Keskustelujen arkisto

The sales for August have come in. Not sure what to make of them. While they
don't make up all sales or reorders, there does seem a perceptible decline in
sales each month.

195. Uncle Scrooge #321 6,488

203. Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #636 5,929

The big disappointment IMO is DDA #1. Unless I've missed it, it doesn't show
up in the Top 300 at all. And this month, you only needed to sell 897 copies
to get into the Top 300. Maybe Gary Leach could give us an idea of how well DDA
is selling. At any rate, I suppose the 'real' test will be when DD&Friends
and MM&Friends come out. At $2.95, price at least, won't be a deterrent to most
people.

<A HREF="http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/3489.html">http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/3489.html</A>

Derek Smith

Hi everyone,

This is a Barks interview from the fanzine "The Duckburg Times". I
Google-d sections of it, and it didn't appear to be available anywhere on
the web, so I typed it out. If it was all for nothing, and it's already
available somewhere, please don't tell me ;-)

Mike.

********************
An Interview with Carl and Gar? Barks, by Karl Strzyz. Text ?1980 Karl
Strzyz. Back-translation by Stephen Everhard. Revised by Carl Barks.
(From "The Duckburg Times" issue 8, October 1980)

Karl Strzyz: Carl, as you were drawing and writing your stories back in the
1940s, 50s and 60s, were you aware of their exceptionally high quality?
Carl Barks: Well, I think the whole secret lies in the fact that I worked
harder at them, gave them my best.
KS: But other artists worked hard then, too...
Gar? Barks: Hard in that they drove themselves to work very fast.
Carl: And maybe they didn't always have the right knack, which is part of
it. Just as with craftsmen who build a house, one builds a good house and
the other not so good. A lot depends on individual talent, and I had the
talent to write good stories, so perhaps that's why it was easier for me
than the others. I don't like to say that the other didn't work hard
enough - they probably tried often enough to write stories that hung
together like mine did, but then they noticed that it's not all that easy
and said to themselves: the heck with it, we'll just produce as much as we
can...
Gar?: Carl, do you remember that one editor who used to say to you, "Why do
you make so much work for yourself with your stories? Why don't you just
draw one panel, and then the next, and pretty soon you've got a complete
story!"
Carl: Sure, he always used to say, "You don't need to take so long for a
single story, why are you so ambitious, why do your stories always have to
be so original?" Well, I just couldn't reconcile that with my conscience.
If I didn't give my best, I wasn't satisfied with myself.
KS: And you certainly also thought of the children who bought your stories.
Carl: Exactly, I wanted them to get their 10 cents' worth.
KS: What was it like, as you worked all those years at Western, were there
restrictions for you, anything like a kind of censorship? It is well known
that some individual panels, and even whole stories were not published.
Carl: Now and then they'd return individual panels because they were too
violent, or maybe too because they weren't entirely understandable. That
goes, by the way, for the foreign market as well, where certain American
things wouldn't be understood. I'm thinking of the place you pointed out
where the turkey was replaced in the German version by a cornucopia [us: W
WDC 142-02; de: MM1953-08]. I suppose turkeys weren't well enough known in
Germany then. But that was done by you people in Europe. A typical
example of the way Western "censored" things here in the USA was when I
called a dog Bolivar, because that was what he'd been called in the old
newspaper strips. That seemed obvious and logical to me, but the problem
was, down there in South America they've got a national hero who's called
Bolivar too, and I when I got and call a dog after their national hero
that's an insult to the "real" Bolivar. But those were restrictions that
didn't bother me, I just had to do 2 or 3 panels over, and that was
that. It was different when my imagination got carried away with me and
the ducks got too wild or their opponents too nasty. There are 2 stories
that didn't get published for that reason, the "Christmas Carol" story from
1945 [1st half page is lost, the rest was published in "The Fine Art Of
Walt Disney's Donald Duck in 1982. Many of the gags were reworked and used
in "The Terrible Tourist", us: W WDC 248-01, 1961, eg. the loudspeaker
installations], and the "Milkman" story from 1957 [nl: DD1974-47c].
KS: Coming back to the dog named Bolivar for a moment, I remember that his
name used to be Bolivar, but didn't he get another name later? What was he
called then?
Carl: Yes, that was later...but what was his name then? Oh, I remember,
Bornworthy, an awfully long name, but one that suited him because he was a
thoroughbred. [us: W WDC 125-02]
KS: How was it when the ducks were sent to foreign countries, did you do
"research" on the culture or geography of those countries?
