Keskustelujen arkisto

Chris Barat wrote:

>> Also by the way, I can't think of any other examples of identical
>> triplets in comics [...]
>
> Thomson and Thompson from Tintin immediately come to mind.

The Thom(p)sons aren't twins.

Lars

Lars:

> The Thom(p)sons aren't twins.

Well, maybe they are, and maybe they are adopted by different families,
hence their surnames.
But none of this is explained in any Tintin story.

BTW (to make this mail on-topic), how similar are Orville and Wilbur
from the Rescuers?

--Harry.

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Hi to all,
I have seen Oswald the lucky rabbit, and I noticed that he is a character similar with Mickey
Mouse, except the ears. From history we know that one editor, had stollen character Oswald, from
Walt Disney. The stollen cartoon, Oswald, had its own evolution. I wonder, if this cartoon became
later Bugs Bunny. Does anyone know if this is true?
P.S. I don't know very well the history of comics, so maybe I am wrong.
Nikos

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Dear All,

JOE WROTE:

> "In 1956, Dell began offering its comic books
> directly to the end consumer
> on a subscription basis. Conforming to a seemingly
> inexplicable U.S. postal
> requirement to obtain lower cost second-class
> mailing privileges, each
> qualifying Dell periodical was mandated to run a
> single page of TEXT, and a comics
> story which featured characters not used in ANY
> other story in the magazine (!)
>
>
> "???Don???t ask me, I???m just a columnist!!!!
> Over the years, I???ve never
> heard ANY practical reason for this one! It was
> this latter item which
> brought the Gyro Gearloose short stories into
> being, and into the UNCLE SCROOGE
> title on a permanent basis."
>
> [End of Quoted Material]
>
> Note that this text requirement of the regulation
> would have been
> instrumental in bringing those "One-Page-Text"
> stories, that usually featured Goofy,
> Li'L Bad Wolf, etc. into being... and, for other
> publishers, took the form of
> educational or fiction texts and eventually gave
> birth to the letter columns.

AND

>
> Earlier, I said that the Postal Regulation might
> have brought the
> "One-Page-Text" stories into being.
>
> Of course, they existed in the earliest issues of
> WDC&S and LOONEY TUNES,
> etc. (Often running for more than one page). The
> regulation, more
> accurately, ensured their CONTINUANCE... probably
> long past the point that most of the
> audience read them.
>
> Unrelated question: How many of you actually read
> these text stories when
> they appeared? I almost never did... and only
> recently, when I peruse an
> older book, do I now take the time to do so. Kinda
> like finding "something new"
> wrapped inside "something old".
>

AND TOM WROTE:

> I think this topic came up once before. If I
> remember correctly, the postal
> regulations did not specifically prohibit any
> particular characters from
> appearing together. Rather, the postal regulations
> required there be
> different stories in each issue in order to receive
> the best (cheapest)
> shipping rate. I'm guessing they defined different
> stories as ones which
> contain totally different characters. Consequently
> it was most likely the
> publisher which decided not to put Gyro and Scrooge
> in the same stories in
> the Uncle Scrooge comics (for purely economic
> reasons).

AND I REPLY:

Joe is correct in stating that the comic books were
required to contain a backup story which did not
include any character anywhere else mentioned. A brief
editorial on page 512 of the Carl Barks Library Uncle
Scrooge 1-20 (this is the second volume in the set)
confirms this. It is as a direct result from this
obscure and inexplicable postal regulation that duck
fans are blessed with these fantastic Gyro shorts. The
editorial also clarifies the issue on character
inclusion: ?Two Gyro stories had been completed before
it was realized that no (in bold) characters from the
lead story could be used.? As a result, in those
stories, Huey, Dewey, and Louie became Mortie and
Ferdie, and Donald suddenly morphed into the one-shot
character Speedy, who looked very suspiciously like a
dog-faced Donald. The dialogue remained unchanged, and
includes the comment: ?Gladstone is coming over with a
new sports car, and I can?t let him outgun my old hot
rod!? With Donald, this comment is obviously relevant
to the story, as his battles with Gladstone were
well-established; with Speedy, it was much less so.
As for those texts, I?ve known for years (though I
can?t say how) they were required for postal
regulations. It was news to me that they were actually
only required beginning in 1956. That was the only
explanation I could see in having them, because I
generally thought they were uninteresting, poorly
written, and taking up space that could have been
devoted to ?comics.? In other words, I could have
dispensed entirely with the ?stories.? As I acquire my
older issues more gradually than the more-recent, I
read them for the sake of history, but no other.
Interesting to learn that they are, in a way, the
precursor to letter columns. At least something
worthwhile came from them.

