Franquins Marsupilami

DGE@ECN.egmont.com DGE at ECN.egmont.com
Wed Jun 12 18:57:12 CEST 2002


	CORD:
	>Isn't it the same with Barks? Donald is funny, yes, but in Barks'
best stories he also is a tragic figure, the eternal loser, a duck in
hopeless defiance against fate. His uncle is wealthy, his nephews are
clever, his girl-friend takes advantage of him and each time he succeeds in
any area catastrophe will follow immediately afterwards. This is why Barks'
Donald is so much more than just a funny animal - and why we love him so: he
is a real person, nut just some character.

	I feel the same way about Gottfredson's Mickey. He is eternally
rushing into dangerous adventures with a schoolboy's overenthusiasm- an
optimism which, in truth, also functions as Mickey's knee-jerk defense
against a very real self-doubt. The most important moments for Mickey are
the moments when he realizes that he is trapped, or otherwise confronted by
hopelessness, and he sees the dark side of the impulsiveness that brought
him there. He is miserable; he is human. And yet, when the stress is done
with, his adventurous impulse rises again. It's as if he searches for
excitement, tries to dive into the largeness of the world, to dodge the fact
that on the flip side, its sheer size can also intimidate him a little.
	What a wonderfully real person such a mouse can become.

	David Gerstein



More information about the DCML mailing list