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DAVID:
Speaking of the Mickey strips in D&M, I haven't cared seeing the
"Mickey and the Sleuth" or "Goofy King Midas" stuff despite the fine
art, particularly since someone on here made me realize that perhaps my
biggest objection to Disney's treatment of the "classic characters" is
simply as empty-slate actors filling roles, as they do in those tales.
(I also greatly dislike bizarre page lay-outs as in that Goofy-Midas
thing, and when I tried reading some of it I was also distressed by the
Laugh-In type humor and lack of plot... wotta crank!) But I think D&M
also recently used one of my very most fondly remembered Murry stories,
the one about the giant golden seashell -- that has some great visuals
in it!

HARRY:
So, they use the JWW emblem in Holland!?!?! Wow! Can you find
out when/if they plan to use that Library story? They need so much to
use the American version! A MAJOR part of the ending is based on the
Woodchuck emblem! They'll need my story revisions and the extra art,
also as regards correcting the historical errors! Also, when I changed
the dialogue, I replaced Marco Polo's contribution to the Library
(until later) by a reference that travelling scholars had contributed
the great books of the libraries of Islam to the Library while it was
in Constantinople (although I'm not sure the Constantinople Christians
would have liked that idea... maybe they were only secular writings);
somebody on here was mentioning I should have done that in the story,
and now I dood it. Whoever gave me that idea, speak up, and I will pay
him 100% of the royalties I'll receive from the American use of the
story, as well as the Dutch. In fact, I'll triple it! Hey, I'm that
generous!
Also, Harry, when I said that the only two publishers who seem
to care about the material is the Norwegian and American editors... but
Oberon is usually right out of my mind since all my business is between
Gladstone and all those Egmont places. Obviously, Oberon publishes the
best looking Disney comics in Europe, and I'd like to think they have
as much care with the contents. (That publishing part 3 of Lo$ first
makes me wonder...) But let's see if they'll be interested in my offer
of improving their use of the Lost Library story free of charge as I'm
doing for Gladstone. That might prove their concern. Please check with
your editor-buddy!

>>I have this written down *somewhere*, but I can't seem to find it:
>>Didn't Gladstone convert an old Gottfredson adventure into comic book
>>format, during the days of their "Mickey Mouse" comic book, which then
>>proceeded to never see print?
>
>Sounds like 'Mickey Mouse joins the Foreign Legion". The story was
>banned by Disney, so Gladstone cannot print it.

I found my notes - It seems that there are two prepared stories that
remain unused - one is "Mickey Joins the Foreign Legion" and the other
is "Sacred Jewel."

So what's the reason for not printing "Sacred Jewel"?

Jon C. Lorentzen wrote:

> "The Plumber's Helper" was released in Norway in either the "Jeg Mikke
> Mus", or "Jeg, Langbein" book. It's been some time since I read the
> story, but I do recall that many of the drawings were shaded in some
> special way. It was like everything (and body) in a room became darker,
> without the room becoming black. Reminded me a little of dot shading,
> which is often used in many newspapers strip. That means that very tiny
> black dots are placed on certain areas of pictures to make that area look
> gray.

Those little dots must have been in the original newspaper
print: they are in the Dutch reprint too. Some of the pages look very
dirty, because the dots are making black spots on a copy of a copy of a
copy...
I think it must be a lot of work to white out those areas to make the story
at least a bit 'clean'.

Same applied to a few other Gottfredson strips of that period.

> BTW: Is the banned Mickey In Africa story the one with all the gorillas
> and the Cannibals ? I just wondered.

No, "Foreign Legion" is the one in the desert, with Black Pete terrorising
Mickey. But the other two african stories (with Spooks the gorilla) are banned,
too...

--Harry.

P.S. Mattias: advanTHANKSce! (for you know what...)

Don Rosa wrote:
> So, they use the JWW emblem in Holland!?!?! Wow!

Well, not frequently. I think I saw some of your stories here where the
emblem wasn't changed. I don't recall if they did that in Barks stories,
I'll look it up at home.

> Can you find out when/if they plan to use that Library story? They need
> so much to use the American version!

I think they wait until they can get a Danish or German version. They do
most of the time... Will a German version also include the changes?

