Keskustelujen arkisto

DON:

Brief digression here. Why is the Disney Afternoon Mailing List more
often mentioned? The list owner and moderator is Stephanie Da Silva, who
might be able to claim net.goddess status. She is the maintainer, I
believe, of the List of Lists.

(Complete tangent: I looked in those Internet Directories, too, last time I
was in a bookstore to see if the VR.5 mailing list was in there. Alas,
nobody listed it. SIGH)

-Augie
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Augie De Blieck Jr. - "An army of ninjas versus a Mortal Kombat player
(Email removed) - who think Emperor Shakhan is an orangutan."
(Email removed) - "Bet on the boy." -Impulse #11 [Mark Waid]

ALL:

I've just gotten and read the most recent issues, and thought I'd offer my
comments.

UNCLE SCROOGE 296: What can I say about the final chapter in my favorite Duck
story of all time, and a personal career highlight, except that it looks even
better with Susan's fine coloring.

DONALD DUCK 295: Barks' "Volunteer Fireman" is a fun story, reflecting his
take on the early "rock and roll" music of the time, among other things. My
favorite panel is of Donald and Daisy doing the sockfoot kick, and the gag
with the ever increasing shoe sizes is great.

UNCLE SCROOGE ADVENTURES 37: The first part of the Scarpa story "Colossus of
the Nile" was enjoyable. I don't like Scarpa's art quite as much as either
Barks or Rosa, but the story is fast-paced and has some clever turns. Gyro's
plans are particularly amusing. Some nice script references to other stories
from David.

WD COMICS AND STORIES 601: The new squarebound, heavy-cover format looks good
to me. Hope they can sell them at $5.95. Beautiful Barks cover -- you can
almost see the individual pen strokes. The first part of Don's "Treasury of
Croesus" excellent, of course. My favorite line was, "continued on next
column", and my favorite visual gag the bumping into islands on the map. The
reprint of the first Mickey Mouse Magazine I found interesting as a
historical document, though silly in content. Not an auspicious beginning for
Mickey comics. The "Sword in the Stone" newspaper strip was interesting but
not very well written. Considering it is three times removed from the source,
that's not surprising. (Original source: T.H. White's excellent book, second
source the reasonable well done, though Disneyized animated film, third
source the story boards from that film). My favorite feature of the issue was
the one about the cover logo, since that is something I do a lot of myself.
I'm pleased that they went back to the original, though I liked the version
used beginning with issue 4 better. I wonder who did the drawing seen in the
photograph? I'll have to ask John Clark. By the way, I don't know about the
others, but the version from issue 548, the first Disney Comics issue, was
done by Mike Royer, who some US comics fans may remember as one of Jack
Kirby's inkers. He was a designer for Disney at the time (perhaps still is).
Finally, the Van Horn story was delightfully silly, and I really like his art
style.

Todd

Because of some personal and rather extended emergencies I'm several weeks
behind in answering some of my mail. Things are a bit better now--nobody in
my family is in the hospital at the moment--and so I'm finally getting down
to a bit of correspondence. So here goes:

DAVID:
Back in mid-December you wrote about my story "Peace in Pieces" in
DONALD DUCK ADVENTURES #36 and said that you thought it was:

"a good story...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?)"

Thanks for the kudos. I didn't change the story at all for it's American
printing. When I do a story for the European market I do the best job I can
and include as much wordplay as possible--as if it were going to appear in
English here IN AMERICA! (I stress the "in America" part because I saw a very
bastardized version of "Peace in Pieces" that was printed in Britain. Much of
my dialogue was still essentially there, but a lot of the color had been
taken out the script and the vocabulary and phrases were simplified to an
alarming degree. Alarming to me anyway.)
I sometimes wonder if the effort and attention to wordplay is wasted,
but Byron Erickson keeps assuring me that it does make a difference in the
quality of scripts that the translators turn out. Still, when I see that
British version--which is, after all, in English--it does make me wonder
what's happening to my scripts when they're translated into different
languages. (To be fair, I've seen a couple of other British versions of my
stories since then that have been much closer to my original versions and
considerably less clumsy. Maybe things there are being handled better now. I
hope so.)
I remember a few months back there was a discussion of Michael T.
Gilbert's "Plastic Mickey" story and someone was able to compare the original
script to one of the published European editions. I gather that the language
in that story had also been greatly simplified in the European edition.
Frankly, things like that tend to depress me if I think about them too
much. I've thought about asking someone to compare one of my original scripts
to a European edition, but I'm afraid the results might be too disheartening.
(Then again, maybe the various translators are actually improving my stories!
Who knows?)
John Clark at Gladstone assures me that more of my stories are going to
be reprinted here in the U.S. this year. I hope so. It'd be nice to be able
to read my own stories the way they were meant to be.
By the way, David, I feel rather bad that I never complimented you for
the job you did on the Disney panel at San Diego. There were a few glitches,
but overall things went quite well. I thought everyone was fairly relaxed and
things kept flowing nicely. Next time, though, if you want us to talk about
the stories we're working on just ask us.

