Donald Duck & Co #45
--------------------
This one is dedicated to the Junior Woodchucks.
No JW stories in the regular issue, but there are three stories
in the "extra" issue which is coming with it. Also a new "collection
series" starts with this issue. The Junior Woodchucks' guidebook...
The issue starts with a newspaper strip with Donald (Taliaferro).
The lead story is a DD story where Daisy threatens him to learn to
control his anger (did I hear: I've read that story!). It's one of
the better, anyway. Instead of going to some school, Donald is going
to some far away place called Himmelturia (that's a Norwegian pun on
Himalaya), to find an old man living by himself. This man is never
angry. Well, he _is_ when Donald leaves him.
The art is by Vicar. 10 pages. (D93520)
Next is a Mickey Mouse story. 8 pages.
This story makes Murry's mouse look like a mouse with a very
complex personality.
Mickey and Goofy are living at a farm instead of at a hotel. In
the first night all the hens disappear, to Goofy's big grief. He
wanted eggs to the breakfast. The rest of the story is, of course,
about finding them. Mickey is not the usual clever guy, who finds the
solution at once. He solves the problem by a mistake, and goofs up
other things. He's taking Goofy's role. Interesting? Not at all.
Also the art is really bad. (D93477)
Then a Big Bad Wolf story. You won't see this in the US. All the kids
in the forest, including the Little Bad Wolf, the pigs and Br'er Bears
sons, are disguised as indians. Zeke Wolf also dresses up as an indian
to catch the pigs, as part of the game, as he says. Not too bad actually,
but I don't like the art. And the colouring is awful.
5 pages. (D93168)
Then starts a new continuation story. It's about Scrooge and Donald in
an Arabian country. They are there to open the new McDuck dam, which
wil make this little kingdom into as wealthy country. An arkeologist
wants to stop the project of filling the valley with water, because
there are big treasures hidden there. Scrooge is interested, but the
prime minister pushes the button, and fills the valley with water.
They will then have to use under water equipment. For some reason, the
prime minister doesn't seem to like these plans.
First part is promising. The art is by Branca. (D93326)
Last is a one page gag with Pluto (KF 4.30.39)
The Extra issue
---------------
I thought we would see one of the Barks/Jippes stories her, but not so.
The first one is a JW story (they're all JW stories) by Barks. This
shouldn't need to be described, as it was published in Donald Duck #287.
The story is "The Chickadee Challenge". (W/WDC 181 A).
Strange... I hadn't noticed that before... The story code in DD #287 is
removed.
The next two stories are both drawn by Vicar.
The first one is one of the stories were Donald is telling the nephews
that when he was young, he was a member of a club consisting of much
tougher people than the Junior Woodchucks. Of course Donald didn't even
pass the test to become a member. The end of the story is a bit surprising
though, as Donald, trying to escape from being seen by a leader from the
club he claims to have been a member of, actually does a lot of things
that impress everyone. That means that Donald actually is the winner this
time. 10 pages. (D7914).
The last story is one of my favourites when it comes to the Junior
Woodchucks. The art is excellent, and also the story.
Huey, Dewey and Louie is going to a summer camp with the Junior
Woodchucks. When they are ready to go, Donald comes and tells them that
their cousin Sokrates is going with them. Sokrates looks like a miniature
version of Gus Goose, with glasses. He's a very educated kid, but
physically he's very weak. The nephews aren't too happy about this, but
since it's a matter of honour to help handicapped people, they agree in
letting him come with them. Sokrates is carrying a lot of books, which
the nephews eventually have to carry, since Sokrates is becoming too tired.
To make it short: Sokrates is messing up everything for HDL. They lose
every contest, because of him.
Then one of the teams, and also the leader is stranding on an island
in the middle of the river. The stream was too dangerous for paddling in
canoes. HDL are standing safely on land, because they were delayed by
Sokrates. Now Sokrates is replacing the Guidebook in the rescue mission,
and becomes the great hero. He earns a lot of medals.
10 pages. (D7436)
David, if you are looking for good Egmont stories, you should try this one!
On the back cover is an article about the Junior Woodchucks, but as usual
with the articles in DD&Co, it's quite uninteresting. Few references, and
only to Norwegian issues (in a story from 1951 bla bla bla).
The front cover of the Extra issue shows a small animal falling in love
with a JW hat.
Jorgen
Author
Topic: 199411
(156 messages)
Jørgen Andreas Bangor
Donald Duck & Co #45
Message 46 -
1994-11-09 at 00:53:28
Jørgen Andreas Bangor
Answers to David and Don
Message 47 -
1994-11-09 at 02:08:41
The Walt Disney Theatre
-----------------------
The name is Captain Hook.. yes, I knew that...
His name in Norway is "Kaptein Krok"(which means Captain "Hook"...),
and he _is_ a crook, isn't he? :)
So this was a series of parodies on famous stories. I remember the
Robinson story. Actually it was one of my favourites when I was very
young. I loved the house in the tree. I used to make models of it with
a lot of small corridors in the branches.
I guess the story, recently reprinted by Gladstone, about Mickey
as a captain on a ship, on which Minnie is a passenger, is also one of
these (?).
The Norwegian publisher is also a bit afraid of references to drinks
that contain alcohol. It's a bit strange to se a character enter a bar,
and order some soft drink... But I _have_ seen the Beagle Boys, in an
Italian story, enter a pub ordering beer. And ind the Norwegian reprint
of Gottfredson's "Island in the sky", Peg Leg Pete becomes drunk,
drinking champagne.
Li'l Davy
---------
The story I was referring to is no newspaper strip story, although
it could have been a redrawing, of course.
The MM stories with real people
-------------------------------
Only one of them have been published in Norway. It's constantly
being refered to in contests as "when is the only time Mickey Mouse
has met real people?".
I agree that the story isn't worth talking a lot about, but still
I would like to see the other two. As you say, it was an interesting
experiment.
The "Niagara Fools" story
-------------------------
Actually, the park ranger is a big brown owl in uniform.
The white cat and the newspaper stories
---------------------------------------
He appeared quite often in Norway in the late sixties, and early
seventies. He was certainly a regualr character at that time. Now
he seldom shows up.
I believe that Byron Erickson knows what he's talking about, but this
newspaper job was not just some supervising. The stories were always
only about the newspaper. Scrooge is really conserned every time some
other newspaper is selling better. Once Donald and Fethry are sent out
to ask people what they think of the newspaper. They aren't doing this
job too good (either).
I guess the story you are refering to is the story where HDL want
to learn how to run a newspaper. They end up taking over the editors
(Scrooge's) office.
Alternate universes
-------------------
You (David) seem to be worried about how newer generations will look
upon Disney characters after they have run through Disney's money
squeezing machine. This is probably a problem local to USA (yes, I
know there are quite a lot of people). The Duck Tales, Rescue Rangers
etc. are not popular in Norway, and as far as I know, not in the rest
of Scandinavia either.
