Concerning european prices.
Here in Iceland we have to pay approx. 4 us$ per issue.
By subscribing I can get it down to 3.5 or something like that.
What artist?
Who was the artist who did the motorcar story 2 issues ago? Something
about Donald renting a bigger car to impress Daisy. Was it
the same one who did the "Donald as a Pizza delivery man" story?
Kinda weird, that rubbery style he uses.
DON
I kinda feel silly asking you this but could you ...please
send me a autographed issue of Lo$1 or 2
I would like one to show my duck oriented friends (and brag a little).
I will send you my address if you agree, not wanting to appear presumptious.
--
Author
Topic: 199404
(249 messages)
Sigurdur Hrafn Gislason
Disney-comics digest #312.
Message 226 -
1994-04-28 at 19:15:04
SHAWN HOEHN
UNSUBCRIBE
Message 227 -
1994-04-28 at 22:58:14
WOULD YOU PLEASE UNSUBSCRIBE ME , I DO NOT HAVE THE TIME TO READ ALL OF MY
MAIL AND THE SCHOOL YEAR IS ALMOST OVER. THANKS SHAWN
MAIL AND THE SCHOOL YEAR IS ALMOST OVER. THANKS SHAWN
SHAWN HOEHN
UNSUBCRIBE
Message 228 -
1994-04-28 at 23:39:50
PLEASE UNSUBSCRIBE ME I DO NOT HOAVE TIME OT (OOPS) TO READ ALL MY MAIL,
THANKS.
THANKS.
Per Starback
UNSUBSCRIBErs -- take notice!
Message 229 -
1994-04-29 at 00:48:41
William Hathaway hath gone away from our list and said:
> As much as I've enjoyed the list and would like to continue, pressing
> business requires I spend no more time reading this. Please unsubscribe
> me for the time being. If possible I may return. WHH
Welcome back then. Since I guess this is a time of the year that lots
of persons will unsubscribe from this (and other) lists, I'll take
this opportunity to remind everyone that there is an administrative
address of the list, disney-comics-request at minsk.docs.uu.se, and that
that kind of address (with "-request" added after the name of the
list) is very common. Please use it!
-- "
Per Starback, Uppsala, Sweden. email: starback at minsk.docs.uu.se
"Life is but a gamble! Let flipism chart your ramble!"
> As much as I've enjoyed the list and would like to continue, pressing
> business requires I spend no more time reading this. Please unsubscribe
> me for the time being. If possible I may return. WHH
Welcome back then. Since I guess this is a time of the year that lots
of persons will unsubscribe from this (and other) lists, I'll take
this opportunity to remind everyone that there is an administrative
address of the list, disney-comics-request at minsk.docs.uu.se, and that
that kind of address (with "-request" added after the name of the
list) is very common. Please use it!
-- "
Per Starback, Uppsala, Sweden. email: starback at minsk.docs.uu.se
"Life is but a gamble! Let flipism chart your ramble!"
HATHAWAY
UNSUBSCRIBE
Message 230 -
1994-04-29 at 01:34:58
As much as I've enjoyed the list and would like to continue, pressing
business requires I spend no more time reading this. Please unsubscribe
me for the time being. If possible I may return. WHH
business requires I spend no more time reading this. Please unsubscribe
me for the time being. If possible I may return. WHH
David A Gerstein
Gladstone's publication frequency and ads
Message 231 -
1994-04-29 at 04:52:24
Dear Folks (and Gary Leach, to whom I am also posting this in
the hope that it will have an effect),
The real problem with Disney comics in America is that no one,
including most people who would like them, is aware of their
existence.
The word has gone around my school that I work with Disney
characters (because last year when I first began working for Egmont, I
foolishly shot my mouth off about it). Most people think I write
television cartoons for the Disney Afternoon (!) if I mention the
Ducks.
When I explain that, no, there are actually COMIC BOOKS out
there with the characters, people are amazed. Many Disney fans I know
have *never* seen them or even heard of them. A lot of people faintly
remember the Gladstones from the first run, but only as a dim memory
and believe now that the comics are no longer made.
Gladstone needs to increase its production schedule. If the
company feels that having bimonthly comics means that they are on sale
longer, they're right. But from what I've seen, comics will appear,
and however many are bought, they tend to be bought quickly. The new
issues will come, and in a month or less, all the copies that are
GOING to be bought have BEEN bought. (And those that are left are
often yanked anyway -- see below.)
Most shops I know buy a relatively small number of Gladstones.
They generally sell pretty well. But since so few are issued, there
are just not a sizeable NUMBER of Disney comics on the racks at any
given time. The fans who know about them are clearly buying them,
but the books aren't visible enough -- due to the bimonthly schedule --
to be seen by a lot of people. As a result, though the comics do a
brisk business (as noted, better than Disney Comics did) with many
CONSISTENT buyers, the shops feel no need to INCREASE their orders,
because no one else KNOWS about their existence and asks for them.
Further news: I know of virtually no shops, either direct or
regular market, which leave DD on the racks when DDA comes out and
vice versa. Same with US and USA. D&M and WDC&S often share a rack,
because they are obviously different titles. But dealers who know
little about Disney comics simply assume that Donald Duck gets one
title a month, and when one appears, it's time to yank the other one
because the month is over. By contrast, way back when two DD and US
titles came out each month, their frequency (as with DC'S Superman
comics now) was a clear cue to all shops to leave them both on sale
at once.
