endless reprints

[Daniel van Eijmeren]

RODNEY BOWCOCK to me, 22-12-2003:

> Regardless of the book that it's printed in, I do think that it's 
> important for there to be an *affordable* source for young/new 
> readers to gain access to these stories.

I agree that there should be an affordable source for young/new readers 
to get old stories. That would be great. But why does it need to be 
done by reproducing re-reprints in a prestige format comic which also 
contains fresh, new material, like stories by Rosa and Van Horn?

I think comics/albums should be divided into "fresh-only" and 
"reprint-only" series, *unless* the reprints come from a better and/or 
more faithful source, in comparison with the previous reprints.

> From what I've seen, the easiest reprint of Only a Poor Old Man that 
> I've seen is the one in US 195, and anyone who's seen that knows that 
> it's so muddy and unattractive that it buries the charm of the story.

COA mentions the following reprints for the USA:

Gladstone Comics Album 4 [1980s/1990s]
One Shots (a.k.a. Four Color Comics) 456 (1953) 
The Best of Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck 1 (1966) 
Uncle Scrooge 142 (1977) 
Uncle Scrooge, His Life and Times 1 (1981) 
Carl Barks Library (hardcover, b/w) 3 (1984) 
Uncle Scrooge Adventures 26 (1994) 
The Adventures of Uncle Scrooge McDuck in Color 2 (1996)

See: http://coa.inducks.org/coa/c1/story.php/0/W+OS++456-02

> There's no better way to expose young audiences to classic material 
> than by slipping it into the titles that are geared toward them once 
> in awhile.

If the old audience is being chased away by having to buy exactly the 
same material twice, they will stop buying the comics. This will result 
in less sales, resulting in the comic being discontinued. This way, 
*neither* old or young audiences will be exposed to any new comic book  
publications anymore.

Only time will tell. Apart from complaining, all I can do is stop buying 
material that I don't find worthwhile/affordable enough for my budget. 

--- Daniël