> Also, Harry, when I said that the only two publishers who seem
> to care about the material is the Norwegian and American editors... but
> Oberon is usually right out of my mind since all my business is between
> Gladstone and all those Egmont places. Obviously, Oberon publishes the
> best looking Disney comics in Europe, and I'd like to think they have
> as much care with the contents.

I always thought that too, but they are not very good in translating the
texts. E.g. in one of your Lo$ stories, Chisel McSue is mentioned. The
Dutch translation is Chisel McSue. While in all Dutch translations of
the Barks U$ story, the guy is called McSchobbejak. Does that mean they
didn't recognize him? I don't know.

The Dutch have the policy to never re-translate or re-colour a Disney
story when it has been done before, after 1973. I tried to have some damaged
Barks stories re-lettered from a CBL copy, but they said that would co$t
too much.

> But let's see if they'll be interested in my offer
> of improving their use of the Lost Library story free of charge as I'm
> doing for Gladstone. That might prove their concern. Please check with
> your editor-buddy!

My guess is that they would only use the changed art if they can copy it
directly from a German or other version.

But I'll ask Jos Beekman if I can get through to him.

--Harry.

Hi, Folks!

Don said: "I think D&M [Gladstone's DONALD AND MICKEY comic]
also recently used one of my very most fondly remembered Murry stories,
the one about the giant golden seashell -- that has some great visuals
in it!"

HUH???! The seashell story was last reprinted in Disney
Comics' SUMMER FUN #1, which was issued in summer of 1991. It was
not in Gladstone's MICKEY AND DONALD prior to that, either. The ONLY
recent printing of the story was Disney's. I agree, that's one of the
best Murry stories, with "The Trail to Treasure" and "The Lost Legion"
being the other two.

I like "The Lost Legion" (written, I believe, by Don
Christiansen) because its version of Mickey is more the way he should
be. I remember Mickey trying to decoy some Arabian villains by posing
as a royal musician and singing "The Sheik of Araby"! (This story was
in WDC&S 167-69, I believe.)

The only stories to appear in Gladstone's D&M so far have been
Jaime Diaz M&tS, or Diaz Goofy history stories. This will continue
through #24, I believe. After that there's apparently (HOORAY!) a
Dutch story... can you give us any info, Gary?

BTW: I REALLY don't like the art in the "Mickey and the
Sleuth" stories. Don will probably be glad to hear, given his praise
of it, that "The Case of the Wax Dummy" was paired with his own
"Master Landscapist" in the 1991 German printing. I myself was
irritated.

As for MM in the Foreign Legion, there's an Arab villain,
Yussuf Aiper (is there a pun there? I CAN'T find it!), paired with
some even MEANER American ones, Pete and Trigger Hawkes, showing that
villainy comes in all colors. Meanwhile, Mickey also has a friend,
Peikh Abou, who helps him out in his plan to defeat the villains.
This friend is an Arab.

The Arabs *are* stereotypically drawn, with big schnozzes.
Also there are some references to the villains as being a "tribe" or
their being "natives," suggesting that "they're all this way," but
these minor things could be changed...

The only really prejudiced point is when MM disguises himself
as a native to get off the ship, with blackface makeup, and is accosted
by two equally grotesque policemen. This is only two strips, and
the makeup could be altered to resemble a BEARD, and the dialogue
could go from:

"I sure make a funny-lookin' native, but if it's dark enough,
I can get away with it!" to
"I sure look funny in a beard, but if it's dark enough, I can
get away with it!"

The policemen would need some major retouching to make them
acceptable by Disney, but they're only in two strips.

As for "The Sacred Jewel," I don't know if this one could be
made acceptable. Disney printed a lot of panels from it in their
recent trading card set though, including many with Arabs shown,
absolutely unchanged from the original versions. The Arabs are black
with white faces, but that's, I believe, because they're designed with
the same style that MICKEY is!

Zassall for now, folks.

David Gerstein
<David.A.Gerstein at Williams.edu>

GARY:
Don't panic! These Digests are rarely as long as #210!!! Also,
shall we try out the system of you passing comments to John for me? I
realize you're at home and you have other things to think about when you
get to work rather than what I feel like John "needs" to know... but
here's what I'd like to tell him today: I just sent Byron a "Donald's
60th Birthday" album cover for use in Germany, in case Gladstone is
interested, if only as a "pin-up page"; it features the expected scene
of all the Duckburg characters saluting DD. Also, I asked Byron to go
ahead and send John the stats on the Duck Family Tree, as we'd
discussed.