Gladstone needs to advertise more. By all means, the Disney
comics should be advertised in Hamilton's Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
comic. And in the Marvel Disney comics. And Disney ADVENTURES as
well -- I have heard that this was too expensive... but that was when
the new titles were just starting up, and now they're apparently more
successful. Can this be afforded now? Second, Gladstone could make
publicity posters available to comic shops, and ads with the same
design for comic "fanboy" magazines (not just the CBG, but I mean
magazines which kids at comic shops buy), which simply advertise the
comics with dynamic panel art from the stories. The posters could be
along the lines of Gladstone's 1988 subscription ad, but with an added
punch. I propose this:
* * * * *
(Top 1/4 of poster)
[in big letters] "DUCK!"
[Barks images of Donald and US, a FG Mickey, and a Jaime Diaz
Goofy [?] running, as a "tidal wave" of Gladstone comics, made from
cover reproductions, flops toward them from right]
(Middle half of poster)
"What's so special about Gladstone's Disney comics? They have
ADVENTURE! [Splash from "Lost in the Andes," DD and kids
discovering Plain Awful]
THRILLS! [From "Monarch of Medioka": "That's the end of yer
power, Duke Varlott -- ya big *dumb* palooka!"]
COMEDY! [From "Master of the Mississippi": Scrooge, Ratchet,
and ship's cabin impaled on steeple, as Scrooge rattles off a list of
the Beagle Boys' crimes ending with "dressing up in *women's
clothing!*"]
The stories of CARL BARKS, DON ROSA, FLOYD GOTTFREDSON, AL
TALIAFERRO, and other top talent!"
(Bottom 1/4 of poster)
[A jumble of cover logos from the various comics, and then at
bottom:]
GLADSTONE WALT DISNEY COMICS! Catch them HERE!" [Clarabelle
Cow from "The Great Orphanage Robbery": "I'm so excited I could break
down on all fours and *moo!*"]
* * * * *
Next, Gladstone really needs to restore "CROSSTALK," or
something similar, to their comics. Last fall someone wrote in asking
for that, and was told, "We'd like to add it again, but as it stands
now, we would have to drop an ad page for that, and cannot do it."
But as of last month, every Gladstone comic has had enough space to
run an extra 1-pager on the inside back cover. I'd sure like to see
"CROSSTALK" there. I could *write* it if Gladstone wants!
I think if any one of the above suggestions is more important
than the others, it is to issue the comics more often. If Disney will
not let Gladstone add additional titles to the line, I cannot see how
they could object to the current ones more often. I suggest WDC&S and
US being published 10 times annually (due to their serial format,
which is kinda slow to follow over two-month breaks), and the others
8 times annually. If Gladstone decided it had the manpower to make
WDCiC (before Disney refused) then maybe this is possible.
Some of the above suggestions may be very naive, because
although I know a lot about the stories themselves, I know little
about the distribution and advertising of comics in this country. But
I know that many potential readers simply don't know about the comics.
Yours,
David Gerstein
<David.A.Gerstein at Williams.edu>
the hope that it will have an effect),
The real problem with Disney comics in America is that no one,
including most people who would like them, is aware of their
existence.
The word has gone around my school that I work with Disney
characters (because last year when I first began working for Egmont, I
foolishly shot my mouth off about it). Most people think I write
television cartoons for the Disney Afternoon (!) if I mention the
Ducks.
When I explain that, no, there are actually COMIC BOOKS out
there with the characters, people are amazed. Many Disney fans I know
have *never* seen them or even heard of them. A lot of people faintly
remember the Gladstones from the first run, but only as a dim memory
and believe now that the comics are no longer made.
Gladstone needs to increase its production schedule. If the
company feels that having bimonthly comics means that they are on sale
longer, they're right. But from what I've seen, comics will appear,
and however many are bought, they tend to be bought quickly. The new
issues will come, and in a month or less, all the copies that are
GOING to be bought have BEEN bought. (And those that are left are
often yanked anyway -- see below.)
Most shops I know buy a relatively small number of Gladstones.
They generally sell pretty well. But since so few are issued, there
are just not a sizeable NUMBER of Disney comics on the racks at any
given time. The fans who know about them are clearly buying them,
but the books aren't visible enough -- due to the bimonthly schedule --
to be seen by a lot of people. As a result, though the comics do a
brisk business (as noted, better than Disney Comics did) with many
CONSISTENT buyers, the shops feel no need to INCREASE their orders,
because no one else KNOWS about their existence and asks for them.
Further news: I know of virtually no shops, either direct or
regular market, which leave DD on the racks when DDA comes out and
vice versa. Same with US and USA. D&M and WDC&S often share a rack,
because they are obviously different titles. But dealers who know
little about Disney comics simply assume that Donald Duck gets one
title a month, and when one appears, it's time to yank the other one
because the month is over. By contrast, way back when two DD and US
titles came out each month, their frequency (as with DC'S Superman
comics now) was a clear cue to all shops to leave them both on sale
at once.
Gladstone needs to advertise more. By all means, the Disney
comics should be advertised in Hamilton's Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
comic. And in the Marvel Disney comics. And Disney ADVENTURES as
well -- I have heard that this was too expensive... but that was when
the new titles were just starting up, and now they're apparently more
successful. Can this be afforded now? Second, Gladstone could make
publicity posters available to comic shops, and ads with the same
design for comic "fanboy" magazines (not just the CBG, but I mean
magazines which kids at comic shops buy), which simply advertise the
comics with dynamic panel art from the stories. The posters could be
along the lines of Gladstone's 1988 subscription ad, but with an added
punch. I propose this:
* * * * *
(Top 1/4 of poster)
[in big letters] "DUCK!"