Carl: I didn't know much about it, and didn't worry a lot about it. I
couldn't do "research" on a grand scale since I didn't have the necessary
books here in the house. The Disney studios of course had whole libraries,
but I had no access to them, and that's why a number of errors slipped by
me I'm sure.
Gar?: And besides, they had their offices over there where people watched
out that not too many mistakes were made.
KS: So you just sent the ducks off into fantasyland?
Gar?: Not quite, he'd look things up occasionally in encyclopaedias or the
National Geographic.
Carl: Yes, that was about all I did, namely check the geography to see what
the trees or plants looked like, the landscape, how the rivers ran, what
the climate is, or what sort of natives live there, although I always drew
them a little primitively and of course also humoristically stylised.
KS: I recall how, for example, in the story "Adventure Down Under" [us: W
OS 159-02] they looked typical of their country, in this case then like
Australian Aborigines, which means that you caught their likeness well.
Carl: Yes, well I always tried.
KS: Did you, in all the years you worked for Western, draw a regular
salary, or were you a freelance associate paid by the page?
Carl: That changed, actually. First I was a free associate and was paid by
the page. Then there was a time when in California some strange tax laws
were passed, and one of them said that I had to pay a sales tax on each
finished story. I didn't concern myself about it, and thought that Western
would take care of it somehow, but they apparently didn't do anything about
it either. Anyway, all of a sudden the taxmen came to Western and said that
they were a couple of thousand dollars in the red and would have to pay
back-taxes, whereupon Western turned to us artists and demanded money. Boy,
that was a lot of money, because we'd been letting the taxes go for years,
and now all of a sudden they wanted it from us artists...
Gar?: It was all of $5000!
Carl: I can't remember anymore if it was really that much, but I'm sure it
was 4-digit number, and I really couldn't pay it. The other artists put up
a howl, too, and we tried to reach an agreement with Western. Then Western
made a deal with the tax authorities that they would pay 50% of the tax out
of their pockets, and we artists didn't have to pay a single dollar. The
result of this whole business was that Western, to avoid anything like this
in the future, hired those of us artists who did the most work for them
permanently with a regular salary, while the other who continued to
freelance had in future to pay the tax themselves.
KS: You received a fixed salary?
Carl: Not fixed in the sense that I got the same thing every month, I was
just now permanently employed, though still paid by the page, while
receiving all social benefits like health insurance, vacation pay, bonuses
when there were any, a pension plan was set up for me, and so on.
KS: Do you remember how much you were paid per page then?
Carl: Oh yes, in the beginning it was $10 per page, plus $2.50 for every
story page.
KS: And that was including everything - sketches, inking, etc?
Carl: Sure, including everything. And I even had to buy the drawing paper
myself - it wasn't provided.
KS: That was...
Carl: 1942, no, 1943.
KS: But that increased over the years, surely. What did you receive toward
the end of your career?
Carl: The drawing paper, it was paid for. But wait, of course there was
more. As far as I can remember, it was $11.50 per story page and $34 for
the drawings, naturally again per page.
KS: And your wife helped you?
Gar?: Oh yes. Of course I was never paid separately, but I often
helped. I did a lot of the lettering, and always inked the solid blacks
and occasionally the backgrounds which Carl had sketched in pencil. I could
never draw the ducks, though - I don't know why. I had a lot of
difficulties with them.
KS: Getting back to your method of writing a story, can you describe for us
the entire process?
Carl: Well, I took a piece of paper and drew a few funny situations on it,
just ideas that I had - what I could have the ducks do today? When I had
enough individual gags, I'd make a short summary and develop the entire
story, as a whole. That was one difference between me and the other
artists and writers: they'd begin with _one_ situation, eg. Donald runs
around in the house, then he goes out, and then what? So they thought,
"now what could happen?" And behold, Donald meets somebody. Who could he
meet? Let's say Gladstone Gander. What happens next? Ok, they get into an
argument, or maybe they don't. Good, let's say they go off together
peaceably to have lemonade, and so on, from one panel to the next, until
the end of the story. I did it just the other way around: I took
individual gags, tightened them up and built the high-point of the story
out of them, and then, after this high-point, I went back - how could the
ducks get into such a situation, or more concretely: why did the bull smash
the china - how did he get there? [us: W WDC 182-01] I always proceeded
very logically, and the individual logical steps were made as funny as
possible.
KS: What gave your stories that special quality was the fact that you both
