Keskustelujen arkisto

I seem to have missed Digest 120. Can you mail that to me again, please?
Thanks.

--your pal, Hoy

Lurk mode off.

A note to Nils Lid Hjort, and others who asked: Sorry for my prolonged
absence. I've been sick all month and only just started to recover. If any
of you have any unanswered questions from our previous correspondence,
please contact me. Now on to business:

On Sun, 23 Feb 1997 01:15:16 +0100 (see Digest V97 #45), I typed the entire
GLADSTONE GAZETTE 9, and added the comment:

>Actually, a few months ago I planned to make it my self-appointed duty to
>herald EVERY issue of TGG in such a manner, but due to Gladstone's sudden
>change of plans (which I can't really argue with) that job suddenly became
>easier! Of course, if you'd REALLY like, I can always bring you the
>*second*-to-the-last GAZETTE issue...

And now here it is: THE GLADSTONE GAZETTE 8, September 1996. I've added in
little annotations. Someday I also plan to bring you the first 7 GAZETTES,
but that day may be far away!

--Jonathan Markoff

[begin GAZETTE]

Welcome to the eighth issue of THE GLADSTONE GAZETTE. Before we get into
this month's litter of letters, we do have some material from the Department
of Corrections. The cover of UNCLE SCROOGE 299 was most likely drawn by
Jose' Cardona, not Branca. "The Cash Register Mystery," which we reprinted
in US 299 was mistakenly credited to Mark Evanier (writer) and Kay Wright
(artist). The art was really by Jack Manning and we're no longer sure who
wrote the story, except we know it wasn't Mark (he says so). Also, "Circus
Clown" from DONALD DUCK ADVENTURES 40 was drawn by Oscar Maximo Fernandez,
not by Vicar, as we thought. This information is courtesy of our resident
historian, Alberto Becattini. Additonally, our apologies to Pat McGreal,
whom we did not credit with cowriting "On the Ball" with Dave Rawson in
DONALD DUCK AND MICKEY MOUSE 7. That same story, incidentally, was
apparently not drawn by Branca, but by Esteban. Now, on to the letters:

[NOTE FROM JPM: Actually, "On the Ball," as discussed on the list in July,
was not drawn by Ignacio Esteban but by Tino Santanach, who also did not
receive credit for drawing "Cousin Bruce McDuck" in DDA 41. Now back to our
regularly scheduled program.]

Having seen Rosa's "Life & Times," undoubtedly the most momentous event
in, if nothing else, recent duckdom, through print a couple of times now
seems to tie in my mind not only the life of Scrooge but virtually
everything having to do with the ducks' respective universe. The only odd
bit I can't quite understand is the part about aging. Apparently up until
1947, everyone in their world aged, died, etc., as normal, as evidenced by
Rosa's masterpiece; after that, however, time suddenly ground to a halt.
Of course with Rosa's contributions, the peculiarity of this would hardly
seem relevant at all; I can't think of any constant cartoon characters who
do age in their normal run, save Arlo & Janis and of course the wonderful
strip FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE. The addition of a time line up until that
point is what brought it to my attention.
It's also not as if everything the ducks do is in some state of limbo,
either, where everything happens at once and yet never really quite happens,
as is almost always seemingly the case with such characters, evidenced again
at best by Rosa and his sequels to famous Barks stories. The ducks on many
occasions to my recollection, do remember having taken part in everything
they have done, most strangely with the "trio," seeing their ages and
hearing them talk about their having experienced events twenty years ago.
What might be interesting to see at some point, while we're at this
experimental stage with Barks' world, would be what it might be like now if
time had not suddenly hit a brick wall fifty years ago, who would be in
control of the bin, what happened to the ducks, who the current generation
would be, etc. I can hear people screaming at me already from all corners of
the globe. Sacrilege!
Heck, though. I figure Rosa's done a good job so far in playing with the
sacred, to much success, so I don't find it very much out of line to suggest
a bit more exploration, if nothing else to explain what happened.
I'm obviously not even thinking about updating the books to the current
time (that would be absurd). I'm simply pointing out something I feel to be
extremely significant; if not a one-shot to four-part series view of today's
ducks, then some explanation of the current situation.

Eric-Jon Waugh
Winthrop, ME

Editor: It's an interesting idea, Eric, though not one that's likely to
happen. Although similar things have been done with most of the
adventure/super hero crowd, it's probably best, in fact, to leave sacred
cows (or ducks) alone.

In DONALD DUCK 297 there was only one story and a lot of cartoon "strips."
I would prefer to see a second story than the cartoon strips!

