Keskustelujen arkisto

Mike Pohjola wrote [in Digest V97 #76]:
> ABOUT LETTERING:
> As some of you may know in Europe the weekly Disney digest have
> had computer lettering as long as they've been published. Since January
> 1961 the font has been a lot like that which you might be looking at
> right now supposing you're reading this message under Dos.

Of course you can't actually mean that the lettering was made
with COMPUTERS in 1961.

> The point is, I guess, that the lettering is an important part of
> the image of the comicbook and should it be altered the whole look
> of the book will change.

One thing I've been wondering is the infamous balloon size
"mystery". Don Rosa wrote years ago here that he has to draw
really big balloons because languages like Finnish require that.

Now, take a look at Finnish weekly. Most of the balloons are
half empty. (Maybe the lettering technique they use require
lots of blank space to fit the words correctly, I don't know.)

But, in Gladtone books with "whitzbang" font the balloons look
often too full. Sometimes they use way too big font size.

Anyway, I hope Finnish weekly will start using "handlike"
computer lettering in future. Let's just pray that "whitzbang"
is out of the question. Richard Starking's Comicraft sell their
fonts to anybody who wishes to pay little for them. Some of their
stuff is pretty bad, but some fonts are quite nice.

Todd Klein has also said that he will start using computer lettering
in future. I'm not sure, but his stuff in Marvel's 'Ka-Zar' looks
like it's maybe done with computers, but it's so handmade looking
that it's hard to tell. If those actually are computer letters
AND if he is willing to sell those to outsiders I would contact
him immediately (If I were the publisher of 'Aku Ankka').

I think that's enough about lettering...

/Mikko

Don Rosa wrote:

> Anyway, what I told her was that the answer to why the Awfultonians were not
> upset by the sphere on the flagpole and the round nest would be the same
> reason they didn't kill the Professuh fum Buhminham for having that ROUND
> compass, and even placed the compass in a museum for all to see. In other
> words, I don't have an answer.

I think the flagpole mystery is easily explained: as we can clearly see in
the first panel of the ninth page, they don't have the flagpole with them any
more when climbing down to the valley. They presumably left it behind at the
same time they removed round buttons from their clothes and "deroundified"
Scrooge's hat.

--
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

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First, the "Return to Plain Awful" matter.

VILLE:

>I think the flagpole mystery is easily explained: as we can clearly see in
>the first panel of the ninth page, they don't have the flagpole with them any
>more when climbing down to the valley.

But in the first panel of the ninETEENth page, you can clearly see the Ducks
leaving Plain Awful headed by the JW flag on its pole!

DON:

> But I thought I showed
>clearly enough that Glomgold, in desperation to find a way to match
>$crooge's $ offer, thoughtlessly began to produce a round coin from his
>purse, but then jammed it quickly back out of sight (with a "zip!") when he
>realized what he was doing, saying "Oops... never mind!"

You didn't take into account the very-very-careless-translator (or should I
say re-writer? Often the dialogues on "Zio Paperone" are just made up,
without any connection with the original). In the ZIP-panel, Glomgold says
(I translate from the Italian version ,of course!):
"Money, did you say? What about ONE brand new silver dollar?" - "Isn't it nice?"

My strictly personal opinion is that the very-very-very-careless translator
just has no idea of what "never mind" means (<mind>? Isn't <mind> that
gadget we use to THINK? So why NEVER? Should I translate it <Mai Mente>? But
that doesn't make sense! Let's just invent a nice sentence!).

> Without the correct
>dialogue, I guess it would look like he was "zipping" the coin OUT of the
>purse rather than back in.

And that's EXACTLY what happened! Now I wonder: will ever Lidia publish the
complete answer? Thus accepting that "the translator" (Italian readers
ignore who the translator is!) might have made one tiny little error?
Because, you see, what disturbs me more is not that the translator makes
mistakes or just doesn't translate; it's that those "Zio Paperone" guys
SINCERELY BELIEVE that they are doing an excellent job with translations!

By the way: you will maybe remember that I said some months ago that I
wasn't particularly excited by Don's "Return to Plain Awful". Now I am
beginning to realize that I read a DIFFERENT story... who knows how many
other translation HORRORS there are?

and now:
DON ROSA ON MEGA 2000!

This is an announcement for Italians who, like me, don't usually buy "Mega
2000" but are Rosa fans.
By consulting Harry's excellent on-line Rosa index (you'll find a link to it
from my home page) I discovered (not very easily to be honest...) that TWO
Rosa stories which never appeared on "Zio Paperone" have been published in
"Mega 2000".
They are:

D 91076 Donald Duck "Super Snooper Strikes Again"
Italy: Mega 2000 #433

and

KD 0190 Donald Duck "The Money Pit"
Italy: Mega 2000 #455

I'll immediately start looking for those back issues!

