Keskustelujen arkisto

DON: Did Harry's package include the French comics I'd given
him to send you?

HARRY: Did your package to Don include... well, it's kind of
obvious now. ;-)

RoC: I believe it was you who had kindly offered to send me a
Norwegian "Two in One". When did you send it? I have had problems
with the school mail delivery service lately and I wonder if it was
sent BACK to you.

David Gerstein
<9475609 at arran.sms.ed.ac.uk>

Well, we have now read (with much pleasure) the new Don Rosa
masterwork, "The treasure of King Croesus". Don Rosa asked me to
provide a translation of the front-page article, so I'll try to make a
quick-and-dirty translation.

- -
Uncle Scrooge on treasure hunt

Don Rosa is a great admirer of Carl Barks' Scrooge-stories. He
especially likes the stories where Scrooge and his nephews are on hunt
for treasure in dangerous circumstances. In the story "The Son of the
Sun" there are actually a whole page from Scrooge's museum that shows
treasures that Don Rosa has found in old Barks-classics.
Beneath you see both the treasures and from where they are taken.
Another funny detail from "The Son of the Sun" is that part of a
treasure is shown that Scrooge hadn't found yet, namely the treasure
of Croesus. And after reading the Croesus-story, you will know that
Scrooge probably has borrowed the displayed coins from Joerg
Riensglad...
- -

Beneath the text is shown the first page from 'Uncle Scrooge and "The
Son of the Sun"' with panels from various stories, and lots of
characterizations like 'Greedy gold-thirsting miser from "The Fabulous
Philosopher's Stone" in Donald Duck & Co. no. 6/1976' etc.

By the way, the story consistently has the professor as "Joerg
Risenglad" not as Riensglad, as in the introduction. Also whoever
wrote it didn't notice that the bit of the treasure found in the
hollow column at Ephesus would belong to Scrooge and therefore would
be in Scrooge's musuem... I must say I greatly admire the way your
tales are so self-consistent, Don! Several times during the reading I
found myself discovering details in panels that fit perfectly with the
story later on (such as the hay-fork the boys are carrying before it's
used). This helps make the story worth reading over and over, and
it's always funny.

Your advance copies: I think subscribers get the weeklies some few
days before the stores, but not much. Geir Hasnes will probably know
the details.

I must also concur with Geir Hasnes that the changes of perspective
in "Croesus" are very well-chosen. I especially noticed this on the
second page, where we see the carnage in the money-bin. And certainly
I must agree with Donald that this must be Magica's most bizarre plan
to date!

About the drawing style: I remember the first time I read a Don Rosa
story - I certainly noticed that this was very different from the
usual Disney stuff, and very much better. This was before I knew
anything about Don Rosa, and I remember being very excited about it.
I say, keep your unique style and develop it your own way, and I'll be
a very happy reader.

Yours,

- Arne H. Juul

Please, subscribe me to your Discussin Group.
Thank you.
lee,gi-jun s9220078 at maincc.hufs.ac.kr

DON:
Hmm, I understand you want all the DD-magazines that have something
conserning you, but there's also been a 400 paged hc-book with two of your
stories in it. Do you want that too?

--

Mike - The Finnish Trekkie

Unluuurking I just have to congratulate you, Don, on the treasure of Croesus!

The story was very amusing and impressive! From the enigmatic opening with
Magica (What had really been going on at the money bin?) through the
whole unravelling of the Croesus treasure, it just worked perfectly with me! I
love tales based on historical facts, and especially regarding that part of the
world!

As usual I dug your many well researched details! The cross on exhibition in
Hagia Sophia (one of my favorite buildings!) is very much a Byzantinian cross,
6th century I would think. It reminds me a bit of the the gift Emperor Justin II
presented to the pope and is still to be found in the Vatican Museum

Some mild comments: There are in fact remains of the great temple of
Artemis at Ephesus, even if pitifull small. A bit of one pillar is visible on the site,
at least it was when I was there in 1988 (and there should have been remains
in the 50's!). Or perhaps what one may see today is due to what happened in
your tale? And by the way, the ancient city of Ephesus is a very lovely sight.
Lots of buidings to see, not very long from the temple. And there are going on
rather heavy reconstructions of buildings (e.g. the library) in the city!
Construction machines everywhere.