[Barks images of Donald and US, a FG Mickey, and a Jaime Diaz
Goofy [?] running, as a "tidal wave" of Gladstone comics, made from
cover reproductions, flops toward them from right]
(Middle half of poster)
"What's so special about Gladstone's Disney comics? They have
ADVENTURE! [Splash from "Lost in the Andes," DD and kids
discovering Plain Awful]
THRILLS! [From "Monarch of Medioka": "That's the end of yer
power, Duke Varlott -- ya big *dumb* palooka!"]
COMEDY! [From "Master of the Mississippi": Scrooge, Ratchet,
and ship's cabin impaled on steeple, as Scrooge rattles off a list of
the Beagle Boys' crimes ending with "dressing up in *women's
clothing!*"]
The stories of CARL BARKS, DON ROSA, FLOYD GOTTFREDSON, AL
TALIAFERRO, and other top talent!"
(Bottom 1/4 of poster)
[A jumble of cover logos from the various comics, and then at
bottom:]
GLADSTONE WALT DISNEY COMICS! Catch them HERE!" [Clarabelle
Cow from "The Great Orphanage Robbery": "I'm so excited I could break
down on all fours and *moo!*"]
* * * * *
Next, Gladstone really needs to restore "CROSSTALK," or
something similar, to their comics. Last fall someone wrote in asking
for that, and was told, "We'd like to add it again, but as it stands
now, we would have to drop an ad page for that, and cannot do it."
But as of last month, every Gladstone comic has had enough space to
run an extra 1-pager on the inside back cover. I'd sure like to see
"CROSSTALK" there. I could *write* it if Gladstone wants!
I think if any one of the above suggestions is more important
than the others, it is to issue the comics more often. If Disney will
not let Gladstone add additional titles to the line, I cannot see how
they could object to the current ones more often. I suggest WDC&S and
US being published 10 times annually (due to their serial format,
which is kinda slow to follow over two-month breaks), and the others
8 times annually. If Gladstone decided it had the manpower to make
WDCiC (before Disney refused) then maybe this is possible.
Some of the above suggestions may be very naive, because
although I know a lot about the stories themselves, I know little
about the distribution and advertising of comics in this country. But
I know that many potential readers simply don't know about the comics.
Yours,
David Gerstein
<David.A.Gerstein at Williams.edu>
David A Gerstein
Gladstone, continued
Message 232 -
1994-04-29 at 05:48:52
Dear Folks,
One other comment about Gladstone's sales. I think that at a
lot of comic shops, more Gladstones are ordered than they sell. The
LO$, by contrast, sells out consistently... Again, though, I'm sure
that US and *every* other Disney title would sell even *better* if it
was published more frequently and advertised more widely.
David Gerstein
One other comment about Gladstone's sales. I think that at a
lot of comic shops, more Gladstones are ordered than they sell. The
LO$, by contrast, sells out consistently... Again, though, I'm sure
that US and *every* other Disney title would sell even *better* if it
was published more frequently and advertised more widely.
David Gerstein
Don Rosa
Disney-comics digest #313.
Message 233 -
1994-04-29 at 06:50:41
ANDREW:
Newsstand copies of Gladstone comics are handled by Marvel, and
if Marvels are on the stands in Australia/New Zealand, then it must be
Marvel's job to distribute the Gladstones there. However, even though
I'm sure Gladstone AND DISNEY are expecting Marvel to be living up to
their agreement, I very, very seldom see the "Disney Comics distributed
by Marvel" Gladstones on the American newsstands next to the other
Marvels. They sell out before I see them? Yeah, right. No, it may be
Marvel falling down on the job, or even the local distributors or stand
owners who know what a waste of time it is to set out the Disney comics
since, after all, "they're not like normal comics" and that most
American kids shun them like books or good music or black & white
movies.
MIKKO:
There's no reason to mention anything to your Finnish Egmont
branch about the coloring of their comics. The coloring is all done on
computers in Copenhagen and sent to the branches on disc or something.
Your publisher has no control over those colors -- if the color is good
or bad in one Egmont country, it will be identicle in ALL Egmont
countries... and even in many other publishers who use Egmont's computer
coloring (like Oberon).
Doggone -- what is it I try to remember to call Oberon now? QV
or something?
HARRY:
QV?
What color did I intend the Beagle Boys' sweaters to be, before
or after incarceration? Uh... I don't think I even considered it. I
think I would say that I figured their clothing beforehand to be
completely different since I show it to be ragged with patches. In fact,
did you notice that each of the three Beagles had a different set of
patches on his knees and elbows? One had squares, one had circles, and
one had both. (Hm... actually, if that WAS the case, the result would be
that the patches on the identicle Beagles would seem completely random.
What a waste of my time!) Anyway, I figured that the later clothing was
new prison-issue -- I didn't think the patches healed.
S'funny that the Egmont coloring looked better to you... but I
think I see your point. The Egmont colorists are not "artists" and
never tried to be very creative with shading or such, nor did they
worry too much about what color things should be. But they DID seem to
spend more time coloring the details. That might put them and me in the
same league -- I'm not such a refined cartoonist, so I try to make up
for it by putting in all that extra detail.
