Keskustelujen arkisto

Don:
No, I hadn't noticed that the cover lacked the firery armor. In looking
at the cover, my gaze was focused on the young Scrooge and his shoeshine kit.
I've read a couple of postings discussing your use of detail. I have
to say that I don't think that this is a bad thing. When I read the Son of the
Sun story, I thought that a few of the panels were over-detailed, but these were
the exceptions. On the contrary, I think that the level of detail that you use
adds to the richness of your art. Moreover, I like to scan the artwork and look
for inside jokes or references to some of Scrooge's past adventures. I've
always felt that this additional detail helped to imprint your own personal style
on the Duck stories. The more recent stories that Gladstone has published seem to
contain the right balance of detail without making the artwork too noisy.
Speaking of Son of the Sun...Am I the only one who saw the resemblence
between this book and the DuckTales 2 hour premiere. Granted, the stories are
different enough, but a lot of the elements are similar. Do you think that the
writers borrowed any of 'Son of the Sun' for their story. I'd be interested in
getting other people's opinions on this subject. If its already been discussed,
pls forgive me for bringing it up again.
Its been pretty frustrating to read abou the way Disney treats its
artists. I guess that I can understand the mentality in a big corporation, but I
don't agree with it. Managers will always take the safest route and avoid making
the high profile decisions. Lets hope that things will change over time.

Frank (DiCapua)

Dear Folks,

A few things to comment on today.

Gary Leach on WDCiC
===================

"We believed (as we once knew, back in the original
Gladstone days) we could launch a new Disney title without having to
get clearance from Disney. We made the mistake of attempting this
while one of our more reliable and levelheaded contacts at Disney was
indisposed, and the temporary replacement saw we were doing a new
title and panicked."

Does this mean that in a few months, when the then-indisposed
contact is back at work and things are as they once were, that you
might try suggesting WDCiC again? *I'm* certainly for it.

(And BTW Don, you asked why I revved up my juices on issues
like this and not Disney's refusal to pay royalties or return art.
The answer is simple... I know little of the legal technicalities
regarding these issues, and while you state Disney is doing illegal
things, I myself don't know exactly which United States laws are being
broken, and while busy in college, I cannot spend time finding them
out. If you care to give me some ammunition, I'll be GLAD to roll the
presses on some folk songs of protest, as it were. You have my
support on this, I just don't know WHAT to do...)

Wrapping up a loose hair -- er, thread
======================================

"I still say all Ducks should, and always have had white
hair."

That's Don Rosa speaking. And I respond by asking, what color
was Donaldo El Quacko's hair? (And don't tell me, "dyed".) Or the
Ducks in Tralla La -- GOTCHA! The Cannibal Ducks in WDC&S 34 have
black hair, too (although you'll no doubt argue that that story is
MUCH too early to mean anything, and I'll answer that you're right).

That Olympic story
==================

John Lorentzen said, "[Don Rosa's story in DD 283] collides
with your general stories that are set in the 50s, since the
Lillehammer games take place in the 90s, and I think Donald would
be a little old in 94 (in his 70s or 80s ?) to compete in the events."

Actually, not ALL of Don's stories take place in the 1950s.
Once in a long, long, time, he'll break his rules when a particular
idea comes along -- like "The Duck Who Fell to Earth," which tries
very hard to stay in the '50s but includes a TV weatherman making a
report and pointing out an image from a satellite, something that
couldn't have been in the '50s.

But actually, Donald *did* look substantially older in "From
Duckburg to Lillehammer." I actually wish to tell you, Don, that in
the side views of all the Ducks in this story you made the *rear*
parts of their bills far too short! This leaves a huge area of white
neck exposed at the bottom of the head -- and since you draw the Ducks
with short, thick necks anyway, Donald seemed far less svelte then
usual (again, only in those side shots). You had a better side view
of Donald's head in "On Stolen Time," in the scenes where Donald
pretends to be frozen to decoy the Beagle Boys.

"Not to mention HDL who should be about 50 at this time."

Err... uh...

Frank Dicapua on "Son of the Sun"
=================================

"Speaking of Son of the Sun...Am I the only one who saw the
resemblance between this book and the DuckTales 2 hour premiere?
Granted, the stories are different enough, but a lot of the elements
are similar. Do you think that the writers borrowed any of 'Son of
the Sun' for their story?"

"The Treasure of the Golden Suns" was made in 1986 --
there's a long time between the production of a cartoon and when it's
actually finished. Since that was one of the few episodes of the
series to use full animation in most scenes, it was probably in the
works for even longer than most.

What I mean to say is that the similarities between this
cartoon and "Son of the Sun" are there, but couldn't be more than
cooincidence.

While we're on the topic of _DuckTales_, let me please make my
view known on its depiction of Scrooge. Four times out of five,
Scrooge was shown as too generous -- as Don often points out, that
makes him a "counterfeit" Scrooge, not the real one. But there ARE
occasional episodes wherein Scrooge is *right* in-character, fuming,
sputtering, and being his miserly self.

