Keskustelujen arkisto

I was kinda surprised when I saw that the last chapter of the LO$ saga appeared
in the Icelandic issue. If I am not mistaken, we are among the first to read it?
Well golly glee, and tickle me pink.
I have however not read them yet, due to my rather bad financial standing, but
I will write my opinions on it, or do you all rather want to wait until next
christmas (so not to spoil the fun).

DON
Concerning Gladstones relation to Scrooge, you asked me what were the exact
stories I were talking about. Well if my memory serves me right, there was
a flurry of stories in the mid-eighties concerning just this issue. Scrooge
was trying to decide between his two nephews.
If I am not mistaken, you yourself did one of these stories. I think it was
called Fiscal Fitness or something (I have to guess at the english title).
It was about Scrooge giving Donald and Gladstone a certain amount of money
and they had to invest it and make a profit.
Donald ended up buying a piece of vertical land.
Gladstone was put in charge of a "hopeless" business, comics, so not to
threaten Scrooge himself.

Sigurdur

Just got this over the news wires.

-Tom

AP Online

AP 06/09 13:18 EDT V0257

Copyright 1994. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) -- Donald Duck, the short-legged, ill-tempered
aquatic bird in a sailor's suit, turned 60 Thursday, and 1,000 Danish fans
welcomed the cartoon character's most famous illustrator, Carl Barks, to a
celebration.
"Thank you for welcoming me and my duck this way," said the 93-year-old
Barks, as he hopped off a Norwegian ferry at the Copenhagen Pier, greeted by
waving American and Danish flags, and banners saying, "Donald Duck, we love
you."
Barks, who didn't create Donald Duck, but drew him for Walt Disney Studios
cartoons from 1935 until 1942, made his first foreign trip, starting last week,
to the Nordic region. The area is second only to the United States in per capita
consumption of Disney comics.
Donald Duck was hatched June 9, 1934, when he appeared in Walt Disney's
animated film, "The Little Wise Hen."
Dancing and singing, he suddenly faked illness when the wise hen asked him to
help her sow seeds. "Oh no, I got a tummy ache," his first line was.
Since then, Donald Duck appeared in more than 150 animated cartoons seen in
more than 76 countries, according to the Egmont Group in Copenhagen, which
claims to be the world's biggest producer of Disney comic books.
The group, which sells Disney magazines to 22 countries, including Russia,
Japan and China, invited Barks to Copenhagen to celebrate Donald's birthday.
Barks polished up Donald, who was slimmer, with a longer beak in his first
appearances. Barks rounded him out, gave him a personality, and made him more
jolly, although he still had a bad temper.
Barks also created Donald's hometown of Duckburg for comic books and invented
the characters Uncle Scrooge McDuck, Gladstone Gander, the Beagle Boys and Gyro
Gearloose. Barks is credited with giving Huey, Dewey and Louie -- Donald's
nephews -- their distinctive personalities.
Barks stopped drawing in 1966, but continued writing duck tales until his
retirement in 1973. Now he paints Disney figures in oil at his home in Grant's
Pass, Ore.
The early cartoons were slapstick conflicts between Donald and his nephews.
Barks later sent the ducks on exotic adventures around the globe and into space.
Barks, who drew 6,371 pages of duck cartoons, had never been outside the
United States, but found inspiration by reading magazines.

Norwegian Television just showed a duckomentary - a portrait of
Carl Barks. He really impresses, quite clear and lucid and creative
at 93! The program touched on all aspects of his life from
childhood to his early crtoons (some very juicy ones were shown!)
and to his works with Disney as in-between animator to animator to
storywriter and finally to comics.

He commented on the different the different Duckburg characters and
settled a dispute we had on this list some months ago: Gyro is a
chicken!!! Actually Gyro was not meant to be used often and Barks
did not put to much thought int the creation of his mad inventor.
Gyro is too large and gangly, making it difficult to put him into
the same frame as the others.

Several people were interviewed, including Roy Disney, Geoffrey
Blum and Malcolm Willits (who according to himself was the one who
discovered the name of "the good artist"). Don Rosa was interviewed
showing his collection of comics. William van Horn was shown when
he showed Barks his art work for the new Carl Barks story about the
quest for the Trojan Horse. Several German and Finnish fans,
editors and artists was shown.

All in all it was a very good program packed with information and
Carl Barks. You who did not see it have something to look forward
to. The program was a cooperation between German, Finnish and
Norwegian Television, wich explains some of the choices of persons
interviewed.

Even

Ole about the filenames of the Disney comics Database:
> The file names on .lysator. are a bother though.

Agreed. Since all files are in one separate directory, there's no need to
start all extensions with 'db'. And maybe I can produce files with longer
names #ifdef UNIX (i.e. if the programs run on a Unix system).

Don:
> I have another IMPORTANT matter to discuss... about Barks and
> his tour... and his "MANAGER".

You're making me curious. Are you going to tell us or did you decide not to
discuss it after all?