And after my mild criticisms on your Constantinoplan cityscapes in "Guardians
of the lost Library" more than a year ago I have to say that this is indeed an
improvement! Now the buildings have the appropriate "roundness"! Someone (Josef
Brodsky?) once said that loooking at Istanbul from afar is like seeing a nest of frogs in
the weeds. He meant it negatively, to me it is a lovely sight.

If there is one place in Istanbul to find pillars from the temple of Artemis I would have
suggested the large underground "Cisterns of the thousand columns" situated just by
Hagia Sophia. When I was there I noticed several pillars obviously lifted from pagan
temples, as the Byzantinans to create their magnificent city had to get building materials
from all over their world. There are all kinds of pillars upside down (do deglorify the old
gods and godesses?), Medusa heads and whatever.

A possible inconsistency from previous discussions on the wealth of $crooge is that in
this tale it all seems to depend on what's in his bin. Haven't you argued earlier that that is
just a part of his wealth,containing "only" the money he personally has earned and of
which he knows the story of every single coin? Or is there something I have
misunderstood?

However, this is hair splitting! Keep on with more tales from that area! Let $crooge find
the lost treasures of the Byzantinian emperors (e.g. what really happened to their
tombs/burial treasures) after the sack of 1204! Let him go for Timurlanes treasure of
Samarkand a bit farther east! And to Bagdhad which were leveled to the ground by the
Mongolians in 1256 or something. A lot of interesting treasures may have been hidden!
And we must not forget the whole story of the Silk Road! And perhaps the greatest
treasure of them all: The tomb of Alexander the Great! Go get it, $crooge!

And go write it, Don!

Bjorn Are

DON:
> I also see they used a few more of the "Lo$"... including using the
> 3-part chapter 8 as one part. But they used the WRONG version!

Right: they (the Dutch publisher GP) used the already coloured version,
they never colour the stories for DD Extra themselves.

But I wouldn't want to miss those magnificent half-page panels you put
there! They are not just enlarged opening panels of parts 2 and 3: they
fit perfectly in the story as a whole. Except that the captions are a bit
large. Has the "right" version 2 rows of panels in stead?

I can hardly wait to see the Gladstone version...

--Harry.

Don!

Yesterday was a Good Day - coming home with a new
Don Rosa story - sitting down in my best chair - lighting up my
best pipe - open the package - smell the cover - admire the cover
look at the back cover - holding my breath - relighten
the pipe that went out while I held my breath - open the book and
READ!!!

My complements and thanks for the Croesus story! It is
long time since I laughed so much from a Duck story
as when I read the first two pages. (In fact I am still laughing.
People look at me. You have a lot to answer for.) My only
major criticism is the same as for all your stories: it was too short!
Of course I have to read it three or four times to get the details,
but it is still too short. And to all: Study those two first pages
carefully.

And I will comment no further on the story so not to spoil it,
but for those who are waiting: You have a treat coming!

As to the song, they translated the text from the original and made
rhyme and rythm out of it. I tried to hum it to what I remember from the
original Groucho Marx song, but could not make it fit. Anyway, it
made a good running gag, and the text had several double meanings
satisfying dirty old men like me, so they kept the flavour of the
original. Or some of it at least.

Even

Even Flood
Reference Librarian " Come, and take choice of
Norwegian DIANE Center all my library, and so
Technical University Library of Norway beguile thy sorrow."
N 7034 Trondheim, Norway (Shakespeare)
Phone: +47 73 59 51 62, Fax +47 73 59 51 03
even.flood at ntub.unit.no