Keskustelujen arkisto

MICHAEL NAIMAN wrote:

<<"THE COMIC BOOK BOOK" was authored by Don Thompson and Richard A. Lupoff
ARLINGTON HOUSE (1973) the book was a sequel to "All in Color for a Dime"
the book continues the essay coverage of comic book artists and genres...in
fact, the book is dedicated to Barks.Coverage includes the Marvel Family,
Mickey Mouse, Plastic Man, Tarzan and EC comics...a good read available in
second hand book stores.>>

It is also available from Krause Publications, the company that publishes
COMIC BUYER'S GUIDE. Both THE COMIC BOOK BOOK and ALL IN COLOR... were
recently put back into print.

RICH BELLACERA mourns:
<<...the shop I go to does not get WDC or
U$ as a regular monthly comic... the only issues they get
are mine! The same goes for most of the other shops around
my area, and the ones that do get the comics as part of
their regular weekly/monthly orders only get one copy each
(fearing even that one won't sell).>>

I've noticed this trend for some time at various shops. My shop gets in a few
extra copies of the Gladstones in addition to mine, but other stores I've
visited obtain the Gladstones for "subscriber boxes" and nothing else.

<<Are we finally witnessing North America's death bed for Disney Comics?
Has this been a long lingering death just waiting for the
11th hour to pass?>>

I hope not, but the auguries are as bad as they have ever been. A lot depends
upon how Gladstone reacts to the end of the ...IN COLOR album series. With
that source of steady income having been removed (or reduced to back-issue
sales), how will they compensate in the two remaining titles?

<<And even the
publisher is giving up. What's wrong? It CAN'T be because
there is no children's market. There are plenty of childrens
comics on the shelves. Every time I go in I see new issues
of Archie (and it various related titles), Sonic, Scooby-Doo,
Flintsones, Bugs Bunny, and many others... so why is Disney
being singled out of the market?>>

The aforementioned "funny" titles are published by companies with (1) a long
track record in the production of such material (Archie) and (2) immense
financial resources (DC). Even the latter has been forced to give up an
excellent "funny" title (PINKY AND THE BRAIN) in recent months. Gladstone is
operating with a miniscule margin for error compared to these companies.

Gladstone's tone has definitely turned fatalistic of late, what with Bruce
Hamilton being quoted in CBG as despairing of future kids' interest in comics
("the written word is dying") and a recent Gladstone lettercol noting that
kids no longer buy Disney comics "willingly." Granted, they've mismanaged
some things, but it's difficult NOT to be pessimistic at this point.

-- Christopher E. Barat
(Email removed)
http://members.aol.com/cebarat/home.htm

Dan Shane wrote:
you won't hear from Don [Rosa] for close to 2 weeks, as
he'll be in Spain

Huh? Wasn't he supposed to be in Gothenburg this month?

> (how come we don't call it Espa=F1a like the Spaniards do?).
>=20
Because you don't speak Spanish!

--Harry.

Although I've been on the list for over a year, I never FORMALLY
introduced myself.

I'm Rob Gibson, a resident of Goleta, California. I'm a computer
science geek, having completed the Master's Degree course work at UC
Santa Barbara. This is where my interest in Math and Astronomy comes
from(recall the debate on "Island in the Sky", how to define three cubic
acres of money, and how much three cubic acres of money would weigh?).

I was born on October 28th, 1949, and cut my teeth on Carl Barks at the
age of five. I recall "reading" "Secret of Hondorica"(DD 46) and "Three
Unwashed Ducks"(WDC 184?), and "Second Richest Duck"(US 15) before I
could really read, and these stories gave me a powerful incentive to
learn to read, so I could more fully appreciate these stories!

I was fortunate to have four older brothers who were big Barks fans,
and bequeathed me a good start on a Barks collection, which I am now
finally close to completing(after a 20 year hiatus). Not that I'm a
completist, per se. In a way it's more exciting to continue the search.