wrote the script and did the drawings yourself. Normally, author and
artist are two different people.
Carl: That's right, but I think that my way - provided one has talent for
both - is really the best. It always seemed to me, after I'd finished a
story and sent it off, that I was a complete vacuum and would never have
another idea for a story the rest of my life. And then I began to think:
what would like to draw? In time, individual ideas would finally come. Why
shouldn't Donald by on the sailboat, for then I could draw masts, tackle,
or high waves that dash against the ship! So, I'd think to myself: how
about a story that takes place on the high seas. Then I'd think again:
what climax could I build to - why not introduce the Beagle Boys who fight
with the ducks for gold on shipboard? And from that situation, as I said,
I'd then go back to the beginning of the story. [us: W US 31-01]
KS: Another question: you invented several new characters, like Uncle
Scrooge, the Beagle Boys, and Gyro Gearloose - who else?
Carl: Gladstone Gander and Magica De Spell.
KS: Why did you introduce these new figures? Do you think it would still be
possible today?
Carl: There were definite reasons for it. When I had used Donald and his
three nephews several times in a row, or example, I'd always think one
ought to do something else, make up new gags, and at some point the idea
came to me that one could also introduce new characters for this
purpose. I introduced Gyro Gearloose, for example, originally as a foil
for Donald, a rival, who in his first story [us: W WDC 88-02], concerning
a bet, was just as dumb as Donald. He only later developed into such a
lucky duck.
KS: And how about Scrooge? He changed in the course of the years from a
hard-hearted and unpleasant old miser to a much more personable character.
Carl: The more I used him, the more strongly I realized that one can't
always draw a character in a bad light, and more than one can show the same
character as having exclusively good qualities - that just gets boring.
KS: But some of the best gags resulted from just this confrontation, in
which Scrooge brutally abuses Donald.
Carl: Of course, and he continued to do that later - maybe not quite so
brutally, but still. It's just that simple: one can't always show the same
thing. The characters have to be brought into new situations. Take
Superman or Spiderman, for example - they always stay the same! Spiderman
was doing the same thing five years ago as he does today, and I just don't
like that, hence the subtle changes in character. By and large, however,
Scrooge remained true to himself: that is he's still rich and greedy and
always take advantage of Donald and the nephews - just in a somewhat less
harsh manner. Look, when I introduced Scrooge then, I didn't do it with
the intention of assuring him a permanent place. He just appeared and had
something to do with Donald because the story required it [us: W
OS 178-02]; only after quite a while, after he'd been seen several times,
the readers got used to him. I didn't make him up and put him into the book
and say "here's a new regular character" - that didn't happen till later.
Scrooge was created more by chance, in contrast to Magica De Spell, about
whom I had more of an idea that here was a new regular figure to be used.
Magica was introduced much more intentionally, as a wicked witch who was
always after Scrooge's first-earned dime [us: W US 36-01]. I thought at
the time: Disney's always had witches who were ugly and repulsive - who
shouldn't I draw one that's not ugly, but outright sexy? That's why she's
Italian, and of course very popular with readers in Italy.
KS: Were you ever paid for the creation of new characters?
Carl: Oh no, no! They were my characters, but since they were drawn for
Disney, [they were] not my possession. As soon as one does something for
Disney it belongs to him, and that could indeed be the reason why young
people today don't invent any more new characters. Why should they, when
the characters belong to Disney afterward?
KS: Your stories were reprinted more than those of other artists. Why do
you think your stories were preferred?
Gar?: Well, they always wait until a new generation has come along, a
generation that doesn't know Carl's stories yet. And his are the best!
KS: That is, the stories are more or less timeless?
Carl: Oh yes, that's right, they can be read again and again and are still
good years later. I always tried for that, just as I always tried to keep
the stories as international as possible. That's why, as far as I could, I
avoided particularly American things like baseball, because baseball, for
example, is only played here. I hardly think that you, in Germany would
understand a baseball story.
Gar?: That became a problem with one story, namely the Hallowe'en story in
Donald Duck. [us: W DD 26-02]
Carl: But it was given to me by the studio; that is, a 7 minute film came
out then, and my story was supposed to take after the film. I think,
however, that the idea behind Hallowe'en, namely getting into costume and
mischief, is actually quite universal and can be understood by other countries.

