Keskustelujen arkisto

DON:

Well, the story's been solicited to run in the next three issues of WDC&S.
Perhaps it's been mis-solitcited, like so many of your stories, just to
tease me. It's gotta be a conspiracy! "Don't let that Knowler guy have
those Rosa stories when he's expecting them" is what they say! I don't
know who "they" is, but I'll find out...mark my words...
ANYWAY...I had no idea that Gladstone isn't allowed to publish Egmont
stories before Egmont does, although it seems like a Disney comic policy
that might almost perhaps maybe make sense.

ah well...we'll see
-Shaun

I've been reading through some old Gladstones, and some of the creator
credits I just can't understand. Sure, I can understand "written by:" and
"drawn by:". But what does "penciled by:" and "inked by:" mean ?
Eirik Krogh Visted =20
-- intellektuell r=E5ne =20

(Email removed) =20
http://home.sn.no/~evisted
=09

EIRIK:

> I know "Pirate Gold" was the first story Barks drew, but who wrote the
> story ?

The script is from Bob Karp, who used a script from a movie that was
never made. The movie would feature Donald, Mickey and Goofy.
The same script was used years later as a Peter Pan story, in
"Peter Pan's Treasure Chest".

DAVE O'CONNELL:

Welcome.

> in DuckTales issue 7
> (Gladstone), there's a reprint of a Barks story entitled "The Invisible
> Intruder" that shows a young Scrooge polishing off someone's shoes as a
> shoeshine boy on the first page.

That story was most likely written by Vic Lockman. Barks does indeed show
young Scrooge shining shoes, but is was the Strobl story that showed Scrooge
*earning his first dime* while shining shoes. Don Rosa refers to both stories
in his Life of Scrooge stories.

EIRIK again:

> I know people are making lists of changes made over the years to Carl Barks
> stories. But what about changes to and/or different versions of Don Rosa's
> stories ?

Most of the major changes are noted in the Database. The minor changes are
in the "Don Rosa on Don Rosa" file, which is somewhere on our (Per's) web site.
This file needs an update, BTW. I'm working on that (very slowly).

> many stories have been redrawn in places.

I think you're exaggerating. Apart from changing the size of text balloons (a
usual practice when reprinting a foreign story), most Rosa stories have been
published exactly as they were drawn.

BARRY:

> I

It seems there's still a lot of water in your computer system. I hope you'll
be *really* back soon! 8-)

RIK PIERCE:

Welcome to you, too.

> And who is this Don Rosa upstart? Does he produce the same quality that Uncle
> Carl did in my youth?

Maybe noone can produce that quality. But if someone is close, it is Don Rosa.
Try one of his stories (any story will do). Once you're used to his drawings,
you'll want to read ALL his stories.

ALL:

This is my last mail before I'm off to Australia. (Sydney, where there's apparently
nothing of interest for Disney comics fans...)
See you in 1.5 weeks!

--Harry.

I just read Don Rosa's tenpager "Mythological Menagerie", and I just
wondered about something: are all the animals that Donald make and HDL
identify "real" mythological animals ? I know Don Rosa's stories usually
are fact-based when it comes to stuff like this, but some of these
creatures just seem too incredible to exist in any folklore.

Eirik Krogh Visted =20
-- intellektuell r=E5ne =20

(Email removed) =20
http://home.sn.no/~evisted
=09

EIRIK:
> I know "Pirate Gold" was the first story Barks drew, but who wrote the
> story ?
The script was written by Bob Karp (he's written most of the Taliaferro
strips, too). He has used the storyboards of the never finished cartoon
'Morgan's Ghost' and made a script out of them. And then Carl Barks and
Jack Hannah have drawn the story.

