Keskustelujen arkisto

Hi,

http://stp.ling.uu.se/cgi-bin/starback/dcml/story?W+VP+1-09

I recently read this story for the first time, and while I don't think it's
that brilliant, rather a succession of harmless gags than a story, I think
it is seriously underrated - it wasn't even printed in the CBL in Color.

Apart from showing Barks' drawing style in its prime and, as it is usually
noted, featuring the first appearance of Gus Goose in a Barks story
(although he didn't write it), there's still much more to it. I did some
research and it seems to me that this story is an important one in many
ways:

1. It's the first story ever to combine Grandma with Gus Goose
2. It's the first story ever in which Gus is actually talking and becoming a
slightly less flat character than in the short film and Taliaferro's
newspaper strips, i.e. eating is not EVERYTHING in his life.
3. It's the first story ever depicting Grandma's farm. (Was it actually ever
mentioned in the newspaper strips that she owned one?)
4. It's the first story ever featuring Grandma's car, which undoubtedly is
the second best-known vehicle in Disney comics.

A story of many debuts indeed. Just had to get that off my chest. Of course
I know I won't get any reply and that our Italian friends probably have
discussed this ages ago, without my knowledge... ;-)

Frank

Corrections welcome!

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In my previous email, I wrote:

> Maybe you earthlings are all part my dream?

I meant:

Maybe you earthlings are all part of my dream?

--- Dani?l, realising it is time to shut down the computer...

I hope this isn't too off-topic, but someone asked if anyone had
studied religion enough to know how Wicca is treated
academically. I certainly don't profess to be an expert, but
two years ago I took a college course called "Introduction to
World Religions," and Wicca was one of many, many religions we
covered. We also had a student in our class who is a Wiccan,
and she gave a lecture about her experiences and beliefs. I
personally am a Christian (Lutheran, to be exact,) but I find
learning about others' beliefs to be very interesting! :)

If one anyone know more about this than I do, please feel free
to correct me or jump in to elaborate.

Wicca absolutely *is* considered a religion. Someone here
compared it to the ancient worship of Zeus, Aphrodite, Hermes,
etc, in Greece, and Odin, Freya, Loki, etc, in Scandinavia.
This isn't really a very good comparison because no one worships
Zeus or Odin anymore, but there are thousands of people who are
actively practicing Wicca today.

Wicca has its roots in pre-Christian Europe. (I think the
British isles in particular, but I could be wrong about that.)
It is a nature-based religion that pays special attention to
things in Nature, like plants and trees, animals, the moon, etc.
In ancient days Wiccans were considered to be skilled healers,
with their knowledge of herbs and medicinal plants.

True Wicca has absolutely *nothing* to do with devil-worship or
any of that nonsense. The concept of Satan didn't even exist in
Europe when Wicca originated. One of the cornerstones of Wicca
belief is "First, do no harm." Another concept is similar to
the Hindi concept of karma--whatever you do to someone else will
come back to you many times over. So no witch in her (or his)
right mind would "curse" someone or cast an evil spell on an
enemy, because she (or he) would also be seriously harmed.

Wiccans do not use the terms "warlock" or "wizard." Both males
and females are simply "witches."

Now for the more on-topic part. ;)

I have not read Blum's new story, since I can't get to the comic
book store until tomorrow--darn it! :( However, I am
uncomfortable with the idea of Magica being identified as
Wiccan. I would expect some real-life practitioners of Wicca to
be insulted and dismayed to see their religion associated with
comic-book "witches" yet again. Someone mentioned the long
history of witches in the Disney universe. Well, there are
"witches," and there are *witches.*
I mean, there are real-life people who practice the Wiccan
religion, but they don't carry magic wands, fly on broomsticks,
brew potions in bubbling cauldrons, or have talking black cats,
pointed black hats, warts all over, and the ability to shoot
sparks from their fingers. All these things are the invention
of non-Wiccans who didn't understand the religion and felt
threatened by it. Brooms have a role in some ceremonies, but no
one ever sits on them or tries to fly! In ancient times some
Wiccans wore tall hats for ceremonies, but again, they weren't
like the kind you see around at Halloween.

The point I'm trying to make is that real witches (i.e. those
who identify themselves as Wiccan) and comic book witches (i.e.
Magica, Witch Hazel, etc) are really two completely different
things.