SIGURDUR:
So, do you want Icelandic copies or American copies of the Lo$
#1? BOTH would be a problem. It's very unlikely that I have an extra
Iceland issue, and I hafta fight to get the very few American issues I
have. I usually have plenty of Norwegian copies, Norway being the ONLY
publisher who sends me copies. Well... Denmark sends ONE and Gladstone
sends TWO, which ain't many, but then everyone else on earth sends NIL.
Which remonds me -- Harry, what story of mine has Oberon-QV-whateveritis
published lately???
Sigurdur, your best bet is to send me a copy to be signed. Is
that okay? (Of course, this goes for EVERYBODY, anytime.)
Newsstand copies of Gladstone comics are handled by Marvel, and
if Marvels are on the stands in Australia/New Zealand, then it must be
Marvel's job to distribute the Gladstones there. However, even though
I'm sure Gladstone AND DISNEY are expecting Marvel to be living up to
their agreement, I very, very seldom see the "Disney Comics distributed
by Marvel" Gladstones on the American newsstands next to the other
Marvels. They sell out before I see them? Yeah, right. No, it may be
Marvel falling down on the job, or even the local distributors or stand
owners who know what a waste of time it is to set out the Disney comics
since, after all, "they're not like normal comics" and that most
American kids shun them like books or good music or black & white
movies.
MIKKO:
There's no reason to mention anything to your Finnish Egmont
branch about the coloring of their comics. The coloring is all done on
computers in Copenhagen and sent to the branches on disc or something.
Your publisher has no control over those colors -- if the color is good
or bad in one Egmont country, it will be identicle in ALL Egmont
countries... and even in many other publishers who use Egmont's computer
coloring (like Oberon).
Doggone -- what is it I try to remember to call Oberon now? QV
or something?
HARRY:
QV?
What color did I intend the Beagle Boys' sweaters to be, before
or after incarceration? Uh... I don't think I even considered it. I
think I would say that I figured their clothing beforehand to be
completely different since I show it to be ragged with patches. In fact,
did you notice that each of the three Beagles had a different set of
patches on his knees and elbows? One had squares, one had circles, and
one had both. (Hm... actually, if that WAS the case, the result would be
that the patches on the identicle Beagles would seem completely random.
What a waste of my time!) Anyway, I figured that the later clothing was
new prison-issue -- I didn't think the patches healed.
S'funny that the Egmont coloring looked better to you... but I
think I see your point. The Egmont colorists are not "artists" and
never tried to be very creative with shading or such, nor did they
worry too much about what color things should be. But they DID seem to
spend more time coloring the details. That might put them and me in the
same league -- I'm not such a refined cartoonist, so I try to make up
for it by putting in all that extra detail.
SIGURDUR:
So, do you want Icelandic copies or American copies of the Lo$
#1? BOTH would be a problem. It's very unlikely that I have an extra
Iceland issue, and I hafta fight to get the very few American issues I
have. I usually have plenty of Norwegian copies, Norway being the ONLY
publisher who sends me copies. Well... Denmark sends ONE and Gladstone
sends TWO, which ain't many, but then everyone else on earth sends NIL.
Which remonds me -- Harry, what story of mine has Oberon-QV-whateveritis
published lately???
Sigurdur, your best bet is to send me a copy to be signed. Is
that okay? (Of course, this goes for EVERYBODY, anytime.)
Elon V. Brisola
Help gettin' LO$
Message 234 -
1994-04-29 at 10:09:42
Hi,
I went to Sao Paulo last weekend (I'm in Brazil) to see if I could get
some Gladstones. Lots of American "super-hero" comics there, but very
few Gladstones or import Disney comics at all!
So ...
I'd like to get LO$. My best bet is to subscribe to the US publication.
Can some kind soul tell me Gladstone's address, and which title should I
subscribe to in order to get LO$??
I would probably wait forever to see it published here...
On an aside, there was a thread on duck heroes a while ago (Paperinik).
Has anybody seen stories in which Fethry Duck is a superhero (Batman-like,
but Fethry-style, if you know what I mean)? The name was "Morcego Vermelho"
in Brazil. I wonder if it could be a Brazil-only creation.
Though this one was not bad, I'm sorry to say that Brazilian made stories
are not good in my opinion. There was a series of stories (also published
in Denmark, I guess) in which the Disney characters formed a "space patrol"!
Cheers,
Elon
I went to Sao Paulo last weekend (I'm in Brazil) to see if I could get
some Gladstones. Lots of American "super-hero" comics there, but very
few Gladstones or import Disney comics at all!
So ...
I'd like to get LO$. My best bet is to subscribe to the US publication.
Can some kind soul tell me Gladstone's address, and which title should I
subscribe to in order to get LO$??
I would probably wait forever to see it published here...
On an aside, there was a thread on duck heroes a while ago (Paperinik).
Has anybody seen stories in which Fethry Duck is a superhero (Batman-like,
but Fethry-style, if you know what I mean)? The name was "Morcego Vermelho"
in Brazil. I wonder if it could be a Brazil-only creation.
Though this one was not bad, I'm sorry to say that Brazilian made stories
are not good in my opinion. There was a series of stories (also published
in Denmark, I guess) in which the Disney characters formed a "space patrol"!
Cheers,
Elon
Harry Fluks
Colo(u)rs in Lo$ 2
Message 235 -
1994-04-29 at 10:35:34
DON:
> Doggone -- what is it I try to remember to call Oberon now? QV
> or something?