Barbara S. Klinger
Phoenixville, PA

Al Taliaferro's strips are reprinted at such an agonizingly slow pace!
Make DONALD DUCK thicker, rather than thinner, and have it come every month!
I will be in the old age home before you have run him through at this pace!

Ove Johnsson
(Email removed)

Editor: Obviously different readers have different ideas about what should
constitute an "ideal" comic book. This is what makes it so difficult to
please everyone. For the time being, we've settled on including
approximately 10 pages per issue of Taliaferro strips, with a short four- to
six-page Donald backup in each issue of DONALD DUCK.

After reading your GAZETTES 3 and 4, I was compelled to write. I am very
excited about the large format UNCLE SCROOGE ADVENTURES album series. Carl
Barks' stories have always been wonderful, but Don Rosa's "The Life and
Times of Scrooge McDuck" series was over the top!
From 1980-1984 I worked at the Graham Gallery, 1014 Madison Ave, NYC.
Robert Graham, Sr. (now deceased) regularly put on exhibitions of original
cartoon art, including Walt Kelly, George Herriman, and Chester Gould.
Yes, cartoon art can be fine art!
The color in the new comics (DONALD DUCK and UNCLE SCROOGE) is fantastic!
Thanks for all your care!

Amy Shinn
Scarborough

I have been buying and reading DONALD DUCK and UNCLE SCROOGE comics for
years. I'm 65!
My all time favorite has been "The Littlest Chicken Thief." So needless to
say I was delighted to see it in the DONALD DUCK 297!
I think the art work is just great. That little coyote doesn't have to
speak. The body and facial expressions say everything!
Keep printing it every so often, I'm sure the new readers coming along
will also enjoy it.

(Name not given)
Stone Harbor, NJ

Editor: The sophistication of body language and facial expressions in the
art of Carl Barks is, of course, part of what makes him the unchallenged
king of Disney duck artists.

"The Last Voyage of Ringtail Van Dukke" in DONALD DUCK ADVENTURES 39 is
now one of my two favorite Dutch stories in Duck comics (the other one is
"The Diamond of Diamond McDuck," USA 36). Jan Kruse has quite a talent for
beginning his stories with a well-worn Barksian plot cliche', but adding his
own special twists starting on the third page. Ben Verhagen has a unique and
fluid art style, in contrast to the slick, polished, cookie-cut art of
the Egmont artists, and I rank him right behind Scarpa in my quality roster
of European artists. Dwight Decker's American script was also creditable.
The monotonous mechanical lettering was the only strike against this
edition. Some notes about the plot: with the most famous Duck stories being
Barks' reprints from 1942-1967, it seems strange for a Duck story to refer
to the "long ago date" of 1950! The story had a clever gimmick playing on
the familiar personalities of the characters, and a hilarious
ironic climax!
I'm less than pleased with the abundance of the "Year That Was" pages.
The first few you published were interesting, but they don't really have
much to do with the stories in the issues where they are printed, and lately as
many as 5 have been in one issue.

[Note from JPM: the last few paragraphs of my letter were lists of the
websites of Per, Harry, Arthur, etc. I deleted these paragraphs because we
already know the sites, and Gladstone even misprinted them in the GAZETTE!
BTW, regarding the second sentence, I have sinced learned that "The Last
Voyage of Ringtail Van Dukke" was written by Evert Geradts, not Jan Kruse.]

Jonathan Markoff
Vienna, VA

Editor: Thanks for the info! Most of our readers indicate a large approval
rate for the "Year That Was" pages, ergo our inclination to use them as much
as possible.

I just love the cover of DDMM 6. It's great! It brought back memories of
that great basketball cover of two years ago (oh, how time flies!).
However, I had very mixed feelings--to put it mildly--about the Mickey
Mouse Trojan Horse story, or about any story with Minnie in it, for that matter.
I received WDG 5 with a great joy: an American Fethry story. What I like
about the Fethry stories is the camaraderie between Donald and Fethry. When
Donald is with the nephews, there is always this obligation to behave
responsibly, being a parent. With Fethry, he can just fool around and have
fun, without this responsibility on his shoulders. That's why I'd like to
see more Fethry stories.
Thank You!

Jaycee Berger
Koblenz, Germany

Editor: As you undoubtedly know from reading this letter column, it appears
our readers either love or hate Fethry, with no feelings in between. As
such, we'll be somewhat circumspect about running a great deal of Fethry
stories in the future. But he will appear from time to time.