Fabio:
> About the egg-born: to have Donald explicitly sorting out of an egg is a
> device that has been used some other time during the years in Italian
> stories [...]

I remember a Danish story ("The Fountain of Youth") where the Ducks get
younger and younger, and end up as eggs. And I'm sure the egg gag has been
used on several other occasions (e.g. a "youth picture of daddy" in a story).

> Last thing: the tree has not an Italian origin, but, as Luca Boschi told
> me, it was made in Germay. I do not know if we are referring to the same
> German tree: the one Luca showed me had portrayals of some characters and,
> I must add, it was poorly drawn.

Then it must be the tree I'm talking about 8-). It includes drawings of
Spanish Donaldo el Ducko, several Scottish McDucks, Cornelius Coot, and
distant cousins like Dappy Duck, Fethry Duck, Moby Duck, etc.

Fabio about the Italian story starring Barks as "The Man behind the Ducks":
> And mentioning the exhibition in Venice makes sense [..]

I meant to say that mentioning it in a Gladstone _reprint_ wouldn't make
any sense.

> Besides that: why should Barks fans be upset? The story simply is a hommage
> to the man of the ducks, and even if it is not perfect... who care?

I do. I don't like the idea that Barks did not invent his characters, but 'met'
them and had an agreement with them to draw them. The story also alleges
that Barks drew his Ducks poorly in the beginning.
I prefer the more 'perfect' Rosa-style hommages.

> The issue of Paperino Mese devoted to the 60 years of Donald just hit the
> stands. It contains the story by Rosa "The duck tha never was" (at last,
> Don)

So this is the first Don Rosa story reprinted in Italy?

--Harry.

Harry PTT Research ()_() Dutch Disney comics freak
Fluks Leidschendam (_) H.W.Fluks at research.ptt.nl

"Yeah... I've _heard_ of coral barques!"

Don!

Welcome back and thanks for your comments on my
comments on your Lo$12! !
I don't know if any of us really understand the amount of work
and thought you have put into the whole of Lo$. However, I
really appreciate what you have done, even if we may
disagree on one or several points!
I think one reason for our somewhat different understanding
may be the normal difference between those who look at a
work from "the outside" and those who have "inside
information" (you as the artist really know what you have tried
to accomplish and which alternative possibilities you have
considered (and turned down) as to where to put the climax,
how to draw $crooge, a.s.o.).
When this is said I think you'll still have to struggle (for a
long time) with readers who for obvious reasons consider
Barks' work as a kind of "canon"/"Holy Writ" which should not
be tempered with. When Barks at a certain period drew his
figures in a certain way, the devoted readers (like myself) will
tend to look at (or FEEL very strongly) that as the truth. Even
if we intellectually may agree very well with your reasonable
explanation as to why you chose to draw as you did!
I think I also understand the problem that arises when having
to put a story within the framework of 15 (or 16) pages,
thinking about it from the artist's point of view. However, it
looks a bit different when you look at it as a reader. The
problems in the plot (e.g. $crooge's too easy victory over the
Beagle Boys) remain problems, even when there is a
perfectly understandable rationale for it, considering the
restrictions you had to work within.
I am not trying in any way to say that I have the "correct view"
on these matters and you not! I think this is the kind of
situation you constantly find yourself in as an artist.
Sometimes the readers wil really love it while you know how
much better you could have done it had you had better time,
done more research, not been ill last wednesday or whatever.
And other times the readers will for several "external"
reasons (e.g. marked differences from Barks' versions) find it
(or parts of the story) more difficult to like, even if you have
done the best you possible could have done, given the
restrictions/framework you had to work within.
I don't have any good solutions to this problem. It is a
challenge to keep on working in the shadow or footprints of
The Master! Even if he had been a lot nicer or given more
constructive criticism of your work...

THE MASTER IN NORWAY!

Last monday I had the great fortune to be present when Barks
visited The Nobel Institute in Oslo. Unfortunately it was not to
receive the Literature Prize for 1994 (that is up to the Swedes
to decide - come on!), but (by coincidence?) that was the place
where Norwegian Comics Forum (Norsk Tegneserieforum) had
a meeting with - and a panel discussion on - Barks. It was
said that this was the meeting Barks had promised to stay the
longest at when in Norway.
There were about 10 persons in the panel (among them Geir,
who told about rowing Barks in a viking ship on Saturday) and
ten times as many in the audience.
Barks stayed for almost an hour and made a very good
impression, being in good health, full of vigour, warmth and
humour. He did not look a day older than 70. And he did not
mention a certain Rosa at all, neither directly nor indirectly.
And the audience had the tact to refrain from asking questions
on that.