RIK:
> And who is this Don Rosa upstart? Does he produce the same quality that Uncle
> Carl did in my youth?
You don't know Don Rosa? That's terrible. You should take a look at the
following pages as quickly as possible!

http://www.win.net/~homebrew/scroohome.htm
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/8024/
http://home4.swipnet.se/~w-47991/
http://www.misjonshs.no/~geinet/rosa_gallery.html

There you should get a first impression, I think. And you should try to
get a Rosa story as quickly as possible, too. 'A Matter of Some Gravity'
or 'Guardians of the Lost Library' or best: 'THE LIFE AND TIMES OF
$CROOGE MCDUCK'. They're great.
--
MdD Alexander Gruenke | (Email removed)
Germany | http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/7707/index.html

BILL WORMSTEDT says:

<<WD Comics & Stories 617, being solicited for August, does not contain any
'new' (for US printing anyway) Rosa or Van Horn material! Also, doesn't
appear to contain any Gottfredson material. I hope this is just a one-issue
situation! >>

At least WDC&S 617 will feature a new Mickey story with script by David
Gerstein and art by Noel (son of Bill) Van Horn. Still, I fully sympathize
with your point. That's a whole lotta reruns for a seven-dollar "ultimate
Disney comic book." If reprints should be minimized in ANY Gladstone title,
it should be WDC&S...

OLE NIELSEN (not NEILSEN -- sorry, Ole) wrote in response to my Van Horn
comments:

<<Sure enough, the 10 pager is a time-honored format, and one
may even consider it _the_ prime example of The Disney Story(tm).
However, this was where Barks began his evolution into the story
teller of the 20.th century, and it took him almost a decade to
adapt his skills as a cartoon gag man to the printed media.
The early ten pagers had more in common with the cartoons from
the movie theatre than 'densely illustrated prose' as comics
were once described. The plot was simple and usually based on
a gimmick, a McGuffin, that avalanched into a series of gags.
Only later when Barks, almost as therapy, worked his own personal
problems into the plots and let the ducks live out his own fears
and dreams did the stories acquire the depth and significance
that makes these stories impossible to forget once read. Like
classic Greek drama these stories deal with common human emotions
that we all can relate to. These are the stories which made Barks
the modern Shakespeare or Sophocles, where Van Horn is at most a
Euripides - an imitation in form, but without the urgency of the
artist to express himself and his emotions. To put his heart into
it, so to speak.>>

You are undoubtedly correct about the galvanizing effects of Barks' personal
travails on his much-praised early-50's work -- but then, Van Horn can hardly
be dunned for not having gone through the same problems. Van Horn's humor
style shows flashes of the Barksian cynicism, but with a trace of unique
absurdity that may reflect his own life and work experiences.

<<Would we remember Barks now, if he had quit comics before classics
like "The Golden Helmet" or "Only a Poor Old Man"? Or a personal
favorite of mine, the dark ten-pager about a golf match with
Gladstone which Donald wins(!) - only to come out losing after all?
I think not - if it had not been for those bleak years in the early
50'es, Barks would just be another guy doing funny pages.>>

No question, the early-50's was the period when Barks' full "vision"
flowered, especially in the 10-pagers. I think that cynicism shows up in ALL
of his works, however -- it's just more sharply drawn and pronounced in those
"classic" years, when Barks' overall talents were at their zenith.

<<Van Horn's stories are just like that: strings of gags, funny
word play and puns, which don't always translate too well. And
after a decade he still doesn't draw ducks very well (IMVHO),
limiting the facial expressions to a few basic ones, usually
making us spectators to Donald's antics, rather than sympathetic
to him. But maybe that was never the idea of the 10 pager, and
Barks just happened to get away with it for a short while.>>

I definitely think that Van Horn loses something when translated. I've read
a couple of French translations of his stories, and they ALWAYS fall flat
when contrasted with the puns, wordplay, and odd metaphors of the English
version. I'd compare Bill's problem in this respect to that of George
Herriman, the "Krazy Kat" artist, whose vision was SO uniquely personal that
to translate it at all seems an act of folly. (Or perhaps I'm being too
pessimistic here -- Walt Kelly's stuff is very challenging to transport to
another culture because of the dialect and political references, but judging
from comments on DCD, his work seems to have acquired a strong following
overseas.) Don's stuff, written in a more straightforward fashion and
relying on "snappy one-liners" rather than wordplay for humor, has always
translated more easily than Bill's.