Hello! I'm writing to tell you that I love your comics, especially UNCLE
SCROOGE. He has been my favorite character since I first saw "Mickey's
Christmas Carol." There is nothing I appreciate more than your efforts (they
work!) to produce good comics that don't involve violence.
In "The Last Word" you tell about Mr. Flanagan. I would like to compliment
him on his slogan work. Ask him to move to Colorado!

Jamie Anderson
Denver, CO

Editor: Actually, Jim is currently residing near sunny Miami Beach in
Florida, so it's unlikely he'll be interested in moving to snowy Colorado!
Our special 300th issue of UNCLE SCROOGE generated quite a load of mail
for us. Following is some selected commentary:

A word or two about the comics and me. I began reading about the ducks in
the mid-40s as a kid. In fact, my folks mentioned numerous times in later
years that I "always had my nose in a funny book." Some stories I remember
like yesterday when I read them again, which is great. Even though Carl
Barks lives where I do, I never have contacted him as it seems he enjoys his
privacy, but his works have provided me with lots of pleasure and laughs
over the years.
The last issue of UNCLE SCROOGE was good, but Rosa's finale was the best.
I got some real yuks out of it, and the last panel was superb. His humor and
mine seem to hit it off.
On another note, the reuse of old gags and even the same lines showed its
head in two stories: in US 300, "Go Slowly Sands of Time" pulls a line or
two from a similar scene in "Tralla La" where the ducks' plane flies into a
narrow valley and the pilot says, "Howling crashwagons. I couldn't get this
plane into that trap with a derrick."

Frode Jensen
(Email removed)

Editor: The recycling of gags and storylines is most evident in the older
material that we pick up from the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. In those days the
notion of reprinting past material had never occurred to publishers, so it
was a viable idea to rehash a plot or gag that had been well received many
years prior.

I am writing in reference to UNCLE SCROOGE 300. Now what a delightful
issue it was! My favorite story was "Nobody's Business!" The story and art
are both well done. I especially liked the last page, panels two and five.
Thank you, all of you, who worked to produce this fantastic comic book for
just $2.25.

Jamie Galle
Frazier Park, CA

I hate to say this, but when I opened UNCLE SCROOGE 300, I was initially
disappointed. Of course, the cover was stunning. Anything less from Rosa
cannot be expected. But when I saw that the issue was comprised of 10
pagers, all reprints, my heart sank. Of course, this issue came on the heels
of WALT DISNEY'S COMICS AND STORIES 600, which used a similar format. But
WDC&S is a title that has always had short stories as its mainstay. UNCLE
SCROOGE, on the other hand, has always dealt with much more complex,
involving, and often more satisfying stories. I thought the issue was a step
down from what it should be; it was an edition of WDC&S, not a celebration
of Uncle Scrooge's history. But then I read your article, "Uncle Scrooge--A
Retrospective," and realized I was dead wrong. When you explained that you
were showing the evolution of Scrooge's character through four different
stories and three different writers, I understood. The idea was a good one,
as we saw Barks' early, stereotypical Scrooge evolve into a sympathetic, but
still stingy, character. Along the journey, we saw his family relations,
from his care for Huey, Dewey and Louie, to his disappointment in Donald and
Gladstone. After all, there is no one side to Uncle Scrooge McDuck. Many
think of him as the stingy, greedy, and cheap figure he appears to be (e. g.
"The Golden River"--US 22). But that is just a crusty exterior to a
character with far more depth. He has a long and winding history ("The Life
and Times of Scrooge McDuck"--US 285-296), a staunch hard-work ethic ("Only
a Poor Old Man"--USFC 386), a little luck ("For Old Dime's Sake"--US 43), a
competitiveness ("The Second-Richest Duck"--US 15), an explorer's spirit
("The Mines of King Solomon"--US 19), a fear of losing everything he's
earned ("The Paul Bunyan Machine"--US 28), a richness in memories ("Last
Sled to Dawson"--USA 5), and most importantly, a soft spot for his family
("Oddball Odyssey"--US 40), and for his old flame ("Back to the
Klondike"--USFC 456).
There were moments in this issue that just made me burst with memories.
The "Anything But Those" Rosa centerfold had me poring over the pages,
looking at treasures that sent me spiraling back to classic Barks stories
(as evidenced above). Nearly the same effect was produced by the printing of
Rosa's original cover for the issue, another outpouring of familiar faces
and memories. (Although I did not see two faces that I think should have
been included: Gyro Gearloose and Ms. Quackfaster.) These were the things
that truly encompassed all 300 issues of UNCLE SCROOGE. We all owe Don Rosa
a special thanks. He did this issue justice!
And this is where I get critical. In Gary Gabner's Crosstalk, he describes
Gladstone's seemingly passive and unprepared nature with which you
approached this three-hundredth issue. Frankly, I was shocked by this, and
disappointed in Gladstone. This is a company who years ago claimed to be
fans, first and foremost. Yet, when a landmark issue such as UNCLE SCROOGE
300 came around, you seemed to have forgotten its signifcance in the midst
of deadlines and daily work. While I understand all of you at Gladstone lead
heroic schedules, this issue should have been exempt from all regular
routines. This wasn't just a comic book, it was an event! And yet, the real
fan, Don Rosa, had to remind you, at the "eleventh hour," that "you can't
just put any old thing on this one." It appears Gladstone had to be told
that this issue was special before you realized that it should be. To think
that you would consider any artist other than Don Rosa for the front cover
is unbelievable! I doubt there is any other writer, artist or duck fan more
committed to Uncle Scrooge than "Keno" himself. Without his cover and
centerfold, UNCLE SCROOGE 300 would have simply faded in with the rest. I
hope Gladstone will pay better attention when their next hundredth issue
comes up. It seems that you have been spoiled this year with WDC&S 600, US
300, and DONALD DUCK 300 at the same time, but remember that never before in
your history have you had the chance to make history. You almost blew your
chance, Gladstone, had not Don Rosa stepped in and rescued you.