I still don't know too much about Rosa, and I'd like to try some of is
consensus best stories (His Majesty McDuck, LOS, and what else?).I have
and read the "Pied Piper" story, which reminded me in a few places of
nothing so much as R. Crumb. That is a compliment, in my view. Although
Crumb would get out there a bit on his subject matter occasionally, he
had, I think, a sharp satirical eye, and had a classic artistic
style("Keep On Truckin!").

Speaking of Rosa, I was delighted to read of his meeting with Barks. I
would be curious to know the "5 or 6" Barks stories he chooses to ignore
to make possible a consistent Barks Universe. I, personally, do not rule
out the possibility of a "consistent Barks Universe" using all the
stories he WROTE, perhaps by means of a re-ordering of the stories in
other than historical/printing order, or perhaps by means of taking a
non-literalist/fundamentalist approach to the Barks body of work. I
think Barks own comments would support this view. As an example, the one
page gag about Uncle Scrooge's 75th Birthday, and using a 75 watt bulb
instead of candles, being written in about 1954, resulting in an
inconsistent age for Scrooge? Keep in mind, they did not( to my
knowledge) make 85 watt bulbs, or 92 watt bulbs. To make the joke work,
we need a birthday consistent with a common bulb wattage. So the
"facts", if you will, are altered to make the gag work. Is it
inconceivable for Scrooge to tell a white lie to save money on candles?

What I liked best about Barks were his "message" stories. They often
featured Donald as a downtrooden everyman(sometimes working for the
Skunk Oil Works) who never fails to fail, yet the kids respect and
support him for fighting the good fight , and he achieves dignity and
success (in some measure) in the end. Some story examples would include
WDC 188("Olympic Tryouts") and WDC 198 ("Suppressed Desire Party").
Other stories include Scrooge's willingness to give away his entire
fortune to save his nephews(many examples, including US 59). Other
"message" stories include "Christmas for Shacktown"(FC 367).

For those of you who recall the tome "The Gospel according to Peanuts",
I wonder if anyone has attempted something similar with Barks.

My favorite characters were, not surprisingly, the nephews. They were
often the moral backbone of the family, keeping Donald and Scrooge on
the straight and narrow when tempted to cut moral corners.

Unca Scrooge:"That coffee I gave flinty was loaded with sleeping
powder!"
Nephews: "Unca Scrooge! Don't you dare! That's CHEATING!"
Unca Scrooge: "I know. But doggone it. This is for the title!"
-US 15 "Second Richest Duck"

And this quote's drug reference brings up my last question.
There was an end-of-message quote a while back:
"Unca Donald had been smoking those Poppies again."
<Lions in the Poppy Patch> -Carl Barks

I have never heard of this story, and suspect this is an apocryphal
reference. If not, I would like to know. Sorry to take so long to bring
it up.

RG

"You see, Donald, what joy Saving can bring to a person! What Power!
What Satisfaction! What Stirring Victories!"
Unca Scrooge in US 15, "Second Richest Duck" by Carl Barks

It's been a couple of weeks since I've been around, so
I've missed a few discussions. Let's pick up with a
couple of recent ones.

MICRO-DUCKS SEQUELS --
By an odd coincidence, I've written a minor one
myself, and it's going to appear in ANDERS AND #43, on
sale in a week or two. I call it a sequel despite the
fact that Scrooge is only a minor character in it, and
the Micro-Ducks themselves are scarcely even mentioned.
You'll have to read the story itself to find out why.
I did pull out a copy of the original story to
peruse while scripting it, and the one I found most
easily was a then-fairly-recent Gladstone comic. That
comic also contained a sequel to the story. I couldn't
say for sure, offhand, that it was by Vicar (to tell the
truth, I didn't look at it very closely), but it's likely
the one you guys are talking about. Meaning yes, it
does seem to have been reprinted in America.

DAVID GERSTEIN --
I've also had credits in Gladstone comics that
gave the impression I was the actual author of the story,
instead of just having composed its verbal component in
that one appearance. It happened in the early part of the
current "Bucky Bug" run, for example. It's unfortunate
that the words "writer" and "script" cover so broad a
range. I think something intentionally exclusive, like
"dialogue", would cause a little less confusion.

