JAKOB:
> I just *love* it!!! Why don't Gladstone use this paper-quality? If they did,
> their comics would sell *much* better, even in the US!
They do, in WDC&S, since issue 601. Apart from being printed in glossy
paper, WDC&S is also square bound, with carboard covers. It's an excellent
collector's item, but, like their albums, it has one serious shortcoming: it
doesn't stand open on a table. I don't know about other people, but I love to
read my comic books while having a snack (or dinner, if I'm eating alone)!!!
Each issue of WDC&S costs $5.95, and is probably too expensive for many
potential readers. This is why it is only sold directly through subscriptions
(I think). If all titles were printed on glossy paper, sales would probably
plummet.
On the other hand, I wonder if prices would really have to be higher.
Consider that Comics #99, with 52 pages, cost 400 drs (about $1.75, or 3.3
cents/page). Comics #100, with 100 pages, costs 1000 drs (about $4.35 or 4.3
cents/page--they obviously charged more for the anniversary issue and that
"free" square egg maker), and the issues after that, each with 68 pages,
will cost 600 drs (about $2.60 or 3.8 cents/page). This makes Gladstone's
current prices ($1.50 for 32 pages of non-glossy paper, at 4.6 cents/page)
seem rather steep. These prices probably have to do with the number of
issues in each run, and with the number of issues printed vs. issues sold.
An increase in the latter ratio, caused by the better paper quality, might
justify keeping prices the same, or only increasing them marginally. This
is a job for a market analyst, however, which I clearly am not.
Speaking of paper quality, I've always had a soft spot for the paper used by
Gladstone in the first few issues of their first run. (Four color affairs
on thick paper.)
> > JAKOB:
> > Text for "War of the Wendigos" already received. Thanks a lot to Geir Netland!
>
> That darn Geir! Still making his marks! ;-)
GEIR,
Could I possibly have a copy, too?
(Back to JACOB:)
> "Effort"?? You call it an effort to index three issues??! Gosh!
I'd like to index the *two* issues of "Comics" that I have (and keep on
doing so for future issues, of course), but the description of the database
format in file "format.legend" is extremely confusing. You need to have
a PhD in computer science to be able to figure out what is required from
an indexer. (Come to think of it, I do have a PhD in computer science,
and I am still confused! :-) Doing an index for the first time involves
learning quite a few things, so if you're only going to do it for a couple of
issues, preparing the actual index is only a small part of the work involved.
> Not that I don't want to see another Barks-story, but I think they're going
> too far with the Old Man.
Old Men (and plain old people, without capital letters) need to know they
are needed, and Unca Carl most certainly is. Imagine telling him that
no, we don't want him to write another story, and that he's done enough
paintings, and that he can finally enjoy his retirement. He'd just fade away.
> > PS: Just received and read Asterix XXX - not bad! (= surprise)...
>
> Whuzzat? A new Asterix-album?
Ditto.
> Is Gladstone a member of the club? This name seems to appear in apparently
> every digest nowadays! Still (I believe) most people must mean Gary (?)...
I would think that addressing a question to Gladstone means that one is
actually asking Gary for the official Gladstone position, rather than his
personal views.
Cheers,
--
Kriton (e-mail: (Email removed))
(WWW: http://dias.cti.gr/~kyrimis
-----
"I often wish I could be as nice as me."
-----
Author
Topic: 199610
(312 messages)
Kriton Kyrimis
Disney comics Digest V96 #229
Message 211 -
1996-10-19 at 23:07:24
Deckerd
Disney comics Digest V96 #229
Message 212 -
1996-10-19 at 23:20:27
On Oct 19, 10:07pm, Kriton Kyrimis wrote:
> Subject: Re: Disney comics Digest V96 #229
> Each issue of WDC&S costs $5.95, and is probably too expensive for
many
> potential readers. This is why it is only sold directly through
subscriptions
> (I think).
Or through comics shops, mainly. You may be confused by what
the English word "direct" means in this context. It refers to
the type of wholesale distribution. The "direct market" refers
to comics shops and specialty stores, which order as many copies
of a given item as they think they can sell based on customer
demand, and can't return unsold copies for credit the way
traditionally distributed magazine outlets like newsstands can.
> If all titles were printed on glossy paper, sales would probably
> plummet.
Of course. The price would have to go up, and budget-minded
readers, especially little kids with limited allowances, would
start dropping titles.
>
> On the other hand, I wonder if prices would really have to be higher.
> Consider that... (analysis of Greek comic prices cut)
> This makes Gladstone's
> current prices ($1.50 for 32 pages of non-glossy paper, at 4.6
> cents/page)
> seem rather steep. These prices probably have to do with the number
of
> issues in each run, and with the number of issues printed vs.
> issues sold.
American comic books have shockingly low circulations now, even
in comparison with countries with far fewer people. I don't know
if Greek comics carry advertising, but in a country where some
large fraction of all children read a certain comic, you can
subsidize the publication by selling advertising space to
companies anxious to hit that market. In the US, the outside
ads are getting kind of scant and I'm sure Gladstone can't
charge enough for them to pay for better paper.
--Dwight Decker
> Subject: Re: Disney comics Digest V96 #229
> Each issue of WDC&S costs $5.95, and is probably too expensive for
many
> potential readers. This is why it is only sold directly through
subscriptions
> (I think).
Or through comics shops, mainly. You may be confused by what
the English word "direct" means in this context. It refers to
the type of wholesale distribution. The "direct market" refers
to comics shops and specialty stores, which order as many copies
of a given item as they think they can sell based on customer
demand, and can't return unsold copies for credit the way
traditionally distributed magazine outlets like newsstands can.
> If all titles were printed on glossy paper, sales would probably
> plummet.
Of course. The price would have to go up, and budget-minded
readers, especially little kids with limited allowances, would
start dropping titles.
>
> On the other hand, I wonder if prices would really have to be higher.
> Consider that... (analysis of Greek comic prices cut)
> This makes Gladstone's
> current prices ($1.50 for 32 pages of non-glossy paper, at 4.6
> cents/page)
> seem rather steep. These prices probably have to do with the number
of
> issues in each run, and with the number of issues printed vs.
> issues sold.