Hi everyone,

This is part 2 of the Barks interview from the fanzine "The Duckburg Times".

Mike.

***********************

KS: Another question: compared with Europe, American funny-animal comics -
including Disney comics - sell much worse than they used to. While in
other countries like Holland the Donald Duck circulation is increasing,
it's tapering off rapidly here. Why is that?
Gar?: One of the decisive reasons for this decline of the American comic
industry is the terrific popularity of television here. Children simply do
not read as much as they used to.
KS: When did television arise in the US?
Gar?: During the 1940s, but it didn't reach its full importance until the
1950s. That's when it began to offer programming around the clock, 24 hours
a day, on many channels; and why should one keep reading when all one has
to do is look? Reading is much more strenuous, even if it's "only" a comic
book.
Carl: We've got broadcasts on Saturday mornings, and then again for an hour
or two in the evening, when the children can watch non-stop cartoons like
Bugs Bunny and the Roadrunner, and so on, and when one hour's up on channel
X then they switch to channel Y. They can do it for hours, and naturally
they don't feel very much like buying a comic book - after all, TV's
free. I would say that children today just don't learn to read well enough
that they get pleasure out of it. But we've also heard that comics sell
better in countries like Norway, Holland, and Germany - particularly the
Disney comics.
KS: Are you familiar with European Disney comics?
Carl: Oh yes, and some are very good. Jippes isn't the only one. There
are also good people in Denmark and Germany, and someone in Spain...
KS: Vicar.
Carl: Yes, that may be. And then I like some of the Italian artists very
well. I think that you in Europe are much more conscious of quality, that
the stories are better chosen; you care more about the reader.
KS: In Holland, and more recently the Federal Republic, more of your very
early stories are being reprinted.
Carl: I'm glad of that. But to come back to television again: In Europe
the children don't have much time to watch, since the programs don't run
all day. In this country, the set is never off, and what is offered is 99%
junk! One can't stress the influence of American television on its
population enough - it breaks people down and poisons them!
KS: To change the subject, what do you think of the interest being revived
in old Disney comics today, of all the people who keep coming to visit
you? What do you think when you hear that old books that you drew decades
ago now demand and get monstrous prices?
Carl: I don't dare to think! Quite seriously, I never dreamed that this
would happen, that people today would still remember these old stories and
still like them; that completely surprised me, and I really don't know what
to make of it! By the way, that goes not just for my Donald Duck stories
but also for other old comics like Superman and so on. But apparently
these stories must have made such a strong and lasting impression on
children then that they with to recapture the feeling - they want to
experience a piece of their childhood again, and that's why they collect
these old magazines.
KS: But isn't there a difference between children who read Donald Duck and
those who read Superman?
Carl: Among adults who read the magazines today, very definitely. Whoever
collects and reads Superman today wants to be reminded of the way he
thrilled for the unconquerable hero, how he identified with the one who
could do practically anything, who was invincible. But the Ducks were
quite different, more emotional somehow, and above all they were truer to
life, and not exclusively, like say Superman, residents of the
imagination. Simply because they were closer to actual life, one could
relate to them as a reader; what happens to Donald could happen to anyone
in real life, and the problems one has are similar. And then of course the
role of the nephews, who are often superior to Donald - every child dreams
of outsmarting his parents, knowing more than they do. I remember as a
child thinking similarly to the way the nephews do. As a child one tends to
perhaps identify more with the nephews, as a grown-up more with Donald, and
therein lies, I would guess, the popularity which the old stories still
have today.
KS: When you received your first fan-letter years ago, you thought it was a
joke.
Carl: Oh yes, I sure did. I thought somebody was trying to put one over on me.
KS: Who was the first letter from?
Carl: It was from a young man, the brother [John] of Bill Spicer. He wrote
a very nice letter about the ducks, how much he liked my stories, etc.
KS: When was that?
Carl: I believe 1959. I read the letter with a great deal of caution, as I
lived then near Bob Harmon, who wrote gags for Hank Ketcham's "Dennis the
Menace", and Ketcham still lived at that time in Carmel, and it was from
there that letter had come from Spicer. I was convinced that Bob Harmon