<<Regarding Van Horn's addition of new supporting characters you
are absolutely right: very few writers have had success with or
even tried making up their own creations, apparently being
satisfied with the ones Unca Carl introduced. Van Horn is maybe
the first to have the chance since Barks left as responsible for
the regular lead story, at least with respect to the American
publications. Various Italians, Romano Scarpa in particular,
have populated the Disney universe with several characters, a
few of which have appeared in the U.S.>>

Van Horn has created several repeat characters (Uncle Rumpus, Woimly
Filcher). But I was mostly thinking of the (generally) unnamed goofballs who
run through most of the Van Horn stories... the guys who play rocks as
musical instruments ("A Sound Deal") and the like. Bill has a way of
bringing these characters in for one- or two-panel sequences, just for
laughs.

<<I'll try to elaborate on what I mean with "the lowest common
denominator": it simply means "the most basic format" of the
duck story: Donald, HD&L and a plot-device. I realize that the
10 pager doesn't allow much more, but I also think Van Horn is
a bit too functional in that respect - a little more interaction
with the other Duckburgians would be appreciated.>>

I will agree on one specific point: Bill's stories definitely do seem to have
entered a creative "comfort zone" where you begin to EXPECT certain things to
happen rather than continually getting surprised. His style and approach
have matured, and now his stories are judged based on their specific internal
content, rather than on the refreshingly new ideas and approaches that Bill
brought to the table when he first went to work for Gladstone. (The same
"comfort zone" idea also applies to Don Rosa, IMHO.)

<<Finally, let me stress that I _do_ like Van Horns stories!
Especially for the witty dialogue, and also (even if I sound
like I'm contradicting myself) because they are so obvious
follow-ups to the very first Barks stories. It's just that
so preciously few of them stick in you mind forever once you've
read them like the best works of Barks, Rosa and Scarpa.
But, as I said, it's not really fair to compare a quite good
artist/writer to the truly great ones. My mistake.>>

I don't think that Bill is consciously TRYING to act like one of the "truly
great" Duck creators. I think that he simply wants to do some entertaining
stories (as you said, in the tradition of the early Barks romps) and please
himself. I think he'd be pleased just to know that you enjoy his stories,
period.

GARY LEACH says, regarding Gladstone's release schedule...

<<A one-product-per-week schedule would require at least a seven-week month.
But anyway...
Our "habit" is this: albums ship out the week before the newsstand titles.
WDC&S ships the week following the newsstand titles. That's how it's been
for over a year. Any recent changes of "habit" are occurring solely in the
distributor/retailer arena.>>

I humbly bow before the point regarding the seven-week month. I wonder what
(if anything) could be done about distributor/retailer activities? Could
they somehow be asked to return to the policy of distributing/retailing the
Gladstones in a less "concentrated" form?

Christopher E. Barat
(Email removed)
Homepage http://members.aol.com/cebarat/home.htm
"NOW I HATE SNAKES!" -- Launchpad McQuack, "DuckTales" episode "Too Much of a
Gold Thing"

Sorry about the last posting, it seems the ending was lost.
Some of you know me, and have been asking about my store.
I suffered a setback on April 19th when the flood of the century hit
Grand Forks ,ND. I have been running my comic book store since 1983,
as of today, that has come to an end. I lost over 300,000 comic books
to the flood-waters. I have been a Disney fan since the 50's and lost
my personal collection of Uncle Scrooge comics as well as 1000's of other
prized Disney comics and collectibles. The water hit the 5 foot level in my
store.
It also moved items around the store and tipped over shelving.
The fortunate part of my situation is: I saved the sketches I have gotten
from Mr. Rosa and Mr. Block at various shows. I also saved my U.
Scrooge cel from
U.Scrooge and Money. There was a fire in neighboring buildings but it was
contained one block from my store. I did manage to save a small per cent of
books that were higher than 5 feet or sealed better than others.
At this point in my life, I plan to continue collecting but not as a
store-owner.
I will not collect any insurance on the loss, since my business insurance
does
not cover this loss. The total loss is in excess of $500,000.
Thanks for your concern. Keep smiling. ---Barry---