Robert

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Everyone:

Robert Hutchings writes:

>>Joe is correct in stating that the comic books were required to contain a
backup story which did not include any character anywhere else mentioned. A
brief editorial on page 512 of the Carl Barks Library Uncle Scrooge 1-20 (this
is the second volume in the set) confirms this. >>

Good detective work, Robert! At the time I sent my comments, I couldn't
remember exactly where I'd read this, though I knew it was somewhere in the CBL!
In further proof of this I offer UNCLE SCROOGE # 75 (June, 1968), in
which Gyro had a major role in the main story, "The Battle of Marathon", and,
according to regulation, could not appear in the back-up. Daisy Duck and
Dimwitty filled the back-up requirement for this issue.
Robert also said:
>>It was news to me that they [ text pages ] were actually only required
beginning in 1956.>>
They would have been required before that, if Dell had applied for Second
Class Subscription Mailing Privileges before that. It strictly ties in with
when Dell began offering subs on their regular comics line.
Looking at some other comics, you can see that BATMAN # 54 offered
subscriptions as ?Second Class Matter? at least as far back as 1949. Inside there
was a text on Dr. Alexander Fleming and Penicillin and a comics-illustrated
piece on speedboat racer Gar Wood (?to satisfy the ?Second/Guest Story?
requirement) ?Under the regulation, I suppose, Batman could never have solved the
hypothetical mystery of Gar Wood?s missing speedboat, if it occurred in Batman?
s title! But, oddly, Superman or Green Lantern could!
Back to Western, BUGS BUNNY # 49 (June/July 1956) began Second Class subs
for that title, and ?Guest Stories? and Text Pieces were in place with that
issue. For a few issues prior, the indicia read ?Application for Second Class
Entry pending at the Post Office at New York, New York?. Guest stories began
appearing during that period, but the pairing of Guest and Text begins in
earnest once the Second Class subs were officially offered.
Either this clarifies ? or further confuses ? matters.
Joe Torcivia.

Robert Hutchings wrote:

> Joe is correct in stating that the comic books were required to
> contain a backup story which did not include any character anywhere
> else mentioned. ... It is as a direct result from this obscure and
> inexplicable postal regulation that duck fans are blessed with
> these fantastic Gyro shorts.

The old law of Unintended Consequences, in this case to the good.
Sure would hate to be without the Gyro shorts, they were always some
of my favorites.

The postal regulation itself does seem kind of inexplicable, though
it's never been beyond the US Postal Service to come up with some
very esoteric rationales for tweaking the rules for various classes
of mailing. I do know that a periodical is another term for a printed
entity - generally a magazine such as Time, Good Housekeeping, Modern
Aviation, et al - that is issued on a regular (usually weekly,
biweekly, monthly, bimontly, or quarterly) basis. These all have
multiple contents, with tables of contents to readily indicate that
fact, and it may be that the USPS saw that, along with regular
issuance, as a hallmark of a periodical and worth including in the
rules of qualification for a second-class mailing permit (the least
expensive way to send out subscription copies).

I wonder sometimes if we wouldn't be better off today if that
regulation had remained in place. MIght've kept a bit more variety in
our comics. Ah well...

Gary

as I mentioned earlier in this thread, for those of you trying to make sense
of the post office regulations - It was the individual postmasters of the
postoffice who made the determination as to what was acceptable and what wasnt.

thus as larry Giver states: " My understanding of the postal regulations in
1956 is Disney
and/or the publisher wanted to make the other titles eligible for
subscriptions too. It seems by then a text story was not required, but no
longer could a single 32 page story like US #1 take up an entire issue, and
a short second story was required."

was true for Western, but not true for DC who started doing MORE full
length (with ad pages) stories with text page (or letter page) around 1956. and
wasn't true fr Marvel starting in 1960 (although it might be true for them too-
as both DC and Marvel used chapters in their stories up till around 1962 or
so).

this also explains why some crossword puzzle books had 2nd class postage,
while some where rejected for 2nd class postage.

steven rowe

Weren't there some Donald or Scrooge stories that spanned the entire book?