The Disney publisher in the Netherlands (formerly part of the bigger
company Oberon) is now called GP (Great Pain).
Which reminds me: names like Egmont, GP, Gutenberghus, Oberon should
certainly be explained in our FAQ. Maybe in an alphabetic words list?
(About the Beagle Boys' sweaters in Life of Scrooge part 2 in Europe:)
> did you notice that each of the three Beagles had a different set of
> patches on his knees and elbows?
No, I didn't (and I'm ashamed). I'll have a look if that is consistent with
the colours of the sweaters.
BTW: one bad Gladstone colouring that annoyed me: on one panel, after the
Beagle Boys get mud all over them, one BB takes off his mask. In Europe,
the mud is dark brown, while the un-mudded skin (where the mask was) is
"skin-colour". It looks very funny. In the Gladstone version, mud and skin
have (almost) the same colour, spoiling the effect of the panel.
> S'funny that the Egmont coloring looked better to you...
Well, I was talking specifically about Lo$ part 2. I haven't seen part 11
yet. And as far as I could see, European part 2 had only one colouring error:
a USA state coloured blue...
> Harry, what story of mine has Oberon-QV-whateveritis published lately???
Only Lo$ stories. Part 6 (the Transvaal story) has been published last week.
Your Lo$ stories now mostly serve as a backup story, so without special
covers.
Your copies of Dutch parts 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 are virtually on their way.
--Harry.
> Doggone -- what is it I try to remember to call Oberon now? QV
> or something?
The Disney publisher in the Netherlands (formerly part of the bigger
company Oberon) is now called GP (Great Pain).
Which reminds me: names like Egmont, GP, Gutenberghus, Oberon should
certainly be explained in our FAQ. Maybe in an alphabetic words list?
(About the Beagle Boys' sweaters in Life of Scrooge part 2 in Europe:)
> did you notice that each of the three Beagles had a different set of
> patches on his knees and elbows?
No, I didn't (and I'm ashamed). I'll have a look if that is consistent with
the colours of the sweaters.
BTW: one bad Gladstone colouring that annoyed me: on one panel, after the
Beagle Boys get mud all over them, one BB takes off his mask. In Europe,
the mud is dark brown, while the un-mudded skin (where the mask was) is
"skin-colour". It looks very funny. In the Gladstone version, mud and skin
have (almost) the same colour, spoiling the effect of the panel.
> S'funny that the Egmont coloring looked better to you...
Well, I was talking specifically about Lo$ part 2. I haven't seen part 11
yet. And as far as I could see, European part 2 had only one colouring error:
a USA state coloured blue...
> Harry, what story of mine has Oberon-QV-whateveritis published lately???
Only Lo$ stories. Part 6 (the Transvaal story) has been published last week.
Your Lo$ stories now mostly serve as a backup story, so without special
covers.
Your copies of Dutch parts 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 are virtually on their way.
--Harry.
Mark Mayerson
Gladstone
Message 236 -
1994-04-29 at 16:56:30
I can't agree with David about Gladstone publishing more titles. I think
that's been the bane of the American comics biz. Marvel regularly expands
with dozens of extra titles, trying to monopolize shelf space. Inevitably,
the retailers can't support this expansion and everything collapses back
to a normal level.
Some of the most successful comics companies have done it with very few
titles. EC and early '60's Marvel both succeeded with under 10 titles
per company. How many Disney titles were regularly published in the
1950's anyway?
I do agree with David that Gladstone needs to advertise better. They've
got to create more of a demand for the titles, so that readers ask for
them and retailers stock them.
On a different subject, in Toronto I've seen Marvel distributed Disneys
at Coles bookstores, including the immodestly and innacurately titled
World's Biggest Bookstore. I don't have any idea how well they sell,
though.
___________________________________________________________________
Mark Mayerson Side Effects Software Inc.,
Internet: mayerson at sidefx.com Toronto, Ontario, Canada
(416) 366-4607
that's been the bane of the American comics biz. Marvel regularly expands
with dozens of extra titles, trying to monopolize shelf space. Inevitably,
the retailers can't support this expansion and everything collapses back
to a normal level.
Some of the most successful comics companies have done it with very few
titles. EC and early '60's Marvel both succeeded with under 10 titles
per company. How many Disney titles were regularly published in the
1950's anyway?
I do agree with David that Gladstone needs to advertise better. They've
got to create more of a demand for the titles, so that readers ask for
them and retailers stock them.
On a different subject, in Toronto I've seen Marvel distributed Disneys
at Coles bookstores, including the immodestly and innacurately titled
World's Biggest Bookstore. I don't have any idea how well they sell,
though.
___________________________________________________________________
Mark Mayerson Side Effects Software Inc.,
Internet: mayerson at sidefx.com Toronto, Ontario, Canada
(416) 366-4607
Kwok Hung IP
Disney-comics digest #313.
Message 237 -
1994-04-29 at 17:17:56
In reply to your message on Apr 28, 23:50 SUBJECT: <Disney-comics digest #313.>:
> Sigurdur, your best bet is to send me a copy to be signed. Is
>that okay? (Of course, this goes for EVERYBODY, anytime.)
>
> -------------------end of your message-----------
Cool. Where should we mail it to?
Cheers...
