DCML digest #1243

Don Rosa donrosa at iglou.com
Thu Feb 6 07:04:30 CET 2003


From: <sigvald at duckburg.dk>
Subject: Re: Jose Carioca and Panchito
>>>>>they have at least
once appeared in the Barks/Rosa-universe in
Don Rosa's "The Three Caballeros Ride Again"
from 2000.

As always, I appreciate your devotion, but please
don't refer to anything as the "Barks/Rosa Duck-Universe". There are those
who don't like my stories as much as you do, and they will resent your
forcing their "Barks Universe" to be one and the same as the "Rosa
Universe". Be diplomatic. Also, Barks is not giving me his personal approval
on each factoid I use. Barks might have disliked Jose and Panchito for all
you or I know. When I once asked him about Ludwig Von Drake, he wrote to me
that he was sorry for "the unfortunate creation of that character" -- I have
no idea why he disliked LVD, yet *I* still like LVD and still place him in
"my" Universe despite Barks' disapproval of the guy. I have never sought to
make a carbon copy of the "Barks Universe" -- I've interpreted it to suit my
preferences. So simply because I make use of a character (or fact) does NOT
mean it exists in everyone's "Barks Universe". You might like to believe
they are the same just as I do, and as do many others. But that doesn't make
it universally true for everyone.
But I understand the idea you are trying to convey -- I see my "Universe" as
distinctly different from that which I see in all other (non-Barks) stories
ever produced or currently produced. But I don't seek to force-feed it to
anyone else -- I have no reason to want that (and it's actually nice to have
my own little Duck Universe that no one else mucks about with). My guess is
that Barks was the same way -- he created his Universe and surely wouldn't
like to know it was now being referred to as the "Barks/Rosa Universe"
without his endorsement. 35-40 years hence I don't think I'll like seeing
some Duckfan referring to the "Rosa/Abercrombie Universe" (Barks was 50
years old when I was born, and maybe this Abercrombie guy was born last year
when I was 50.)
But you are also entitled to your opinion that they *are* the same
"universe", so your intention of implying a link between the two
story-universes is not without merit in some discussion of one thing or
another. But what terminology *should* you use if you want to convey this
idea? Um... How about the "Barks Universe" and the "Rosa-after-Barks
Universe"? Or "Rosa's Barks Universe"? You need to think like a political
speech writer.
And that's all the typing of the word "universe" I wish to do for the rest
of this evening!





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