HARRY:

A couple of weeks ago you wrote:

"Your story "No Time for Nappin'" (D 92568) was published in Holland last
week (issue 1, 1996). I just discovered it was yours, when I indexed the
issue.
"I must say I *liked* the story. I especially laughed at the clock
factory scene. The animals stuff was a bit boring, though (I never like it
when Donald is in conflict with animals). But overall it's a good story!
"Somehow, it seems Americans (like you) make better Egmont scripts than
most English and Danish scripters Egmont uses. Maybe that's because Americans
have no tradition of making boring stories?
"There was one thing on the last page I didn't get: Donald has bumped to
a tree, a squirrel comes out of the tree and sniffs. Donald then says
"AAARGH!" (Dutch translation 8-). What's the point here?"

Thanks. Glad you liked the story. As to why that squirrel sequence is
there--well, that's a bit complicated. I was originally told to make the
story 10 pages long and I did. Byron Erickson thought a bit of the action on
the ski slope needed a little more room and so he made some of the panels
larger. There was a little extra space left to bring the story to a full 11
pages. (You can't after all publish a 10 3/4 page-story. Well, sure. You can,
but why would you want to?)
Anyway, Byron felt that it might be good to show that the formerly
fearless Donald was so unnerved by his descent down the mountain that even an
encounter with a harmless squirrel could freak him out. It seemed like a good
idea to me and so Byron made the changes.
I'm sorry to hear that segment didn't work for you. I'll have to take
another look and see how the story flows if it's ever printed here in
America.
(By the way, Harry--totally disregarding the merits or demerits of my
own story--what is it about Donald being in conflict with animals that
bothers you? I'm just curious.)
As to why Americans write better scripts than the "English and Danish
scripters Egmont uses"...well, I'm not sure what to say. I don't know if
that's true--although I've heard it from other people before. Assuming it is
true, I suppose it might be that the Disney characters are--despite their
international status--essentially American creations.
On the other hand, there have been decades of generally rotten to
mediocre Disney comic stories printed here as well. I think a person's
nationality probably has something to do with how he/she interprets a
character. But talent and dedication are really the deciding factors in how
successful any story is.
I was lucky when I started out doing the ducks in that I was working
with William Van Horn and he gave me a great deal of help and acted as my
mentor.
There was one other thing, though, that helped me and that made a huge
difference in how I approached the material. I read Barks' stories over and
over and over again. It's amazing how much you can pick up by just knowing
your material really well. Some people make the mistake of thinking it's
important to know all the continuity of a character. That's nice--if you can
keep it all in your head. But what's really important--as far as I'm
concerned--is to get a feel for the characters, the way they talk and the
humor of the stories. Being able to read all those wonderful old Barks
stories--as they were written in my native English--well, that's definitely
an advantage. To me, the way the characters talk and think is a good part of
what makes the Barks (and Gottfredson) stories interesting. And that's why I
spend so much time trying to get the dialogue right in my own stories.
Gee, I guess this is the other reason I don't post messages on this list
more often. Once I get going I'm too darned longwinded. Sorry about that.

--John

DON MARKSTEIN:
Glad to have you on the mailing list -- now we have all the
current Gladstone American-rescripters here, aside from DDM 5's John
Cochran. (Anyone know him?)
Allow me to forward a special greeting from Junkville mayor
McAllister Beelzebub Bugg:
"Such amazement! Never knew
That on this mailing group lurked -- YOU!
A while ago, last year I guess,
You gave your Internet address
To Mssr. Gerstein. Have you been
Among us quietly since then?
(Or did he just, as he suspects,
forget to write to you, by heck?)
But you're here now! Come, raise a toast
Of spider's milk, and carve a roast
Of horsefly stuffed with millet bits.
With that we'll call the meal quits
And rouse the band and give a speech --
To honor you. (Please don't impeach
Me, readers, if this rhyme's too long.
It's typist Gerstein, in the wrong.)"
Umm, there. That's all of that transcribed... hey, what's that in the
last line? Why, the nerve of that insect! I'll... ;-) ;-) ;-)

DAVE RAWSON:
You haven't written to the list for so long that I thought you
might be away on a trip. Since I now know you're here, can you tell
us what Egmont stories you've done lately? I'm curious to know.

DON ROSA:
Got a flier in the mail today from one Patrick Hanifin
announcing the birth of a new Disney comics fanzine, DUCKHUNTER. The
premier issue, with 52 pages, is said to have an interview with you in
it. It is described as being the "Special Uncle $crooge Edition" of
the fanzine. Sadly the price of a single issue, $11, isn't anything
Scrooge would have been able to pay. Is this worth it? Do you know
anything about the other features in this magazine? (And did you
reveal anything in this interview which members of this mailing list
don't already know?)