Since the Disney comics are very little known, or unpopular, in
the US, wouldn't these Disney productions help making them more popular,
even if they are "other characters"? I guess not... I'm not familiar with
how things work in the US.
Don in Norway
-------------
Don, I meant to introduce myself to you at the University of Oslo (I'm at
the Faculty of Math and Natural Sciences), but you disappeared into
the room of Realistforeningen before I reached you. Later, at the table
in the room of Realistforeningen, you seemed so busy that I didn't want
to disturb you. You remember, of course, that there were a lot of people
hanging around you, who wanted autographs etc., and you only had time
to stay there for a short time. I don't think I would have become very
popular if I made you use a lot of time only for me.
But if you remember some guy telling you, while you signed a couple of
issues for him, that he was on the mailing list, that was me.
About the lecture. This wasn't only a lecture for me. It was also the first
time I saw you for real (unfortunately, I couldn't come the last time you
visited our universtity). That made it a great event for me. I already
knew most of your answers to the questions, from reading this list, but
I certainly liked to hear them directly from you, instead of just reading
them. I didn't ask you any questions at the lecture, because I thought
that I could do it here, if I had any. Then I could just listen if
anyone else had any clever questions that I hadn't thought of.
And now when, I hope :) , I have your attention: Do you have any idea about
when we will see a new story by you in Norway. It's been too long since
the last time.
I wonder what Michel Nadrop and Mau Heymans mean by "the Disney style"...
I guess it's Mau Heymans' front covers we've been seeing for some years
now, or am I totally wrong?
Seems to me that I better stop now. Somehow I don't manage to make short
letters...
Jorgen
"Du skjonner jo ingenting onkel! Gronnmeisene er _jenter_!"
-----------------------
The name is Captain Hook.. yes, I knew that...
His name in Norway is "Kaptein Krok"(which means Captain "Hook"...),
and he _is_ a crook, isn't he? :)
So this was a series of parodies on famous stories. I remember the
Robinson story. Actually it was one of my favourites when I was very
young. I loved the house in the tree. I used to make models of it with
a lot of small corridors in the branches.
I guess the story, recently reprinted by Gladstone, about Mickey
as a captain on a ship, on which Minnie is a passenger, is also one of
these (?).
The Norwegian publisher is also a bit afraid of references to drinks
that contain alcohol. It's a bit strange to se a character enter a bar,
and order some soft drink... But I _have_ seen the Beagle Boys, in an
Italian story, enter a pub ordering beer. And ind the Norwegian reprint
of Gottfredson's "Island in the sky", Peg Leg Pete becomes drunk,
drinking champagne.
Li'l Davy
---------
The story I was referring to is no newspaper strip story, although
it could have been a redrawing, of course.
The MM stories with real people
-------------------------------
Only one of them have been published in Norway. It's constantly
being refered to in contests as "when is the only time Mickey Mouse
has met real people?".
I agree that the story isn't worth talking a lot about, but still
I would like to see the other two. As you say, it was an interesting
experiment.
The "Niagara Fools" story
-------------------------
Actually, the park ranger is a big brown owl in uniform.
The white cat and the newspaper stories
---------------------------------------
He appeared quite often in Norway in the late sixties, and early
seventies. He was certainly a regualr character at that time. Now
he seldom shows up.
I believe that Byron Erickson knows what he's talking about, but this
newspaper job was not just some supervising. The stories were always
only about the newspaper. Scrooge is really conserned every time some
other newspaper is selling better. Once Donald and Fethry are sent out
to ask people what they think of the newspaper. They aren't doing this
job too good (either).
I guess the story you are refering to is the story where HDL want
to learn how to run a newspaper. They end up taking over the editors
(Scrooge's) office.
Alternate universes
-------------------
You (David) seem to be worried about how newer generations will look
upon Disney characters after they have run through Disney's money
squeezing machine. This is probably a problem local to USA (yes, I
know there are quite a lot of people). The Duck Tales, Rescue Rangers
etc. are not popular in Norway, and as far as I know, not in the rest
of Scandinavia either.
Since the Disney comics are very little known, or unpopular, in
the US, wouldn't these Disney productions help making them more popular,
even if they are "other characters"? I guess not... I'm not familiar with
how things work in the US.
Don in Norway
-------------
Don, I meant to introduce myself to you at the University of Oslo (I'm at
the Faculty of Math and Natural Sciences), but you disappeared into
the room of Realistforeningen before I reached you. Later, at the table
in the room of Realistforeningen, you seemed so busy that I didn't want
to disturb you. You remember, of course, that there were a lot of people
hanging around you, who wanted autographs etc., and you only had time
to stay there for a short time. I don't think I would have become very
popular if I made you use a lot of time only for me.
But if you remember some guy telling you, while you signed a couple of
issues for him, that he was on the mailing list, that was me.
About the lecture. This wasn't only a lecture for me. It was also the first
time I saw you for real (unfortunately, I couldn't come the last time you
visited our universtity). That made it a great event for me. I already
knew most of your answers to the questions, from reading this list, but
I certainly liked to hear them directly from you, instead of just reading
them. I didn't ask you any questions at the lecture, because I thought
that I could do it here, if I had any. Then I could just listen if
anyone else had any clever questions that I hadn't thought of.
And now when, I hope :) , I have your attention: Do you have any idea about
when we will see a new story by you in Norway. It's been too long since
the last time.
I wonder what Michel Nadrop and Mau Heymans mean by "the Disney style"...
I guess it's Mau Heymans' front covers we've been seeing for some years
now, or am I totally wrong?
Seems to me that I better stop now. Somehow I don't manage to make short
letters...
Jorgen
"Du skjonner jo ingenting onkel! Gronnmeisene er _jenter_!"
Wilmer Rivers
"Remade" duck characters
Message 48 -
1994-11-09 at 04:28:24
Do you have any details about what the "new" Daisy will be like in
the TV series? Why is she being changed, and to what? As for the
nephews as teenagers, will they be like the cartoon version (shown
framed by a story with Ludwig Von Drake as a child psychologist who
follows them from their early years as they grow up) in that 'toon
in which they fill up the car's tires with helium? there, the
teenaged ducks weren't too different from their normal appearance.
But I'm worried about Daisy. If Disney puts a big merchandising
push behind this show, then the "new" version will certainly become
the "official" Daisy Duck forever more...
Wilmer Rivers
the TV series? Why is she being changed, and to what? As for the
nephews as teenagers, will they be like the cartoon version (shown
framed by a story with Ludwig Von Drake as a child psychologist who
follows them from their early years as they grow up) in that 'toon
in which they fill up the car's tires with helium? there, the
teenaged ducks weren't too different from their normal appearance.
