Keskustelujen arkisto

I've just recently purchased WDC&S 601 and
though it is a great book, I do have one
complaint. The pricing does seem a bit high,
and I was thinking that this puts the book out
of the reach of many childeren (the former target
audience of the comic). Does Gladstone have
any plans to publish a slightly cheaper version
of the book. It would be a shame if a parent were
to avoid randomly picking up the book for thier
children just becasue of it's price. It seems that
in catering to a collectors market, Gladstone has
inadvertadly placed the title out of reach of
future generations of readers. : (

Any comments? (Maybe they _do_ have a cheaper version
that I am not aware of?)
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DWIGHT:
I beg to differ about MICKEY MOUSE MAGAZINE #1's reprint in
WDC&S 601. I actually thought it was hilarious, in part because of
its primitiveness and the bizarreness of its humor (which I did find
humorous, just bizarre).
I guess I'm the kind of collector who Gladstone aimed for when
they reprinted it, then? I always wanted a copy of the issue, and
never had it because I knew I could never afford it. (Not that it's
worth the $5000 it sells for, but that's how much it costs if you're
going by that cursed guide.) Now I do. And I was quite literally
roaring with laughter at it: something old which led directly to
WDC&S began in this goofy, prehistoric way. (Sorry, Goofy.)

HARRY:
You wondered why "Mickey Mouse, Movie Star" was included.
Basically, just so that American collectors could get a look at
SOMETHING from the banned "Robinson Crusoe" story. While many
now-banned FG stories were reprinted as recently as 1988, some -- like
this one -- are virtually impossible to find in any form.

DONALD DUCK ADVENTURES 36
came out here yesterday. Opener is John Lustig's "Peace in
Pieces": Donald tries psychology in dealing with Neighbor Jones, a
14-page story. I thought this was a good story, John, with EXCELLENT
use of dialogue and wordplay; was it changed by Gladstone from the
Egmont printing at all (did you tweak the text or anything?)
Vicar forgot Neighbor Jones' hair, rendering him bald. In
fact, he drew Jones just as Jack Hannah drew him in a 1947 story
("Donald Duck's Big Blowout" in OS 147). I imagine he had a mishap
with Donald and some acid, and that it'll grow back by the next time
he shows up.
In the back of the comic is a Barks ten-pager ("The Ice
Taxis") and a one-pager commissioned just for Gladstone.

EVERYONE:
The following is a message from John Clark, quoted almost
verbatim (he told me what to say on the phone earlier, in reponse to
some generalized comments from the list I gave him in anonymity).
"The money attained from the original "Sword in the Stone" art
in WDC&S is going to Gladstone's coffers, not just Bruce's own,
despite the name we've indicated to make the checks out to. No matter
what we may think of Gladstone selling some things in WDC&S, we should
realize that it's one of the reasons WDC&S doesn't cost more than $6
and that Gladstone has enough overhead to print its comics at all in
today's market, with today's terrible paper costs and low
distribution.
"Selling "Sword in the Stone" art is to Gladstone's own
benefit, not just Bruce's."

David Gerstein
<(Email removed)>

Hello Mattias,

...and thanks for responding!

> MELANIE:
>
> I, too, get my Gladstones from the local store (in part 'cos I get'em
> sooner but mainly to support my local dealer and help him stay in business,
> which, since he carries more stuff than just what I *know* that I want is to my
> benefit); and I too have a problem with the back issues.

Good point about supporting local business. I let the subscriptions run
out and began ordering comics from the shop in large part for the same
reason: the shop proprietor is a very decent gentleman who has gone out of
his way to find comics for me. That kind of service deserves customer
loyalty, IMHO. It's a small shop, but an esoteric one, in the sense that
it handles everything from Gladstone to undergrounds. My experience with
most shops is that they cater largely to the Marvel-DC fanboy crowd,
looking more for quick impulse sales than a steady customer base.