had written the letter, probably to tease me a little, and that's why I ran
right over to him and confronted him with the letter and thought myself
very clever to have found out the evil-doer so quickly. But as I saw his
astonishment over the letter, I realised that he had nothing to do with it,
and slowly it dawned on me then.
KS: Now according to Disney regulations, the names of artists and authors
were not to be revealed under any circumstances, so this is probably why
you were surprised by the letter. But I recall that your name popped up
several times, once on a box [us: W WDC 78-00], and then again on a can in
Donald's cupboard. [us: W WDC 75-01]
Carl: Those were not so much my ideas as those of Carl Buettner, who was
then my editor at Western.
KS: Didn't this anonymity bother you?
Carl: Not at all! I was seven years at Disney's studio, and saw there how
all the animators, however brilliant they were, were never credited by name
- the public only ever heard of Walt Disney. For me it was therefore only
natural to expect that later, when I was drawing and writing my own
stories, that would be continued; I never expected otherwise, after those
seven years. Today I must say that I am quite glad of it, for if my name
had been known then I would have received more letters and might never have
gotten back to work. Who knows, that might even have influenced my work,
for then I might not have drawn and written what I thought was right, but
to please the letter-writers. It's quite good to be fully isolated that
way when you're working.
KS: Who's your favorite character among all the duck clan?
Carl: My favorite was always Donald, because I could do the most with
him. Everybody suffers changes in mood, and I am euphoric one day and
rather depressed the next - and Donald was the same way. The stories which
I wrote for him always came off best, because I could always feel for
him. He was a part of myself and acted the way I do. On the other hand, I
had nothing to do with Scrooge's problems.
Gar?: (Laughing) That's what you used to think, but nowadays?
Carl: He sprang from the imagination, and had really little to do with my
own personality.
KS: Do you have any favorite stories?
Carl: There are lots of them! Of the 10-pagers, the story I like best is
the one in which Donald has a chicken farm and stacks the eggs so high that
when an earthquake shakes them loose they cover the town on the valley
floor and have to be burned. [us: W WDC 146-01]
Gar?: "The Saga Of The Omelet".
Carl: Yes, and then there's the one where the ducks move into a quiet
neighborhood and Donald is naturally the loudest one of all. That's really
good, and even the secondary characters are well done - the cheese-taster
who blows his alpenhorn! [us: W WDC 178-02]
Gar?: At the time Carl was writing that story, we lived in an apartment
house and had awfully loud neighbors; it was only quiet upstairs.
Carl: The woman was drunk all day, and the only noise that one heard from
her was when another empty wine bottle fell to the floor. But next door -
frightful!
KS: I've often thought while reading, that many real experiences must be
worked into your stories. Experiences like the ones with neighbor Jones
just can't be invented!
Carl: Yes and no. Naturally, I knew how cement is poured, and that nobody
is supposed to step in it; but the most part was made up. [us: W WDC 48-02]
Gar?: One story with a real background was the one in which Donald, dressed
as an Indian, tries to make it rain. The idea was suggested by Carl's
daughter, who lives up in the start of Washington, and there are real
Indians for whom this weather hole was a reality; they believed in it. [us:
W WDC 202-01]
Carl: Oh yes, and then there's the story of the square eggs, with lots of
good gags which close in toward the end on a big surprise for the reader.
[us: W OS 223-02]
KS: What are your plans for the future?
Carl: The future? Well, I really will retire sometime, sit around and do
nothing, but I don't know...that will be a while yet. Two books are going
to appear soon about me. One will be published by Gary Kurtz, and contain
twelve Scrooge stories. [Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge McDuck, Celestial Arts
Press, 1981]
Gar?: The other will contain about 120 of his oil paintings, those showing
Disney figures. The editor will be Russ Cochran. [The Fine Art of Walt
Disney's Donald Duck, Another Rainbow, 1982]
KS: What about the Waterfowl series?
Carl: I will continue to make them. At present I have drawn about 50 little
paintings with watercolors, 4 large ones in oils, and few more in the Kings
and Queens series, all in all about 60 works without Disney figures. I
began them in 1976.
KS: How long did you take for one of your duck paintings?
Carl: Between 10 days and 3 weeks, depending on size of course. I can't
paint very fast; there are just too many details to be carried out. Just
think of the money-bin with all those coins - a lot of work!
KS: You are now printing lithographs of some of your paintings?