--
=============================================================================
Jack Kwok Hung Ip | McGill University
ipkh at binkley.cs.mcgill.ca | Montreal, Quebec, Canada
=============================================================================
> Sigurdur, your best bet is to send me a copy to be signed. Is
>that okay? (Of course, this goes for EVERYBODY, anytime.)
>
> -------------------end of your message-----------
Cool. Where should we mail it to?
Cheers...
--
=============================================================================
Jack Kwok Hung Ip | McGill University
ipkh at binkley.cs.mcgill.ca | Montreal, Quebec, Canada
=============================================================================
Lars
Disney-comics digest #313.
Message 238 -
1994-04-29 at 17:57:28
> ANDREW:
> Newsstand copies of Gladstone comics are handled by Marvel, and
> if Marvels are on the stands in Australia/New Zealand, then it must be
> Marvel's job to distribute the Gladstones there. However, even though
> I'm sure Gladstone AND DISNEY are expecting Marvel to be living up to
> their agreement, I very, very seldom see the "Disney Comics distributed
> by Marvel" Gladstones on the American newsstands next to the other
> Marvels. They sell out before I see them? Yeah, right. No, it may be
> Marvel falling down on the job, or even the local distributors or stand
> owners who know what a waste of time it is to set out the Disney comics
Here in San Jose, all the Marvel stands I have seen (3-5) have had
their Gladstones in them. It works - I bought LO$ 2 on impulse even though
I'm really waiting for the book version.
/Lars Petrus
> Newsstand copies of Gladstone comics are handled by Marvel, and
> if Marvels are on the stands in Australia/New Zealand, then it must be
> Marvel's job to distribute the Gladstones there. However, even though
> I'm sure Gladstone AND DISNEY are expecting Marvel to be living up to
> their agreement, I very, very seldom see the "Disney Comics distributed
> by Marvel" Gladstones on the American newsstands next to the other
> Marvels. They sell out before I see them? Yeah, right. No, it may be
> Marvel falling down on the job, or even the local distributors or stand
> owners who know what a waste of time it is to set out the Disney comics
Here in San Jose, all the Marvel stands I have seen (3-5) have had
their Gladstones in them. It works - I bought LO$ 2 on impulse even though
I'm really waiting for the book version.
/Lars Petrus
Andrew Krieg 5-5379
Disney-comics digest #312.
Message 239 -
1994-04-29 at 18:13:20
>>If Disney had never taken over from Gladstone, does anyone
>>think that Gladstone would be more successful now?
Perhaps. As Don noted, sales dropped from 70,000 to 40,000 during
their run. I myself believe a big part of the decline was due to
the massive price increase. Jumping from $.95 to $1.50 was a huge increase,
especially when most of the more popular super-hero comics were still in
the $1.00-1.25 range.
I remember as a kid, scrimping and saving so I could afford a .25 or .30
comic. Kids today have it very, very rough! Since we are an adult group
discussing Disney comics, we tend to forget that kids are a large part of
comic sales.
I cringe every time I see a price increase now. They raise prices .25 at
at a time (no more nickel and dime stuff). I find this outrageous. The
most recent increases were totally greed motivated, as inflation has been
held in check for quite some time now.
How do prices for Disney comics in other countries compare to the current
Gladstone pricing?
>>think that Gladstone would be more successful now?
Perhaps. As Don noted, sales dropped from 70,000 to 40,000 during
their run. I myself believe a big part of the decline was due to
the massive price increase. Jumping from $.95 to $1.50 was a huge increase,
especially when most of the more popular super-hero comics were still in
the $1.00-1.25 range.
I remember as a kid, scrimping and saving so I could afford a .25 or .30
comic. Kids today have it very, very rough! Since we are an adult group
discussing Disney comics, we tend to forget that kids are a large part of
comic sales.
I cringe every time I see a price increase now. They raise prices .25 at
at a time (no more nickel and dime stuff). I find this outrageous. The
most recent increases were totally greed motivated, as inflation has been
held in check for quite some time now.
How do prices for Disney comics in other countries compare to the current
Gladstone pricing?
Fabio Gadducci
I'm back...
Message 240 -
1994-04-29 at 18:58:32
... I'm baaaaaack.
Hello, my dear friends. It is nice to come back home and find my e-mail box
filled with yours letters...
A long time ago, James Williams asked
>Fabio, who is Paperinik? I've never heard of this character?
and Don added
>PAPERINIK:
> As violently opposed to this idea of demeaning Donald Duck with
>American-super-herodom, I see these in the digests (of Italian stuff)
>they send me from Scandanavia and these stories are apparently not as
>bad as one might fear. Donald doesn't actually have super-powers, but
>he has all sorts of gadgets made for him by Gyro. Still, it makes me
>wanna cry...
and
> What do the Paperinik fans think of my "Super Snooper Strikes
>Again"? Not many of them have ever seen ANY of my work. They have
>nothing but digest-type Disney books in Italy (other than some Barks
>reprint series), so the Italians never see my work nor any comic book
>style Disney stuff (or so I'm told). But then, I guess the many readers
>of the Scandanavian Italian-reprint-digests see my stories; I don't know
>what they think, but I do know that they understand that the comic books
>and the digests are like two different "universes" of Disney stuff --
>sorta like DuckTales is to us.
