Various topics

Daniel J. Neyer jerryblake2 at juno.com
Tue Apr 6 21:52:05 CEST 2004


I should have made it clear that I was criticizing Noel Van Horn's
storylines, not his artwork. I love his work on Goofy and enjoy his art
in general, but I do think he makes Mickey and Minnie look a bit too
cranky at times. I know the recent Lizard story wasn't written by him,
but I understood the Phantom Blot story, SHADOWS, and FISHING FOR TROUBLE
from the old Gladstone run were his--in all of these, he makes Mickey
seem like a frustrated loser rather than the good-natured, adventurous
mouse the majority of us know and love. 

I'm sort of surprised to hear criticism of William Van Horn, since the
opinions expressed on him in the comic letter columns are almost wholly
favorable. I can understand why some might not like his art, but I love
it--simple, funny, and very cartoony. I like his unpretentious writing
approach and witty dialogue, too--he just seems to write each story for
maximum enjoyment without giving too much thought to past or future
tales, like Barks did with his ten-pagers. The recent "Ain't It the
Truth?" reminded me of an old Dick Van Dyke show episode with its clever
use of flashbacks. None of this is meant as an indictment of Don Rosa's
style, by the way--I appreciate both approaches to Duck storytelling.

Speaking of Rosa, I must agree with Dan Shane's comments to Daniel Van
Eijermen. Rosa is a fan of Barks, as most of us are, and he likes Barks
so much that he uses elements from his stories in his own tales. I would
do the same if I was writing comics, but my interpretation would probably
be different from Rosa's. To treat Don like some kind of a plagiarist for
doing this is very unfair. He should be allowed to post here without
being pestered, as the rest of us are. Just because he's an author
doesn't mean his messages should be treated to intense criticism. 

I think this whole "Universe" debate has gone far enough. Daniel Van
Eijermen appears to intensely dislike Rosa's stories and Rosa' use of
Barksian motifs. OK, that's fine, Daniel's entitled to his opinion. But
we're entitled to our opinions too, and once we've all stated what we
think there isn't much more to say. I don't think any of us are going to
change the others' way of thinking, so what's the point? I formerly
visited a message board that discussed old American movie serials from
the 1930s to the 1950s, but was forced to leave by the nature of the
intercine squabbles that always took place there. Old movies, Duck
comics, and other escapist entertainment are pleasant hobbies, and when
hobbyists gather to discuss their hobby, they don't like getting all hot
and bothered by meaningless debate. 

________________________________________________________________
The best thing to hit the Internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!
Surf the Web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER!
Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!



More information about the DCML mailing list