But I'm worried about Daisy. If Disney puts a big merchandising
push behind this show, then the "new" version will certainly become
the "official" Daisy Duck forever more...
Wilmer Rivers
Don Rosa
Disney-comics digest #486.
Message 49 -
1994-11-09 at 06:31:04
JORGEN:
Yes, I think I recall someone at the University "snack bar"(?)
where I was drawing and signing tell me they were on the "mailing list".
I was told that a couple of times on my trip -- were you the one who
momentarilly confused me since I'm such an old fogey that I thought you
were referring to some actual MAILING LIST of the old sort, where people
are mailed letters with envelopes and stamps? The term "computer forum"
might be more recognizable to my old ears.
You say I was drawing and signing for "a short time"? I was
sitting there for 2 hours and 15 minutes, I'll have you know! Gimmee a
break!
That meeting with the natural science college was easilly the
highlight of that trip to Norway! Other than that, I did hardly
anything! The editor usually has no trouble arranging interviews and
such, but just a short time before my arrival there was that ASTERIX
parody published by some political party that was throwing Egmont into a
tizzy. That was the only comic book topic any reporters wanted to talk
about. Egmont disliked the parody but knew the best thing to do was to
simply prevent its reprinting and sale to benefit the politicians, while
the Uderzo people demanded that POLICE move in and sieze all copies! As
stupid as an idea as that is (it would bring MORE attention to the thing
rather than less), Egmont is contractually bound to help Uderzo do
anything he wishes in such cases. Anyway, it was a mostly wasted week in
Oslo. I also had a pleasant dinner with Rolf Dahlo... but other than
that I just wandered around the streets alone and lonely. Goteborg and
Stockholm kept me a LOT busier. (There was even a major newspaper
article on the Goteborg Book Fair that gave me the main spotlight over
Norman Mailer!)
I'll definitely let the University know (through this list) when
I'm again coming. And I hope they'll help me out by thinking of topics
they'd like to hear me talk on. I can't function in that sort of set up
unless people give me questions -- I don't prepare "lectures".
Yes, I think I recall someone at the University "snack bar"(?)
where I was drawing and signing tell me they were on the "mailing list".
I was told that a couple of times on my trip -- were you the one who
momentarilly confused me since I'm such an old fogey that I thought you
were referring to some actual MAILING LIST of the old sort, where people
are mailed letters with envelopes and stamps? The term "computer forum"
might be more recognizable to my old ears.
You say I was drawing and signing for "a short time"? I was
sitting there for 2 hours and 15 minutes, I'll have you know! Gimmee a
break!
That meeting with the natural science college was easilly the
highlight of that trip to Norway! Other than that, I did hardly
anything! The editor usually has no trouble arranging interviews and
such, but just a short time before my arrival there was that ASTERIX
parody published by some political party that was throwing Egmont into a
tizzy. That was the only comic book topic any reporters wanted to talk
about. Egmont disliked the parody but knew the best thing to do was to
simply prevent its reprinting and sale to benefit the politicians, while
the Uderzo people demanded that POLICE move in and sieze all copies! As
stupid as an idea as that is (it would bring MORE attention to the thing
rather than less), Egmont is contractually bound to help Uderzo do
anything he wishes in such cases. Anyway, it was a mostly wasted week in
Oslo. I also had a pleasant dinner with Rolf Dahlo... but other than
that I just wandered around the streets alone and lonely. Goteborg and
Stockholm kept me a LOT busier. (There was even a major newspaper
article on the Goteborg Book Fair that gave me the main spotlight over
Norman Mailer!)
I'll definitely let the University know (through this list) when
I'm again coming. And I hope they'll help me out by thinking of topics
they'd like to hear me talk on. I can't function in that sort of set up
unless people give me questions -- I don't prepare "lectures".
H.W. Fluks
Disney-comics digest #485.
Message 50 -
1994-11-09 at 12:23:16
Real people in Disney comics
----------------------------
Jo/rgen:
> I don't remember any stories which mentions real world people
There are real human beings in the Scamp and Hiawatha stories. And there
were some in the old Barks Donald Duck stories: Madame Triple-X etc. Geoffrey
Blum once wrote an article about that. After a while, Barks wasn't allowed
to use real humans in his comics any more.
(It may be an interesting exercise to find out in which stories Barks
_still_ used humans. I remember some places where Barks caricatured
himself, for instance.)
Sneeze
------
Jo/rgen:
> BTW: Is Freddy Milton's story, "The Big Sneeze" (H8001), ever published
> in Scandinavia?
On this list, we found out that there are at least 4 and possibly 5 versions
of the story! The non-Disney versions (Kalle Klodrik, Woody Woodpecker,
Family Gnuff) may have been published in Norway.
Trips to Holland
----------------
David: you're very welcome to Leidschendam in December. But I'm not sure
I am at home during and after Christmas, so you better visit me before or
after that. Somewhere between Dec. 17 and 23, or after Jan. 2. Please tell
me when you plan to visit me, so I can take a day off.
BTW: any foreign member is invited to visit me in Holland.
Dwight: Eindhoven is too far from Leidschendam, so I don't think I see you
when you visit Holland. Also, Eindhoven is not the best place to look for
comics, but maybe you find something of interest in the only comic shop
there: "Eppo" (I forgot its address right now).
Fethry
------
David:
> And like the DD 106 appearance, his hair
> is thicker. I'm willing to bet that this is how Fethry FIRST looked --
> after all, that French comic noted that he first appeared in 1965,
> didn't it?
That was in France. The first stories were made in 1963. Was this before or
after DD 106 / WDC 304?
Jo/rgen:
> In these stories Donald's nephews are often replaced by a
> white cat (Mons in Norway). The cat hates Fethry, and tries to
> hide every time Fethry pass by.
This cat has always been brown in Holland. His name here is Tobber.
There are also a few stories where the cat _and_ HDL appear.
I don't think the cat is from some old WDC story. I think he has
been specially developed for the Fethry stories.
The Dutch introduced Fethry in 1965. He has not been seen after 1974 in the
'regular' comics. Nowadays, he may be in the pocket books that reprint
Italian stories.
I have never seen an Egmont Fethry story.
Some other character
--------------------
Does anyone know of a black talking bird that lived with Goofy in the
(I think early 50s) sunday newspaper strips? His Dutch name is Leo de Beo.
The Dutch made some gags and stories with this bird themselves, including
one about Supergoof contra Superbeo...
Scalabroni
----------
David and I were discussing stories drawn by Jose Colomer Fonts and
Scalabroni. I don't have the stories David mentioned, but I am sure
JCF worked for Holland since 1983, and went to work for
Egmont as well, later on. Maybe Scalabroni also worked for Holland.
By the way: GP told be that people like Vicar and Colomer Fonts
have a studio. So Scalabroni could be in JCF's studio, just inking
the stories, while the pencils are by JCF, or so.