American comic books have shockingly low circulations now, even
in comparison with countries with far fewer people. I don't know
if Greek comics carry advertising, but in a country where some
large fraction of all children read a certain comic, you can
subsidize the publication by selling advertising space to
companies anxious to hit that market. In the US, the outside
ads are getting kind of scant and I'm sure Gladstone can't
charge enough for them to pay for better paper.
--Dwight Decker
Joachim Butz
DONALD'S MIDDLE NAME 'Fauntleroy'
Message 213 -
1996-10-20 at 00:06:58
Because I am always some Digests behind and some other time-problems, I
didn't join discussion here. But while going through my unred stack of
digests, I red Haralds question about Donald's middle name 'Fauntleroy'.
There I remember something about.
On the Erlangen Comic Salon in 1994, there had been a lecture about Donald
being 60 at that time. (Harald: The lecture started just after your lecture
'Die Comic-Hatz der 50er Jahre' - interested theme, but I didn't attend -
but in another building). The lecture had been done by Wolfgang J. Fuchs
(not related with our beloved Dr. Erika Fuchs, as far as I know). In this
lecture, Fuchs stated, that the whole name of Donald is 'Donald Fauntleroy
Duck'. This statement had been proved by a picture where the whole name had
been seen together with Donald. That's what I remember well. All other
followed isn't that present in my brain yet.
As far as I remember, this deals with Donald as a moviestar and the picture
showing Donald signing a contract as an Hollywood actor. On this contract
there had been 'Donald Fauntleroy Duck'. But it could also be something
written for drafting Donald. Sorry.
I think this citation isn't out of Barks work, so it wouldn't be canonic (in
the way Harald means as I suppose).
For this 60 anniversary, Fuchs did one or several articles about Donald in
different magazines. If I remember right, there had been an article in which
this point had been mentioned. I looked for one of these articles, but I
didn't found it here. So it had to be in my 'great comic shelter' (no, not
this special shelters some of our US fellows use storing there comics. :-)).
Because here where I am living I am able to store only few of my comic
stuff, all the rest is stored in the house of my parents. But it will last
till I go there the next time. So that's all I can say to this topic yet.
didn't join discussion here. But while going through my unred stack of
digests, I red Haralds question about Donald's middle name 'Fauntleroy'.
There I remember something about.
On the Erlangen Comic Salon in 1994, there had been a lecture about Donald
being 60 at that time. (Harald: The lecture started just after your lecture
'Die Comic-Hatz der 50er Jahre' - interested theme, but I didn't attend -
but in another building). The lecture had been done by Wolfgang J. Fuchs
(not related with our beloved Dr. Erika Fuchs, as far as I know). In this
lecture, Fuchs stated, that the whole name of Donald is 'Donald Fauntleroy
Duck'. This statement had been proved by a picture where the whole name had
been seen together with Donald. That's what I remember well. All other
followed isn't that present in my brain yet.
As far as I remember, this deals with Donald as a moviestar and the picture
showing Donald signing a contract as an Hollywood actor. On this contract
there had been 'Donald Fauntleroy Duck'. But it could also be something
written for drafting Donald. Sorry.
I think this citation isn't out of Barks work, so it wouldn't be canonic (in
the way Harald means as I suppose).
For this 60 anniversary, Fuchs did one or several articles about Donald in
different magazines. If I remember right, there had been an article in which
this point had been mentioned. I looked for one of these articles, but I
didn't found it here. So it had to be in my 'great comic shelter' (no, not
this special shelters some of our US fellows use storing there comics. :-)).
Because here where I am living I am able to store only few of my comic
stuff, all the rest is stored in the house of my parents. But it will last
till I go there the next time. So that's all I can say to this topic yet.
Joachim Butz
SOEDERBAUM - Answers to Digests #215-225 (!) - LOST
Message 214 -
1996-10-20 at 01:14:24
VON DRAKE:
>The board above him says "VON DRAKE LABORATORIES"...
But NOT in the German version! In the German version it is 'DUCKS CLUB'
(great translation, isn't it?!?). And the 'ACME Exterminators ' (ACME = ??,
I forgot the meaning of this) in the same panel turned to 'Hair-Stylist'
while BOOKS turned to PIZZA. In panel four, in the German version Gyro
thinks about $ while in panel 7 the $-sign on the money bag is changed to T
for 'taler'. And in panel 3, the $-pattern isn't changed to a 'T' pattern as
it should be.
Other: page 6, panel 5 + 6 + 7, the $-sign isn't changed. And the $-sign on
$crooge's desk and money bin isn't changed too in any appearances.
LOST LIBRARY POSTER:
I am interested in the cover and the poster of 'Guardians of the Lost
Library' too. At least in a copy of the cover.
Joachim
>The board above him says "VON DRAKE LABORATORIES"...
But NOT in the German version! In the German version it is 'DUCKS CLUB'
(great translation, isn't it?!?). And the 'ACME Exterminators ' (ACME = ??,
I forgot the meaning of this) in the same panel turned to 'Hair-Stylist'
while BOOKS turned to PIZZA. In panel four, in the German version Gyro
thinks about $ while in panel 7 the $-sign on the money bag is changed to T
for 'taler'. And in panel 3, the $-pattern isn't changed to a 'T' pattern as
it should be.
Other: page 6, panel 5 + 6 + 7, the $-sign isn't changed. And the $-sign on
$crooge's desk and money bin isn't changed too in any appearances.
LOST LIBRARY POSTER:
I am interested in the cover and the poster of 'Guardians of the Lost
Library' too. At least in a copy of the cover.
Joachim
Deckerd
SOEDERBAUM - Answers to Digests #215-225 (!) - LOST LIBRARY POSTER
Message 215 -
1996-10-20 at 01:23:57
On Oct 19, 11:14pm, Joachim Butz wrote:
> Subject: Re: SOEDERBAUM - Answers to Digests #215-225 (!) - LOST
LIBRARY
>
> And the 'ACME Exterminators ' (ACME = ??, I forgot the meaning of
> this) in the same panel turned to 'Hair-Stylist'...
"Acme" literally means "the highest point," as in "the acme of
perfection" (never mind the quibbling about whether there can
be degrees of perfection). The word is often used as a name for
a business in the US (perhaps because it would come first or
at least early in any alphabetic listing as in the phone book
and not so much because it sounds so superlative in describing
the quality of the business's service and products).
