The List, Favorite Disney Comics and Rosa Analysis

[Klartekst]

THE LIST:

I ask all list memebers to please do their best to restore this list to its former quality. It would be just too stupid if one person should single-handedly ruin what so many have built up over the years. If you are offended or hurt by postings from this person, simply count to ten and then don't respond. Any kind of reply will just be like trying to put out a fire with gasoline. And to those of you who have stayed away recently: Please come back. I miss your insightful comments and interesting bits of information.

FAVORITE DISNEY COMICS:

If I must choose three, they would have to be American originals. Nothing gives me the proper Duck feeling like the old pastel colors and the smell of the pulp paper. My choices may suprise some, since two of them are usually not counted among Barks' best work. They are:

1) WDC 195 "The Runaway Train". The nephews avert a train crash by calculating exactly where the trains will meet. The tension of this story is simply unbearable. Note the sweating TV-announcer and the way Barks 'plants' the disaster early in the story by having Donald watch a similar crash in a TV movie. And yet - during the whole action-packed adventure the ducks never leave their living room. Fantastic!

2) WDC 190 "In the Swim". Donald challenges the nephews to a swimming contest, then does his best to sabotage their effort. I have no idea why I love this story so much - maybe it is the feeling of careless summer holidays when you can walk around in your swimsuit and take a dip in the river. The story also shows Donald's house located by the riverside, and although the river was never shown again in a Barks story, it has always been there in my mind.

The third choice is more obvious:

3) "The Golden Helmet". No comments necessary here. Maybe Barks' best work ever. The scope and drama of the tale is simply unbelievable.

ROSA ANALYSIS:

Moahmed, I'm not sure if this is the kind of analysis you had in mind, but I would like to say a few words about "His Majesty McDuck". 

A short recap: Scrooge discovers that Killmotor Hill is not part of the US (this is very logically explained in the story). So he sets up his own kingdom. Not only does this mean he no longer has to pay taxes, but he also wants the IRS to give him back all the taxes he has paid during the last 50 years. However, he soon discovers it's not that easy. His empoyees cant't get into the money bin because they don't have passports. Phone, water and electricity are cut off because the public utilities are not licenced to operate overseas. When he sends Donald out to buy a hot dog, the customs charge him $20 export tax. And when the Beagle Boys 'invade' the money bin, the police or army can't intervene because Scrooge's kingdom does not have diplomatic relations with the US. 

A great story, very well constructed and brimming with gags. And it has one of the neatest surprise endings I have ever seen in a comic book (if you didn't get it, study the last panel very carefully).

But the reason I single this story out is that it in addition to being entertaining I think it has a very important message: "YOU CAN'T RESIGN FROM THE WORLD". It's not possible. No matter WHO you are, no matter how RICH you are or how much POWER you have, this is the one thing you can't do. You depend on the world around you for your survival, and the world depends on you for ITS survival.

Quite a heavy message for a comic book 'just for kids'.

Anyway, that's how I read the story. Any other comments?

Nils from Norway






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