There's so much more to comment about, and so little time... (I, like
Fredrik, tried to go into semi-lurker mode, but it doesn't work...)
I'll be back!
--Harry.
----------------------------
Jo/rgen:
> I don't remember any stories which mentions real world people
There are real human beings in the Scamp and Hiawatha stories. And there
were some in the old Barks Donald Duck stories: Madame Triple-X etc. Geoffrey
Blum once wrote an article about that. After a while, Barks wasn't allowed
to use real humans in his comics any more.
(It may be an interesting exercise to find out in which stories Barks
_still_ used humans. I remember some places where Barks caricatured
himself, for instance.)
Sneeze
------
Jo/rgen:
> BTW: Is Freddy Milton's story, "The Big Sneeze" (H8001), ever published
> in Scandinavia?
On this list, we found out that there are at least 4 and possibly 5 versions
of the story! The non-Disney versions (Kalle Klodrik, Woody Woodpecker,
Family Gnuff) may have been published in Norway.
Trips to Holland
----------------
David: you're very welcome to Leidschendam in December. But I'm not sure
I am at home during and after Christmas, so you better visit me before or
after that. Somewhere between Dec. 17 and 23, or after Jan. 2. Please tell
me when you plan to visit me, so I can take a day off.
BTW: any foreign member is invited to visit me in Holland.
Dwight: Eindhoven is too far from Leidschendam, so I don't think I see you
when you visit Holland. Also, Eindhoven is not the best place to look for
comics, but maybe you find something of interest in the only comic shop
there: "Eppo" (I forgot its address right now).
Fethry
------
David:
> And like the DD 106 appearance, his hair
> is thicker. I'm willing to bet that this is how Fethry FIRST looked --
> after all, that French comic noted that he first appeared in 1965,
> didn't it?
That was in France. The first stories were made in 1963. Was this before or
after DD 106 / WDC 304?
Jo/rgen:
> In these stories Donald's nephews are often replaced by a
> white cat (Mons in Norway). The cat hates Fethry, and tries to
> hide every time Fethry pass by.
This cat has always been brown in Holland. His name here is Tobber.
There are also a few stories where the cat _and_ HDL appear.
I don't think the cat is from some old WDC story. I think he has
been specially developed for the Fethry stories.
The Dutch introduced Fethry in 1965. He has not been seen after 1974 in the
'regular' comics. Nowadays, he may be in the pocket books that reprint
Italian stories.
I have never seen an Egmont Fethry story.
Some other character
--------------------
Does anyone know of a black talking bird that lived with Goofy in the
(I think early 50s) sunday newspaper strips? His Dutch name is Leo de Beo.
The Dutch made some gags and stories with this bird themselves, including
one about Supergoof contra Superbeo...
Scalabroni
----------
David and I were discussing stories drawn by Jose Colomer Fonts and
Scalabroni. I don't have the stories David mentioned, but I am sure
JCF worked for Holland since 1983, and went to work for
Egmont as well, later on. Maybe Scalabroni also worked for Holland.
By the way: GP told be that people like Vicar and Colomer Fonts
have a studio. So Scalabroni could be in JCF's studio, just inking
the stories, while the pencils are by JCF, or so.
There's so much more to comment about, and so little time... (I, like
Fredrik, tried to go into semi-lurker mode, but it doesn't work...)
I'll be back!
--Harry.
H.W. Fluks
Disney-comics digest #486.
Message 51 -
1994-11-09 at 13:06:31
The Walt Disney Theater
-----------------------
David:
> It was made in 1965 as one of a series, "The Walt Disney Theatre."
Is it the fact that you're in Britain now, or _did_ they spell "Theatre"
that way in the series?
Most stories in the series were drawn by Paul Murry. I remember only
one story by a different artist: about the dog of the Baskervilles by
Tony Strobl.
About money
-----------
Don (welcome back):
> I just spent 1 anna half hours reading the backlog of Disney
> Digests that piled up on me! (I hate to think what that cost me!)
You're not keeping contact with Compuserve while you READ the digests,
I hope? You should be able to save them on your local PC and read them
as slowly as you like, without any costs except the electrisicky.
Goofy in a Duck story
---------------------
I fully agree with Don: I won't be pleased at all to see Goofy in a Duck
story. And it would have been VERY weird if it was the 1930s Goofy.
As far as I'm concerned, the Black Forest is very big, and Mouseton
inhabitants never get a chance to visit Duckburg.
I haven't seen Pat Block's story yet of course, but I think the appearance
of Goofy might spoil the entire story for me.
Comic conventions 1: Breda
--------------------------
Don:
> I just received a letter from a Dutch fan who visited the recent big (?)
> comic convention in Holland, "de Stripdagen"
It's the biggest comic convention in the Dutch talking part of Europe,
held in Breda.
I have been there myself and was a bit disappointed to see only Nadorp,
Heymans and Van Schuylenburg, making drawings for little kids. In previous
years, I got the chance to talk with Jippes and Thom Roep.
I didn't even take the effort to have a talk with the artists this time.
BTW: if this Dutch fan is a big Rosa fan, maybe I can send him a printout
of your comments on this list (as gathered in the ftp file "don-rosa")?
If you return a letter to him, maybe you can put my address somewhere?
> He said they expressed a distinct dislike of my stuff as being
> "not in the Disney style".
The Dutch editors and artists are very biased: they mostly look at the art
of a story. That has been the case since the 70s, when Jippes was the art
director. And they think your art looks too "underground" for a Disney
story; too much details.
Then they forget the excellent _stories_ that are "behind" the drawings.
This attitude may be the cause that Don Rosa is quite unknown in Holland,
as opposed to Scandinavia.
It's not unusual for Dutch artists to comment on each other's work.
They also think quite bad about the Italian stuff, and about the work
of one of their own artists from the early 70s: Carol Voges.
Comic conventions 2: Lucca
--------------------------
If I understood Fabio well enough, the Italian comic convention in Lucca
has taken place now. Well Fabio: any news? About Becattini perhaps?
Did part 2 of his Western comics index come out yet?
Sokrates
--------
Jo/rgen:
> Sokrates looks like a miniature version of Gus Goose, with glasses.
This character was first seen in a series of daily Donald Duck strips
by Taliaferro. In Dutch he was named Aristoteles, for short "Stoot".
In the 80s, the Taliaferro strips were reprinted, and I guess the
character was so popular that Egmont made some stories with him.
The story Jo/rgen mentioned is the only one I remember, though.
--Harry.
-----------------------
David:
> It was made in 1965 as one of a series, "The Walt Disney Theatre."
Is it the fact that you're in Britain now, or _did_ they spell "Theatre"
that way in the series?
Most stories in the series were drawn by Paul Murry. I remember only
one story by a different artist: about the dog of the Baskervilles by
Tony Strobl.