In fact, "Acme" has become so common as such a name that it's
all but generic as a business name on background signs in comic
books and cartoons. (It helps that "Acme"
has a faintly humorous ring to it.) In fact, the Acme Company
is where the Coyote gets all of his Road Runner catching devices
(and I think Warner Brothers has tried to trademark "Acme" in
this connection).
--Dwight Decker
> Subject: Re: SOEDERBAUM - Answers to Digests #215-225 (!) - LOST
LIBRARY
>
> And the 'ACME Exterminators ' (ACME = ??, I forgot the meaning of
> this) in the same panel turned to 'Hair-Stylist'...
"Acme" literally means "the highest point," as in "the acme of
perfection" (never mind the quibbling about whether there can
be degrees of perfection). The word is often used as a name for
a business in the US (perhaps because it would come first or
at least early in any alphabetic listing as in the phone book
and not so much because it sounds so superlative in describing
the quality of the business's service and products).
In fact, "Acme" has become so common as such a name that it's
all but generic as a business name on background signs in comic
books and cartoons. (It helps that "Acme"
has a faintly humorous ring to it.) In fact, the Acme Company
is where the Coyote gets all of his Road Runner catching devices
(and I think Warner Brothers has tried to trademark "Acme" in
this connection).
--Dwight Decker
Shaun M. Knowler
$crooge's 50th
Message 216 -
1996-10-20 at 05:01:37
JAKOB (and others discussing it):
I've been reading what you guys have been saying about a special story for
$crooge's 50th anniversary, but it's only the anniversary of $crooge's
creation by Barks, not the character's 50th birthday. What you're
forgeting is when $crooge first tangoed with Donald and the boys on Bear
Mountain, he was 80! He was born in 1867, not 1947, when Barks created him
just for a foil for Donald in an Xmas story he was working on. :)
Well, there's my 2 cents!
-$haun
I've been reading what you guys have been saying about a special story for
$crooge's 50th anniversary, but it's only the anniversary of $crooge's
creation by Barks, not the character's 50th birthday. What you're
forgeting is when $crooge first tangoed with Donald and the boys on Bear
Mountain, he was 80! He was born in 1867, not 1947, when Barks created him
just for a foil for Donald in an Xmas story he was working on. :)
Well, there's my 2 cents!
-$haun
Vsaari
Taliaferro sundays
Message 217 -
1996-10-20 at 06:53:02
In article <(Email removed)> Harald Havas <(Email removed)> writes:
> There is a Taliaferro-Sunday-page collection in German. It's nice
> BUT...! I recently found out that the format's all wrong: in the
> original the sundays were two (three?) very long strips of panels
> (newpapers are broad). Now in the albums (album-sized) the panels are
> re-arranged to fit the page (4 (5?) strips now).
In Finland we have Taliaferro sundays from years 1936-1945 in single
hardcover book with enormous page size. Two sundays per page with the
original strip layout.
There are also similar books containing old Mickey dailies. Six strips
per page. The format is perfect for sundays and dailies, but we also
have such books with Barks' stories and in those the original four row
layout is rudely rearranged. This is sad because for many of those
stories these books seem to be the only publication in Finnish
language.
--
Ville Saari EMail: (Email removed)
Tallbergin puistotie 7 B 21 Phone: +358 9 682 2226
00200 Helsinki
FINLAND /dev/null: write failed, file system is full
> There is a Taliaferro-Sunday-page collection in German. It's nice
> BUT...! I recently found out that the format's all wrong: in the
> original the sundays were two (three?) very long strips of panels
> (newpapers are broad). Now in the albums (album-sized) the panels are
> re-arranged to fit the page (4 (5?) strips now).
In Finland we have Taliaferro sundays from years 1936-1945 in single
hardcover book with enormous page size. Two sundays per page with the
original strip layout.
There are also similar books containing old Mickey dailies. Six strips
per page. The format is perfect for sundays and dailies, but we also
have such books with Barks' stories and in those the original four row
layout is rudely rearranged. This is sad because for many of those
stories these books seem to be the only publication in Finnish
language.
--
Ville Saari EMail: (Email removed)
Tallbergin puistotie 7 B 21 Phone: +358 9 682 2226
00200 Helsinki
FINLAND /dev/null: write failed, file system is full
RMorris306
Recent Disney Digests
Message 218 -
1996-10-20 at 07:34:44
Hi again! It's been way too long since I posted...
DON ROSA:
Don't worry...if you did a Scrooge story with all the villains, I know
it'll be a *good* story with all the villains. I'm looking forward to it.
And, though I'm sure I don't need to explain it to you, I should mention to
whoever asked that Wanda Waddle was a former girlfriend of Scrooge, so should
certainly be at the party, (So should Glittering Goldie, and Birgitta
MacBridge, even though she wasn't a Barks character--after all, neither was
Ludwig von Drake!)
JAKOB SOEDERBAUM:
Truly a mammoth and delightful posting! It's good to know DUCK TALES has
turned young people all over the world onto the great Barks characters,
because I remember asking about them in an apa I belonged to at the time,
Apanage. It was another member who was working on the show at the time, Jymn
Magon, who first told me about it, so I was eagerly awaiting the series when
it appeared. While I suppose there were aspects that might have been
questioned by Barks purists, like giving individual personalities to the
Beagle Boys (but let's not forget that earlier generations of critics didn't
like Disney doing the same for the Three Little Pigs and the Seven Dwarfs,
either!) and leaving Donald out, on the whole it was an excellent show that
did as good a job of capturing the Barks ambience as any might.
Very possibly Disney does own paper companies and lumbermills. But I
still don't see why that would mean such outfits couldn't be used as villains
under certain circumstances. They've had plenty of lawyer villains in Barks
stories (as well as movies and TV shows) and you can't tell me Disney doesn't
employ any lawyers! (Now that I think of it, Barks wasn't too happy with
Disney and left the company during the '40's strike, right? I've read that,
if there was any real villain in that affair, it was Disney's senior lawyer
at the time, Gunther Lessing...perhaps some of Barks' lawyer villains were
based on him?)