However, I don't
> *think* that this is due to any devious practices on the part of Gladstone but
> stems from the way American comic books are distributed to retailers. At least
> I've been made to understand (by various dealers I've talked to) that the
> distributors (Diamond et al.), though they claim to have a back issue service,
> are not really interested in handling back issues since these are capricious
> things, businesswise: you don't know just what you ought to stock and what not,
> and that stock will probably move rather slow and erringly. There are quicker,
> bigger and more forseeable returns to be had from just handling current issues.

Another valid point here. Market determines which back issues are "hot."
As a shopkeeper (at least here in America, it appears again that DC-Marvel
superheroes are the hottest backissues. A "megastore" in Denver has a few
Gladstone backissues, and an impressive collection of old Dells and Gold
Keys, probably because owner (who is a distributor) is a diehard Duckman.
He still deals mostly the DC-Marvel stuff, though.

> BTW -- what explanation does *your* dealer offer as an excuse for not getting
> back issues for you?

He does try to get them, but is honest about how long it will take. His
distributor is probably the Duckman mentioned above--and it would be
faster to get them from Gladstone anyway.

I'd like to get a few more copies of various issues of Lo$ to complete a
partial second set. I think these are now considered "hot" backissues. I
was darned lucky to get the first issue in the series, which my dealer did
find for me before I signed up for the comic on a regular basis.

> All my best; and, since I'll probably be back in lurk-mode until the next year:

And my best to you, and Happy Appropriate Holiday or Winter Celebration or
whatever turns you on!

Thanks for a thoughtful post...

Best regards,

Melanie

Hello Carey,

> > I asked if they offered a line of Duck cards, a Duck calendar,
> > I am wondering if this type
> > of product might be offered by some other company, or perhaps outside the US.
>
> You can get calendars of both Barks oil paintings and Duck Comic covers
> from distrubitors here in the states. The group I do business with is
> Bear Mountain Enterprises. They also carry a large line of Duck back
> issues. You can reach them at:

(addresses snipped for brevity)

Thanks very much for the addresses and phone numbers! I am pleased to be
able to get these products.

Kind regards,

Melanie

Hello Cord:

> You were looking for Duck Cards, Calendars or other such merchandise.
> The Barks posters "Sheriff of Bullett Valley", "Sailing the Spanish Main"
> and a third depicting an U$ who trims his hedge to a $-shape were released
> by AR some years ago in a standard edition (around $ 8 ea) and a special
> edition printed by Black Box Chicago (around $ 35 ea, signed by Barks $100 ea).
> The remaining stock of these posters is now in the possession of Russ Cochran.
> Anybody who is interested in them should contact Russ at

(address deleted)

Thanks for providing this information! I don't have the larger "Bullet
Valley" but do have the smaller Another Rainbow version. I have the large
sailboat one, and it is outstanding! I do recommend these posters.

> There are good chances that he still has copies at the original price.
> Ditto for the "smaller posters" which are presumambly identical to the
> color covers in the original b/w CBL.

They are on heavy, glossy stock and many are printed with a cover on each
side.

(Calendar info deleted)

Thanks again!

> If anybody would like to have some of this merchandise please contact me.
> In the case of the oil-paintig calendar I can possibly arrange something
> directly with the publisher or we will find another way to get the goodies
> safely across the big drink.

I personally would be very interested in getting a calendar.

Regards,

Melanie

BROR (STEAMBOAT WILLIE):

Another of my interests is watching birds, and in North America at least
there ARE several duck species that nest in trees, such as Wood Duck, and
Whistling Duck (two types). This is not to add credence to that story you
described, but just for your information!

AUGIE:

Haven't seen Astro City #5 yet, but I mentioned the Starkings commercial
font here some time ago. I've learned that John Clark himself is doing most
of the computer lettering for Gladstone, at Bruce Hamilton's request. John is
an old friend that I've known for almost 20 years. If he were to call me and
ask for advice on computer lettering, I'd be happy to give it to him. Next
time I talk to him I'll mention it.

Todd

BJORN-ARE:
Something seemed to be wrong with your address; my message to you
bounced.