Barks was given got the "Sprong Prize" for best foreign
publication in Norway (in 1988 I think!) for his "Ancient
Persia". He answered questions on which stories he liked the
most ("Ancient Persia", "The Golden Helmet" and "Lost in The
Andes" were mentioned), how he liked Walt Disney ("we were
scared to death"), how he began to draw for Disney ("saw a
note in the papers in 1935 and sent them some samples of
his drawings"), how he looked at violence in modern comics
("he did not like it at all"), why Donald Duck Comics are so
much more popular in Norway than in the States ("Because
you can read") and some more.
Then there was a photo session where everybody could take
a picture of themselves (and some others) with Barks.

Then he left and the panel took over, debating Barks place in
comics and popular culture (according to Historical
Researcher Oeystein Soerensen at the University of Norway
one of the very few true story tellers and mythmakers in our
century, while a certain Geir Hasnes said Barks did the same
to comics as Dickens did to the novel and Beatles (I think) to
popular music). They went on to talk about Barks' paintings
and litographies, the relations between Another Rainbow,
Gladstone and Carl Barks Studios (a not too good relation one
was left to understand), and about other Disney artists like
Don Rosa. There was mixed feelings about him, ranging from
"much over praised" to "very underrated". I think most people
in the panel felt that while no one really can be compared to
Barks, Don's work is in fact a LOT better than any other
modern Duck artists. Even if he lacks Barks depth and
understanding of the human person and how to make the right
flow of a story, he is very good at slapstick gags and keeping
true to Barksian details and intention (after all this was a
panel on Barks so the comparisions had to be made, even if
all would agree that Rosa is Rosa and Barks is Barks).
I had to leave before the panel finished, so there may have
been more coclusions. Perhaps Geir can correct any
misunderstandings on my part!
By the way, I took about 12 minutes video of Barks answering
qustions. The picture quality is very good (nice close ups),
but the sound quality rather poor as he spoke very low and
there was some disturbance from the audience and other
more noisier cameras. It is however, possible to hear most of
what he says!

Bjorn-Are

Bjron-Are

Bjorn Are

Come on, Don Rosa! It's not fair to imply some earth-shattering development
in your relationship with Barks and his manager and then clam up!

Elaborate!
___________________________________________________________________
Mark Mayerson Side Effects Software Inc.,
Internet: mayerson at sidefx.com Toronto, Ontario, Canada
(416) 366-4607

Don.

You have stated in many of your postings that you don`t get paid well for
your work, and Disney can take your work and reprint it to their hearts
content without giving you a penny. Yet you continue to produce Duck
stories for Egmont because you love the Ducks.

This is a pity because you are quite good. I loved the stuff from Barks,
and you are able to expand on Barks' work, and in most cases, you improve
on it. I can tell you truly love doing what you do. But you are being
treated poorly (like the creators of Superman were treated poorly).

Might I make a suggestion? Why not do your own character, and take it to
Dark Horse or one of the other independent companies. You could still do
Duck tales (pun not intended), but by owning your own stuff, you would be
paid better, and would not have to depend on Disney (or Egmont) as much as
you do now. Again, this is just an idea I felt I should pass on to you.

A pity that an american can not do Duck stories here in the states, because
Disney will not return your artwork back, forcing you to work for a european
company. And even worse, a pity that Disney comics are not as well read in
their own country as they are elsewhere in the world.

--
______________________________________________________________________
Alex Agostini E-Mail:Alex_Agostini at smec.sel.sony.com
3 Paragon Drive MDS-200 Phone: (201) 358-4331
Montvale, N.J. 07645 Fax: (201) 358-4977
______________________________________________________________________

Dear Folks,

It's Donald's 60th birthday today... I didn't mention it in my last
letter, but I haven't forgotten. As a result I'm challenging all of you to
a Barks quote quiz like the old ones Per once posted. We'll see how many
of you, in the upcoming weeks, can identify the speaker and issue of each
of the following:

1) "Men! I hate 'em!"

2) "Women! I hate 'em!"

3) "Maybe that serpent wasn't such a much, after all!"

4) "I'm too busy picking *ants* out of my pancakes!"

5) "We ought to tell Unca Donald about that trick!"

6) "Fine fellow! Mellow fellow! Friend of fortune, hello-hello!"

7) "And bring the old tightwad a sandwich! I bet he hasn't had
time to eat in a week!"

8) "Squeeze it! Maybe it goes "be bop," or something!"

9) "A lot of help these *fearless* clansmen are going to be!"

10) "They're not *spring chickens!* I can tell you that!"

11) "Would you like to live forever, Huey?"

12) "Goodbye, cruel world! This is my final call!"

13) "If people could see this view of the moon, they wouldn't sing
songs about it!"

There we go, a lucky 13. And send your answers to me with the
subject: Barks Quote Quiz Answers. You get a point for identifying the
speaker of each quote (if it's HDL, just indicate that by writing HDL -- no
need to try telling them apart!), and then another for each issue. And if
you find an error in one of the quotes, you get another point (I'm writing
this without immediate access to the stories themselves). Punctuation
doesn't count in citing the errors, though!

You have two weeks to enter, which makes the deadline Thursday,
June 23rd. Good luck!

David Gerstein
<gerstein at math.ucsb.edu>