Speaking of Asterix, as you and several others were, the Gaul got a
writeup in the New York Times last Tuesday, with a detailed and mostly
accurate article (with a few howlers like a claim that Italy had no important
comics tradition of its own...) Ironically enough, it mentioned him as
possibly Disney's greatest rival in Europe...ironic because the first movie
has now been released on video in America. BY Disney.
DWIGHT DECKER:
Yes, the Disney company has always been extremely careful about
retaining rights to its characters...dating back to Walt Disney's early
experience with Oswald the Rabbit, not carefully protected and lost to
distributor Charles Mintz (who in turn lost him to Universal Studios and
Walter Lantz, much to Walt 's delight). They made sure to retain the rights,
not only to their characters but to any others added to the same "universe"
by licensors. True, a few other figures in the entertainment industry now
have sufficient clout to wangle co-ownership of characters (I think Steven
Spielberg still owns a piece of Roger Rabbit, for instance), all rights to
the characters created by Barks and other Western employees vested in Disney,
not in Barks or even Western. (Which, as Mark Evanier has suggested, is
probably why Walt Kelly was able to maintain ownership of POGO, a feature he
created for Western's ANIMAL COMICS and later sold as a successful newspaper
strip. Western was so used to publishing stories owned by others that it just
assumed *any* character belonged to whatever studio or individual originated
it.)
I've also heard it argued that Barks took the characters of Scrooge and
Gladstone from the two sides of Donald shown in one of the WWII tax cartoons,
when he debated whether to spend his money or invest it in war bonds. His
spendthrift side was a prototype Gladstone...wavy hair and flashy
clothes...while his thrifty side was older, with glasses and sideburns and a
Scots accent! Needless to say, "Scrooge" prevailed.
Take care,
Rich Morrissey
DON ROSA:
Don't worry...if you did a Scrooge story with all the villains, I know
it'll be a *good* story with all the villains. I'm looking forward to it.
And, though I'm sure I don't need to explain it to you, I should mention to
whoever asked that Wanda Waddle was a former girlfriend of Scrooge, so should
certainly be at the party, (So should Glittering Goldie, and Birgitta
MacBridge, even though she wasn't a Barks character--after all, neither was
Ludwig von Drake!)
JAKOB SOEDERBAUM:
Truly a mammoth and delightful posting! It's good to know DUCK TALES has
turned young people all over the world onto the great Barks characters,
because I remember asking about them in an apa I belonged to at the time,
Apanage. It was another member who was working on the show at the time, Jymn
Magon, who first told me about it, so I was eagerly awaiting the series when
it appeared. While I suppose there were aspects that might have been
questioned by Barks purists, like giving individual personalities to the
Beagle Boys (but let's not forget that earlier generations of critics didn't
like Disney doing the same for the Three Little Pigs and the Seven Dwarfs,
either!) and leaving Donald out, on the whole it was an excellent show that
did as good a job of capturing the Barks ambience as any might.
Very possibly Disney does own paper companies and lumbermills. But I
still don't see why that would mean such outfits couldn't be used as villains
under certain circumstances. They've had plenty of lawyer villains in Barks
stories (as well as movies and TV shows) and you can't tell me Disney doesn't
employ any lawyers! (Now that I think of it, Barks wasn't too happy with
Disney and left the company during the '40's strike, right? I've read that,
if there was any real villain in that affair, it was Disney's senior lawyer
at the time, Gunther Lessing...perhaps some of Barks' lawyer villains were
based on him?)
Speaking of Asterix, as you and several others were, the Gaul got a
writeup in the New York Times last Tuesday, with a detailed and mostly
accurate article (with a few howlers like a claim that Italy had no important
comics tradition of its own...) Ironically enough, it mentioned him as
possibly Disney's greatest rival in Europe...ironic because the first movie
has now been released on video in America. BY Disney.
DWIGHT DECKER:
Yes, the Disney company has always been extremely careful about
retaining rights to its characters...dating back to Walt Disney's early
experience with Oswald the Rabbit, not carefully protected and lost to
distributor Charles Mintz (who in turn lost him to Universal Studios and
Walter Lantz, much to Walt 's delight). They made sure to retain the rights,
not only to their characters but to any others added to the same "universe"
by licensors. True, a few other figures in the entertainment industry now
have sufficient clout to wangle co-ownership of characters (I think Steven
Spielberg still owns a piece of Roger Rabbit, for instance), all rights to
the characters created by Barks and other Western employees vested in Disney,
not in Barks or even Western. (Which, as Mark Evanier has suggested, is
probably why Walt Kelly was able to maintain ownership of POGO, a feature he
created for Western's ANIMAL COMICS and later sold as a successful newspaper
strip. Western was so used to publishing stories owned by others that it just
assumed *any* character belonged to whatever studio or individual originated
it.)
I've also heard it argued that Barks took the characters of Scrooge and
Gladstone from the two sides of Donald shown in one of the WWII tax cartoons,
when he debated whether to spend his money or invest it in war bonds. His
spendthrift side was a prototype Gladstone...wavy hair and flashy
clothes...while his thrifty side was older, with glasses and sideburns and a
Scots accent! Needless to say, "Scrooge" prevailed.
Take care,
Rich Morrissey
Augie De Blieck Jr.
Letters and Disney
Message 219 -
1996-10-20 at 19:47:06
JAKOB:
> Me. I was about 12 years old when DuckTales entered Swedish television, and
> this was my first (to me known) contact with Barks' classic tales.
Yeah, my story is sorta similar. DuckTales premered when I was 12 or 14,
and it ushered in a proud new age for me of cartoons and Duck fandom. I
fell in love with $crooge through the cartoon. Sure, he was a kinder and
gentler $crooge in many respects, but one I still enjoyed watching.
> I came to think (of something Augie might've asked already, which I've forgot),
> is it possible to send letters to the Gazette by E-mail? If so, what's the
> address?
Yeah, I asked. I'm not wasting my time writing to a friggin'
subscription-only newsletter when valuable space is being wasted in the
comics themselves on The Year That Was... hidden advertisements. And then
when they do have a spare page, they run an extra Chip and Dale comic or
something. Not that I object to another story page, but I miss seeing what
my fellow fans thought about the issues.
