman,
to the world of Carl Barks' ducks. During the last years of his career,
Jerry Siegel wrote stories with the familiar heroes of Disney and the
Duck Man. Even without collaborating directly, fate wanted to have the
paths of the two great creators, who marked, each in his own way, the
history of their art, meet.


SIEGEL IN DUCKBURG

Jerry Siegel's work in the field of comics with Disney's heroes is one
of the less known aspects of his career. During the 1970s, he will write
more than 150 scripts starring mainly the Ducks, as well as Mickey,
which will be illustrated by important Italian artists, such as Romano
Scarpa, Massimo De Vita, Giuseppe Perego, and Giorgio Cavazzano. In 1996,
about a year before Superman's creator left us, one last of his stories
will be published, starring Carl Barks' ducks and drawn by Milet.

Jerry Siegel's duck stories may not be the most important side of his
work.  Never the less, these stories, in which he recounts adventures
taking place in the world created by Carl Barks, are a magical meeting
between two top figures of the Ninth Art. However, the story of this
meeting does not end here; a young creator, who grew up reading Carl
Barks' classic Duck stories and Jerry Siegel's Superman stories, will
incorporate the memories from their work into his own stories. His
name? Don Rosa!


DON AND JERRY

Until recently, Don Rosa had not been aware that Jerry Siegel had also
written Duck stories; however, he never hid his love for Superman's
creator and how much he has been influenced by his work. "After Barks'
stories, my favorite stories during the years that followed the time when
I would read the comics that my sister bought, is the series of Superman
adventures under the direction of Mort Weisinger", he told _Komix_. "These
comics are what made me love the idea of a limited series, a series
completed in three or four issues (note: if the American expression
"limited continuity" can be translated in such a way). They were the
first comics to create a universe which continued to exist from one story
to the next--although this would happen to a much smaller degree than
in the irritatingly extreme continuity that _Marvel_ introduced years
later. Weisinger's comic books also introduced other innovations. It was,
for example, the second comic book series that would dedicate entire
issues to a single adventure, something that only _Dell_ publishing
had done until then. Moreover, Weisinger's comic books introduced the
imaginary _what if..._ stories or the hero origin stories. All these are
elements which you see me mix into my stories with Barks' ducks. This is
then, why it is wrong for someone to claim that I write stories  `just
like Barks' or, on the contrary, that in my stories there is continuity
in the style of _Marvel_ comics. I try to write stories that honor Barks,
but I also try to add many more elements as well. Thus, after Barks,
the second main ingredient of my own mix are Superman stories of the
period between 1955 and 1970.

Where am I driving to? To the fact that I used to write about how much
I loved these comics in the articles that I would give to the various
fanzines...  Until one day I got a letter from Jerry Siegel, in which he
was thanking me and telling me that it was he who had written the story
which I had said was my favorite (_The Death of Superman_, 1959). He also
wrote that many more stories of the `Superman family' in Mort Weisinger's
comic books were his.  Indeed, Jerry Siegel is perhaps the man who
had created this entire Superman universe that I loved so much! Thus,
Siegel is perhaps the second greatest influence on my own Duck comics.

I didn't know that he had also written his own Duck stories. It was
probably some of my Italian friends, very knowledgeable in the history
of comics, who informed me of this some time in the last decade".


HIS LIFE & TIMES

Jerome Siegel was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1914. A great science
fiction fan, Jerry began publishing the amateur magazine _Cosmic Stories_
(1929), a small pamphlet with his own stories. In 1931 he meets Joe
Shuster, who had just moved with his family to the united states. Joe also
loves science fiction, and his hand is adept at drawing. It doesn't take
long for the two young men to become inseparable friends, and in 1932
they publish another science fiction magazine, _Science Fiction_. In
the January 1933 issue, Jerry published a short story titled _Reign of
the Superman_, which gave them a very interesting idea, the idea about
a hero that would be unlike all others.


THE BIRTH OF SUPERMAN

The superman of this short story was a being with supernatural powers,
but was the villain of the story. The two friends converted him into a
positive hero, and in 1932 they had already completed the first panels
of a comic strip, and the next year the draft drawings for a comic book
with Superman's adventures. Joe and Jerry showed their work to many
publishers, but nobody was interested. This, however, did not discourage
them, as their other ideas had better luck. In 1935 they managed to
find a publisher for another new hero, Dr. Occult, and for other series,
Radio Squad, Federal Men, Spy, and Slam Bradley. Three years later, _DC
Comics_ will agree to publish Superman's adventures, and in June 1938
the hero with the blue suit and the red cape made his first appearance
on the cover of the first issue of the _Action Comics_ magazine.


SUCCESSES AND SETBACKS

Superman's success was immediate. A new era for comics had just
begun. Masked and unmasked superheroes with fancy suits and superhuman
powers flood the news stands. However, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster
will not remain satisfied, and they will begin a long court fight with
their publishers, a fact which will push them aside. Joe will retire
in 1949, while Jerry begins a new creative career. He will collaborate
with several publishing houses, while in 1959 he will collaborate with
_DC Comics_ again, and will write some of his best stories with Superman
and other heroes.

[Captions]

[Page 1, left]
The cover of the first issue of _superman_, and a draft for a cover by
Don Rosa for the story _Return of Super Snooper_.

[Page 1, right]
*Above* Two characteristic scenes from the first TV series about the
adventures of Superman, which was shown during the 1950s. The part of
Superman and his alter ego, Clark Kent, is played by Kirk Allyn. [sp?]
*Below* Jerry Siegel (extreme left) and Joe Shuster (extreme right)
in the early 1940s.

[Page 2]
two characteristic panels from the episode titled _The Death of Superman_,
one of Don Rosa's favorite stories, as he told us.

[Page 3, above]
The Siegel-Shuster duo, apart from Superman, also put their signature on
several other familiar stories, such as the adventures of the detective
Bart Regan.

[Page 3, below]
For the fiftieth anniversary of the French _Semic_ publications, Moebius
draws an original Superman cover: one more homage to Jerry Siegel and
Joe Shuster's hero from one of the ninth art's greats.

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	Kriton	(e-mail: kyrimis at cti.gr)
	      	(WWW:    http://dias.cti.gr/~kyrimis)
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"I'm proficient in hand-to-hand combat, blades, custard pies and the
 Bohemian teaspoon."
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