I draw your attention to the first section of "Golden Suns" --
particularly the bit where Scrooge stomps gloomily along a Duckburg
street. He passes a woman outside a cheese shop giving samples.
Without missing a step, he whacks the plate of samples upside the
bottom with his cane and catches EVERY sample in his hat. Then, later
on in his office, he tells HDL that after whatever they're doing for
the nonce "we'll have a nutritious lunch of cheese."

There are other good episodes as well. DT's adaptation of
"The Lemming with the Locket" -- they chose to use the beginning of
"The Pixilated Parrot" for it, however, so that the kids buy the
LEMMING at the docks and bring it to Scrooge as a pet, after which the
story is that of US 9 -- contains a very good rendition of Scrooge,
acting much as he does in the original story.

Unfortunately, DT's writers seem to have relied for
inspiration character-wise mainly on the 1960s Barks stories. Mike
Barrier notes how Scrooge changed in those stories -- "he was depicted
more sympathetically, and lacked the passion for money that it would
have taken to accumulate so much of it" (or words to that effect).
That could well describe the DuckTales semi-Scrooge, for the most
part... the REAL Scrooge -- or at least, the version that seems the
most "Scroogish" to my eyes, and I believe, Don's, is that of roughly
1950-1958.

The best Disney rendition of Scrooge, and of the Duck universe
in general, is, believe it or not, a TV featurette called "Sport Goofy
in Soccermania." OF COURSE Goofy doesn't belong in Barks' Duck
universe (which the makers of the show were trying to recreate, given
the use of a non-nerdy Gyro with his Helper, Grandma Duck, the Beagle
Boys all identical, and other such touches). The show, from 1985,
DOES make the unforgivable error of using Goofy because management had
wanted a Goofy 1/2-hour. But we have Scrooge in his RED coat, being a
stingy tightwad, going through Barksian histrionics and otherwise
acting JUST like he should. This ONE film presents the finest
animated Scrooge ever done, despite its unforgivable errors in other
respects.

That's all for today, folks. Fer gosh sakes, what a LOOONG
message. (BTW Gary, the letter about MM stories for WDCiC is
obviously irrelevant now... as you know, it was delayed. Anyway, John
is planning exactly such things for next year after the Gottfredsons
used in albums run out... or so he's told me.)

David Gerstein

"I'm the Fuller Brush Man! I'm givin' g'way free semple!"
<David.A.Gerstein at Williams.edu>

Greetings and Salutation Fellow Fans of Disney-Comics,

In Disney-comics digest #237 <disney-comics at Minsk.DoCS.UU.SE>
Harry Fluks <H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl> made the following comments in:
> Subject: Kirby (Bad News, to the world of Comics!...)

> Gil Milburn (at last! I thought you were gone. Did you receive my mail,
> Gil?):

Yes, I did (* THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR SENDING IT!! *). I'm truly
sorry I've been so quiet lately, I've just had my hands SO FULL recently
that I haven't had time to write! So I must apologize to you and to Per,
for not returning your recent messages! Forgive me?...

Now on to this:
>> Comic book creator Jack Kirby, age 76, died on Sunday, Feb. 6, 1994.
>
> Fredrik:
>
>> About the Disney connection, I seem to remember a discussion here
>> a while ago that Kirby DID draw a few Disney strips. Can anyone
>> confirm/deny this?
>
> On 3 November 1993, I wrote:
>
>> Jack Kirby
>> ~~~~~~~~~~
>> Mark asked why he is in the 'creators' file. Well, in fact, that
>> file also covers the creators in the "classics" index. The Classic stories
>> were newspaper stories, often reprinted in One Shots and other comics.
>> In 1980, Kirby did the pencils of "The Black Hole" (story Fallberg,
>> inks Royer). That's the only Kirby entry though.
>
> I typed in that 'classics' file from a photocopy of a newspaper strips
> index by Becattini. A lot of those newspaper sequels were reprinted in
> Holland.
I had thought that Kirby had a *small* Disney connection, but
since I wasn't exactly sure so I didn't bother to mention it!
Thanks Harry, for setting us all straight! |D
DON: Do you have any thoughts to add about the passing of Jack
"The King" Kirby??

TTFN

-Gil

Gil Milburn <gilbert at unix.campbellsvil.edu>

"Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father; prepare to die!"