KRITON:
I was wondering therefore, why are these characters the
> property of Disney, and not of Carl Barks?
Dwight explained this pretty well, but there's something I should add:
Current Disney contracts (at least the ones for feature animators) also
include a proviso that ANYTHING you create while under the employ and
contract of Disney is automatically owned by Disney. In other words, if
I'm working on a Disney movie and in my spare time do a rough sketch of some
new character I want to work with when my time with Disney is expired, I
can't. Disney owns that character. The "atmosphere of Disney is pervading
through me" or something like that.
-Augie
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Augie De Blieck Jr. * (Email removed) * (Email removed)
(Email removed)
http://www.nic.com/~augie/two/two.htm
> Me. I was about 12 years old when DuckTales entered Swedish television, and
> this was my first (to me known) contact with Barks' classic tales.
Yeah, my story is sorta similar. DuckTales premered when I was 12 or 14,
and it ushered in a proud new age for me of cartoons and Duck fandom. I
fell in love with $crooge through the cartoon. Sure, he was a kinder and
gentler $crooge in many respects, but one I still enjoyed watching.
> I came to think (of something Augie might've asked already, which I've forgot),
> is it possible to send letters to the Gazette by E-mail? If so, what's the
> address?
Yeah, I asked. I'm not wasting my time writing to a friggin'
subscription-only newsletter when valuable space is being wasted in the
comics themselves on The Year That Was... hidden advertisements. And then
when they do have a spare page, they run an extra Chip and Dale comic or
something. Not that I object to another story page, but I miss seeing what
my fellow fans thought about the issues.
KRITON:
I was wondering therefore, why are these characters the
> property of Disney, and not of Carl Barks?
Dwight explained this pretty well, but there's something I should add:
Current Disney contracts (at least the ones for feature animators) also
include a proviso that ANYTHING you create while under the employ and
contract of Disney is automatically owned by Disney. In other words, if
I'm working on a Disney movie and in my spare time do a rough sketch of some
new character I want to work with when my time with Disney is expired, I
can't. Disney owns that character. The "atmosphere of Disney is pervading
through me" or something like that.
-Augie
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Augie De Blieck Jr. * (Email removed) * (Email removed)
(Email removed)
http://www.nic.com/~augie/two/two.htm
Augie De Blieck Jr.
WDC&S and 555
Message 220 -
1996-10-20 at 19:47:06
Hi, all!
Look at me! I'm responding to things at last. (Of course, none of these
were aimed at me, but I fill in where I can. ;-)
DWIGHT AND KRITON:
> Each issue of WDC&S costs $5.95, and is probably too expensive for many
> potential readers. This is why it is only sold directly through subscriptions
> (I think). If all titles were printed on glossy paper, sales would probably
> plummet.
Yup, and even worse, the price is going up to $6.95 in a couple of months
Have I ranted and raved about that here yet? I know I did on CompuServe.
It makes me really miffed that the Don Rosa stories are serialized.
ARTHUR:
> And what about the 555-telephone number that's always used in movies? Is
> that something similar to the "Acme"-company? What's the history behind
> the 555-number? From all the people I know, I think you should know! ;-)
(Hope I'm not busting in on Dwight's answer here, but:)
Basically, Hollywood used to use real telephone numbers in its movies.
Some wiseguys would start calling those numbers. People got angry whoase
telephone numbers ended up in movies and the like. So the telephone
company set aside the 555 exchange for use by Hollywood. There is no 555
exchange. Nobody had those numbers, up until very recently. About 6 or 8
months ago, due to the limited amount of telephone numbers left in America
due to modems and faxes and multi-line houses, the telephone company
reclaimed many of those 555 numbers. So now, only 555-0100 through
555-0199 (although it might be 555-0999) are available as fake numbers.
-Augie
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Augie De Blieck Jr. * (Email removed) * (Email removed)
(Email removed)
http://www.nic.com/~augie/two/two.htm
Look at me! I'm responding to things at last. (Of course, none of these
were aimed at me, but I fill in where I can. ;-)
DWIGHT AND KRITON:
> Each issue of WDC&S costs $5.95, and is probably too expensive for many
> potential readers. This is why it is only sold directly through subscriptions
> (I think). If all titles were printed on glossy paper, sales would probably
> plummet.
Yup, and even worse, the price is going up to $6.95 in a couple of months
Have I ranted and raved about that here yet? I know I did on CompuServe.
It makes me really miffed that the Don Rosa stories are serialized.
ARTHUR:
> And what about the 555-telephone number that's always used in movies? Is
> that something similar to the "Acme"-company? What's the history behind
> the 555-number? From all the people I know, I think you should know! ;-)
(Hope I'm not busting in on Dwight's answer here, but:)
Basically, Hollywood used to use real telephone numbers in its movies.
Some wiseguys would start calling those numbers. People got angry whoase
telephone numbers ended up in movies and the like. So the telephone
company set aside the 555 exchange for use by Hollywood. There is no 555
exchange. Nobody had those numbers, up until very recently. About 6 or 8
months ago, due to the limited amount of telephone numbers left in America
due to modems and faxes and multi-line houses, the telephone company
reclaimed many of those 555 numbers. So now, only 555-0100 through
555-0199 (although it might be 555-0999) are available as fake numbers.
-Augie
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Augie De Blieck Jr. * (Email removed) * (Email removed)
(Email removed)
http://www.nic.com/~augie/two/two.htm
Arthur De Wolf
555 statues
Message 221 -
1996-10-20 at 20:13:19
Hi!
I bought a Scrooge statue today. There's a card hanging on it,
saying that it was handmade in the Phillipines. The statue is about
30 to 40 centimeters high and it shows Scrooge walking with his cane
in one hand and a bag full of money in the other.
Can someone tell me more about this statue? Was it worth my
money or is it a fake? Is it unique or are there thousands of these
things available? The woman I bought it from told me that it was very
cheap for 100 guilders (about $60 ?), but is it really cheap for $60?
DWIGHT DECKER:
> The word (Acme) is often used as a name for a business in the US
And what about the 555-telephone number that's always used in movies? Is
that something similar to the "Acme"-company? What's the history behind
the 555-number? From all the people I know, I think you should know! ;-)
PER STARBACK:
Can you give me an explanation on how it's possible I can't un-
compress the archive-files of this mailing list?