About money
-----------
Don (welcome back):
> I just spent 1 anna half hours reading the backlog of Disney
> Digests that piled up on me! (I hate to think what that cost me!)
You're not keeping contact with Compuserve while you READ the digests,
I hope? You should be able to save them on your local PC and read them
as slowly as you like, without any costs except the electrisicky.
Goofy in a Duck story
---------------------
I fully agree with Don: I won't be pleased at all to see Goofy in a Duck
story. And it would have been VERY weird if it was the 1930s Goofy.
As far as I'm concerned, the Black Forest is very big, and Mouseton
inhabitants never get a chance to visit Duckburg.
I haven't seen Pat Block's story yet of course, but I think the appearance
of Goofy might spoil the entire story for me.
Comic conventions 1: Breda
--------------------------
Don:
> I just received a letter from a Dutch fan who visited the recent big (?)
> comic convention in Holland, "de Stripdagen"
It's the biggest comic convention in the Dutch talking part of Europe,
held in Breda.
I have been there myself and was a bit disappointed to see only Nadorp,
Heymans and Van Schuylenburg, making drawings for little kids. In previous
years, I got the chance to talk with Jippes and Thom Roep.
I didn't even take the effort to have a talk with the artists this time.
BTW: if this Dutch fan is a big Rosa fan, maybe I can send him a printout
of your comments on this list (as gathered in the ftp file "don-rosa")?
If you return a letter to him, maybe you can put my address somewhere?
> He said they expressed a distinct dislike of my stuff as being
> "not in the Disney style".
The Dutch editors and artists are very biased: they mostly look at the art
of a story. That has been the case since the 70s, when Jippes was the art
director. And they think your art looks too "underground" for a Disney
story; too much details.
Then they forget the excellent _stories_ that are "behind" the drawings.
This attitude may be the cause that Don Rosa is quite unknown in Holland,
as opposed to Scandinavia.
It's not unusual for Dutch artists to comment on each other's work.
They also think quite bad about the Italian stuff, and about the work
of one of their own artists from the early 70s: Carol Voges.
Comic conventions 2: Lucca
--------------------------
If I understood Fabio well enough, the Italian comic convention in Lucca
has taken place now. Well Fabio: any news? About Becattini perhaps?
Did part 2 of his Western comics index come out yet?
Sokrates
--------
Jo/rgen:
> Sokrates looks like a miniature version of Gus Goose, with glasses.
This character was first seen in a series of daily Donald Duck strips
by Taliaferro. In Dutch he was named Aristoteles, for short "Stoot".
In the 80s, the Taliaferro strips were reprinted, and I guess the
character was so popular that Egmont made some stories with him.
The story Jo/rgen mentioned is the only one I remember, though.
--Harry.
DAVID.A.GERSTEIN
Socrates Gander (and other stuff)
Message 52 -
1994-11-09 at 13:20:00
Dear Folks,
Jorgen talked about a recent reprint of an old Vicar story,
D7436, in which Huey, Louie, and Dewey are paired with a boy (who
looks a lot like Gus Goose) by the name of Socrates. This character,
whose full name is Socrates F. Gander, is a Karp/Taliaferro creation,
who appeared in the daily strips on and off around 1944. Around
WDC 80, a lot of those strips were reprinted. But I don't believe the
character lasted more than a year.
Karp and Taliaferro always made HDL into nasty little bullies,
which really bothers me. When they first hear that this boy, who is
their cousin, is nicknamed "Sock", they assume he's good at fighting
due to that nickname. When they find that his nickname is a
shortened version of Socrates and see that he's really no tough guy,
they are overjoyed to meet him, mainly because now they know they
have somebody who they can beat up and take advantage of. Doesn't
sound like the HDL that I know.
But it sounds like this D-story does "Sock" a better turn than
the old strips did. I would like *VERY MUCH* to redo it for
Gladstone. Here's where you guys come in. I need to know if anyone
has a DUTCH or GERMAN printing of story D7436. Help!
The entire business about liquor apparently is an issue in
Norway as well. Gladstone apparently is not allowed to even mention
booze unless it's out of context -- for example, in that old sea
shanty "Sixteen Men on a Dead Man's Chest" (and as I mentioned, thus
Gladstone does have it better than Whitman, which couldn't even
mention rum there!).
The bit about Pete drinking the champagne may have been one of
the reasons the original version of "Island in the Sky" was banned
here for so long, but everyone I asked gave other reasons. I'm sure
that was a consideration, though. Phooey.
The (VERY GOOD) 1931 story "Mickey Mouse Vs. Katt Nipp"
involves CATNIP wine, which a bootlegger (this was Prohibition,
remember?) is actually shown brewing. Mickey knows that this wine is
Katt Nipp's weakness, so strategically places jugs of it near Katt
Nipp's shack. When Nipp drinks the stuff, he acts drunk, and is easy
prey for whatever Mickey's trying to do (as he points out). Wine is
clearly shown in a negative light, as just another reason why MM is
smarter than the villain. Very interesting.
D93520 (Donald learning to control his anger) Seems like this
is actually a new twist on that old saw. And it's not the only one
Egmont has done lately. Dave Rawson (or was it Bob Ingersoll?) spent
some time at the Comic Con last fall telling me about a similar story
of his own, which is titled "Temper Fugit." And again, the story
sounds like a winner.
D93477 (Mickey down on the farm) Groan. About the only thing I
can say about this story is that at least Mickey isn't shown as being
good at everything. Worse, I know that in Britain it will be printed
just because it is a Mickey story, thus preempting one of the better
stories you mentioned was published this week. (Since the British
weekly only has 22-24 pages of comics each week)
Jorgen talked about a recent reprint of an old Vicar story,
D7436, in which Huey, Louie, and Dewey are paired with a boy (who
looks a lot like Gus Goose) by the name of Socrates. This character,
whose full name is Socrates F. Gander, is a Karp/Taliaferro creation,
who appeared in the daily strips on and off around 1944. Around
WDC 80, a lot of those strips were reprinted. But I don't believe the
character lasted more than a year.
Karp and Taliaferro always made HDL into nasty little bullies,
which really bothers me. When they first hear that this boy, who is
their cousin, is nicknamed "Sock", they assume he's good at fighting
due to that nickname. When they find that his nickname is a
shortened version of Socrates and see that he's really no tough guy,
they are overjoyed to meet him, mainly because now they know they
have somebody who they can beat up and take advantage of. Doesn't
sound like the HDL that I know.
But it sounds like this D-story does "Sock" a better turn than
the old strips did. I would like *VERY MUCH* to redo it for
Gladstone. Here's where you guys come in. I need to know if anyone
has a DUTCH or GERMAN printing of story D7436. Help!
The entire business about liquor apparently is an issue in
Norway as well. Gladstone apparently is not allowed to even mention
booze unless it's out of context -- for example, in that old sea
shanty "Sixteen Men on a Dead Man's Chest" (and as I mentioned, thus
Gladstone does have it better than Whitman, which couldn't even
mention rum there!).