Zadoc Angell
South Otselic, NY

Editor: Actually, Gary's comments on the cover of US 300 referred to the
fact that we did not have a BUDGET for a new cover at that time (for a
variety of reasons). Keno stepped forward and kindly offered to give us our
special cover gratis, until such time as we established our budget and could
pay for it, for which we were (and are) grateful.

So, it's a sad farwell to the two most recent titles, WALT DISNEY GIANT
and DONALD DUCK AND MICKEY MOUSE. As one dedicated reader (and for many
years a subscriber) I hope this reduction has more to do with a concret
market failure coming to these two titles, rather than a falling interest
for the Gladstone titles in general. Still, seeing WALT DISNEY'S COMICS AND
STORIES now released every month in its new format is quite a compensation
for us readers.
I believe most of the older generation of Disney comics devotees share my
dedication to this very classic. The new form given by Gladstone offers not
only room for classical material not reprinted for decades, but also new
quality material from artists like Van Horn and Rosa. I'm also very fond of
your historic cover articles. Being aware that such might be a matter of
taste, I would ask Gladstone to not transfer some of the less interesting
material from the now defunct titles into WDC&S. I'm honestly not too
impressed with the average Egmont or Jaime Diaz Studio stuff. The same goes
for the Vicar and Branca material. I believe different readers will have
different tastes here, so maybe an advertised division as to which material
goes into which title would be a good idea?
Regarding reprints, I have some suggestions. Gladstone introduced me to
Gottfredson back in 1986 and I have been a fan ever since. Promise to keep
them regular, please! I'd also like to see more from people like Bill Wright
and Frank McSavage. And, like a good number of people writing to you, I'm
also a great fan of 50s and early 60s Paul Murry, particularly the series
from WDC&S done with Carl Fallberg. Some personal favorites are: "The Secret
of the Ancient Incas," "Undercover Mountie," "The Threat of the Stone
Eaters," and "The Return of the Phantom Blot." I also find the Uncle Remus
and his Tales of Br'er Rabbit stories done by Chase Craig really atmospheric.
Realizing a good share of my request list stars the Mouse, an appropriate
final question would be to know what Gladstone's future plans are with
respect to (the classic) Mickey Mouse stories, as in fact four out of the
remaining five titles are by name devoted to the duck side of Duckburg?
Would a limited number Mickey Mouse magazine releases be a hopeless project
speaking in monetary terms?

B. Bjerkem
Oslo, Norway

Editor: Unfortunately, the economic realities of publishing preclude us from
producing a regular series devoted to Mickey. We've tried and Disney has
tried and, despite the Mouse's popularity in the world at large, comic books
that feature him just do not sell well enough. But be of good cheer, we
regularly feature Gottfredson's strips in WALT DISNEY'S COMICS AND STORIES
and, now that the title is monthly and DD&MM is defunct, we will run an
additonal backup story featuring Mickey and drawn by Murry, Jack Bradbury,
Richard Moore, or some other golden age great in WDC&S whenever we can. As
to limited series Mickey offerings, look for the introduction of our newest
series, the "Penny Pinchers," beginning in January, 1997. These will be
99-cent, 16-page books that will be released in groups, or "miniseries,"
that will represent a common theme. (The first three issues, for example,
will feature stories that pit Donald against Neighbor Jones.) So perhaps a
three-issue tryout that would reprint a Mickey serial by Paul Murry is not
out of the question. What do you think?