David Gerstein
<(Email removed)>

DAVID:
Well, you're right -- you made a very logical assumption. You were
lead down the garden path. That exhibit in the museum 'way back in U$ #219
did show $crooge with the Treasure of Croesus. But look back at that issue
-- the label on the exhibit said it was a PORTION of the treasure of
Croesus. And I do show that $crooge finds and keeps a portion of the
treasure... just about as much as fit in that exhibit. You'll see that in
part 2. But I wish I'd known you were going to be going to make that mention
in your dialogue, and I would have warned you how I had inadvertently
mislead you. Sorry -- I love those references to past stories, and doubly
flattered when you refer to one of mine, so I'm triply sorry I lead you
astray without realizing it.
I have allowed $crooge to keep Sir Francis Drake's plaque and the
photo of the sunken ship locations, sure. Neither of those are "treasures"
in themselves. The map isn't any good until $crooge finds some sunken ships,
and I never showed that. I've still got that idea down in my notes, to do a
sequel to show $crooge going after all those sunken ships... (and then show
what goes wrong so he CAN'T KEEP the treasures).
And Donald never kept that Sacred Croc treasure. HD&L made him
return it to Ruanda as a donation to help save the highland gorillas. Even
back in the 50s the Junior Woodchucks realized those gorillas would soon be
considered endangered.

DAVE R.:
The "ProCon". I didn't think there'd be any reason for me to go to
that. Nothing discussed could effect me. I'd always just thought I'd be
stuck in a museum case and exhibited as a fossil labelled "Comics
professional who in 1995 still has no contract, royalties or his original
art". But then, yes, I know... I might go there this year as an exhibit
labelled "Comics professional who in 1996 still has a job".

DENMARK:
Who do we have on here from Denmark? Is anyone familiar with a
high-class magazine there called "KRITIK", which is a journal of criticism
for various forms of art and writing and so forth?

WELCOME:
...to Don Markstein!!!!!!!!!! What took you so long to get here?
Please stay! Now, look how many of us from the Egmont dinner at the SD Con
are on-line here: You, David, Dave, Dwight, Fabio, Barry, and me!

(The following data is from a letter by Frank Jonker.)

After the redrawings by Daan Jippes, Mau Heymans has also re-drawn a
Junior Woodchuck story by Barks (originally drawn by someone else).
It's "Music Hath Charms" and it will be published in Dutch DD
weekly 96-23.

Mau got a letter from Barks last week, with his compliments about the
great artwork, and Barks hoped Mau would do more of his stories.
I'm very curious what the redrawn story looks like...

Jippes is currently working on the redrawing of "Officer for a day" (a script-only
Barks Donald Duck story). Maybe we will see this before the end
of the year...

--Harry.

JOHN:
I hope everything will get only better for you, from now on.

> I sometimes wonder if the effort and attention to wordplay is wasted,
> but Byron Erickson keeps assuring me that it does make a difference in the
> quality of scripts that the translators turn out.

The Dutch translator I once spoke said they always try to translate
the jokes in the original script, or, if untranslateable, try to make
up a similar joke. That's a good reason to keep the wordplays in
your scripts!

I wrote about "Your story "No Time for Nappin'" (D 92568)" and you said:

> Thanks. Glad you liked the story. As to why that squirrel sequence is
> there--well, that's a bit complicated.

Thanks for the explanation! It's those backgrounds that make a story
even more interesting!

> (By the way, Harry--totally disregarding the merits or demerits of my
> own story--what is it about Donald being in conflict with animals that
> bothers you? I'm just curious.)

I have seen too many stories (mostly by the Disney Studio and Egmont)
where Donald has disagreements with animals. They are all so predictable.
But maybe it's also the fact that scenes with animals have no (real)
text.

> Gee, I guess this is the other reason I don't post messages on this list
> more often. Once I get going I'm too darned longwinded. Sorry about that.

No need to be sorry! I always like it when Disney comics creators reveal
things about their way of working and the backgrounds of their work!

--Harry.

ALL:
Don Rosa's Hearts in the Yukon came out today in Finland, too. Having
already read it in Walt Disney GIant #1, it was a bit of a disappointment.
The dialogue was much better in the English version and the translated stuff
reminded me of the original one all the time. (so that's how they put that,
well, almost as good...) And I've got a feeling it won't work as well when
printed in three episodes. Well, a fine story nevertheless and in thought me
to never read the original before the translation...

DON:
I'll send you the glasses. And you get the bank by going to the
bank and saying: "I would like to have one (or five as in my case) of those
nice Scrooge piggy banks, please." They really don't check if I have an account
in the bank (I do) or if I'm willing to pay for it or anything. They just give
them away. It's the keys that's the hard part.
Are you sure the $100 bank was exactly the same as the Finnish?! That's
amazing... I could really make business with these ;)

--

Mike - The Finnish Trekkie