The bit about Pete drinking the champagne may have been one of
the reasons the original version of "Island in the Sky" was banned
here for so long, but everyone I asked gave other reasons. I'm sure
that was a consideration, though. Phooey.
The (VERY GOOD) 1931 story "Mickey Mouse Vs. Katt Nipp"
involves CATNIP wine, which a bootlegger (this was Prohibition,
remember?) is actually shown brewing. Mickey knows that this wine is
Katt Nipp's weakness, so strategically places jugs of it near Katt
Nipp's shack. When Nipp drinks the stuff, he acts drunk, and is easy
prey for whatever Mickey's trying to do (as he points out). Wine is
clearly shown in a negative light, as just another reason why MM is
smarter than the villain. Very interesting.
D93520 (Donald learning to control his anger) Seems like this
is actually a new twist on that old saw. And it's not the only one
Egmont has done lately. Dave Rawson (or was it Bob Ingersoll?) spent
some time at the Comic Con last fall telling me about a similar story
of his own, which is titled "Temper Fugit." And again, the story
sounds like a winner.
D93477 (Mickey down on the farm) Groan. About the only thing I
can say about this story is that at least Mickey isn't shown as being
good at everything. Worse, I know that in Britain it will be printed
just because it is a Mickey story, thus preempting one of the better
stories you mentioned was published this week. (Since the British
weekly only has 22-24 pages of comics each week)
DAVID.A.GERSTEIN
NAFSK Info Needed!
Message 53 -
1994-11-09 at 13:26:31
Dear Folks,
I wrote a VERY long article about Mickey Mouse in both
animation and comics, entitled "A Portrait of the Actor as a Young
Mouse", which was intended for an issue of NAFSKurien that was meant
to come out in September, according to Mattias Hallin. Mattias --
what's HAPPENED to that issue? Did it come out? Has any of you seen
it, or know when it will be published if it hasn't appeared yet?
Thanks! David
<9475609 at arran.sms.ed.ac.uk>
I wrote a VERY long article about Mickey Mouse in both
animation and comics, entitled "A Portrait of the Actor as a Young
Mouse", which was intended for an issue of NAFSKurien that was meant
to come out in September, according to Mattias Hallin. Mattias --
what's HAPPENED to that issue? Did it come out? Has any of you seen
it, or know when it will be published if it hasn't appeared yet?
Thanks! David
<9475609 at arran.sms.ed.ac.uk>
Per Starback
Don Ault
Message 54 -
1994-11-09 at 13:59:50
Don Ault is now a member of this list. To shamelessly steal the text
on him in Carl Barks library,
DONALD AULT (Ph.D. in English, 1968) taught at the University of
California, Berkeley, from 1968 to 1976 and has since been a Professor
at Vanderbilt University. His publications include two books on
William Blake and numerous articles on Carl Barks' work. Professor
Ault introduced Barks' work as literature into Berkeley's curriculum
in his experimental "Popular Narrative" course (1972). He still
teaches this very popular course at Vanderbilt.
(Hm, I guess that's not entirely up to date, as I gather you're at
University of Florida now instead...)
Welcome! And thanks to Suzy Shaw who I guess brought you here.
-- "
Per Starback, Uppsala, Sweden. email: starback at minsk.docs.uu.se
on him in Carl Barks library,
DONALD AULT (Ph.D. in English, 1968) taught at the University of
California, Berkeley, from 1968 to 1976 and has since been a Professor
at Vanderbilt University. His publications include two books on
William Blake and numerous articles on Carl Barks' work. Professor
Ault introduced Barks' work as literature into Berkeley's curriculum
in his experimental "Popular Narrative" course (1972). He still
teaches this very popular course at Vanderbilt.
(Hm, I guess that's not entirely up to date, as I gather you're at
University of Florida now instead...)
Welcome! And thanks to Suzy Shaw who I guess brought you here.
-- "
Per Starback, Uppsala, Sweden. email: starback at minsk.docs.uu.se
Dave Rawson
Disney-comics digest #486.
Message 55 -
1994-11-09 at 14:38:46
On 8 Nov 94 disney-comics at minsk.docs.uu.se wrote:
d> That crabby
d> chicken-fellow is named Red O'Ruckus, and I like that
d> name so much, I might use the character in one of my own
d> Duck stories (if it's okay with you, Dave).
S'okay with me. Fun actually, if you sustain and develop the
character which certainly sounds like your intent.
d> Red O'Ruckus seems to complain about damn near EVERYTHING.
Yeah, we modeled him after Bob Foster! :)
(Jus' kiddin'...) Each of the characters has a kind of comedia del
arte monomaniacal characteristic associated with them. Believe it or
not, Night of the Iguana was an influence here.
d> Glad you're on board, Dave!
Thanks, David! Hello all! Hello, Don!
d> Can you tell us about some of your Mickey tales?
Likely, but the question is a little broad for my dimly focused
mind. Ask me something specific to help me through my existential
fog. :)
d> I can see why
d> they might be peeved that they spent years learning to
d> draw this Disney "style", and then my stories gain this
d> odd popularity simply because (it's my theory) I DON'T
d> draw in that Disney style.
It sets you apart, but in my opinion, so does your fine sense of
storytelling. You work hard to make things appear effortless. Your
use of parallel activity to set up a gag sequence in the background
of a run of panels is _lots_ of extra creative effort that only
someone who _likes_ doing it would go to such trouble for.
As a humble writer, I feel insulted when I hear someone slight your
art when your storytelling is so clear. As you know, to me that is
the real goal of storytelling -- the story. Everything serves the
story. I'm not sure why this concept meets with such hostility. To
me it seems an unambiguous given. To others it seems unfathomable
heresy.
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| ~*>DCR<*~ ,,, |
| Bahia del Sur de los Angeles (o-o) |
+-----------------------------ooO-(_)-Ooo-------------------------+
... riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay
* Evaluation copy of Silver Xpress. Day # 4
--- via Silver Xpress V4.01 [NR]
d> That crabby
d> chicken-fellow is named Red O'Ruckus, and I like that
d> name so much, I might use the character in one of my own
d> Duck stories (if it's okay with you, Dave).
S'okay with me. Fun actually, if you sustain and develop the
character which certainly sounds like your intent.
d> Red O'Ruckus seems to complain about damn near EVERYTHING.
Yeah, we modeled him after Bob Foster! :)
(Jus' kiddin'...) Each of the characters has a kind of comedia del
arte monomaniacal characteristic associated with them. Believe it or
not, Night of the Iguana was an influence here.
d> Glad you're on board, Dave!
Thanks, David! Hello all! Hello, Don!
d> Can you tell us about some of your Mickey tales?