Carl: In limited editions, but not of the Disney paintings. So far there
have appeared "Xerxes and Harem", then "King Beowulf", and then I plan a
painting with a wild-west theme. The prints are always limited and signed.
It's difficult - if I print only a few copies, a lot of people are
disappointed because single prints are too expensive; if I print a lot of
copies, then others are disappointed who are concerned with the
appreciation in value. In any case, I will not print more than 300
copies. "Xerxes" was printed in an edition of 250, and the demand was so
great that "King Beowulf" had to be 300.
KS: What do you feel when you hear that at an auction, for example, one of
your Disney paintings is sold for 10 times the price which you originally
asked for it - do you regret letting the paintings go so cheaply then?
Gar?: Much more than 10 times, sometimes! Carl sold them originally for
$150 to $250, and today they go for $20,000 to $40,000.
Carl: That doesn't matter to me - why shouldn't people make a little
business? Look, if people didn't over-pay for my Disney paintings today,
I'd never be able to sell my prints.
KS: Why did Disney take away the permission to do further duck paintings in
1976? Were you very disappointed?
Carl: The fans were much more disappointed that I was.
KS: Did you find Disney's decision then right?
Carl: Of course.
Gar?: Disney had good reasons for it. At that time, about eight other
artists were retiring from the comic business, and if they had left Carl
with the permission they would have had to given it to the others as
well. And then there was something else; somebody or other had made an
illegal reproduction of one of Carl's paintings and sold it, and that was
too much for Disney, because that would have kept on happening.
KS: Floyd Gottfredson has just been redrawing some scenes out of old Mickey
Mouse strips in watercolors - why did he get permission?
Gar?: He has the permission to paint, but not sell. Floyd draws them for a
private party in Hollywood, who is also not allowed to reproduce them.
KS: Another question about the stories you wrote not for Disney, but for
other companies, like Andy Panda, Porky Pig, or Barney Bear and Benny
Burro. How did those stories come about?
Carl: That was during the war then, and most of the artists were off in the
Pacific someplace, except me. The editors asked me to do those
non-Disneys. I drew them together with the Donald Duck stories.
KS: The similarity between Barney and the early Donald is amazing.
Carl: Yes, and later people used to say to me that I could go ahead and
draw the stories over again, but using Donald. It's not that easy
though. Barney does have hands and can do some things that Donald could
also do, but he was somewhat too dumb to do them; Benny on the other hand,
was smarter, but had hoofs and was therefore very limited in his range of
activity. But it is certainly true that there are some similarities in
plot development.
KS: But for Donald Duck you did use some gags or storylines more than once?
Carl: Toward the end, it got more and more difficult to come up with good
stories, and when my editor then said I should redraw some of the old
stories, I agreed. The stories were, after all, twelve or I don't know how
many years old - nobody was expected to remember them, to have saved the
old magazines. Why not? I did make some changes, however.
Gar?: Nobody counted on collectors saving their old comics.
KS: And what was the story behind your single Mickey Mouse comic, "The
Riddle Of The Red Hat"? [us: W OS 79-01]
Carl: I believe someone sent me a synopsis of the plot from the
studio. The whole thing didn't match my style?
KS: And why didn't you draw any more stories with Mickey?
Carl: Well, they normally had enough artists for him; this time was an
exception. But, as I said, it was war-time, and I had to fill in.
KS: I ask because, besides Floyd Gottfredson, there are hardly any
outstanding Mickey Mouse artists left. Could you have gotten to be friends
with the mouse? There are artists who claim that Mickey is much more
difficult to draw that Donald.
Carl: Not for me, and I think I could have drawn Mickey quite well. Mickey
was simple; the one I couldn't draw was Bugs Bunny. In one story, for
example, in which I drew Porky Pig, Carl Buettner had to correct every
single panel in which Bugs appeared. [us: W OS 44-??]
KS: One last question: in the late 40s and early 50s, you only drew a few
stories in which real humans occurred, such as for example the spy story
"Dangerous Disguise" [us: W OS 308-02] or "In Old California" [us: W
OS 328-02]. Why were these characters not continued?
Carl: That was an order from Western, saying that they disturbed the
imagination of the reader. They had those little black noses, but were
otherwise real people and not funny animals anymore. I didn't have any
particular reason for them, and the characters were just intended as a
change. I was tired of funny animals; but as I said, Western told me:
once, and never again!
KS: Thank you both very much for this interview!