One last note...I don't recall very many references specifically
to Christianity in the duck comics. I'm most familiar with
Barks and Rosa, but aside from Christmas (which is nearly always
presented in a secular fashion, as far I know) there really
aren't any explicit references to religion in the duck stories.
If I remember correctly, there aren't even any crosses or other
specifically Christian imagery in the cathedral of Notre Duck.
The ceiling paintings that we see are knights and dragons and
that sort of thing. (St. George and the dragon *was* used by
the Christian church in midieval England as a metaphor for
defeating Satan, but that's pretty obscure for the average
1950s/60s comic book-reading kid!) ;)
In "Guardians of the Lost Library" and "The Last Lords of El
Dorado" there are monks and nuns, but there aren't any explicit
religions messages!

Just some random observations. I don't mean to offend anyone,
by any means! I just find this an interesting topic. It's
probably best not to keep this line of discussion going much
longer, though.

As the saying goes, if you want to avoid arguing, then don't
discuss religion or politics.
Um...so how's the weather? ;)

Katie Sullivan
http://www.sullivanet.com/

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re: World Wide Witch

Having just "re-read" the story I think there are two things that should
be said on the subject:

1) Magica doesn't seem to appreciate the practioners of Wicca which she
seems to equate with white or good magic.

2) I'm curious why no one else said anything about it, but when Scrooge
shoves Donald into Quackfaster's office her name on the door is
"FLORENCE Quackfaster." What's this??? I though her name is "EMILY
Quackfaster." Is this intentional or a typo??? Imagine a woman
whose very name is synonymous with the word "type" (Miss Typefast)
having such a blatant typo on her door.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Rich Bellacera
xephyr at cwnet.com

P.S. I like the straightforwardness of Magda Marshbird's character.

RICH:

On Saturday 09 August 2003 09:53, S?ren Krarup Olesen wrote:

> I have no idea about the lambs and the cats, but surely David can
> tell us.

I just overlooked one of the story comments: "The party panel also features
Mr. Lynx and Junior from D 97469 and the school teacher from W WDC 60-04".

S?ren

RICH WROTE:

> I'm sorry, but sometimes I see how much the religious Right of the USA
> tries to control every aspect of our culture and it both frightens and
> angers me, especially when it gets into my "escapist activities" like
> reading comics.

AND I REPLY:

I have withheld comments on the Blum story until I get my own copy and have read it myself, but I wanted to straighten one thing out. If your expression of ire was directed at Rodney as a member of the Religious Right you could not be farther off the mark. If he cares to identify his religious affiliation I will leave that to him, but he is definitely not part of the group that has displeased you (and me, and Rodney) in its efforts to control the minds of America.

I can remark on the Disney comics of times past that have incorporated the customs of nominal "Christianity" (I liked the way you also included that sweeping identity in quotation marks) such as Christmas and other holidays. There are plenty of readers of Disney comics who have had to grin and bear such references because they are infused into popular culture that it becomes nearly impossible for writers to avoid them, especially when publishers decide that special holiday issues of their comics are warranted to boost sales. Halloween and Christmas Dell Giant issues are probably very highly prized among collectors, and they must have sold pretty well when first published or we would not have seen them produced annually.

But where are the Hanukkah and Ramadan specials? (That's a rhetorical question, for those of you playing at home.) Some of us have had to accept the morals of tales like 'Christmas in Shacktown' without embracing the religious foundation behind them. I'll have to wait and see if Geoffrey's story can be regarded in the same light before I offer any specific criticisms or praise of his incorporation of religious references.

Dan (a Christian, but not a member of Christendom)

Rich Bellacera:

> In the Wolf/Pigs stories there is a gang of badguys called
> The Foul Fellows' Club or The Dirty Dozen.

If I remember correctly, this Club was a Dutch invention
by storywriter Patty Klein.
Its original name is 'de Booswichtenclub', or, when
spelled incorrectly by those badguys: 'de Booswigte Klup'.

This club had never(?) more than five members, being the
Fox, the Bear, the Wolf, a Weasel and a Buzzard.

You didn't have the Buzzard, whose Dutch name is Barend
Buizerd. The Weasel character's name is Vittorio Wezel.
His skin is grey, he has a broad white hat and little
black moustache and wears an 'italian' costume jacket, his
whole appearance being something between a stylish cowboy
(the white hat) and a stylish 'sicilian' gangster. I don't
know if this Weasel is the same as the Willy Weasel you
already had, hence my description.

You shouldn't be too worried if the total doesn't count up
to twelve: those villains probably can't either. :)

Michiel Prior.