Likely, but the question is a little broad for my dimly focused
mind. Ask me something specific to help me through my existential
fog. :)
d> I can see why
d> they might be peeved that they spent years learning to
d> draw this Disney "style", and then my stories gain this
d> odd popularity simply because (it's my theory) I DON'T
d> draw in that Disney style.
It sets you apart, but in my opinion, so does your fine sense of
storytelling. You work hard to make things appear effortless. Your
use of parallel activity to set up a gag sequence in the background
of a run of panels is _lots_ of extra creative effort that only
someone who _likes_ doing it would go to such trouble for.
As a humble writer, I feel insulted when I hear someone slight your
art when your storytelling is so clear. As you know, to me that is
the real goal of storytelling -- the story. Everything serves the
story. I'm not sure why this concept meets with such hostility. To
me it seems an unambiguous given. To others it seems unfathomable
heresy.
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| ~*>DCR<*~ ,,, |
| Bahia del Sur de los Angeles (o-o) |
+-----------------------------ooO-(_)-Ooo-------------------------+
... riverrun, past Eve and Adam's, from swerve of shore to bend of bay
* Evaluation copy of Silver Xpress. Day # 4
--- via Silver Xpress V4.01 [NR]
Fredrik Ekman
NAFSK Info Needed!
Message 56 -
1994-11-09 at 15:32:46
David: I wouldn't worry too much about that issue of NAFS(k)uriren that
you mentioned. During my five or six years as a NAFS(k) member it has
never been on time as far as I can remember, and two months is really
nothing in this context. I haven't seen this last issue either, if that
can reduce your anxiety. Still, I wouldn't mind if Mattias would tell us
when it IS supposed to appear...
/F
you mentioned. During my five or six years as a NAFS(k) member it has
never been on time as far as I can remember, and two months is really
nothing in this context. I haven't seen this last issue either, if that
can reduce your anxiety. Still, I wouldn't mind if Mattias would tell us
when it IS supposed to appear...
/F
Tallmo
Real people in Disney comics
Message 57 -
1994-11-09 at 21:42:41
Real people in Disney comics
----------------------------
Well this isn't Barks but Strobl and maybe someone already has mentioned
this, but in "This is your life DD" there is a human, Disney himself, or at
least his arm, patting Donald on the shoulder while signing the contract to
work for Disney Studios. If it isn't supposed to be Disney but some of his
lawyers, it still is a human - five fingers, not four.
Karl-Erik
---------------------------------------------------------------------
KARL-ERIK TALLMO, Swedish writer, journalist, critic and HyperCard
programmer, living in Stockholm. Contributor of articles to Nordic dailies
and magazines. Writes about music, literature and computers. Also DTP,
Swedish grammar checking, translation, etc. through the private firm NISUS
PUBLISHING.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------
Well this isn't Barks but Strobl and maybe someone already has mentioned
this, but in "This is your life DD" there is a human, Disney himself, or at
least his arm, patting Donald on the shoulder while signing the contract to
work for Disney Studios. If it isn't supposed to be Disney but some of his
lawyers, it still is a human - five fingers, not four.
Karl-Erik
---------------------------------------------------------------------
KARL-ERIK TALLMO, Swedish writer, journalist, critic and HyperCard
programmer, living in Stockholm. Contributor of articles to Nordic dailies
and magazines. Writes about music, literature and computers. Also DTP,
Swedish grammar checking, translation, etc. through the private firm NISUS
PUBLISHING.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Tallmo
Goofy's raven
Message 58 -
1994-11-09 at 21:52:42
>Does anyone know of a black talking bird that lived with Goofy in the
>(I think early 50s) sunday newspaper strips? His Dutch name is Leo de Beo.
>The Dutch made some gags and stories with this bird themselves, including
>one about Supergoof contra Superbeo...
Harry,
I have a Christmas album in Swedish from 1962 with Goofy and that bird. But
this black raven, who really his a hip cat, only appears in one of the
strips. Was he a regular character? He has no name here. Do you know who
the artist was?
BTW, there are some real people here too. Goofy dreams he is a maharadja
with a harem - of real girls it seems!
Karl-Erik
---------------------------------------------------------------------
KARL-ERIK TALLMO, Swedish writer, journalist, critic and HyperCard
programmer, living in Stockholm. Contributor of articles to Nordic dailies
and magazines. Writes about music, literature and computers. Also DTP,
Swedish grammar checking, translation, etc. through the private firm NISUS
PUBLISHING.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
>(I think early 50s) sunday newspaper strips? His Dutch name is Leo de Beo.
>The Dutch made some gags and stories with this bird themselves, including
>one about Supergoof contra Superbeo...
Harry,
I have a Christmas album in Swedish from 1962 with Goofy and that bird. But
this black raven, who really his a hip cat, only appears in one of the
strips. Was he a regular character? He has no name here. Do you know who
the artist was?
BTW, there are some real people here too. Goofy dreams he is a maharadja
with a harem - of real girls it seems!
Karl-Erik
---------------------------------------------------------------------
KARL-ERIK TALLMO, Swedish writer, journalist, critic and HyperCard
programmer, living in Stockholm. Contributor of articles to Nordic dailies
and magazines. Writes about music, literature and computers. Also DTP,
Swedish grammar checking, translation, etc. through the private firm NISUS
PUBLISHING.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Bev Keddy
Disney-comics digest #486.
Message 59 -
1994-11-10 at 01:37:54
I was pleased to see Don Rosa back on the list after being away for a week
or so. I was also happy to see him acknowledge li'l ol' me. I have
enjoyed Mr. Rosa's work since the early '80's, when I was subscribing to
the Comics Reader (can he tell me why it was cancelled? It just stopped
coming about 10 years ago and I never got a single word of explanation,
which ticked me off). I liked his Captain Kentucky very much as well as
his information column in TCR.
I was very interested to hear that the "Lost Charts of Columbus" would
partly take place in Nova Scotia. Did he select NS because of some plot
requirement (something about our history, for example?) or did he just want
some "exotic" locale? Just wondering. Also, does he have any idea when
Gladstone might publish it?
One correction I would like to make, though: Don referred to me as "her".
I'm a 30-year old male, truth to tell. I wonder if he's embarrassed right
about now?
======================================================================
Bev Keddy
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Email:nstn1173 at fox.nstn.ca
======================================================================
or so. I was also happy to see him acknowledge li'l ol' me. I have
enjoyed Mr. Rosa's work since the early '80's, when I was subscribing to
the Comics Reader (can he tell me why it was cancelled? It just stopped
coming about 10 years ago and I never got a single word of explanation,
which ticked me off). I liked his Captain Kentucky very much as well as
his information column in TCR.
I was very interested to hear that the "Lost Charts of Columbus" would
partly take place in Nova Scotia. Did he select NS because of some plot
requirement (something about our history, for example?) or did he just want
some "exotic" locale? Just wondering. Also, does he have any idea when
Gladstone might publish it?