Marco

http://marcobar.cce.unifi.it

MIKKO:

<<Todd Klein has also said that he will start using computer lettering
in future. I'm not sure, but his stuff in Marvel's 'Ka-Zar' looks
like it's maybe done with computers, but it's so handmade looking
that it's hard to tell. If those actually are computer letters
AND if he is willing to sell those to outsiders I would contact
him immediately (If I were the publisher of 'Aku Ankka').>>

Ka-Zar is all done by hand, except for the cover lettering and logo. I do
have my own computer fonts, which I like to think are pretty hard to tell
from my hand lettering, but I'm afraid they're not for sale or license. I
highly recomment Comicraft fonts for that purpose, and at least one of the
Comicraft font families includes international characters.

Todd

DANIEL VAN EIJMEREN:

> Harry Fluks? I think you mean me, Daniel van Eijmeren.

I certainly do mean you! It must be senility taking its toll ...

> > I did ask him exactly that, in the question time part of the Swedish
> > duck fans' meeting on his tour of Europe in |94 (19 June, to be
> > precise). His answer was something like "yes, I remember doing
> > something like that", after he got a small briefing on what he had
> > said before in this matter, but he had nothing to add.
>
> What exactly has he said before on the matter? The only comment I know is
> the one published in the Carl Barks Library (set 3, page 519), which was
> also published in Michael Barrier's book:
>
> "I only recall that I had Daisy quite angry with Donald because he
> was trying to win the hand, I guess, of this queen of the apple
> festival... Daisy was so jealous that she was throwing things at
> Donald and was not acting a ladylike manner. That was the objection...
> That was the only excuse they ever gave me [for cancelling the
> story]."
>
> Are there other, more detailed recollections of the story?

None that I am aware of. The above information has been published also
before. I think it stems from Mike Barrier's interviews, though I don't
remember exactly where I first read it. I do not know of any other, more
detailed recollection. What I reminded Barks about having said was the
"not ladylike" caption, and nothing on the Bobsled Race story.

>
> Believe it or not, but these questions have been bothering me for years.

Oh, I believe you, Daniel -- believe me! ;-)
-Anders

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MIKKO wrote:
>Congratulations to Don Rosa (w/ Egmont) and Gladstone for
>their Eisner award nominations. Let's hope they also win
>some of those categories.

I was completely unaware of this until I saw your message, so I checked it
out myself. Yeah... Gladstone is nominated for BEST COMIC FOR YOUNGER
READERS (WDC&S) (how many young readers can afford a $7 funnybook?!) so
that's good I wasn't named in that category since I wouldn't know how to
word an acceptance comment if I won. I see I am nominated (again) for BEST
SERIALIZED STORY for "The Universal Solvent", which is swell, but I didn't
think that story was a fraction as good as "Hearts of the Yukon" which
received no nomination in 95, but it's always hard to figure how these
committees make these decisions, I guess. And I'm nominated for BEST
WRITER/ARTIST FOR HUMOR, and it's good to see that they have that separate
from DRAMA (even though I'd almost like to be in some third category for
"COMEDY-DRAMA" that I dodn't really ever expect to see)... and also Jeff
Smith isn't nominated this year so I may actually have a chance to win! And
that would be nice... I'd accept that'n with a smile! (If I won for
"Universal Solvent", I'd accept that with a "puzzled grin".)

VILLE wrote:
>
>>I think the flagpole mystery is easily explained: as we can clearly see in
>>the first panel of the ninth page, they don't have the flagpole with them any
>>more when climbing down to the valley.
>But in the first panel of the ninETEENth page, you can clearly see the Ducks
>leaving Plain Awful headed by the JW flag on its pole!

You're right! I purposely had them leave that pole with the round knob up on
the ledge when they descended, but I seem to have forgotten that fact when I
had them leaving. And what about the circle inside the JWW symbol? Hm.
And there on the last page we see the Awfultonian holding that pole (which
the Ducks apparently brought back with them on the helicopter. And one guy
seems to be staring up at that knob! Well, a moment later he threw down the
pole and ripped off the knob. There. Actually, all I need to do is see if I
can suggest that round knob be deleted in future reprints (which I'll forget
to do) and that one mistake will be solved.
Now I'm wondering why I showed the chickens sitting on nests in Aig Valley.
Round nests or square, we know that the chickens didn't build nests. They
laid the aigs on the grass. Let me think about this....

MARCO:
Yes, I will also admit that the translator messed up my meaning in the scene
you describe, making it clearly seem that Flintheart was showing the coin
instead of hiding it. I hope Lidia explains this in a future issue. I goofed
with the knobs and the knests, but NOT with the coin!
One "goof" I tried to include was that when I first pencilled the scene of
the Ducks peering down on Plain Awful, I used the same incorrect perspective
that Barks had in that scene in the original story, not wanting to presume
to correct the error. But Gladstone told me to redraw it and straighten it
out. (I wish they had spotted those knobs and knests!)

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