Derek wrote:

> The sales for August have come in. Not sure what to make of them.
> While they
> don't make up all sales or reorders, there does seem a perceptible
> decline in
> sales each month.
>
> 195. Uncle Scrooge #321 6,488
>
> 203. Walt Disney's Comics and Stories #636 5,929

First of all, these figures are cited as estimates, which is all well
and good, but I can say definitively that they are low. Moreover, based
on the order levels Diamond actually received, US #321 and WDCS #636
sold better by a fair margin than US #320 and WDCS #636 - though
slightly down from the figures for US #319 and WDCS #634. In short, the
prestige books are doing nicely...not that we don't want them to do
better.

As for DDA #1, it did very well in the direct market. Better than we
expected. The bookstore market has been hesitant, though, and getting
into the Wal-Marts and the like has proven to be a complicated
business. No question more work lies ahead in those areas.

Gary

Hi all!

Don Rosa was interviewed in the last issue of the magazine of University of
Kentucky (UK) - "Kenycky Alumni". Don Rosa is even on the cover of the
magazine! You can see scans of the interview here:
http://duckman.pettho.com/alumni1.jpg
http://duckman.pettho.com/alumni2.jpg
http://duckman.pettho.com/alumni3.jpg
http://duckman.pettho.com/alumni4.jpg
http://duckman.pettho.com/alumni5.jpg
http://duckman.pettho.com/alumni6.jpg

Sigvald

Excellent! Thank you, Sigvald. I've been trying to get a copy of that
article for some time.

It seems that the cover page has some panels from the upcoming story: "A
Letter from Home".

--
- Kai Saarto
http://www.go.to/donrosa

I just picked up my copy of MICKEY MOUSE & FRIENDS #257 and the very
first story mentions them by name (well, rather a "Squigg De-Oolater"
that is!! LOL!

If I had read this story before the discussion on the ML the reference
would have flown right over my head. :-) Oddly, Mr. Gilles might be
interested in this story as well since it relates to the Coot Clan and
some new (I think) members of that side of the family (Clarence Coot, an
elder inventor, Charlie Coot his greedy adult nephew, and Charlie's son
Custer Coot who is about HDL's age.) While the story makes an inference
to an ancestor founding "Duckburg," it doesn't come out and actually
finish the claim since the speaker is cut-off in mid-sentence. Still,
I'm willing to bet that's what Mr. Markstein was going to have Clarence
say. The story was quite enjoyable, except I found it odd that Mickey
claimed never to have seen a ghost before. I also enjoyed the
references to Junkville and Bucky & June Bug!

I have only read this first story "MM: Is this House Haunted?" (D 98293)
and the April, May & June one pager "Fish Tale" (H 99274), but will
finish the rest soon. BTW, the AMJ depicted here were the NEW "look"
though only May was in her new appearance, April & June were wearing
costumes.

Thanks, Don!

Rich Bellacera
xephyr at cwnet.com