JAKOB SOEDERBAUM:
> In Sweden the weekly Kalle Anka & C:o has been published since
> 1948 (then monthly), and that's quite alot of stories just here.
Yeah, but those Danish stories are all the same in Sweden, Denmark, Finland,
Norway, Hungary, Russia ... EVERYWHERE! So maybe there are less stories
then you think!
Bye!
Arthur de Wolf -- Roosendaal, the Netherlands
email: (Email removed)
homepage: www.pi.net/~wolfman/disney
--------------------------------
End of Disney comics Digest V96 Issue #230
******************************************
I bought a Scrooge statue today. There's a card hanging on it,
saying that it was handmade in the Phillipines. The statue is about
30 to 40 centimeters high and it shows Scrooge walking with his cane
in one hand and a bag full of money in the other.
Can someone tell me more about this statue? Was it worth my
money or is it a fake? Is it unique or are there thousands of these
things available? The woman I bought it from told me that it was very
cheap for 100 guilders (about $60 ?), but is it really cheap for $60?
DWIGHT DECKER:
> The word (Acme) is often used as a name for a business in the US
And what about the 555-telephone number that's always used in movies? Is
that something similar to the "Acme"-company? What's the history behind
the 555-number? From all the people I know, I think you should know! ;-)
PER STARBACK:
Can you give me an explanation on how it's possible I can't un-
compress the archive-files of this mailing list?
JAKOB SOEDERBAUM:
> In Sweden the weekly Kalle Anka & C:o has been published since
> 1948 (then monthly), and that's quite alot of stories just here.
Yeah, but those Danish stories are all the same in Sweden, Denmark, Finland,
Norway, Hungary, Russia ... EVERYWHERE! So maybe there are less stories
then you think!
Bye!
Arthur de Wolf -- Roosendaal, the Netherlands
email: (Email removed)
homepage: www.pi.net/~wolfman/disney
--------------------------------
End of Disney comics Digest V96 Issue #230
******************************************
Daniel Van Eijmeren
Incomplete CBL / Jippes / War of Wendigo
Message 222 -
1996-10-20 at 22:10:17
Hoi!
There have been problems at my provider during half September to half
October, which meant a lot of delay for me in reading all posts here.
Although there's still a lot of post from that period which I haven't
read, here some answers to digest #225 and #229.
MARCO BARLOTTI (#225) :
> Lemming with the locket. [...]
> (2) for our friends up there in Northern Europe: does there exist really
> such a cheese? (When I buy cheese, I am often offered a "Leerdammer"
> which I suppose comes from Denmark (but I am not sure) and I always
> think of it as a "Golden Wheel" because of its colour...).
Denmark? "Leerdammer" is a Dutch cheese.
CHRISTER HANSSEN (#225) :
> This question is probably been answered but.... I've started to pussle
> about buying Carl Barks Library from Gladstone, but I've seen that they
> also got some albums called US Adventures in Color. Is this the same
> stories or do US Adventures in Color contain other stories not published
> in CBL? I thought CBL was a complete collection of Barks stories. Am
> I right or have I sliped something fundamental somewhere?
I also thought that the CBL was a complete collection when I bought it
about 6 years ago, but very soon it became clear that it certainly isn't.
There are some stories redrawn and/or banned. If you want a list of that,
I can send you one. I co-wrote it last year and it's also available on
Per's ftp-site. I am afraid it's still not complete...
I don't want to say that I regret buying the Carl Barks Library or that
it's something which shouldn't be bought once you know this (it's quite
the opposite), but what I *do* want to say is that I wished that the
editors did some more effort in searching and printing original art of
some stories (for example the give-aways).
Let's say that the CBL prints about 99 percent of Barks' original art,
just to give an idea.
ARTHUR DE WOLF (#225) :
> Yesterday I went to a comic-convention in the Netherlands. [...] Jippes
> told me that he hasn't drawn any Barks-Junior Woodchuck-stories. And he
> won't make any more either. He told me that he is working for a German
> publisher now, and they only want him to make stories featuring Donald
> as the main character, so that excludes the JW-scripts.
Why does Jippes always work for another country than Holland? This is
something I wonder for a long time. Doesn't Holland have enough work for
him to do, don't they pay enough or is the work they supply not
'challenging' enough?
Things began to get very interesting when Jippes started working on
Barks' Junior Woodchuck scripts, but then after (I think) about ten
stories he stops with it. Why?
(Maybe you know the answer, Pieter?)
> Jippes told me that he had just finished a story with Donald and he
> told me what it was about, but I forgot!
Was it "Officer for a Day", another story which Barks scripted after
retiring?
PER STARBACK:
> Fabrizio had written:
>> I would be very interested in having the original script of "War of the
>> Wendigo" too; so, don't delay, put it on the web, on this list, or at
>> list in my personal e-mail box !
> I'd put it on the web if someone managed to convince me that it would
> be legally OK to do that. (And if I had it.)
Are you talking about my 'e-mail version' of the WotW-dialogue? This was
something I made earlier this year for people who wanted me to send the
Dutch publication of the story. This made it possible for them to see
both Don's art for the story and the original dialogue.
If it's not legal to put it on your web, maybe you can mention the story
with the comment: "For more information, write to (Email removed)"?
Unless Big Brother Disney is reading this message, he won't know that
"information" in fact means "the full dialoque". That is, if he even
cares to bother about some collectors who non-commercially give each
other some help in completing their collection of Disney comics.
> In some sense it's a complete story, which is something completely
> different than quoting an excerpt of something. (On the other hand it
> isn't complete, as the text by itself is not the whole thing.)
Marginal note: Reading the dialogue of "War of the Wendigo" without having
seen the great art-work certainly *spoils* the story. Even if it's legal
to put it on the web, it would need a lot of "spoiler"-mentions.
PER, answering JAKOB SODERBAUM (#229) :
>> "Effort"?? You call it an effort to index three issues??! Gosh!
> The effort is to have a new country with new abbreviations of titles,
> new files, new codes for reprints etc. I agree with Fredrik that there's
> not much point in an index without a critical mass.