MATTIAS / STEFAN:

Tell Stefan that there really isn't much to send him on the
"Library" story that would be of use to his publisher. As I explained,
most of the art and dialogue changes would pertain to the addition of
the JWW emblem plot-twist. All there is of possible use to him and
Sweden would be one panel of new art which fits into the San Slanti
Abbey scene along with dialogue changes and LOTS of directions on how
to shift the original panels and pages around. What I did was omit two
panels about Polo in Constantinople, scrap the one where U$ is doing a
flip, moved the one where the kids are looking in the Guidebook forward
to the San Slanti page, then do the one new panel of $crooge reacting
to that panel's Polo news; he had to be reacting as STUNNED with
happiness rather than ecstatic, as the next panel is the one where the
monk is going through a door and U$ looks very calm. I had all the
changes packed up to ship to Gladstone when I got Stefan's comment
pointing out the Polo screw-up, so I tore the pack open, did the new
panel and made more changes in the script then hurredly rewrapped it
and sent it on. I didn't even keep a copy of the new art, so right NOW
I don't have any record of the art or script changes -- it's all in
Gladstone's hands by now. When would he need it? If he simply wants to
see the new stuff for himself, he should just wait for Gladstone's use
of it at which time it will all be put together and in living color
rather than as a some loose panels of art and notations in a script.

HARRY:
I don't know of any use the Germans plan to make of the "Lost
Library" story -- do they use the JWW emblem in Germany? Even if they
did, they have no knowledge of any alternate version of the story or
corrections in the errors, so Oberon wouldn't be getting anything new
from them. However, Gladstone is now preparing the "definitive" version
of that story and I think they should be very happy to send the changes
to Oberon, art and script, since I sent it all to them on my own time
(for selfish reasons of improving [?] my own story). So, tell them that.
However, I THINK what they want most is Germany's COLORING, so they
won't give a sky-blue hoot WHAT Gladstone is doing with the story. But
DO please pass all this on to your editor-friend; it would be just the
sort of twisted situation common in Disneydom to have someone willing to
do free work to improve a story and have a publisher NOT want to take
advantage of it. That sort of thing would really sadden me, though I
should be getting used to it by now.

DON and GARY:

I just gave Don's message to Stefan, and he says that the Swedish
publication of GotLL is an unusually serious affair: it won't be published in
the Kalle Anka & C:o weekly, but in a special Junior Woodchucks graphic
album/book, together with EXTENSIVE background material on the underlying
historical facts and such. Also, the editor of this album is much more
interested, both in the story as such, and also in this background information,
than would the average editor at Hemmets Journal. To quote Stefan, "this is
THE instance of Don Rosa-publication in Sweden that might match what Gladstone
does".

He has not as yet briefed his editor on this discussion we've been having
lately, but will probably do it early next week or so.

Of course he/they are ONLY interested in the changes pertaining to the Marco
Polo sequence. Stefan says he already has a "go-ahead" on changing the
dialogue, and would thus like to know in as much detail as possible WHAT you
substituted for Marco Polo (he knows about the muslim scholars - I told him
that) and how the script was actually changed in those panels that he/they
ALREADY HAVE (i.e. the "old version" panels). If it's possible for you to fill
him in on this through the list (or by regular mail), he asks, would you please
do that?

If this isn't possible - GARY: is it possible for Stefan Dios/Hemmets
Journal/Egmont to get access to usable copies of the material that Don has sent
you? IF necessary also the new art for the Marco Polo sequence? He has some
hope, you see, of getting his editor's "OK" on using the art-changes in the
Marco Polo sequence, and when I told him that you're on the list, too, now,
asked me to ask you this, sorta PRELIMINARY - you don't have to make any
legally binding promises here and now, but perhaps "yes, I think that would be
possible" or "well, I'm not so sure..." or "don't really think so, old chap,
don't you know". Hmm?

Anyway, Stefan sends his regards to both of you - he was pretty sure he'd met
you, too, Gary; and so of course does

Mattias
(Inter-continental E-mailman; Has Computer -- Will Post)