Well, I can only add that Paperink was created in the Sixties by Guido
Martina e Giovanbattista Carpi. As I wrote some time ago to David,
"Paperinik was created with a parodistic intent: during the Sixties, in
Italy were well spread a kind of comics called 'I neri' as a genre. Their
"heroes" were violent, ruthless law-breakers. Their names, very derivative
of the first one of them, Diabolik, always ended with a K: Satanik,
Demoniak and so on...
Besides, in the same period there was a revival of Fantomas, a French pulp
character of the first years of the century, whose first story with
Paperinik is reminiscent of (as for the name as Fantomius, the former owner
of the building were DD decides to become Paperinik, after reading that
guy's diary, and so on...)"
I think Paperinik is a good character, very nice. But I know that, for Don,
any Italian story happens in a different universe... :-)
Then David
> RoC described Scrooge-as-newseditor Strobl stories
> ==================================================
> This is not directed at YOU RoC... but... I don't know about
>anyone else, but I would never buy ANYTHING like this.
while Ole
> They do, however, within the limits of the set-up, excell in stringent
>plots, ironic comments, and absurd events, otherwise unknown to Disney
>comics. Without dismissing the role of the (unknown?) scripter, this is
>IMHO Strobl's most original contribution to disneydom.
I'm sure that nostalgia plays a big part here, but... yes, I like those
stories, too! I find them quite amusing, even if maybe the translation
makes the difference in these stories...
And then Don
> Any Disney
>freelancer is free from the worry of ever receiving royalties for his
>work... that's why you only see the work coming from art studios in
>Chile and Spain and Italy and other economically primitive countries.
>That's why somebody like Daan Jippes got OUT of it a decade or two ago.
To tell the truth, the Italian situation is quite different. The most
important stories in Italy came not from studios: nor Scarpa neither
Cavazzano, Bottaro, Carpi were part or owned a studio. All of them worked
freelance and, as for you, they did not take any royalties for reprintings
and other stuff. Sadly to say, even Mondadori in the Seventies found
cheaper to buy from studios, as for "Comicup" and "Staff di If": the first
one is Spanish (as for Ferioli), the second one Italian...
Then David
> Air Pirates Funnies
> ===================
>Ron Evry: "Dan O'Neill knew what MM was all about twenty
>years ago. THAT mouse had character!"
> This is a reference to a series of underground comics, only 2
>of which were published, titled _Air Pirates Funnies._ These
>contained pornographic adventures of Mickey Mouse, Bucky Bug, and
>"Dirty Duck" (a parody of George Herriman's "Gooseberry Sprigg"
>character in _Krazy Kat_). I consider those comics a good parody of
>society as symbolized by Disney, but I *DON'T* appreciate what they
>did to Floyd Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse.
> Disney sued Air Pirates Inc. for plagiarism -- I think that
>they were justified, honestly. They settled for rights to the two
>comics rather than an enormous fine.
Ah, I (almost) got you.The Air Pirates printed also a special issue: "the
turtle and the hare", reprinting the whole cartoon spin-off. Great stuff,
really.
David again
> Mattias referred to
> ===================
>"Paul Murry's daily Mickey Mouse strip" as it appeared in WDC&S.
>Well, I know that Murry did some of the pencilling on "The House of
>Mystery" which ran in WDC&S 72-74. He of course did a lot of work on
>the long "gag" period from 1944-45. Unfortunately, I just don't have
>enough of the issues from the 1940s period (about 35%) to tell you
>which ones contain Murry's work. Worse, the gags (presented as
>half-pagers) have all had dates removed, so the reader must go by the
>mere inking style alone. It's tough, because Murry was trying very
>hard to imitate FG at the time.
I have no time at all to check, but Becattini's Index has all the
information on the strips of that period, and looking in my collection of
the Italian edition of FG reprints I could tell you exactly which are the
contents of the ones by Murry...
Finally, David :-)
> As for Snow White sequels -- Pedrocchi and his gang did one
>around 1940 in Italy, which to this day is the Italian story that has
>been printed more times than any other. "Snow White and the Magic
>Basilico" (what's a Basilico? That's one word I can't translate)
Well, you got the name wrong! Basilisco means (sweet) basil. The correct
title is "Snow White and Basilisk, the wizard". There was another sequel
during the early Mondadori years, with the same authors. Besides, Snoe
White appeared in some Italian stories with the other Disney characters (as
in Paperin Fracassa, a great 1965 story by Scarpa). During the late
Eighties, Romano Scarpa himself wrote another sequel, linking directly with
the end of the movie. Till now, he wrote 2 other long stories, all linked
together. Not his best works, imho.
Last two things.
Here I am , Dwight.
And about the comics price: I usually pay 1300 liras for each dollar, that
is, a little less than the current exchange rate. My dealer get his comics
directly from Diamond, so that they give him a 40% discount over the price
of each sigle comic, and he can sell them to me with a 20% discount.
Bye for now,
Fabio
================================================================
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
================================================================
Hello, my dear friends. It is nice to come back home and find my e-mail box
filled with yours letters...
A long time ago, James Williams asked
>Fabio, who is Paperinik? I've never heard of this character?
and Don added
>PAPERINIK:
> As violently opposed to this idea of demeaning Donald Duck with
>American-super-herodom, I see these in the digests (of Italian stuff)
>they send me from Scandanavia and these stories are apparently not as
>bad as one might fear. Donald doesn't actually have super-powers, but
>he has all sorts of gadgets made for him by Gyro. Still, it makes me
>wanna cry...
and
> What do the Paperinik fans think of my "Super Snooper Strikes
>Again"? Not many of them have ever seen ANY of my work. They have
>nothing but digest-type Disney books in Italy (other than some Barks
>reprint series), so the Italians never see my work nor any comic book
>style Disney stuff (or so I'm told). But then, I guess the many readers
>of the Scandanavian Italian-reprint-digests see my stories; I don't know
>what they think, but I do know that they understand that the comic books
>and the digests are like two different "universes" of Disney stuff --
>sorta like DuckTales is to us.