Does this mean that the information on the contents of these issues is
lost from now on, or is it being kept untill it has become big enough to
add to the database?
Greetings,
--- Daniel
"Hooray! I'm cured! My mind doesn't hurt anymore!"
The Mad Musician, OG 11 --- Carl Barks
There have been problems at my provider during half September to half
October, which meant a lot of delay for me in reading all posts here.
Although there's still a lot of post from that period which I haven't
read, here some answers to digest #225 and #229.
MARCO BARLOTTI (#225) :
> Lemming with the locket. [...]
> (2) for our friends up there in Northern Europe: does there exist really
> such a cheese? (When I buy cheese, I am often offered a "Leerdammer"
> which I suppose comes from Denmark (but I am not sure) and I always
> think of it as a "Golden Wheel" because of its colour...).
Denmark? "Leerdammer" is a Dutch cheese.
CHRISTER HANSSEN (#225) :
> This question is probably been answered but.... I've started to pussle
> about buying Carl Barks Library from Gladstone, but I've seen that they
> also got some albums called US Adventures in Color. Is this the same
> stories or do US Adventures in Color contain other stories not published
> in CBL? I thought CBL was a complete collection of Barks stories. Am
> I right or have I sliped something fundamental somewhere?
I also thought that the CBL was a complete collection when I bought it
about 6 years ago, but very soon it became clear that it certainly isn't.
There are some stories redrawn and/or banned. If you want a list of that,
I can send you one. I co-wrote it last year and it's also available on
Per's ftp-site. I am afraid it's still not complete...
I don't want to say that I regret buying the Carl Barks Library or that
it's something which shouldn't be bought once you know this (it's quite
the opposite), but what I *do* want to say is that I wished that the
editors did some more effort in searching and printing original art of
some stories (for example the give-aways).
Let's say that the CBL prints about 99 percent of Barks' original art,
just to give an idea.
ARTHUR DE WOLF (#225) :
> Yesterday I went to a comic-convention in the Netherlands. [...] Jippes
> told me that he hasn't drawn any Barks-Junior Woodchuck-stories. And he
> won't make any more either. He told me that he is working for a German
> publisher now, and they only want him to make stories featuring Donald
> as the main character, so that excludes the JW-scripts.
Why does Jippes always work for another country than Holland? This is
something I wonder for a long time. Doesn't Holland have enough work for
him to do, don't they pay enough or is the work they supply not
'challenging' enough?
Things began to get very interesting when Jippes started working on
Barks' Junior Woodchuck scripts, but then after (I think) about ten
stories he stops with it. Why?
(Maybe you know the answer, Pieter?)
> Jippes told me that he had just finished a story with Donald and he
> told me what it was about, but I forgot!
Was it "Officer for a Day", another story which Barks scripted after
retiring?
PER STARBACK:
> Fabrizio had written:
>> I would be very interested in having the original script of "War of the
>> Wendigo" too; so, don't delay, put it on the web, on this list, or at
>> list in my personal e-mail box !
> I'd put it on the web if someone managed to convince me that it would
> be legally OK to do that. (And if I had it.)
Are you talking about my 'e-mail version' of the WotW-dialogue? This was
something I made earlier this year for people who wanted me to send the
Dutch publication of the story. This made it possible for them to see
both Don's art for the story and the original dialogue.
If it's not legal to put it on your web, maybe you can mention the story
with the comment: "For more information, write to (Email removed)"?
Unless Big Brother Disney is reading this message, he won't know that
"information" in fact means "the full dialoque". That is, if he even
cares to bother about some collectors who non-commercially give each
other some help in completing their collection of Disney comics.
> In some sense it's a complete story, which is something completely
> different than quoting an excerpt of something. (On the other hand it
> isn't complete, as the text by itself is not the whole thing.)
Marginal note: Reading the dialogue of "War of the Wendigo" without having
seen the great art-work certainly *spoils* the story. Even if it's legal
to put it on the web, it would need a lot of "spoiler"-mentions.
PER, answering JAKOB SODERBAUM (#229) :
>> "Effort"?? You call it an effort to index three issues??! Gosh!
> The effort is to have a new country with new abbreviations of titles,
> new files, new codes for reprints etc. I agree with Fredrik that there's
> not much point in an index without a critical mass.
Does this mean that the information on the contents of these issues is
lost from now on, or is it being kept untill it has become big enough to
add to the database?
Greetings,
--- Daniel
"Hooray! I'm cured! My mind doesn't hurt anymore!"
The Mad Musician, OG 11 --- Carl Barks
Deckerd
555 statues
Message 223 -
1996-10-20 at 22:31:43
On Oct 20, 8:13pm, Arthur de Wolf wrote:
> And what about the 555-telephone number that's always used
> in movies? Is that something similar to the "Acme"-company?
> What's the history behind the 555-number? From all the people
> I know, I think you should know! ;-)
>
As it happens, I do know. (I work in the telephone industry.)
The problem with using a made-up but possible telephone number
in a movie or TV show is that somebody will try calling it for
real. The people who actually have that number will be pestered
by nuisance calls. The solution was to have most, if not all,
fictional telephone numbers used in movies have the "555"
prefix, which is reserved for internal telephone company use
and not used in numbers issued to the general public. About the
only 555 number I can think of that's used much by the public is
(area code) + 555-1212, which is a call to the Information
department in that area code if you're looking for somebody's
phone number. So, by using the 555 number, movies can depict
plausible-sounding phone numbers without subjecting the poor
people who actually have the numbers to harassment.
--Dwight Decker
> And what about the 555-telephone number that's always used
> in movies? Is that something similar to the "Acme"-company?
> What's the history behind the 555-number? From all the people
> I know, I think you should know! ;-)
>
As it happens, I do know. (I work in the telephone industry.)
The problem with using a made-up but possible telephone number
in a movie or TV show is that somebody will try calling it for
real. The people who actually have that number will be pestered
by nuisance calls. The solution was to have most, if not all,
fictional telephone numbers used in movies have the "555"
prefix, which is reserved for internal telephone company use
and not used in numbers issued to the general public. About the
only 555 number I can think of that's used much by the public is
(area code) + 555-1212, which is a call to the Information
department in that area code if you're looking for somebody's
phone number. So, by using the 555 number, movies can depict
plausible-sounding phone numbers without subjecting the poor
people who actually have the numbers to harassment.
