Dutch albums and Don Rosa

[Michiel Prior]

I really don't think we should worry about how the Dutch editors 
present Rosa's stories. If there'd be something to worry about, it 
might be their attitude to presenting their comics *in general*. 

Dutch Rosa albums don't look any worse than Dutch Barks albums, 
and if the recent Verhagen and Heymans albums look better, as they 
do to *me*, that's only because these latter stories are published in 
their original version, being the way they were first published in the 
Dutch DD weekly. 

The main reason *for me* in NOT buying the newest Dutch Rosa 
albums, is that the stories are presented in exactly the same way as 
in the DD Extra, not looking any better, and since I already have 
those stories, there's no extra reason to buy those albums. 

I mean, the quality of those albums is good, but they just don't 
appeal to *my personal taste*. I would ask for different coloring, 
different lettering, one-part-versions without big yellow rectangles 
explaining what happened last week, different paper and Don's 
original text or else a more careful translation. [Maybe it's not always 
the same translator. Some stories were translated a bit sloppy, 
others excellently.] (Seems like I should try and buy original 
American copies of Rosa's stories, which seems to me to be very 
expensive.)

The German Barks albums (CBL) look better than the Dutch Barks 
albums (Beste Verhalen), but I don't know about the German Rosa 
albums, although they use at least Don's original covers. German 
CBL albums are more expensive (E 8,60). Dutch Barks and Rosa 
albums cost E 4,50. Maybe DD *shouldn't* be very expensive, or 
maybe that's just Dutch policy, selling their albums at supermarkets 
and people buying it maybe for its appeal of *cheap and simple 
entertainment*. [Like Suske en Wiske.]

The problem is maybe that every other Dutch comic album looks 
better than the Dutch Barks and Rosa albums. Douwe Dabbert looks 
better. Agent 327 looks better. 'Donjon', by Joann Sfar and Lewis 
Trondheim, looks gorgeous. Well, that's a French comic, but the 
Dutch version is published by a Dutch publisher, 'M' (Meulenhof).

I'd like to see a Barks or Rosa album published by 'M', stylish, like 
their Agent 327 albums, with better lettering or even handlettered 
and with colors by Wilma Leenders or Studio Leonardo. It would cost 
E 6,50 and I would immediately buy it. The only question is: would it 
sell any better in the supermarkets than the Sanoma Dutch Disney 
albums already do or don't?

Note: If there's a lot of Barks-and-Rosa, Barks-and-Rosa, Barks-
and-Rosa in this mail, that's only because these are the authors with 
an own album series in Holland, not really because of personal 
preferences, altough I'm not very worried by the absence of any 
decent Branca, Cavazzano, Gottfredson, Heymans, Jippes, Milton, 
Rota, Scarpa, Strobl, Taliaferro, Van Horn, Verhagen or Vicar album 
series. To be honest, I don't really care much for one-author issues, I 
prefer a good mix, like in the better week- and monthlies. 

Michiel Prior.