> I've also gotten into puzzling discussions after having written
> (or spoken) something I meant quite innocently or believed was an amusing joke or pun,
> not understanding the major differences in thought and language between even very
> similar cultures.

I looked up your first messages in the archives, just because I was curious
what you were talking about. I couldn't find any specific Norwegian
language problems (but I don't know Norwegian 8-). The problems
were of two kinds: people were not reading your messages thorougly enough,
and people didn't get your intended irony.
The second problem can at least be helped by adding smileys to the message.
I experienced it can be dangerous to make a joke on Internet, to people
you don't know and who don't know you yet. They don't see your smiling
face and can't guess your meaning. This is not a problem of this mailing
list, it's a general (e-)mail problem.

I have no solution to the problem that people don't read mail thoroughly.

> Someone just said he had been to Istanbul (Constantinople, I
> presume), and seen Hagia Sophia (yes, one g).

That was I. I was in Istanbul (which is the official name of the city
since the 20s, as you probably know) last October.
Is it a coincidence that this city was also the very first subject you
brought up on this list? 8-)

> And made a comment on todays color.
> For some reason its been changed (yes, by the Turks) from the yellow one may see in
> every picture from the fifties and up to about 1985, to red.

I think the Turks explained to me that Red was supposed to be its
original colour from the Byzantine period.

> Perhaps Don did make a right
> choice here, even if he tended to make the rest of the buildings in ancient
> Constantinople too square :-)

Don may be responsible for the shape of the buildings, but not for their
colour. Someone else colours Don's stories. In Europe, an Egmont colouring
department (or studio); in the USA, in this case Scott Rockwell.

--Harry.
(Do you have a day in Norway on which the children say "Trick or Threat"? 8-)

MELANIE (about Lo$):

> Which, out of all of the panels, left the greatest impression?
> I'd like to hear from others on this.

The panel of Lo$ I keep remembering as the greatest *amusing* moment
is one of Lo$ 4. (I know, maybe not an impressive scene as you meant it,
but later about that.)

While reading Lo$ 4 for the first time I saw at a certain point the
young Scrooge hopelessly surrounded by all those angry animals. In
Holland this scene was published on the page on the right, so I had to
turn on the page to see how Scrooge would get himself out of that
situation.

And I really burst out laughing (in public, I sat in a train!) when I
had turned the page and saw that large panel where Scrooge jumps up in
anger, terrifying the animals with doing so. This really was the
greatest amusing moment for me in Lo$.

For the people who don't remember that scene (is that possible? ;-),
just look at it!

> For me, it's the graveyard scene in which $ silently pays his respects to
> his departed parents. I kept returning to that page to stare at it,
> thinking it one of the most profound, as well as expertly executed, comic
> book panels I'd ever seen.

Yeah, that was a very impressive moment. Even more when you realize
that it's happening in a *Disney* comic! I had to look twice at it to
believe I *was* reading a Disney-comic.

For me an even more impressive moment in Lo$ was to see the actual
dying of Scrooge's father happening (but that was in another part?).
Just like the graveyard scene you mentioned, this scene just gave me a
moment of... impression... and somehow... emptyness...

> I hope this doesn't sound silly or too much like gushing.

Yes, that's what I was also asking about myself while writing this
mail. But I can convince you, with all those other Rosa-fans here:
We're not the only ones! ;-)

I'd like to add a scene to this letter which I found the most
impressive moment in a Barks-story. This was the last page of "Back to
the Klondike" (SPOILER for those who didn't read it!) where the Ducks
discover that Scrooge intentional lost the contest with Goldie...
I really *felt* the same surprise as the nephews in that last panel,
and I felt so sorry for Scrooge when I saw him walking that way in
that panel...

Maybe I'm spoiling the sentimental tone of this letter by asking this,
but might it be possible that "Back to the Klonide" had such an
impressive feel to it (regarding the impossible love subject) because
Barks made it during his divorce?

Greetings,

--- Daniel

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End of dcomics-d Digest V95 Issue #19
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