Ole wrote

>>
>>If you happen to walk the streets of London, England, you may enjoy
>>a visit to a so-called "Disney Store" there. The address is:
>>Regent Street 140, London W1.
>>Apparently all sorts of Disney merchandise including pins, hats,
>>movies, watches, towels, and school equipment can be purchased.
>>Comics are not explicitly mentioned, but it's jolly worth a try.

and Mark replied

>If it's anything like the "Disney Store"s here in the U.S., they don't
>carry comics, they never *did* carry comics, and they look at you
>funny if you *ask* about comics. I hope this store is different, but
>I sincerely doubt it. I'd be more than willing to eat my words if I'm
>proven wrong, however.. :-)

Well, last time I was there (2 years ago) they carried NO comics at all. I
do not remember how they looked at me when I asked about them: probably
they were really surprised... :-)

================================================================
Fabio Gadducci Dip. di Informatica
Home: +39-50-541725 Universita` di Pisa
Off.: +39-50-887268 Corso Italia 40, 56100 PISA (ITALY)
FAX: +39-50-887226 E-mail:gadducci at di.unipi.it
================================================================

>From: Lasse Reichstein Nielsen <lrn at daimi.aau.dk>
>
>If you happen to walk the streets of London, England, you may enjoy
>a visit to a so-called "Disney Store" there. The address is:
>Regent Street 140, London W1.
>Apparently all sorts of Disney merchandise including pins, hats,
>movies, watches, towels, and school equipment can be purchased.
>Comics are not explicitly mentioned, but it's jolly worth a try.

If it's anything like the "Disney Store"s here in the U.S., they don't
carry comics, they never *did* carry comics, and they look at you
funny if you *ask* about comics. I hope this store is different, but
I sincerely doubt it. I'd be more than willing to eat my words if I'm
proven wrong, however.. :-)

>("You...do *have* some cheese, don't you?"
> "Of course, sir. It's a cheese shop, sir. We've got--" :)

This probably applies all too well...

Harry:
>
>RoC:
>> If you happen to walk the streets of London, England, you may enjoy
>> a visit to a so-called "Disney Store" there. The address is:
>> Regent Street 140, London W1.
>> Apparently all sorts of Disney merchandise including pins, hats,
>> movies, watches, towels, and school equipment can be purchased.
>> Comics are not explicitly mentioned, but it's jolly worth a try.
>
>I happened to visit that shop in London two weeks ago. The have NO comics.
>It's like the American "Disney Store" in Austin that I visited last year.
>

ok, ok, nobody wants to know it... but:

The Disney shop here in Manchester is the same
shit as in London and maybe anywhere else in the
world: Only clothes etc... NO COMICS!

You see, money rules the world and
what doesn't sell, how 'good' it may be,
isn't worth a shit.

Nikolaus.

GIL:
That was the second time you asked me for a comment about the
death of Jack Kirby. Apparently, at some time in the past, I made a
comment someplace that lead you to believe that I was a particular fan
of Jack Kirby. I don't think that's the case. I like Kirby's stuff of
the 50s & 60s, but no later. I recognize his being most responsible for
creating Marvel Comics as the industry leader, but I've never prefered
Marvel comics. I recognize him as being the root inspiration for
probably everything about modern American super-hero comics, even what
they've become today at the hands of many kids who don't really know who
Kirby is/was... but that's not something that everyone would consider a
great contribution to history. So, I like old Kirby comics mighty
fine... but no more than I like many other comic writers or artists.
Frankly, his style super-heroes just weren't my cuppa tea.

ROC:
That Olympic cover was sortuva rush job, though that's no excuse
for any errors in it. I am usually very sensitive to the "direction" of
the action; f'rinstance, in a story, if $crooge is penetrating a
tractless jungle, he must be traveling to the right -- when he returns,
it should be right to left. But I dunno why I didn't let the action on
that cover be left to right, leading "towards" the issue's interior. Was
I in a hurry? Anyway, the editors always have the oportunity to "flip"
the art, as they did with the "Return to Xanadu" cover a few years back.
As to the overlapping skis, I DO recall that problem: I drew the
characters first, then found the problem of fitting their long skis in
between the short distance between DD & HDL. At one point, I almost
decided the only answer was to put them all on ONE pair of skis... but
then why would DD be looking back with surprise? So I finally decided to
just squeeze them in there as best I could and hope no one would notice
how jammed up they were.

DISNEY STORES AND COMICS:
We've discussed this before. There are two main reasons why
Disney Stores do not carry comics. First off, comics are periodicals and
would need to be provided by either the local news distributor or an
independant national comic distributor like Diamond. In the first case,
if the store took Disney Comics, it would be required to also take
Marvel and DC and Image, etc., comics, as well as TIME and NEWSWEEK and
EVERYTHING ELSE on the average super-market newsstand; they won't just
give them Disney comics. In the second case, taking just Disney comics
from a national distributor would require far, FAR more busywork, week
in and week out, than a Disney Store would have the vaguest interest in
undertaking. What a headache for what is basically a t-shirt/cheap-toy
store!
The second reason why Disney Stores would not carry Disney
Comics is the clientele of the Disney Stores. I really don't think these
are people with an interest in READING. Y'knowhutahmean?

Please remove me from the list please.

Jerry_Greenberg at pop.com
--
Message sent via DigitalPopcorn <info at pop.com> * Los Angeles