ARCHONTIS PANTSIOS --
Whenever I see CH in a Greek name, I assume it
stands for chi. My guess as to the pronunciation of your
name, then, would be to use the German CH, which doesn't
have an equivalent in English.

THE ALL-DUCK WDC&S --
I asked John Clark about this, and he says Mickey
will have at least a token presence, in "Year That Was"
features and suchlike, so it isn't a complete shattering
of tradition. Still, I am shocked and appalled that such
a thing as a very nearly Mickeyless WDC&S could be
allowed to exist.
(Actually, there's already been one, but it was
published by Disney, and everybody knows they don't know
any better.)

BY THE WAY --
As of this past Monday, the CompuServe Comics and
Animation Forum has closed its "Disney/Gladstone" section.
The space has been given to a magazine called COMICOLOGY.
The files in its library have been dispersed to other
libraries. (For instance, my overview of the first 500
issues of WALT DISNEY'S COMICS AND STORIES is now in the
general "Comic Books" section.) It's just as well. The
last message posted there was months ago, and it had been
sent to that section by mistake.
Used to be, if anybody posted an interesting
question or comment there, the ensuing discussion would
draw in Don Rosa, Augie DeBlieck, Nat Gertler (who I
don't think is on this list, but who has written several
American scripts for Gladstone), and maybe (if he
happened to be passing through) Mark Evanier. Now, only
Nat and I, among Disney people, seem to come by the board
regularly, and nobody is posting interesting questions or
comments in that section to set us off.
There's been a general decline in the CompuServe
board (along with the U.S. comics industry and
CompuServe's apparent interest in keeping the business
of non-corporate individuals), but the Disney section has
been especially quiet. Since COMICOLOGY took over the
space, there have been at least a dozen posts, so I guess
it was a good move on their part. But it's sad to see
Disney comics in America drop another notch, even a small
one like this.
It's not that there aren't any Disney comics fans
in America. But we're getting old...

Quack, Don

The December solicitation for Gladstone Comics is certainly weird with the
all-Donald issue of WDC&S. Perhaps it's an experiment to see if it sells
better than the anthology issues, or maybe it's a test for an all-Donald
regular series?

Has there been any news on Gladstone's license with Disney? I seem to recall
it runs out in December.

As much as I love Gladstone, if they can't find a way to get cheaper comics on
the newsstands they may as well pack up. Those of us willing to pay $7 a pop
are dwindling, and there sure won't be any new readers coming on board at that
price. It's no wonder comic stores are reluctant to purchase extra copies for
display.

If Gladstone can't make it, my preference would be for Archie Comics to get
the license. They have no trouble reaching the young audience that mostly
buys comics everywhere but the comics shops, and at $1.75 they publish the
cheapest comics available in the U.S. They've successfull published licensed
characters before, and Sonic the Hedgehog is one of their best-loved and top
sellers right now. They already have the young audience that Marvel and
Acclaim, with their mostly-superhero audience, never had.

Either that or Egmont should open a publishing house in the U.S.

Frankly, I don't know that I can stand not getting a regular dosa of Rosa, so
I hope something works out.

--your pal, Hoy
(Email removed)

--------------------------------
End of Disney comics Digest V29 Issue #1
****************************************

DAVID GERSTEIN:
> RICH:
> You discuss various trends in poor Disney comic distribution. Agreed
> that that's a serious problem, but you go on to cite what you believe is
> another trend...
> > the upcoming WDC #333...

I was wrong, it should be #633. However, thank you for your insight about
the recent and upcoming issues, but...