Well, I can only add that Paperink was created in the Sixties by Guido
Martina e Giovanbattista Carpi. As I wrote some time ago to David,
"Paperinik was created with a parodistic intent: during the Sixties, in
Italy were well spread a kind of comics called 'I neri' as a genre. Their
"heroes" were violent, ruthless law-breakers. Their names, very derivative
of the first one of them, Diabolik, always ended with a K: Satanik,
Demoniak and so on...
Besides, in the same period there was a revival of Fantomas, a French pulp
character of the first years of the century, whose first story with
Paperinik is reminiscent of (as for the name as Fantomius, the former owner
of the building were DD decides to become Paperinik, after reading that
guy's diary, and so on...)"
I think Paperinik is a good character, very nice. But I know that, for Don,
any Italian story happens in a different universe... :-)
Then David
> RoC described Scrooge-as-newseditor Strobl stories
> ==================================================
> This is not directed at YOU RoC... but... I don't know about
>anyone else, but I would never buy ANYTHING like this.
while Ole
> They do, however, within the limits of the set-up, excell in stringent
>plots, ironic comments, and absurd events, otherwise unknown to Disney
>comics. Without dismissing the role of the (unknown?) scripter, this is
>IMHO Strobl's most original contribution to disneydom.
I'm sure that nostalgia plays a big part here, but... yes, I like those
stories, too! I find them quite amusing, even if maybe the translation
makes the difference in these stories...
And then Don
> Any Disney
>freelancer is free from the worry of ever receiving royalties for his
>work... that's why you only see the work coming from art studios in
>Chile and Spain and Italy and other economically primitive countries.
>That's why somebody like Daan Jippes got OUT of it a decade or two ago.
To tell the truth, the Italian situation is quite different. The most
important stories in Italy came not from studios: nor Scarpa neither
Cavazzano, Bottaro, Carpi were part or owned a studio. All of them worked
freelance and, as for you, they did not take any royalties for reprintings
and other stuff. Sadly to say, even Mondadori in the Seventies found
cheaper to buy from studios, as for "Comicup" and "Staff di If": the first
one is Spanish (as for Ferioli), the second one Italian...
Then David
> Air Pirates Funnies
> ===================
>Ron Evry: "Dan O'Neill knew what MM was all about twenty
>years ago. THAT mouse had character!"
> This is a reference to a series of underground comics, only 2
>of which were published, titled _Air Pirates Funnies._ These
>contained pornographic adventures of Mickey Mouse, Bucky Bug, and
>"Dirty Duck" (a parody of George Herriman's "Gooseberry Sprigg"
>character in _Krazy Kat_). I consider those comics a good parody of
>society as symbolized by Disney, but I *DON'T* appreciate what they
>did to Floyd Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse.
> Disney sued Air Pirates Inc. for plagiarism -- I think that
>they were justified, honestly. They settled for rights to the two
>comics rather than an enormous fine.
Ah, I (almost) got you.The Air Pirates printed also a special issue: "the
turtle and the hare", reprinting the whole cartoon spin-off. Great stuff,
really.
David again
> Mattias referred to
> ===================
>"Paul Murry's daily Mickey Mouse strip" as it appeared in WDC&S.
>Well, I know that Murry did some of the pencilling on "The House of
>Mystery" which ran in WDC&S 72-74. He of course did a lot of work on
>the long "gag" period from 1944-45. Unfortunately, I just don't have
>enough of the issues from the 1940s period (about 35%) to tell you
>which ones contain Murry's work. Worse, the gags (presented as
>half-pagers) have all had dates removed, so the reader must go by the
>mere inking style alone. It's tough, because Murry was trying very
>hard to imitate FG at the time.
I have no time at all to check, but Becattini's Index has all the
information on the strips of that period, and looking in my collection of
the Italian edition of FG reprints I could tell you exactly which are the
contents of the ones by Murry...
Finally, David :-)
> As for Snow White sequels -- Pedrocchi and his gang did one
>around 1940 in Italy, which to this day is the Italian story that has
>been printed more times than any other. "Snow White and the Magic
>Basilico" (what's a Basilico? That's one word I can't translate)
Well, you got the name wrong! Basilisco means (sweet) basil. The correct
title is "Snow White and Basilisk, the wizard". There was another sequel
during the early Mondadori years, with the same authors. Besides, Snoe
White appeared in some Italian stories with the other Disney characters (as
in Paperin Fracassa, a great 1965 story by Scarpa). During the late
Eighties, Romano Scarpa himself wrote another sequel, linking directly with
the end of the movie. Till now, he wrote 2 other long stories, all linked
together. Not his best works, imho.
Last two things.
Here I am , Dwight.
And about the comics price: I usually pay 1300 liras for each dollar, that
is, a little less than the current exchange rate. My dealer get his comics
directly from Diamond, so that they give him a 40% discount over the price
of each sigle comic, and he can sell them to me with a 20% discount.
Bye for now,
Fabio
================================================================
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
================================================================