Reprints (slightly long-winded)

[ZeldasTriforce@aol.com]

DC Comics does not reprint old Mort Weisinger era stories in SUPERMAN, nor 
does it run Julius Schwartz edited stories in GREEN LANTERN.  For better 
(...or sometimes worse), DC continues to break new ground in its periodical 
titles. 
 Why would we ask differently of Gemstone?
--------------------------------------

To me, I think one of the reasons Gemstone/Gladstone, etc. reprint old 
stories(besides some of the stories' high quality), is because, unlike Marvel/DC, 
the characters essentially look the same, no matter when they were made. While 
each artist has their own style, does a 1945 Donald Duck comic really look that 
incredibly different from a 2004 Donald Duck story? Not really. Marvel/DC 
can't reprint their old comics in their new titles because they keep chaniging 
the looks of the characters so much. There's a world of difference between 1939 
Batman and 2004 Batman or the original Xmen and today's stories. 

Not to mention, the type of audience DC/Marvel are aiming at with their new 
comics, would probably gag just looking at the older stories, before they ever 
read them. And if they got past that, they'd probably throw the comic away 
before they finished reading the stories. You can't have a modern-day superhero 
comic without the usual angst and cliches. The old stories have their own 
cliches, but not nearly the angst, so Marvel/DC's typical audience wouldn't go for 
them. So Marvel/DC can't reprint old stories for two reasons, the big changes 
in art and stories. They can only reprint them in books, geared at people who 
are specifically looking for those old stories. 

Plus you have to add in the insane continuties that Marvel/DC have done over 
the years. I suppose Marvel is more guilty of this than anyone, but they've 
changed the characters/relationships/events/origins so much over the years, that 
the modern day superhero reader couldn't or wouldn't bother to follow along, 
the characters would be so different from the new stories they are reading 
today.

So to get this back to Gemstone, they can do reprints in their current comics 
that Marvel/DC could never do, because Disney comics have to a certain extent 
in both art and stories, remained the same from the 1940's to the present 
day. The closest thing Disney has to a continuty is the Barks 'canon'(and even he 
didn't follow it that closely) and writers/artists can, if they choose, more 
or less ignore all of that. Their story choices aren't nearly as dictated to 
them as closely as Marvel/DC do their characters(they also have to be on the 
lookout on how to change their characters to fit the mold of the latest movie 
they've released, how many redesigns have the Xmen undergone since the movies 
came out?) 

As far as what I think of reprints, in regards to Barks, I hope more emphasis 
will be placed on his late 60's work, the stories that haven't been reprinted 
much, if at all. I hope Gemstone starts printing more Romano Scarpa 
stories(though I have my own theory that the more Scarpa stories a US publisher prints, 
the closer they are to giving up their license/going out of business). 

In the end, I think Disney readers are divided into three camps: Those who 
have read all the old stories and want to read new ones, those who haven't read 
all the old stories and probably want a mixture of old and new, and those who 
have read every Carl Barks story ever and want to re-re-re-re-read them yet 
again(Tip: Mention the name Tony Strobl to them. If they immediately launch into 
a diatribe about how Strobl and everyone else except Barks was/is a complete 
hack(except maybe, a big maybe for Don Rosa), then  you've met one of those 
people). Hopefully Gemstone will focus on the first two groups, with an emphasis 
on the group that wants all new stories. 

As for the new Mickey stories, some I like and some I don't. But I don't 
think that has anything to do with the style of the stories. Whether it's 
detective Mickey, adventuresome Mickey, fantasy Mickey, etc., Mickey has just as many 
stereotypes as Donald does(temporarily great at new job, get rich quick 
schemes, etc.). The only thing different between the two, is that most 
readers(myself included) like/indulge the stereotypes of Donald far more than we do Mickey. 
Chalk that up to better writing, differences in the character, whatever. 

I guess that's about it for now. I've probably mentioned the words DC and 
Marvel more times in this post than months and months of DCML archives(and I will 
give myself seven lashes in penance for this sin), but I wanted to illustrate 
how very different they and Gemstone are. The comics, the audiences, etc. are 
just very different from one another. 

To Gary: If you want to print this or any DCML post I make in the future, go 
ahead. I don't see the need  to give my permission every time I post. It's a 
public list, so I'm not saying anything in my posts I wouldn't want anyone to 
read. The only difference if a DCML post of mine was published is that instead 
of 500 people reading it,  5,000 would. 

Derek Smith
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