I think WRT Mickey appearance in U$, I took that as a good sign since it seemed
to correspond with a higher request level for Mickey comics in the Letters pages.
Perhaps I was deluding myself into the fantasy that Gladstone had heard mine and
others' pleas for more Mickey and granted it to us in the form of TWO Mickey tales
in WDC and at least one more in U$. After seeing this three months in a row I was
understandably elated... only to have reality crash in with the dropping of Mickey
from U$, and then to read in this month's PREVIEWS that 633 of WDC was going to
be an ALL Donald issue. I realize that this is probably just a one-shot deal
(at least I pray that it is), but it seems to follow suit with all the other sad
events surrounding the quickly drying up pond once known as Disney Comics in North
America. Call it frustration on my part. Perhaps I'm just jealous of all the
folks in Europe (along with yourself) who have access to lots and lots of Disney
comics (both old and new), whereas, from my perspective, it looks like the Disney
ship is sailing off into the horizon. It's probably not as easy for Europeans
and those who work with Disney comics daily (you are soo lucky... :-) to imagine
what it is like for us American collectors to go to the store and ask, "Did any
Disney comics come in today?" only to be told, yet again... nope. Of course my
situation was compounded by the fact that even the 2 monthly issues weren't
arriving... In other words my supply has been cut-off! I need my Disney fix, and
it's just not happening. Sure, I griped to the owner of the store where I go, and
now he's personally going through Diamond Distributors to fix the problem
(hopefully) and get the issues I can no longer find at other shops [You see
when
the books don't arrive per their schedule the folks at the shop lead me to
believe they would probably arrive next week, then next week, and so on, until
I find out
too late they arrived elsewhere and already sold out]. My dealer has already
acquired a couple of the issues I ordered, but he still has two more to go!

I dunno if you can understand what this situation looks like to someone like me.
Oh well. It's not like I get news reports about WHY things seem to be falling
apart at Gladstone, or why no Disney comics have arrived at my local shop for the
past three months, or why the outlook on future Disney comics looks so bleak.
Perhaps I can find solice in the fact that I am apparently NOT the only American
collector experiencing this frustration. My main source for information is either
the comics' letter pages or this Mailing List...

I apologize to those of you who find my whining (or groaning as Chris called
it :-)
annoying, but where else can I vent my frustration and hopefully find out what's
going on? I know I've vented before, and then I resigned myself to the fate
Gladstone has left us with, but this latest round of bad events set me off again!

Sorry... I'll go back to my corner now. [pout]

Rich Bellacera
(xephyr)

Perhaps it is no mere coincidence that the new $20 bills look so
much like Monopoly [the game] play money.

HOY MURPHY --
If there's any news about the renewal of the
Gladstone license, I haven't heard it. If they do let it
drop, it doesn't much matter who we'd like to see pick it
up. We'll be lucky if anybody picks it up at all. Once
again, I do NOT see publishers hovering around like
vultures, waiting for those lucrative properties to
become available.
For what it's worth, tho, I agree that Archie
would be a good one. Among other things, they have some
experience working with a similar system, where comics
are created by a central studio and translated for
re-packaging all over the world -- that's how their
Hanna-Barbera comics were being done. I don't know the
whole story behind DC taking over that license (tho I
suspect the current corporate ties between Warner and
Turner might have something to do with it), but it's at
least barely possible they may want something to replace
it. But would something with the Disney track record look
attractive to them? Seems doubtful to me.
As for Egmont -- the last time the license was
available, they looked into it and decided growing a U.S.
market would involve a lot of effort and expense. At the
time, they were putting that effort and expense into
developing a market in eastern Europe. Now, the east
European Egmonts seem to be chugging along, but they're
currently expanding into Japan. I have no doubt they
could do an excellent job, but are they interested?
Again, it seems doubtful.
Every time I see a complaint about Gladstone --
especially when it's accompanied by an expressed desire
that they let someone else try it for awhile -- I heave a
heavy sigh. I'm afraid Gladstone is all that's standing
between us and the complete extinction of Disney comics
in America. If they don't renew the license, we can all
hope together that somebody else comes along and has
greater success -- but since no rescuer seems to be on
the horizon, let's just hope they DO renew it.

Quack, Don