One correction I would like to make, though: Don referred to me as "her".
I'm a 30-year old male, truth to tell. I wonder if he's embarrassed right
about now?
======================================================================
Bev Keddy
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Email:nstn1173 at fox.nstn.ca
======================================================================
DAVID.A.GERSTEIN
Goofy's Raven friend
Message 60 -
1994-11-10 at 13:43:43
Dear Folks,
I'll be doggoned! Never even occurred to me, while we were
discussing the less-well-known Disney characters, to bring up
Ellsworth!
That's right. Ellsworth the raven was created by Bill Walsh in
1950 for the Mickey Mouse Sunday strip. And he appeared on and off
there for some years. He was originally a pet of Goofy, but could
talk perfectly sensibly (which surprised Mickey no end, on their
first meeting). Somehow seems to me that in a Disney comic, no one
should be surprised at a talking bird when that bird walks on his
hind legs, has hands (if not gloves) and wears a baseball cap and
turtleneck shirt! Just one of those blurry boundaries in
anthropomorphic logic, I guess.
Only one or two of the Ellsworth Sunday pages were ever
reprinted by Dell. It seems that they made a conscious decision NOT
to use the character, for whatever reason. I'm guessing that there
was a similar decision about Eega Beeva, although of course I have no
way of proving that. But I have seen many Ellsworth Sunday pages
in the French comics -- and the French have gone on to do many
original gags with the character (whose name is "Genius" in French --
he's very smart as well as a smart aleck).
The first appearance of Ellsworth appears in the Abbeville
Press GOOFY book (which is a reworking of Mondadori material). It is
not noted as any specific landmark there, though; it's just an
isolated Sunday page, one of several in the first few pages of the
volume.
Romano Scarpa has used the character several times, for example
in an early-1980s tale called "The African Queen" (really). In that
story, no pet-master relationship is implied as Ellsworth just joins
in with Mickey and Goofy on their adventure. The only difference
between Ellsworth and other "human-animals" is that he can FLY, even
at this late date.
I like Ellsworth and may use him in upcoming stories, now that
I see that people know him somewhere besides France. On the other
hand, his mixture of brains and smart-aleckiness make him not so
different from my conception of Mickey, and the whole nature of the
character in relation to the others (pet vs. friend) makes him
troubling. So we'll see. In the strips of the 1950s, Mickey is just
the boring observer of Ellsworth's witty doings. Yawn.
Other business: Yep, I know that Walt Disney's hand appears in
that Strobl DD biography. Gladstone colored the hand WHITE in their
recent reprint of that story. Groan. Or are we meant to believe
that Walt is, like so many of his characters, wearing gloves? He
doesn't have those stripes on the back of his hand...
I don't care what the Dutch think, I like Don Rosa's art a LOT
and, in fact, the art is why he's the FAVORITE Duck artist of my
brother and best friend back home. So there.
DAVE RAWSON: You want to get more specific, eh? Well, then,
how, and to what extent, have you been using some of the more
Gottfredson-like situations, and vintage characters, in the MM
stories that you're doing for Egmont just now?
As for Vicar's "studio", he doesn't have a tremendously big
place, otherwise he'd churn it out like Jaime Diaz. He pencils his
stories himself, then divides the inking between various folks (and
he does ink some of them on his own, too). I think that the inkers
do a remarkable job, because aside from the fact that some use
pie-cuts in the eyes and some not, I couldn't tell the difference.
I'll have more news for you on my trip very shortly, Harry!
And I'll be back tomorrow. Best,
David Gerstein <9475609 at arran.sms.edu>
"A bird just likes to know where he stands, after all!"
I'll be doggoned! Never even occurred to me, while we were
discussing the less-well-known Disney characters, to bring up
Ellsworth!
That's right. Ellsworth the raven was created by Bill Walsh in
1950 for the Mickey Mouse Sunday strip. And he appeared on and off
there for some years. He was originally a pet of Goofy, but could
talk perfectly sensibly (which surprised Mickey no end, on their
first meeting). Somehow seems to me that in a Disney comic, no one
should be surprised at a talking bird when that bird walks on his
hind legs, has hands (if not gloves) and wears a baseball cap and
turtleneck shirt! Just one of those blurry boundaries in
anthropomorphic logic, I guess.
Only one or two of the Ellsworth Sunday pages were ever
reprinted by Dell. It seems that they made a conscious decision NOT
to use the character, for whatever reason. I'm guessing that there
was a similar decision about Eega Beeva, although of course I have no
way of proving that. But I have seen many Ellsworth Sunday pages
in the French comics -- and the French have gone on to do many
original gags with the character (whose name is "Genius" in French --
he's very smart as well as a smart aleck).
The first appearance of Ellsworth appears in the Abbeville
Press GOOFY book (which is a reworking of Mondadori material). It is
not noted as any specific landmark there, though; it's just an
isolated Sunday page, one of several in the first few pages of the
volume.
Romano Scarpa has used the character several times, for example
in an early-1980s tale called "The African Queen" (really). In that
story, no pet-master relationship is implied as Ellsworth just joins
in with Mickey and Goofy on their adventure. The only difference
between Ellsworth and other "human-animals" is that he can FLY, even
at this late date.
I like Ellsworth and may use him in upcoming stories, now that
I see that people know him somewhere besides France. On the other
hand, his mixture of brains and smart-aleckiness make him not so
different from my conception of Mickey, and the whole nature of the
character in relation to the others (pet vs. friend) makes him
troubling. So we'll see. In the strips of the 1950s, Mickey is just
the boring observer of Ellsworth's witty doings. Yawn.
Other business: Yep, I know that Walt Disney's hand appears in
that Strobl DD biography. Gladstone colored the hand WHITE in their
recent reprint of that story. Groan. Or are we meant to believe
that Walt is, like so many of his characters, wearing gloves? He
doesn't have those stripes on the back of his hand...
I don't care what the Dutch think, I like Don Rosa's art a LOT
and, in fact, the art is why he's the FAVORITE Duck artist of my
brother and best friend back home. So there.
DAVE RAWSON: You want to get more specific, eh? Well, then,
how, and to what extent, have you been using some of the more
Gottfredson-like situations, and vintage characters, in the MM
stories that you're doing for Egmont just now?
As for Vicar's "studio", he doesn't have a tremendously big
place, otherwise he'd churn it out like Jaime Diaz. He pencils his
stories himself, then divides the inking between various folks (and
he does ink some of them on his own, too). I think that the inkers
do a remarkable job, because aside from the fact that some use
pie-cuts in the eyes and some not, I couldn't tell the difference.
I'll have more news for you on my trip very shortly, Harry!
And I'll be back tomorrow. Best,
David Gerstein <9475609 at arran.sms.edu>
"A bird just likes to know where he stands, after all!"