And that wraps up this edition of GG. Next time around, look for the
return of the Gladstone Profile, which will feature Colleen Winkler. For
now, our staff is:

PRESIDENT AND PUBLISHER: Bruce Hamilton. SECRETARY/TREASURER: Helen
Hamilton. VP/ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: Richard Hinton. EDITOR: John Clark.
ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Geoff Blum. ASSISTANT EDITOR: Gary Gabner. ART DIRECTOR:
Gary Leach. PRODUCTION MANAGER: Susan Daigle-Leach. PRODUCTION ARTIST:
Colleen Winkler. COMPTROLLER: Steve Calrow. ACCOUNTING/DIRECT SALES: Sandy
Hulquist. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Janet Dvorak. MAIL ORDERS: Mary Jane Cullumber.
LITHOGRAPH MANAGER: Susan Morse. SHIPPING: Joe Cigler.

[end of GAZETTE]

P.S. Since I've seen alot of Duck (and Mouse) quotes to end messages, I'll
hop on the bandwagon:

"If that fuse doesn't work, we'll have a thousand planes around us in ten
minutes!"
"Yeah! An' if it does go off too soon, we'll have a thousand angels around
us in ten seconds!"

--Floyd Gottfredson, "The Pirate Submarine"

--------------------------------
End of Disney comics Digest V97 Issue #123
******************************************

RICH:

> why is Grandma Duck referred to in "The Terrified Tamer" (DDA #45)
> as Elvira Coot? [..] is she using her maiden name for a
> "professional" role...making her, perhaps, a descendant of Cornelius?

According to Don's family tree, Grandma Duck is Elvira Duck-Coot, daughter
of Clinton Coot, the son of Cornelius Coot. This is not a Barks fact, but it
fits perfectly.
And I still hold that Cornelius Coot is from a Dutch family, originally named
Van Cooten. (I made that up, but it fits perfectly as well, IMO.)

--Harry.

ALL:

Can somebody tell who Kim Weston is?

In Funnyworld no. 16 (1975), Weston's article "My Secret Life by Scrooge
McDuck - Or, the Unpublished Carl Barks" was published. (It's a bit
obsolete, but still highly recommended!) More recently, in Uncle Scrooge
CBLiC-album 18, a one-time (?) Weston-gag is published. His/her name is
also mentioned in the acknowlegdements of the Carl Barks Library.

This is all I know, I hope someone can give me more information.

Greetings,

--- Daniel
"Hooray! I'm cured! My mind doesn't hurt anymore!"
The Mad Musician, OG 11 --- Carl Barks

--------------------------------
End of Disney comics Digest V97 Issue #122
******************************************

>From: Eirik Krogh Visted <(Email removed)>

>It's about Scrooge, who works as a farmer, and keeps all his money in a bin
>with no lid on it. Then there's a tornado or something, and all Scrooge's
>money is spread all over town. Donald and Gladstone find themselves with a
[...]
>So, can anybody identify this story ? Is is a Barks story ? Are there any
>recent reprints of it ?

It is by Barks, and if memory serves right it is the story that HE once
said he considered his favourite. Can't send you the full details now as
I'm at work...

Frank (filologo disneyano) http://www.orl.co.uk/~fms/

On Jun 16, 1:43pm, Daniel van Eijmeren wrote:
> Subject: Kim Weston
> ALL:
>
> Can somebody tell who Kim Weston is?

It's a him. He's a long-time Barks fan who lives in
Baltimore, Maryland.

--Dwight Decker

1. Does anyone know how much one day tickets to the San Dieco Comic
Conventon (July 17-21) are? I assume they can be bought at the door
(advance sales appear to have closed).

2.Regarding the story where everyone has a million dollars and goes to
see the world: WDCS 126 "The Money Crib".

3. regarding stamp stories: there's "Stamp Hunt", a three parter in wdcs
194-6 involving Mickey and Goofy searching for an 1856 Banana Islands
Magenta; Mickey Mouse #74 involves a stamp hunt. And of course "The
Gilded Man".

4. Gladstone has included previously unpublished Barks work in some of
their reprints (e.g. Gladstone Album #4 restores several pages missing
from fc 455 "Back to the Klondike"). I seek a list of restored Barks
stories and a list of his unpublished panels/pages/stories. Any help out
there?

> It's 'A Financial Fable' - W WDC 162-02 .
Eh, of course it's 126-02 - as Daniel has said.

Alexander