--Dwight Decker
Deckerd
Recent Disney Digests
Message 224 -
1996-10-20 at 22:51:07
On Oct 20, 12:34am, (Email removed) wrote:
> Subject: Recent Disney Digests
>
> Now that I think of it, Barks wasn't too happy with
> Disney and left the company during the '40's strike, right?
I don't know what Barks's position on the strike was, but his
stated reason for leaving the company was that he was afraid
of being locked into his job because of wartime restrictions.
What I don't remember is how literally that was meant (about
not being able to leave his job if he stayed much longer --
whether there were actual laws and regulations that would have
kept him there or just a combination of circumstances brought
on by wartime conditions and his personal situation). In any
event, Gladstone recently printed his letter of resignation,
and it sounded like the parting was amicable even if he felt
like he was getting out while the getting was good.
> Speaking of Asterix, as you and several others were, the Gaul
> got a writeup in the New York Times last Tuesday, with a
> detailed and mostly accurate article (with a few howlers
> like a claim that Italy had no important comics tradition of
> its own...) Ironically enough, it mentioned him as possibly
> Disney's greatest rival in Europe...ironic because the first
> movie has now been released on video in America. BY Disney.
>
Uhm...the Disney Channel has been showing Asterix movies for
years. I've had copies of Asterix the Gaul and Asterix & Cleopatra
on laserdisc (on Disney's home video label) since about 1989 or '90.
Myself, I think "ironic" is one of the most overused words in
the language; the simple fact of the matter is that the Disney
Channel and the Disney video operation are hungry for quality
animated and family-type product, and Disney itself hasn't made
enough to satisfy the demand. If that means coming to terms with
former or potential rivals, hey, it's business, and everybody
benefits. Disney gets good stuff to fill airtime and store shelves,
the vendors get widespread exposure in new markets. (And the
exposure _still_ hasn't done much good for Asterix in the American
market...)
--Dwight Decker
> Subject: Recent Disney Digests
>
> Now that I think of it, Barks wasn't too happy with
> Disney and left the company during the '40's strike, right?
I don't know what Barks's position on the strike was, but his
stated reason for leaving the company was that he was afraid
of being locked into his job because of wartime restrictions.
What I don't remember is how literally that was meant (about
not being able to leave his job if he stayed much longer --
whether there were actual laws and regulations that would have
kept him there or just a combination of circumstances brought
on by wartime conditions and his personal situation). In any
event, Gladstone recently printed his letter of resignation,
and it sounded like the parting was amicable even if he felt
like he was getting out while the getting was good.
> Speaking of Asterix, as you and several others were, the Gaul
> got a writeup in the New York Times last Tuesday, with a
> detailed and mostly accurate article (with a few howlers
> like a claim that Italy had no important comics tradition of
> its own...) Ironically enough, it mentioned him as possibly
> Disney's greatest rival in Europe...ironic because the first
> movie has now been released on video in America. BY Disney.
>
Uhm...the Disney Channel has been showing Asterix movies for
years. I've had copies of Asterix the Gaul and Asterix & Cleopatra
on laserdisc (on Disney's home video label) since about 1989 or '90.
Myself, I think "ironic" is one of the most overused words in
the language; the simple fact of the matter is that the Disney
Channel and the Disney video operation are hungry for quality
animated and family-type product, and Disney itself hasn't made
enough to satisfy the demand. If that means coming to terms with
former or potential rivals, hey, it's business, and everybody
benefits. Disney gets good stuff to fill airtime and store shelves,
the vendors get widespread exposure in new markets. (And the
exposure _still_ hasn't done much good for Asterix in the American
market...)
--Dwight Decker
Deckerd
Disney comics Digest V96 #228
Message 225 -
1996-10-20 at 23:05:36
On Oct 19, 8:42am, Don Rosa wrote:
> Subject: Re: Disney comics Digest V96 #228
> DWIGHT:
> I liked your modern-art-museum gag. I agree. The entire contents of
> "collectibles" dealers' stores would also disappear. No more Disney
> "sericels"!
>
Golly, think of all those blank pages in magazines where
the ads for the Franklin Mint used to be...
Yeah, but I don't want to grind my own axe _too_ much in
anything I might sell to Egmont. (That is, I don't want to
use Disney stories as a vehicle for propaganda promoting
my personal beliefs) Then again, "modern art" is such a
joke anyway that making fun of it is hardly new in the
popular press...but this seemed a little too strong. Then
again, if I just left the last panel as showing the door
of a sports arena with a sign announcing that all future
pro wrestling matches were cancelled forever...that would
work in the States where everybody knows wrestling is "fixed,"
but I wonder about Europe? (Yes, American-style pro wrestling
is well-known in Europe, where American WWF and WCW shows are
shown on TV and available on tape, but what about the perception,
here so commonly known as to be a joke in itself, that it's
all a staged, choreographed show with no element of athletic
competition left to chance...but then it must be OBVIOUS just
from looking at it!)
--Dwight Decker
> Subject: Re: Disney comics Digest V96 #228
> DWIGHT:
> I liked your modern-art-museum gag. I agree. The entire contents of
> "collectibles" dealers' stores would also disappear. No more Disney
> "sericels"!
>
Golly, think of all those blank pages in magazines where
the ads for the Franklin Mint used to be...
Yeah, but I don't want to grind my own axe _too_ much in
anything I might sell to Egmont. (That is, I don't want to
use Disney stories as a vehicle for propaganda promoting
my personal beliefs) Then again, "modern art" is such a
joke anyway that making fun of it is hardly new in the
popular press...but this seemed a little too strong. Then
again, if I just left the last panel as showing the door
of a sports arena with a sign announcing that all future
pro wrestling matches were cancelled forever...that would
work in the States where everybody knows wrestling is "fixed,"
but I wonder about Europe? (Yes, American-style pro wrestling
is well-known in Europe, where American WWF and WCW shows are
shown on TV and available on tape, but what about the perception,
here so commonly known as to be a joke in itself, that it's
all a staged, choreographed show with no element of athletic
competition left to chance...but then it must be OBVIOUS just
from looking at it!)
--Dwight Decker